Chinese students to get US business training

The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and Shanghai's Jiao Tong University (SJTU) will partner on a new program for SJTU's engineering students.

Under the pilot program that starts in July, four engineering students will study accounting concepts in China. Then they will enter a nine-month program at the Ross School in Ann Arbor with Ross students, exposing them to the culture of American learning and training that they can take back to China, said Brian Wu, an associate professor at the Ross School and faculty director of the school's China office.

At the end of the nine months, they will return to China for a three-month course that places them in multinational corporations for real-world learning, said Wu. When they complete the program, students will earn a masters in management from the Ross School.

"Because they are from one of the best engineering schools in China and our education is in business, this kind of cross-disciplinary training is most useful in helping them become managers for the new age," Wu told China Daily.

"Nowadays you see a lot of convergence of industries and competition, meaning that competition is not only coming from manufacturing or engineering, but intersection of business and engineering. Many ideas require solid understanding from both sides," he said.

Wu said that the program with the engineering students may eventually increase to 15 to 20 participants and both schools hope to have US students study in China in the future.

"As a global business school, partnerships such as this are key to providing a world-class business education and giving our students direct experience in the global economy," said Ross' dean Alison Davis-Blake on May 22 in Shanghai at a ceremony announcing the partnership.

"This new partnership will benefit Michigan Ross and Shanghai Jiao Tong University by broadening international engagement for our students and faculty and providing a unique, cross-disciplinary educational experience for the Joint Institute students to leverage their engineering experience with business fundamentals," she said.

Wu said that the schools hope that the program can create leaders from the students so they can better face competition within China as the country's economic reforms require more innovation and creativity.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com