Institute aims to bridge two worlds
With business in China booming, it's only natural that the country is linked to one of the world's top business schools.
The Europe China Institute (ECI), a leading powerhouse of Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands, has developed leading business talents such as Neelie Kroes, European Union Commissioner for Competition; Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the International Olympics Commission's coordinating commission for the Beijing Olympics and Robert Polet, chairman and CEO of Gucci.
"ECI is a place where science and day-to-day practice meet each other, a place of engagement, knowledge, mutual understanding and advantage," says Annette Nijs, managing director of ECI of Nyenrode Business University.
A former member of the Dutch Parliament and Dutch Cabinet Minister for Education, Culture and Science, she continues: "The combination of a high quality Chinese network with the three activities of the institute (education, research, consultancy and public opinion leadership) make it very unique."
As one of the founder of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, Nyenrode has had long-standing interest in China. Now it aims to be the leading source of knowledge on the development, opportunities and challenges in the economic and political relationship between Europe and China.
"Our education and research programs provide future European and Chinese managers and entrepreneurs with a deeper understanding of the business environment, including general management competencies to successfully operate at 'the other end of the world'," she notes.
The Nyenrode estate itself offers a unique atmosphere. Playing a leading role in education and entrepreneurship worldwide, it still retains the quaint culture of its founding country.
Nestled in a typically Dutch landscape, it combines the allure of olden times (with a castle in the complex) and its long tradition of education.
Founded in 1946, it was the first business school to be financed by the (Netherlands) business community.
"In setting up the school, the founding fathers meant to realize an entirely new concept, to enrich the Dutch educational scene with an institution capable of producing talented and internationally oriented people, to help rebuild the national post-war economy."
Today, Nyenrode Business University aims to achieve a course structure for both students and executives in whom the transfer of knowledge, education, the development of one's own initiative and imagination are carefully combined and balanced.
At the university, everything revolves around transferring and sharing knowledge, meeting people, reflection and looking forward.
"Europe has become China's second trade partner and vice versa. In Europe, the Netherlands has, after Germany, the second highest trade volume with China," Nijs says.
The activities of multinationals, medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs from Europe and other parts of the world have gradually extended from trade to outsourcing to setting up operations in China.
"At the same time, the need for more European-style management professionals is increasing because more and more Chinese companies are going to Europe as opposed or in addition to the United States."
"As a macro economist, I have been a so-called China watcher since 1998. I am fascinated by the growth of China," she says.
"European managers in China are experiencing the growth and change in China first hand. That is an opportunity of a lifetime and why the link provided by ECI is so special."
(Shanghai Start 09/28/2007 page2)
