More than half of the graduates at the University of Nottingham's campus in Ningbo went for further studies overseas. Provided to China Daily

UK University helps Chinese companies master the lessons of modern business management

When a globally renowned university sets up an overseas campus in China, it brings fresh academic talent, and new, innovative technology that can help China achieve sustainable growth, says Chris Rudd, the pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham in the UK.

The University of Nottingham set up an overseas campus in Ningbo city in Zhejiang province in 2004. Since then it has used its extensive local network and research facilities to help many Chinese companies move up the value chain, Rudd says.

One such example is the university's joint research project with the Chinese drinks giant Wahaha, to develop new products, packaging systems and electrical motors, and also provide training services for Wahaha employees so that they can catch up with Western competitors. The first stage of the five-year project began last year in China to make it more easily accessible for Wahaha.

"We are helping transform the company culture and making the company more international. Our endeavor is to transform Wahaha and make its products more acceptable to Western customers," Rudd says.

Another example of the university's efforts is the training it provides to Beijing Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd's employees on supply chain maximization and the method of securing European licenses for medicines developed in China.

The company employees undergo two weeks of training at the university's Ningbo campus. Successful candidates are sent to the UK for further training, he says.

"The model of optimizing value at each stage of the supply chain, from the manufacturer, through to wholesalers and hospitals, is essentially the same between the UK and China," Rudd says.

"But because a large proportion of pharmaceutical products in the UK is distributed through high street pharmacies whereas the primary means of distribution in China is through hospitals, we had to go through the learning process of understanding the Chinese context."

Luckily, the university's China connections have helped. "We have senior people from Chinese pharmaceutical companies who are our guest professors, and they provided us with a good understanding of how the pharmaceutical industry in China works," he says.

Over the years, the university has also developed business links with companies like automotive manufacturer Chang'an and FAW Group, electric locomotives maker CSR Corp Ltd, and aerospace company Aviation Industry Corporation of China, among others.

It has also worked closely with local governments in China. One recent example is an agreement with the Ningbo government on marine economy research, Rudd says.

"It is an exciting new development. The Ningbo-Zhoushan port is one of the largest in the world, so the possibility they have to use that to drive economic growth is huge," Rudd says.

The university and the Ningbo government have currently "agreed in principle" to invest in a joint center in Ningbo, focusing on research, technology transfer and commercialization.

The center will focus on several areas, including port handling and logistics, tourism, and new energy sources. "The center will also recruit new students and work on creating new commercial opportunities with local companies in Ningbo," Rudd says.

He says that the university's advantage in such projects in comparison with Chinese universities is its established research reputation and business links globally. "We're culturally more connected with industry and businesses."

In the marine economy, the university already works with insurance companies like Lloyd's Register, oil companies like BP and Shell, logistics companies like Maersk and many satellite technology companies experienced in developing GPS systems.

"For example, almost from the beginning, we'd be saying to the industry, 'We are working with this new fuel source from marine algae, what would be the price you'd expect to pay for the product'. So at the end of day, we end up with a product more likely to succeed commercially," he says.

Rudd, who has driven the university's business engagement strategy with China since becoming pro-vice-chancellor in 2008, is also a board member of the China Britain Business Council. In this role, he helps to lead trade delegations to assist British small and medium-sized enterprises access the Chinese market.

Rudd believes business engagements will become increasingly important to British universities as the British government continues to reduce its funding to universities, in a recent push to make universities more entrepreneurial.

"Public funding to universities will continue to be cut for a few more years. Many UK universities are looking to diversify, in all sorts of ways, and working with businesses is one approach. Recruiting students from overseas is another," he says.

But Rudd warns that business activities should not be at the expense of academic teaching. "We have to put the students at the center of everything. Why would we want to generate more resources? It's because we want to make our campus a more beautiful place, and provide better facilities for our staff and students," Rudd says.

He explains that revenue generated from contracts signed in China will be reinvested into the university's Ningbo campus, especially to enhance research facilities and fund new scholarships.

Currently, the university's campus in Ningbo has about 5,800 students and more than 300 academic staff. According to the university's statistics, 65 percent of Ningbo campus' graduates went for further studies at overseas universities, while the rest took up employment either in China or abroad.

Hai-Sui Yu, the pro-vice-chancellor, says that maintaining the quality of teaching is fundamental to the university's two international campuses. The second international campus of Ningbo was established in 2000 in Semenyih, Malaysia.

"We want to offer Chinese students the Nottingham experience in Ningbo," Yu says.

He says that the syllabus for the courses offered in the Ningbo campus is designed to resemble that of the home campus, and essays and assessments are marked to the same standards, although adjustments are sometimes made to include local internship opportunities.

The courses are taught in English, and structured in a way that encourages students to exercise critical thinking and problem solving through hands-on activities and teamwork, Yu says.

"We have had very good feedback from employers. They value the critical thinking skills and independence of our graduates."

The Ningbo campus was established as a joint venture between University of Nottingham and the private Chinese company Wanli education group.

Yu says that a certain percentage of the tuition fees received in Ningbo will be sent to the home campus to cover the cost of quality assessment, carried out by academics in Nottingham. The rest of the revenue is reinvested in the Ningbo campus.

As a testimonial to the Ningbo campus's research quality, it secured a license from the Chinese Ministry of Education to recruit PhD students in 2009, and has since admitted about 100 PhD students.

Yu says that going forward the Ningbo campus will seek to enhance its research quality through the recruitment of more PhD students and attract leading researchers to base their work there.

Another goal is to increase the percentage of international students at the Ningbo campus, from the current 10 percent to about 20 percent over the next few years, Yu says, explaining that such a change would help with classroom dynamics.

As the first British university to establish an overseas campus in China, Yu says his team often shares experiences with Western universities that are looking to expand into China in recent years.

Yu says that he would advise Western universities to think seriously before venturing into China. "If a university wants to go to a new country to set up a campus, it has to commit itself, not just financially but also for management time," he says.

"They have to be able to communicate with the local and national governments, and bring colleagues from China to the UK or US to understand the university's global vision, so that they too can share that vision. It's not easy, but they can learn from our experience," he says.

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/17/2013 page15)