Business schools see China as fertile ground for future managers

Business schools see China as fertile ground for future managers

The ongoing global economic crisis has not stopped China's management market from becoming a core battlefield for the world's top business schools.

A common trend in the United States is that business school applications rise as the economy falters. Westerners see a crisis period as a great time to invest in their educational background so that they may secure better jobs after the economic downturn.

But the situation has been the opposite in China for many years, as Chinese people usually invest more energy in earning money during an economic downturn to help themselves and their families to survive.

However, international business schools are not worried about the historical trend in China and continue to seek ways of entering the management education market in China, thanks to rising demand from executives to lead multinational operations in this country.

"The unfolding global economic crisis is posing many major challenges to Chinese firms which have traditionally relied on export-oriented, labor-intensive products with low labor costs as their chief competitive strength," said Liang Neng, EMBA director at the China Europe International Business School.

In the past 30 years since China's economic reform began, the success of Chinese firms has mainly ridden on the growth of the Chinese economy itself.

In the next 30 years, with the market environment becoming more competitive and open, the demand for management expertise will become much greater.

With the promise of even greater future growth, leading business schools all over the world are eying the Chinese market.

International business schools enter the domestic market in various ways from providing executive training programs to big-scale state enterprises to setting up cooperative programs with local schools. The competition is getting fiercer.