The China Project

Sustained contact with University Business schools in mainland China for our department of Management probably began in 1999 when Malcolm Cone visited a number of Universities there: Jilin University north east of Beijing;. CIEBS school of international Business, Shanghai; Huazhong University in Wuhan in south central China.

Since then, strong research links have been established at Huazhong by Malcolm Cone and strong teaching links by André Everett, Graham Elkin and Liz Hall. In addition a number of management student have travelled to Wuhan to teach English on the Huazhong Universities summer school program and two Otago management students have carried out research there (Dan Lees and Jesse Becker).

In 2004 both André and Malcolm have been in China, André to present a conference paper in Bejing at an international conference on management education in China. Whilst there André visited Jilin University in Changchung in Jilin province to promote Management department links and the AI and taught MBA classes for the Executive development team of Huazhong University School of Management in Guandong province, South East China. Andre has been able to act as facilitator of international networking by arranging for a number of scholars from North America and Europe to teach in the executive program in Guandong and Shenzhen.

Malcolm, as part of the network development associated with the establishment of the Asia Institute, visited Keio University in Tokyo, Yonsei University in Seoul, a Bejing based partner in the AI network David Mahon of Mahon Investments, Huazhong University in Wuhan and Xian Jiatong University in Xian (considered by the Dean of the Huazhong school of Business to be the best in China). In each of these Malcolm meet with senior management academics with the goal of building the idea of a network of management researchers in the Asia Pacific (with its base in the Management department at Otago).

The response has been very good with Huazhong's Professor of Strategic management Dr Zhilong Tian accepting the position of visiting scholar and active research partner in the AI team. The AI network has been given a further boost, in both Seoul and Xian, researchers have indicated their willingness to become involved, this given material evidence by the offer to provide research facilities and assistance with accommodation to any affiliated AI researcher who is visiting either Seoul, Xian, Wuhan or Changchung.

The fresh evidence of the timeliness of these developments can be seen in the research contract recently signed between the AI and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to carry out research in China and New Zealand to assess the success strategies of NZ companies exporting to or manufacturing in China.

The project is laid out in four phases one of which has been completed with phase two about to begin with the visit of Prof Tian in late July. During his visit he will be accompanying members of the Dunedin research team in a series of company visits to NZ food and beverage exporters to China in the food sectors of dairy, meat, seafood, wine and fruit. Companies such as PPCS, Alliance, Fonterra, Turners and Growers/Enza, Villa Maria, Sealords - plus a range of smaller China players have agreed to participate.

As a result of this project and the AI's rising profile in NZ Malcolm has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the conference in Auckland in September to build public awareness of the impending free trade negotiation with China later this year.