HBS Seeks Deeper Ties with China
CHINA INITIATIVE: HBS professor emeritus Warren McFarlan speaks with Jessie Chen (MBA ’99) and Rodney Smith (MBA ’99) before his presentation at the Harvard Center Shanghai.
Photo by Stephanie Mitchell/ Harvard University News Office
HBS professor emeritus Warren McFarlan, a longtime advocate of closer academic ties with China, appreciates more deeply than most the value of the School’s expanding slate of activities in the region, now enhanced by the Harvard Center Shanghai. Following the day-long “Harvard and China” research symposium, which marked the official opening of the center on March 18, McFarlan met the next morning with some 120 HBS alumni to give them an overview of the School’s growing initiative in China.
“There has been an explosion of interest in China’s economic development,” said McFarlan after returning to campus. “Whether it’s faculty doing research or students doing field-based work during the January Term, we see tremendous opportunity in deepening our understanding of China’s businesses and business practices.”Added McFarlan: “The center dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for HBS faculty to do case development and research in China.”
Thirty HBS faculty members will teach in nearly a dozen Executive Education programs at the center this year. Krishna Palepu, chair of the Global CEO Program for China (offered in partnership with the China Europe International Business School and IESE Business School), noted, “These programs require that we sharpen our understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing Chinese managers — not only because we need to write relevant cases to teach, but also because the participants test our thinking in real-time.”
The Harvard Center Shanghai, located in the city’s booming Pudong district (see “The Scene”), also represents an important next stage in Harvard’s long engagement in Asia. While the center’s creation was spearheaded by HBS and the Harvard China Fund, it is a resource for all Harvard faculty and students.
The research symposium, hosted by Harvard President Drew Faust, featured faculty speakers from across the University. Some 300 alumni and friends and more than a dozen Chinese dignitaries attended.
—To view symposium highlights, visit http://shanghaicenter.harvard.edu/event/.
