Prominent guests such as the Norwegian Consulate General Mr. Fred Nomme and the President at BI Norwegian School of management Prof. Tom Colbjørnsen both attended our third BI-Fudan MBA Alumni Forum.

At our third BI-Fudan MBA Alumni Forum we were so lucky to have Mr. Nick Page from GE Healthcare and Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the BI-Fudan MBA program Jan Ketil Arnulf from BI Norwegian School of Management as our guest speakers to talk about the topic “Challenges in Leadership Recruitment and Selection in China”. The President at BI, Professor Tom Colbjørnsen, opened the forum and welcomed everyone to the event.

Associate Professor Jan Ketil Arnulf first took the podium and discussed how leadership talent is still very much a part of personal characteristics. Professor Arnulf also raised a very interesting question: “Is leadership created by the leader or by the followers?”Science has supplied us with knowledge and tools to improve assessment beyond that of intuitive skills. However leadership assessment is still very difficult because we lack knowledge about precise criteria for leadership performance and in China this has had a different history. Professor Arnulf stressed the need for more knowledge about true leadership talent in China and ways of assessing this. More knowledge in this field would enrich leadership research not only in China, but also in the west. He concluded by stating that we need more explicit knowledge of differences between Eastern and Western traditions to enrich our teaching and selection efforts.

Mr. Nick Page who has been Site Director at GE Healthcare in Shanghai discussed from the view of employer when recruiting new employees. He discussed why people choose companies when they apply for jobs stating that “brand name” collecting is very common, and he further stated that as an employer one should never believe what people have on their CVs and gave examples to much amusement in the audience. Mr. Page also stressed the importance of pro-active leaders especially in the field of internal selection. Leaders need to understand what is important for the organization and match people to fill the needs and also create the right environment to keep experienced people in the company. He went on by stating that engaged staff deliver more in the work place and challenged the audience to consider whether employees are more loyal to their company or to their managers.

All in all it was a very interesting and successful night with engaged guest speakers and audience.

                                          BI Liaison Office