On Monday, April 14th, CKGSB held a press conference at its Beijing campus to promote its recently-launched Dual Degree Executive MBA Program, in partnership with Switzerland’s leading business school, IMD. Deans of both business schools attended, and reiterated the merits of the program.
CKSGB Dean Xiang Bing (left) and IMD President Dominique Turpin (right) field questions from leading Chinese media regarding the merits of the IMD-CKGSB Dual Executive MBA
On Monday, April 14th, CKGSB hosted the President of IMD Business School, Dominique Turpin, to discuss the recent launch of the CKGSB-IMD Dual Degree Executive EMBA program. Leading Chinese media populated the audience, including but not limited to Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, Sina, Sohu and Tencent.
The press conference began with brief welcoming remarks by CKGSB Assistant Dean, Zhou Li, who proceeded to welcome CKGSB Dean Xiang Bing and IMD President Dominique Turpin. Although the counterparts of this program spoke separately, their messages were consistent and echoed the same enthusiasm, confidence and genuineness about this milestone achievement for both educational institutions.
Dean Xiang touched briefly upon the strengths of CKGSB, including its world-class faculty and unrivaled alumni network, but moved quickly to the merits of IMD and their joint collaboration. “CKGSB is truly delighted and honored to partner with IMD, a leading business school in Europe and the world, to create a Dual EMBA. I hope this EMBA will be instrumental in developing the next generation business leaders who are well-equipped to meet the new challenges from many social and technological disruptions.” He empathized that the two institutions had similar values, objectives and reputations, which would make for a successful “marriage” and open a new era of business education.
President Turpin followed suit, beginning with a brief introduction of IMD as the oldest business school in Europe and perennial leader in Executive Education. He then shifted focus towards the partnership, explaining that “it’s impossible to ignore China, and it’s crucial to find the right partner. For IMD, CKGSB is like a cousin – we discovered an immediate compatibility in vision, values and quality. Both IMD and CKGSB are private institutes; we are not part of larger universities, whether private or state owned. We look to no higher authority for permission to speak or act. Both are focused on the world of business, and are experts at executive education. Last but not least, we both pride ourselves on quality and work with the high level executives from leading global companies.”
CKGSB Professor Teng Bingsheng highlights the key differentiating features of CKGSB’s partnership with IMD
Following remarks from Dean Xiang and President Turpin, CKGSB Professor of Strategy Management and Associate Dean Teng Bingsheng took the floor and delivered an energetic and remarkable speech as expected on the details of the program and its unique value proposition. He emphasized that IMD, with over 50 years of history, and CKGSB, with over 10 years of history, have both selected an EMBA partner for the first time, which reflects the importance of this partnership. “In addition to the compelling curriculum, original philosophy and differentiated approach of this program, this is also the only global EMBA program that offers a 50-50 split of East and West business practices, theories, philosophies, faculty, and participants.”
As its official launch in London last month received great interest and coverage from leading international media, the Beijing press conference was well attended by leading Chinese media, many of whom published articles post-event. The values and visions of the CKGSB-IMD Dual Degree EMBA program were re-emphasized by three key stakeholders of the program, who were able to highlight the partnership, original philosophy, differentiation and long-term objectives.
