Carlson Scholar·05 — CHEMBA03班 罗六九Simon
时间过得很快，转眼CHEMBA毕业16年了，庆幸的是我们班属于老三届的最后一个班级CHEMBA III，现在回想起来从当时入学到毕业的16个月的学习时光，都成为了美好的回忆，有三个小故事记忆犹新。
Simon Luo 罗六九 CHEMBA III
我是个典型的理科男，毕业后就进了宝洁公司担任生产经理，2000年由于新的工作任命放弃了岭院的IMBA报考，但心中一直有个系统化学习商科的夙愿。2003年年中开始寻找一个好的EMBA项目，当时在广州见了上海交通大学安泰管理学院王院长，那时上海交大在广州开了一个中文EMBA班，王院长面试我后对我说如果我报读，可以给予奖学金。由于我在外企工作，更希望有个原汁原味的MBA课程，后来自己在网站找到了CHEMBA项目。印象最深刻的是开学前某天晚上10：30左右，项目主任安排我去中国大酒店大堂等Mahmood Zaidi教授面试，见面才知道老教授已70高龄了，当时Mahmood问我为什么想读这个项目，我就说我想读一个美国MBA课程，助力自己在外企的职业发展，而CHEMBA项目正是当时华南乃至中国最好的英文EMBA。我们交谈了半个多小时，我被Malmood教授的敬业精神和他对CHEMBA项目的关爱深深打动，回来就决定放弃上海交大的offer，报读中西合璧，蕴含全球智慧的CHEMBA项目。
第二件事情很有意思就是Module 2 Financial Management，当时有个英国教授，讲财务报表用的是英式格式，而课本上是美式，对于我这个彻底的门外汉来说，上课一头雾水，就像听天书，我心里想，当时的学费25.8万元，100%自费，上课打个一分钟盹儿就没了10元，我哪受得了啊！某个周六上午，我还是听不懂，那时受美企文化影响，课堂上就直接站起来挑战这位教授，说我听不懂，请改为美式格式教我们。第二天教授继续授课，这次真的改回了美式报表，我很高兴，课间休息走到讲台准备感谢教授，看到他很惶恐地看着我以为我又来挑战他，我上前对他说”Thank you professor, finally I can understand what you taught now”. 之后我们握手相视一笑。这门最难读的课程我居然拿到了A！
最后一个故事就是Virtual Team Project，我被分配到来自维也纳的VEMBA五人组，其他组员背景都是欧洲不同国家，当时通讯工具仅有Skype，虚拟项目都是电话会议，从未见面。欧洲同学对中国的发展充满好奇，最后大家决定立项“Market Strategy - BestBuy Entry to China”（BestBuy百思买全球总部在Minneapolis）。项目中我负责Supply Chain &Distribution模块。当时项目组推测BestBuy会收购上海永乐电器而进入中国市场，我就利用周末跑了好多家在广州的永乐商店，并顺利完成了我负责的模块。2005年5月我们都到了明大参加International Residency, 虚拟项目组6个人终于见了面，奋战两个昼夜完成了各模块的ppt合并，在presentation过程中，我们分工明确，演讲激情四射，我们的Virtual Team Project获得了当年最高评分项目之一。毕业两年后， BestBuy收购了江苏五星电器进入了中国，虽然没有选择上海永乐电器，但我们的项目逻辑获得了很好的验证，现在想起来甚是欣慰。
毕业后，我经历了几家公司，有外企和民企，负责端到端供应链管理，包括采购、计划、生产、物流和客服等。读CHEMBA最大的收获是有了系统化的思维和企业家商业逻辑，在外企开拓了自己的全球化思维和视野，在民企负责供应链管理更多是从全局考虑，从战略、运营、系统和组织层面不断创新和突破自我。在CHEMBA结识了一群非常优秀的校友，收获了良师益友，乃是人生另一大宝贵财富。
今年是CHEMBA项目成立20周年，我衷心祝福CHEMBA项目越办越好，成为中国英文EMBA项目的标杆，欢迎国内外的师弟师妹们来报考CHEMBA项目，一个真正值得拥有的高性价比的EMBA项目！
Sweet memories from CHEMBA study
Time flies. Graduated from CHEMBA since 16 years ago, the 16-month study in CHEMBA has always recalled my sweet memories. Three little stories have remained fresh in my memory for years and I would like to share here with you.
With a science background, I started my career right after graduation as a production manager in P&G and I’ve always been dreaming for systematic study in business management. In addition, my career at multinational company prompted me to select an authentic EMBA program. I was deeply impressed by Professor Madmood Zaidi to make the choice of CHEMBA over the EMBA program of SJTU, primarily for the reason that CHEMBA truly integrates Eastern and Western management wisdom and empowers us with global vision.
During my CHEMBA study, a British professor, who taught Module 2 Financial Management, stumped me using British format while interpreting financial statement, nevertheless our textbooks adopted the American form. On a Saturday morning when I still couldn’t understand, influenced by American company culture, I stood up right away and challenged the professor directly. I explained that I couldn’t understand what the professor instructed and asked him to convert to American format. To my surprise, the professor switched to the American format the other day! I was thrilled, wanting to express my gratitude towards the professor during class break. Noticing his terrified face fearing me to challenge him again, I step forward, ”Thank you professor, finally I can understand what you taught just now”. We shook hands, making a smile eyes to eyes. Surprisingly, I got an A for the subject that baffled memost!
Last but not least, there was another memorable story taking place during Virtual Team Project. I was assigned to a VEMBA group of five. Except for myself from China, all the other team members were from different European countries. We could only communicate via Skype to hold project team meetings and never got to meet each other face-to-face. All European students were curious about China's development. Eventually we set up the project “Market Strategy - BestBuy Entry to China”, and I was assigned to lead the module of Supply Chain & Distribution. At that time, our groups peculated that BestBuy would take over Shanghai Yolo Electronics to enter into China market. I visited many Yolo stores in Guangzhou at weekends and successfully completed the module I was responsible for. In May 2005, we finally met each other on campus while participating in the International Residency in Minneapolis. We worked together for two days and nights to complete the PPT integration of each module. During the group presentation, our team set clear roles and responsibilities and made a passionate and fantastic speech. With our joint efforts and great team work, our project won one of the highest scores among all virtual teams! In May 2006, BestBuy acquired Jiangsu Fivestar Electronics and its market entry strategy was very close to what we had projected in the virtual team project.
After graduation from CHEMBA, I have worked in several other companies including multinationals and private sector as the head of supply chain management. What I gained most from CHEMBA is the systematic thinking and entrepreneurial business logic which really add value to my day to day leadership and management. Additionally, I got acquainted with a bunch of excellent alumni, which has been another invaluable asset of my life.
At the 20th anniversary of CHEMBA, I want to express my most sincere wishes to CHEMBA, hoping for it to become the best and the benchmark of EMBA programin China delivered in English. Welcome to join CHEMBA, a most valuable EMBA program that you should really possess!
