The China Lab projects were officially kick-started during the Join week from 13 to 20 Jan 2014. This year, there are 4 projects each mentored by faculty mentor Prof Tzeng Cheng Hua. The participating corporations are precision engineering company Giansun Group, food products company Chia Tai Group, online tutoring group VIPABC, and paper manufacturer Ascend Household Paper. Each of the team met the respective company for the first time during the week. The kick-off meetings were crucial for the success of the projects. Besides introducing the representatives from each side, the main objectives of the meetings were to understand the project requirements and to agree on the scope of the project.
Project 1 – Giansun Group
On 13 Jan 2014, the team of Giansun Project of Fudan-MIT China Lab held their kick-off meeting with their client in Zhouzhuang Town, Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province.
During the 2-hours trip from Fudan to Giansun, with Ms Yu Qi as the observer, the project mentor Prof Tzeng Cheng Hua led a dynamic brainstorming with Chandler Liu and Marissa Ma, two members of the consulting team, from which they further developed the basic scope for the client.
Mr Gu Yong Jiu, general manager of Jiangyin Giansun Precision Components Co. Ltd, along with his secretary Ms Zhou, technical manager Mr Pi and quality manager Mr Kong, gave the Fudan Team a warm welcome.
After the introduction, the team heard Mr Gu’s presentation on the basic information of Giansun. After that, an intensive discussion took place, revealing more details about the company and the client’s concerns. The process was smooth, professional and hit the spot.
After the discussion, the Giansun crew took Fudan team for an on-site tour around the workshop, office and recreational facilities for employees of the company. The physical infrastructure was very impressive.
The whole trip was very rewarding and laid a steady first milestone for the future cooperation between Fudan and Giansun. Both Fudan and Giansun are look forward eagerly to further interactions regarding the project in the future.
Project 2 – Chia Tai Group
On 15 Jan 2014, the Chia Tai team comprising Hui Zhu and Xin Yao, together with our faculty mentor Prof Tzeng, held a video conference with senior executive managers of Chia Tai Group, which is headquartered in Beijing. Chia Tai Group is a multinational food product company with a Thai parent, and a long history in China since 1979. In China itself, Chia Tai had invested over USD 6 billion of capital since its founding, established over 200 subsidiaries, employed over 80000 employees, and have annual revenue of over RMB 50 billion. This project involves the marketing strategy of new products that Chia Tai is preparing to introduce to the Chinese market. Right from the start, it seemed like this would be a very challenging project, as the new business lines are in the very initial stage of development, where almost all strategic aspects including the target market, target clientele, the product details, pricing and distribution channels are all not decided. It is thus the team’s job to provide a comprehensive strategy with the objective of launching the product successfully and achieving the volume of sales that Chia Tai expects. The kick-off meeting proved to be intensive as the team and the representatives of Chia Tai Group exchanged ideas and questions on the project; indeed, the team had expected nothing less. After about an hour and a half, greater clarity over the scope of the project was achieved, the requirements for the project were agreed, and the meeting concluded satisfactorily. Having acquired the necessary information and clarity regarding the project, the team could finally paint a clearer path towards the completion of the project, and are now all ready to progress to the next steps!
Project 3 – VIPABC/Tutor Group
During the Join week from 13 to 20 Jan 2014, all China Lab teams held kick-off meetings with participating companies, one after another. Before each meeting, Prof Tzeng always had brainstorming sessions to check if team members have collected enough information about the target company, and to inspire more questions that the team need to ask both to themselves and to companies. In addition, each team which finished the kick-off meeting will share some suggestions with subsequent teams, to enhance the process and interaction with companies.
Prof Tzeng arranged a brain storming session with Kathy Pan and Yang Yang on 15 Jan 2014, one day ahead of our kick-off meeting with Tutor, during which the team consolidated all information they had and clarified key questions that they needed to confirm with Tutor the next day. The brainstorming was continued in the taxi as they got to Tutor's office, to check if we have thought further on what we discussed on the previous day.
Nervous and excited, the team met Tutor's CEO Eric Yang, who firstly introduced the background, operating condition, customer distribution, sales procedure and expectation of the team. During the introduction, Prof Tzeng and team members also interacted intensively with Eric Yang with follow-up questions to gain further insight on Tutor. The team was impressed by the achievements of Tutor, including its unique service, principle of education, rapid development and its ambition. At the same time, they also were quite excited to be involved in a unique business model like Tutor’s, and to play a part in its next phase of growth.
What Tutor want from the team, is to design a brand new sales model that is totally separate and distinct from its TRS (real time real person sales), and to make Tutor more scalable through e-commerce. In truth, this is a really challenging target and tough requirement. But the team is confident that within 5 months of collaboration with Tutor, Prof Tzeng and MIT members, they could contribute a qualified proposal, which could help Tutor step closer to its target.
Project 4 – Ascend Household Paper
On the morning of 20 Jan 2014, Fudan China Lab Ascend team, together with faculty mentor Prof Tzeng, held a kick-off meeting at Room 808 of Lidasan Building with Ascend Marketing Director Mr Zhang Hao, RGE CN Recruitment Head Jason Quek and RGE China Learning & Development Coordinator Jane Ye, to discuss the upcoming project.
After a short self-introduction between project members and company contact persons, Ms Ye briefly illustrated the background, history, business scope and mission of RGE, the parent company of Ascend. Ms Ye said that RGE, as an industrial company, did not have much experience in FMCG and they have particular concerns about Ascend Household Paper’s sales channels and branding strategy.
Then, Director Mr Zhang shared with the team his in-depth knowledge of the household paper industry, its main competitors, reasons for entry and company’s future goals. The team learnt that Ascend had seen great potential in the high-end household paper industry, and planned to make use of their cost advantage and extend their downstream value chain. In order to stand out in the fierce competition, Ascend is seeking new sales channels and promotion strategies, especially in e-business and marketing in school campuses.
At the end of the meeting, the company identified the scope for this project and expressed expectations for creativity, capabilities and fresh ideas from the Fudan team.
It was a successful first step as the China Lab team and company worked out the key issues to be analysed. The Fudan students are truly excited to face the challenges and contribute to the project.
(By 2014 Fudan-MIT China Lab Teams)