As a mark of how global the world of business schools has become, the appointment of John Quelch as vice president and dean of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai stands out. For a Chinese business school to attract one of America's top business academics and a former dean of London Business School is a substantial coup and a powerful message about the likely future of business schools.
British-born Professor Quelch is an expert on marketing whose case studies have sold 3.4 million copies. He spent 25 years as a professor and senior associate dean at Harvard Business School and is the author or co-author of 25 books. "I have been referred to as the global dean and it does state who I am in a way. With Harvard, London and elsewhere, I have had a tremendously diverse set of experiences," he notes.
CEIBS is now in its 17th year. Launched in 1994 as a nonprofit joint venture between the Chinese government and the European Commission, it was the first business school in mainland China to offer a full-time MBA, an Executive MBA and a portfolio of executive education programmes. Its MBA programmes are ranked in the top 20 worldwide. The CEIBS Executive MBA is the biggest of its kind in the world — with 740 graduates in 2010.
Professor Quelch draws parallels with the situation of CEIBS now and that of London Business School when he took over as dean in 1998. "The basic quality and value systems are in place, but there is a need to boost awareness. CEIBS has brought me in as someone who has spent time at the world's leading business schools to help accelerate its success," he summarises. "Actually, CEIBS is extraordinarily mature. It graduates more degree candidates than Harvard and its Executive MBA is a huge success." Practising what he persuasively teaches, Professor Quelch has distilled down the school's positioning to a simple phrase: "Chinese depth, global breadth. No other global business school can match our depth of knowledge about China and no other Chinese business school can match our global breadth."
As well as untapped opportunities in Africa, where China is investing heavily, the capacity for growth in the Chinese market is obvious. With more than 30,000 students on 184 MBA programmes, Chinese business schools are beginning to tap the massive potential of their domestic market. The growing global economic power of China is also likely to attract more foreign students to the country. John Quelch, the global dean, is likely to feel at home.
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