Schulich School of Business

The Kellogg-Schulich Worldwide Classroom: Hong Kong

In today's global economy, knowledge and experience of international business are essential. A compulsory component of the Kellogg-Schulich EMBA is the global electives program, where students have the exciting opportunity to study abroad, network with students from around the world and participate in the optional company visits and sightseeing activities many of the schools offer. In the coming weeks, we will provide you with a closer look at the international opportunities that await Kellogg-Schulich EMBA students through the global electives program.

This week, we are profiling Jean-Marc Racicot and his experience at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.

Jean-Marc Racicot is the Director, Category Development, for Energizer Canada. He has worked as an employee of the company for seven years. Interested in seeing how the Asian side of Energizer's operations worked, Marc decided to attend the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, China to complete the global electives component of his Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program.

"I chose to attend HKUST for my global electives not only because I wanted to visit Asia for the first time, but also because Energizer does a lot of business there," said Marc. "China is growing at a fascinating pace right now, about eight per cent each year, and requires a big engine to work. I wanted to explore the differences between their business market and our own."

In December 2008, approximately 125 students from Kellogg and its partner schools journeyed to China to attend HKUST. The group included Marc and 30 other students from the Kellogg-Schulich Class of '09 (KS07). The international live-in module at HKUST is one of the most popular global electives for Kellogg-Schulich EMBA students. Students are taught by world-class professors from HKUST and classmates include students from the host school, some of the best and brightest of Asia's managerial and entrepreneurial talent, as well as students from Kellogg and its partner schools.

During the ten-day program, the two courses Marc took at HKUST were Business Strategies in the Asia Pacific Region, taught by Professor Larry Franklin, Adjunct Professor of Management, Finance and Business Law and Understanding (Asian) Consumers, taught by Dr. Jaideep Sengupta, Associate Professor of Marketing.

"These courses taught us how understand marketing media and consumer triggers and how to identify the type of marketing that resonates with consumers based on the product," recalled Marc. "And some of the casework these professors presented was the best I've ever seen. Professor Franklin develops his casework from his own experiences in the business world. He has been involved in a dozen major Asian projects. Sharing his experiences with the class, he taught us to filter what you should focus on and what you don't need to worry about."

Many of the students enrolled at HKUST fly in for classes from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Moscow, China, Singapore, Germany and even the United States. In his Understanding (Asian) Consumers course, one of the group assignments Marc had to complete was a media and marketing strategy project. The team members in his group included three students from Hong Kong, two from Germany and another Canadian.

"My classmates at HKUST had international experience living and working in various markets, especially in Asia and Europe," said Marc. "Their understanding and knowledge of international markets and their consumers were very insightful. Their experience and personal knowledge added many different global perspectives to both classes. They taught me to look at problems and issues from a viewpoint different from the North American perspective."

Company visits are one of the optional activities organized for students attending HKUST. The purpose of the visits is to ‘bring to life' the ideas and lessons taught in their classes. While he was at HKUST, Marc did not waste the opportunity to participate in a two-day excursion to the city of Shenzhen to see firsthand how business is conducted in one of China's Special Economic Zones (SEZ).

The one-time fishing village of Shenzhen is less than one hour from the heart of Hong Kong. It was selected in 1979 to be the first SEZ in China and is today arguably one of the most successful. The economy of Shenzhen has more liberal economic laws than the rest of China and has grown rapidly as a result of more than US$30 billion in foreign investments. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with estimates of one factory opening every minute.

"Fifteen years ago, Shenzhen was a village of about 1000 people. Today, the population exceeds 13 million," Marc explained. "Visiting Shenzhen, you start understanding the level at which this country functions at. Considering the size of the country and the amount of people in it, you realize that China, when it decides to do something - whether build a plant, a road, a building or a city - can accomplish almost anything."

Students went on three company visits in Shenzhen. First, Marc had the opportunity to see how Energizer operations work in Asia, visiting the world's largest Energizer flashlight industrial unit.
The second visit was to ZTE Corporation, a company that is quickly expanding China's telecommunications infrastructure and is one of the first Chinese telecom equipment providers to pursue business in overseas markets. Marc said this company visit "illustrated the unprecedented speed that China in general is developing and building its technology infrastructure." And the last company visit was to Mission Hill Golf Club, where Marc says they aim to "do it big, so that no one can do it bigger." Spread out over 15 square kilometres, the $625 million development has 12 golf courses, each one designed by a famous golfer. According to Marc, the size and scope of the facilities demonstrates that "with business in China, anything is possible."

"Although the ten days I spent in Hong Kong was a short amount of time, it had a big impact," said Marc. "It sparked an interest in Asian business practices that I would like to learn more about. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to attend HKUST for my global electives. Someday I hope to find a way to head back there!"