西方商学院如何培养中国学生？

默认分类 2010-04-01 22:48:28 阅读6 评论0 字号：大中小
全球衰退传递出的最清晰的信息之一，是世界经济力量格局正在发生变化。西方无法再指望保持进入现代社会以来大部分时间内都享有的支配地位——东方超级经济大国的崛起，尤其是中国的崛起，正在毫不含糊地瓦解这种想法。
其中一些原因显而易见：中国政府对商业采取更加自由放任的态度；主要工业、商业与金融市场走向全球化；许多领先银行和企业未能发挥领导作用。但我还要说，在这股趋势中，美国和欧洲某些商学院的行为——更准确地说，是“不作为”——可能也起到了推动作用。
近年来，西方商学院接收了大批野心勃勃的中国年青专业人士。尽管中国出现了一些世界级的院校，但留学西方的热潮丝毫不见减弱。这些学生虽然一开始可能希望在西方成家立业，但现在他们中许多人一毕业就返回中国，以便学以致用。毕竟，全球最大、发展速度最快的市场之一就在他们家门口，他们又何必留在西方呢？
这造成了一种现象：西方正为培养中国现在和未来的商业领袖发挥着重大作用。但事实证明，这些商业领袖极欲利用他们新学到的技能，与西方竞争、而非协作。没有意识到这一点的西方院校，可能正为削弱自己所在国的竞争力推波助澜。
如何解决这个问题呢？拒绝培养中国最聪明、最优秀的人才，就像某些粗劣的教育保护主义范例一样？这当然不可取。相反，西方院校应设法确保所有学生——无论他们来自哪个国家——都养成一种胸怀世界的开放心态，摒弃狭隘的自卫心态。
中国不仅是媒体所描绘的工业大国，潜在地也是一个企业家大国。人们只有看到世界各地华商的想象力与努力，才能认识到，中国本土企业在国际市场上取得的进步，实际上是一种重大趋势的开端。当前的挑战是如何帮助有西方留学经历的中国企业家理解，西方未必是对手，也是一个资源丰富、可提供许多指导、机会众多的地方。
里昂高等商学院(EM Lyon)与百森商学院(BabsonCollege)和浙江大学合作推出的全球企业家课程，帮助来自世界各地的学生了解与掌握美国、欧洲和中国各不相同的市场与经营手法。如果成功的话，我们将培养出习惯于在国际团队中运作的企业家，他们将积极寻找国际合作伙伴和投资者。
这一做法的益处显而易见。根据世界银行(WB)去年对近4000家涉足国际市场的中国企业所做的调查，引入国际投资者，对企业在3年内从国内走向国际发挥了重要作用。
以这种方式与中国接触和交流，虽说是小举措，但意义重大，也许能够化解中国和西方之间迫在眉睫的经济战争。当然，这无法一蹴而就。将问题过度简单化也是错误的。中国的国情极其复杂，众多文化、政治和历史的影响因素让人眼花缭乱。但必须迈出第一步。我相信，只要有想象力，努力去做，商学院就能够发挥出重要作用，为找到解决方法尽一份力量。
帕特里斯?侯达尔(Patrice Houdayer)是法国里昂高等商学院(EMLyon)负责研究生课程的副院长
译者/杨远
One of the clearest messagesthe global downturn has delivered is that the balance of economic powerin the world is shifting. The west can no longer expect to preserve thedominance it has enjoyed for most of the modern era – the risingeconomic superpowers of the east, and particularly China, are puttingpaid to that idea in clear terms.
Some of the reasonsfor this are obvious – a more liberal attitude to business adopted bythe Chinese government, the globalisation of key industrial, commercialand financial markets, the failure in leadership at many leading banksand corporations. But I would also argue that the actions, or moreprecisely, the inaction, of some US and European business schools couldalso be playing a part in this trend.
In recent years,western business schools have played host to a large number of ambitiousyoung Chinese professionals. And despite the rise of world-classschools in China, the influx shows little sign of abating. But whilethese students may have initially sought to stay on and build a careerin the west, many now return to China as soon as they have graduated toput lessons learnt into practice. After all, why should they remain inthe west when one of the world's largest and fastest-developingmarkets is quite literally on their own doorstep?
As aconsequence of this, the west is playing a big part in developing thepresent and future generations of China's business leaders. But theevidence points to the fact that these are leaders with a strong focuson using their newly learned skills to compete, rather than work, withthe west. Without realising it, western schools may be helping toundermine the competitiveness of their host countries.
What can be done to tackle thisproblem? Refusing to train China's brightest and best, in some crassexample of educational protectionism, is of course not an option.Instead, schools in the west should be looking for ways to ensure thatall students, whatever their country of origin, are drawn into an openand global mindset, as opposed to a defensive and local one.
China is not just the industrial powerhouseportrayed in the media but also, potentially, an entrepreneurialpowerhouse. One only has to look at the imagination andcommitment of business people within the Chinese diaspora across theworld to realise that the progress that has already been made byindigenous companies in world markets is the beginning of something verybig indeed. The challenge is to help the Chinese entrepreneurs who passthrough western schools understand that the west need not be anopponent but a rich source of resources, guidance and opportunity.
At EM Lyon, in conjunction with Babson College andZhejiang University, the global entrepreneurship programme exposes ahighly diverse class of students to the varying markets and approachesto business in the US, Europe and China. If we succeed, we will produceentrepreneurs used to operating in international teams who will activelyseek international partners and investors.
The benefitsof such an approach are clear. According to a survey last year by theWorld Bank of nearly 4,000 Chinese companies operating in internationalmarkets, the involvement of international shareholders was cited asplaying a significant part in taking the business from domestic toglobal within a three-year period.
Drawing out andembracing China in this way could, in some small but significant way,help avoid the looming economic war between China and the west. Ofcourse this cannot be achieved overnight and it would be wrong toover-simplify the problem. China is a highly complex propositioninfluenced by a dizzying array of cultural, political and historicalfactors. But a start must be made and, with effort and imagination, Ibelieve the business school community can play a significant role indelivering the solution.
Patrice Houdayer isvice-president of graduate programmes at EM Lyon Business School, France