Top bbusiness school aims to reflect changing nature of world economics with diversity of courses

Leading European business school HEC Paris is keen to boost its presence in China by offering more and different dual-degree programs through partnerships with top Chinese universities, says its dean, Bernard Ramanantsoa.

HEC Paris is among the top European business schools now vigorously seeking to export their MBA and executive MBA diplomas abroad to benefit from opportunities in high-growth regions such as Asia and the Middle East.

"Our main object is not to simply enlarge our portfolio of agreements with more Chinese universities," Ramanantsoa says. "We prefer to deepen the relations we already have and to be able to offer different kinds of double degrees with existing partners."

HEC Paris has enjoyed a successful partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing for more than 10 years. The two schools have launched a double-degree MBA program and Master's in Finance.

In June, the two schools also started to offer an executive education program in the fashion and luxury industry.

HEC Paris also delivers EMBA degrees in China through partnership with Zhejiang University and two government bodies, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The school also works with Fudan University and China Europe International Business School in Shanghai on exchanges of MBA students.

"I am convinced that strategic partnerships between the best Chinese and Western schools deliver a lot of value for our students, executives and faculty," Ramanantsoa says.

"It builds a bridge between the East and the West and fosters innovation, with programs mixing different and complementary perspectives, cultures and experiences," he says.

Ramanantsoa notes that sharing the same vision of the world economically with the local partners and maintaining the ability to attract high-quality students are essential for its joint programs in China to work successfully.

Compared with business education in the United States, Ramanantsoa says that European schools tend to focus more on teaching the students how to cope with diversity.

"The main challenge for next generation of business leaders is to cope with diversity," he says. "For instance, Chinese consumers are not likely to behave the same as French ones or American ones."

Beyond China, HEC Paris has also engaged in EMBA programs in Qatar and Russia.

In 2010, the school established partnership with Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization, to deliver degree programs including EMBA and specialized master's, as well as open-enrolment programs and customized programs for individual companies in Doha.

In Russia, HEC Paris and St Petersburg State University jointly conduct EBMA programs, which allow students to earn a double degree, one from each school.

While looking to boost its international presence through setting up education facilities abroad and co-branding with foreign institutions, the school continues to increase in international diversity on its home campus.

Ramanantsoa says that HEC has stepped up the effort to promote its brand in China in order to attract top students despite the high cost of an international marketing campaign.

The number of MBA applications from China has been constantly growing over the past five years, reaching more than 300 applications a year, according to the school. Chinese applicants to HEC Paris mainly hold degrees in engineering, management and modern languages.

"Chinese applicants are particularly attracted by HEC's strong connections with the corporate world and the fact that our MBA program offers the broadest career opportunities in Europe," Ramanantsoa says.

"We expect Chinese students to bring their own experience, culture and vision of the world to the classroom," he adds.

Ramanantsoa says that maintaining a high ranking among the world's best business schools and improving the reputation of the school's alumni are important for the school to promote its brand internationally.

HEC Paris was ranked the top business school worldwide for its executive education programs by the Financial Times 2013 business school report.

Ramanantsoa says that HEC Paris has been constantly adapting its strategies and programs to cope with a new reality that is emerging from the financial crisis.

"We change a third of our courses each year," he says. "We put greater emphasis on issues such as financial regulation in our programs and add ethical courses in response to the fallout of the financial crisis."

lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 06/21/2013 page21)