The RBS International Advisory Committee 2013 Annual Meeting is held in Beijing

April 12-13, 2013, the RBS International Advisory Committee 2013 Annual Meeting was held in Beijing.

During the meeting, term of office of IAC members has been completed. Prof. Yuan Baohua, director of the 1st International Advisory Committee, no longer holds this position due to physical reasons. Upon his agreement, Prof. Yuan will serve as the honorary director of the 2nd International Advisory Committee. He also recommends Prof. Ji Baocheng and RUC President Chen Yulu to be the director and deputy director of RBS IAC. The Committee is now augmented with a total of 28 members. RUC Vice President and RBS Dean Prof. Yi Zhihong awarded Letters of Appointment to each member. The annual meeting was hosted by Prof. Ji Baocheng.

Firstly, RBS Dean Prof. Yi Zhihong delivered a speech titled New Start, New Journey in which she introduced the School’s major achievements in 2012: our Level 1 Discipline of Business Management  ranked the first in the recent discipline evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Education, official accreditation awarded by AACSB International, joining founding member of the Global Network of Advanced Management led by Yale School of Management which holds 23 top business schools, realizing in advance the goal of developing into the top business school fulfillment of the 2015 strategic objective of “become a top Chinese business school with international perspective”. Dean Yi informed the members of the School’s goals and strategies for the future, including promoting the School’s international visibility and influence and building one of the most respected business school in the world within 7 to 10 years. . She also stressed the School’s priorities for 2013, such as faculty team building, , case bank development and brand promotion.

RBS’ Associate Deans, Prof. Huang Jiangming, Mao Jiye, and Song Hua, also gave respective presentations to the attending members, including the School’s brand promotion, faculty team and research output enhancement, case center development.

IAC members fully acknowledged the outstanding accomplishments the School has achieved in 2012, discussed the School’s future strategic objectives and priorities, and proposed many constructive suggestions. They have placed high hopes for the School’s future development, including its effort to enhance its internationalization and goal to become a world-class business school.

In the end, IAC director Prof. Ji Baocheng and deputy director President Chen Yulu summed up the meeting respectively.

Prof. Ji Baocheng pointed out that the committee members have great expectations for RBS, hoping to see a world-class business school with both international perspective and Chinese characteristics., Prof. Ji put forward valuable suggestions in a number of domains, such as talent education, research quality and facility enhancement.. In regard to faculty team building, RBS should attachment importance to not only recruitment but cultivation and assessment of high-profile talents. RBS should strive to attract talent trained overseas and scholars from overseas institutions, and further strengthen joint programs. In respect of facility construction, sufficient funding should be allocated to RBS. Also, in regard to  the School’s branding, Prof. Ji said quality is the kernel of a School’s reputation and publicity is very important. Lastly, Prof. Ji suggested that case development should play a larger role in talent cultivation. Cases selected should have distinct characteristics of their own and involve both Chinese businesses and multinational corporations.

The development of RBS is on the basis of a cadre of talents and RUC’s multi-disciplinary advantages and cultural construction is central to its growth. Cultural construction concerns cultural identity, cultural consciousness and cultural confidence. Chinese culture and the contemporary practices are the most important elements of Chinese characteristics.  With  China being a roaring economic engine, , business schools, particularly RBS, are expected to play a major role in the economic development.  RBS’ exceptional accomplishments during the recent years have been widely acknowledged. However, the School still has a few gaps to close, compared to the leading business schools in the world, which require our crisis awareness and vigilance against hardships.

President Chen Yulu congratulated RBS on its major progress of 2012 in three areas, which are discipline ranking, AACSB accreditation and GNAM membership. The University will provide more support for RBS based on the constructive suggestions from the IAC members. . President Chen  summarized fourpoints as follows.

Faculty Team Building, Introduction of High Level Scholars and Talent Cultivation: Although RBS has already made great progress in building a strong faculty team, introducing more high level talents is now a very pressing issue that requires prompt actions. The University will allocate sufficient financial support to RBS, so as to push forward the School’s strategic talent team building.

Physical Facilities Construction: it is very likely that the construction of the new campus in Tongzhou District and the new building to the north of the current campus will be carried out at the same time. During the construction period, the University will make proper adjustment and measures for RBS so as to ensure a smooth transition. By 2016, the physical facilities of RBS will be overall upgraded.

RBS’Brand Promotion: RBS’ initiatives to promote its brand, particularly in the international arena, are consistent with the University’s goals. In the University’s 2011-2020 development plans, branding is also a significant strategic priority, including the promotion of RBS. Based on the development of branding promotion of business schools in the world, it is believed that RBS will take the leading role in advancing the core values of China’s management education and management model of the Chinese style.

Case Bank Development:  RBS should devote more efforts to introduce top level scholars with high reputation, explores its time-honored heritage in China’s management education, and accumulate experience and wisdom from practitioners and policy makers of the frontline. Through establishment of the case center and other channels, RBS is able to summarize the good thoughts and ideas based on China’s own business practices. One of major tasks for RBS is to select cases that are distinct from those of other universities or other countries.