RSM’s Dean Steef van de Velde says that Sichuan province and its capital, Chengdu, play a pivotal role in the national development strategy of China. “The demand for management education in China is booming, and we see that Chinese universities and business schools have developed a strong interest in collaboration with international institutions.”
Growing reputation
“We are proud of our partnerships in China, which support management, leadership and economic development through our combined strengths in research and teaching”, says Dr Ying Zhang, associate dean for China business and relations at RSM. “Our growing reputation in China is rooted in our excellent research and our international programmes, and Chinese universities recognise our top rankings in Europe.”
Dean Van de Velde added that university education worldwide has become more open, and students now go both ways in exchange and study choices. “As a result, international business schools, especially those that depend heavily on tuition fees, have created stronger footprints in foreign markets than ever before,” he said. Van de Velde looks forward to working closely together with top Chinese universities for research, education programmes and industrial influence. “This offers RSM’s students and corporate partners a unique value proposition,” said the dean.
RSM China Office
RSM opened the RSM China Office in Chengdu at Western Business School, on the Guanghua Campus of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) in Chengdu on 14 June. “We chose SWUFE as the location of the RSM China Office so we can construct a communication platform for both business schools and benefiting bilateral research co-operation to enhance exchanges,” said RSM Dean Steef van de Velde. SWUFE’s Vice-president Dan Yang and RSM Dean Van de Velde signed the international partnership agreement.
The office will also serve as an information and recruitment centre for prospective students. “The co-operation will have an important influence on western growth and offer good opportunities for education and economy developments in Chengdu and the western area of China,” said Dean Van de Velde.
Case development and training
During the same week, RSM signed the Joint Case Development and Training Agreement with the College of Business of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (COB). The agreement initiates a co-operation between the two schools to apply multi-media technologies in case development, organise workshops about case writing, and develop teaching cases such as the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
“Both located in world-famous port cities and enjoying advantages in the core areas of logistics and financial services, the two schools will benefit from this co-operation and achieve a win-win situation,” said Professor Yuding Luo, Executive Dean of COB. RSM Dean Steef van de Velde described the co-operation as “cross-cultural, cross-boundary and cross-school,” and added that RSM chose COB at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics as its partner for this strategic co-operation because the school has a leading position in finance and economics education in China. “This is a great match with RSM’s position as a European top-tier business school, and furthering international development and education,” said the dean. The agreement was signed by Professor Yuding Luo, executive dean of COB and RSM’s Dean Van de Velde on 16 June 2015.
Global Institute of Supply Chain and Logistics
Another signing ceremony, on 17 June, marked the establishment of the Global Institute of Supply Chain and Logistics (GISCL). RSM and the School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) will join forces to combine their core strengths in transport infrastructure, and enhance research planning. In this way, RSM and BJTU aim to build an important think tank: the Institute for Government and Industry Enterprises. The Institute will position itself as an open and world-class research institute, bringing together the excellent scholars from BJTU and RSM, as well as first-class experts from all over the world. The objective is to look at global supply chain and logistics management, international logistics under China’s new economic situation and issues regarding cross-border E-commerce, big data and sustainable development.
World-class research institute
The Global Institute of Supply Chain and Logistics positions itself as ‘the open and world-class research institute’. Apart from the excellent scholars from BJTU and RSM, it will also bring together first-class experts from all over the world to aim at the research front of global supply chain and logistics management, international logistics under China’s new economic situation, cross-border E-commerce, big data, and sustainable development. It is dedicated to achieving research breakthroughs, enriching fundamental theories of supply chain and logistics, and promoting the practice development and theory innovation of logistics management. Guoyong Cao, Chairman of the BJTU’s University Council; RSM Dean Steef van de Velde; and Mingyu Zhang, Chairman of the School Council, School of Economics and Management at BJTU represented each collaborative institution when signing the co-operative agreement.
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is a top-tier European business school and ranked among the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM also has offices in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district and in Taipei, Taiwan. www.rsm.nl
For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@rsm.nl.
