A vibrant mix of EMBA students commuting to Hong Kong worth it for this Beijing-based professional

Twice a month, Beijing-based Chris Pelyk checks his notes, grabs a bag and heads to the airport for his regular Friday flight to Hong Kong. What lies ahead are two days of intense, high-powered business discussions.

He will be locking horns with international bankers, challenging the views of IT experts, querying the proposals of marketing directors, and explaining to gung-ho entrepreneurs why various plans for mainland expansion will or won't work.

Early on Monday, he dashes for a return flight to Beijing. No deals have been signed, no investment made, but he is reinvigorated, buzzing with new ideas, and ready to tackle whatever the week ahead brings.

“I have a pretty good routine down now,” said Mr Pleky, whose version of a weekend gateway since August last year has been to attend EMBA classes and study-group sessions a t the Richard Ivey School of Business in Hong Kong.

“I pick my favorite seat on the plane and spend the next three hours studying a couple of cases and reviewing articles. I am traveling but learning.” By Saturday morning, he is al set to debate the pros and cons of HR strategies or financing, sales campaigns and software- in fact anything that a typically complex case drawn from the modern business world is likely to throw up.

Mr Pleky knew at the outset that long-distance commuting would entail special commitment and extra expense. However, when relocating to Beijing for work reasons, he had been obliged to turn down a place on the Ivey programme in his native Canada, so he was ready to move mountains no to miss out again.

For him, the programme offered distinct advantages. Foremost among them were the case-study method of teaching and the diversity of the students. His class of 42 includes about 12 nationalities, with a vibrant mix of people form Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. In terms of background and professional, experience they cover a similarly wide spectrum, representing sectors as diverse as logistics, banking, high-end retail and manufacturing.

“The diversity comes out in their different take on things, the contrasting ideas on how to tackle problems, and in the discussions on how their different companies operate,” Mr Pleky said. “Everyone is outspoken and really on top of their game, so there are some great comments. When that happens, it really makes you think, and I find there is always something new to take back to my work [as retail leasing director for the leading real estate developer Soho China].”

Mr Pleky is mainly finding retailers to let space in a huge new pedestrian-only shopping street just south of Tiananmen Square. It will recreate the style and look of Beijing of around 100 years ago, but with modern architectural elements, and will have a dedicated tramline running the length of the street.

The project is a joint venture with the government, and there is a push to open at least part of it by early August, just before Olympics.

“We own the buildings, the government owns the street,” he said. “It will be geared to tourist and mid to high -level shoppers.” Although nominally responsible for leasing, Mr Pleky, as the only non-Chinese working in his division of the company, gets pulled into meetings with local engineers, prospective foreign clients, finance heavyweights and senior officials.

For this, he needs expertise not just about the intricacies of international business, but also in interpreting cultural sensitivities and understanding alternative approaches.

“Taking this job was a risk, but it gives me a real insight into how a Chinese company works,” he said. “I would never get that in a multinational, where the thinking coming down from the top is still usually either European or American.”

He said the range of opinions expressed in the Ivey course ensured that he never fell into the trap of considering a problem from just one perspective.

“I always compare and can see that some things won't work in China. And because our group is so diverse in age, background and types of experience, there is always someone ready to speak up and point out a possible way around what seem to be problems or restrictions.” In his seven=person study group, Mr Pleky has found that the discussion can sometimes switch from English to Chinese for a few sentences if someone has trouble getting to grips with certain key points.

“That's fine,” he said. “It's what happens in most business environments in Asia, and it just reminds me how international the course is.”

If, for whatever reason, he is not in town for mid-week study sessions, he takes part via teleconference call. “As the ‘outsider' on those occasions, I try to contribute a little more and to have something to say about all cases,” he said.

Realistic scenarios help build broader understanding

Like many Hong Kong executives, Juliana Lam has become used to a hectic travel schedule which keeps her constantly on the go. As assistant general manager of glove manufacturer Austins Marmon, one week she might be in New York seeing a major department store buyer, the next checking on production in a factory in Northern China. The following month, it could be a sales swing through Europe or contract negotiations with a prospective partner in Sri Lanka.

But amid all these demands, Ms Lam has one priority when organizing each trip- to be back home in time for her Ivey EMBA classes every second weekend.

Soon after starting the programme last August, she realized that any session missed was an opportunity wasted. It would always be possible to catch up on reading material or set texts later, but not to replay the free-flowing class discussions that analyzed case studies, challenged accepted theories, and forced each student to examine the wider repercussions of particular business decisions.

“There are so many different ways of looking at problems,” Ms Lam said. “Before, I was only seeing things from the commercial side. I didn't have a clue about some of the terms the financial guys were using, or might have said IT was just a tool.” Now, through questioning classmates who work in those fields and having to justify her own viewpoint or ideas when quizzed by professors, she is seeing how the management jigsaw pieces fit together.

“I am gaining practical benefits from the course, but also a lot of intangibles,” she said. “It is definitely helping me to understand things in a different manner. And because all the scenario are realistic, you really have to think about what is happening in your company and what is going on in the world.”

“She added that, when discussing cases, some students might express an opinion or suggest a strategy that initially seemed a bit extreme. For example, they might recommend firing the board, or throwing vast amounts of extra cash at a lackluster marketing campaign in the hope of turning it around.

“But the good thing is you get the whole class reacting,” Ma Lam said. “We have a lot of people with different cultural backgrounds, and they all have their own point of view. We're not shy at all, and the willingness among the students to share their own experiences really helps in understanding all the different angles.”

SCMP
1 st April, 2008