MBA program offers students global experiences through classes in Shanghai and Oslo.

Since its establishment in 1996, the BI-Fudan MBA Program, organized by Fudan University's School of Management and the BI Norwegian Business School, has cultivated more than 2,000 Chinese and foreign professionals.

This year, the program celebrates its 20th anniversary in China.

"During the past 20 years, our students' aspirations have been dynamic and in parallel with global economic developments," said Benedicte Brogger, associate dean of the BI-Fudan MBA Program.

"Today, our most popular electives are courses that teach our MBA students how to work with ideas, wealth management and innovation."

The part-time program, which lasts two years, has most of its classes taught in Shanghai, though part of the program is also taught in Norway. The program also focuses on offering students a more international and innovative way of thinking.

The program was ranked sixth by the Financial Times among the world's top part-time MBA programs.

The best of both

One of the goals for the English-taught program is to teach students about capitalizing on different business cultures and making their own competitive advantages.

The program invites both international and Fudan professors to share their expertise, while students share their experiences with their peers to learn from each other.

The administrators of the program spend a great deal of time planning the classes because they are combining a wide breadth of experiences from various industries and disciplines.

According to a survey by the program's administration, the program's combination of Chinese and Nordic business cultures is greatly valued by the students.

The program is the most comprehensive academic collaboration between Norway and China and serves as an important bridge between the two countries. For over 20 years, the program has helped MBA students become successful in their international careers.

Improving capabilities

Over 90 percent of BI-Fudan MBA students work for large multinational businesses, and many Fortune 500 companies have sent employees to this program.

Three years after graduation, students see, on average, an 83-percent salary increase.

They come from a variety of industries and disciplines, but those from the healthcare, IT and the automotive sectors are highly represented.

"The students struggle with some of the same problems. Working in a multinational company, and exceeding their international managers' expectations by leading a group of people from various nations is challenging," said Xu Huizhong, executive director of the BI-Fudan MBA Program.

"In our program they come together and share their experiences and solve problems they meet together."

When asked why they chose to attend the program, 93.7 percent of the students in this year's class said "improving management capabilities" is their top priority.

"This program is about acquiring the right business skills, collaborating in groups and improving our knowledge," said a student from the program.

"It also gives us friends for life. It's not that the network is not important, it's just that sharing your experience with peers and learning from each other is the best way to make friends for life."

Truly international

It is not just the location of the classrooms that make for an invaluable international experience. It is also the program's mix of faculty.

More than 75 percent of the faculty comes from European countries such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway.

Both schools are committed to allocating the best professors for the program. Most of the Fudan and BI professors have been teaching in the program for more than 10 years.

Active alumni network

The program has its own alumni organization called Join & Share, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year.

It provides the alumni with both social and academic events, and includes several different clubs and subgroups based on the students' interests. There are over 2,000 alumni from the MBA program, many of whom have gone on to top business careers.

One of the most active groups is the IT-club, which organizes meetings about information technology. More relaxing, and certainly more social, is the wine club. Students can join and share their love of French, Italian or even the increasingly famous Shandong wine.

Entrepreneurial spirit

The Nordic Hub Partnership, BIFudan MBA's partnership program with Nordic companies in Shanghai, seeks to strengthen the interaction among students, businesses and the program's faculty. Most of the students seek to boost their careers within the companies they currently work for. Through the entrepreneurial network, students interested in startups can find a network of likeminded individuals.

Moving ahead

The strong relationship between Fudan University School of Management and the BI Norwegian Business School will continue to develop as they work to educate the top Chinese and foreign business professionals.

The need for such education will increase as China's economy continues to rely more and more on innovative companies with new technologies and challenges.

The need for business people with an international capability to lead and manage global teams from all over the world will grow stronger as more and more Chinese companies venture abroad.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/16/2016 page16)