Since its inception in 2005, the Fudan MBA iLab has become one of the most diverse and influential MBA “action learning” project among Chinese business schools. The program has been endeavoring to seek cooperation with domestic and foreign enterprises, providing a multi-win interactive platform where Fudan IMBA students get to work with senior management of successful companies and apply what they have learned in classes to specific business cases, while enterprises can receive professional analysis and practical aid to tackle their real world problems.
On November 16, the 2020-2021 Fudan MBA iLab was officially launched. During the launch meeting, Mr. Sun Long, Executive Director of Fudan IMBA Program, explained the “5I” of Fudan MBA's iLab course: Integration, Innovation, Initiative, Internationalization and Intelligence. He pointed out that for the past fifteen years, the program has achieved cooperation with 210 companies from the United States, Finland, Portugal, Australia, Thailand and China. More than 1,000 Fudan IMBA students have successfully completed 261 iLab projects.
Professor Huang Jianbing, Academic Director of Fudan IMBA program, invited the students to embrace the huge challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic: "I hope you will explore deeply into the current and future economic and political environment under this 'new normal', and integrate your insights on innovation and sustainable development into the iLab project." He encouraged the students to use collaboration tools to increase the active participation of the team and cooperative enterprises, so as to improve work efficiency. He also suggested the students to try being a good team player, to dedicate whole-heartedly into the project, and to be grateful for supports from the cooperation companies, as well as for valuable advice from mentors and teammates.
Professor He Yanqun then offered professional suggestions from the marketing perspective: “First, you must be able to see the big picture and think like a CEO. Second, you must remain professional whenever and wherever you are, so that others know that they can count on you. Third, always remember that the iLab project is a team job, so great teamwork is half the battle.”
2020 is destined to be extraordinary. What will Fudan IMBA students learn and achieve in their 2020-2021 iLab projects? Let’s wait and see!
