Translated by Zheng Yuxin 14'
Editor’s note: Zhang Jiebing, Deputy Director of the EDP Center at PHBS
As of March 2014, I have worked at PHBS for six years. If I look at the first five years as stage one of my life plan, then the second stage of my career life has begun. I am thrilled to be writing this article when PHBS is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Looking at the young faces all around, I feel like I am among the seniors in PHBS. I witness the growth of PHBS and have such deep feelings that are difficult to express in words!
Inspired by Dean Weiwei, in 2008 I left Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School and joined PHBS, which then was called Peking University Shenzhen Business School. It was also in 2008 that the earthquake struck in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, impacting every Chinese, including me. I was moved by professor Wen Hai, then the vice president of Peking University, now Dean of PHBS, who showed deep love and true concern for his nation. The disaster caused great pain to the nation and caused me to redefine the meaning of life. Life is so fragile that it would be a regret not to lead a meaningful life. I determined to treat every day as a new beginning and started a new journey where I would carry the mission of an educator and spread the spirit of PKU to every student around.
PHBS began to run the EDP (Executive Development Program) in the second half of 2007. It is a short term program that helps business executives to improve their management skills. In 2008, Dean Wei decided to run a program that could actually help small and medium private enterprises using his business model theory. Under great pressure, he innovatively created a brand new mode of tuition payment in which students could pay less tuition fees and in return give some shares of their own companies to the school. The pioneering exploration of Dean Wei was the very reason that I decided to join PHBS. Although the result was not quite what we had expected, but through trial and error, we have gained lots of valuable experience, harvested many outstanding faculty staff, and widened the platform of international exchange for the school. Members of the EDP have been to several distinguished universities all over the world, such as Oxford, Harvard, West Point, and Northwestern University, etc. These valuable experiences also provide references for study tour modules for many other programs and contribute to the internationalization of PHBS.
The students in the EDP program have been supporting us till today. They collectively donated nearly two million yuan for infrastructure construction when the PHBS new building was completed. The EDP classroom located in the southeast of the second floor of the new building is an eternal commemoration of the EDP students’ learning experiences.
The year 2008 and 2009 were the two years in which I grew the most and made a breakthrough. During this period, I managed the brand promotion of PHBS, standardizing and designing the integral image communication of the business school. I held over 30 forums and lectures in just one year’s time, averaging two to three activities per month. This high frequency expanded the brand influence of PHBS in Shenzhen. I also took part in managing the PHBS alumni association which offered graduates an organizational home. In 2010, I set up two classes called “Entrepreneurs' Strategic Management,” a class in which selected students were invited to participate. Students were like brothers and sisters, supporting each other and advanced in a united way, experiencing booming career development. Now there are more students, and they show much passion for their groups.
In March 2011, director Rongjun Yao’s team and I introduced the course “Trout's Strategic Positioning” which aimed at providing a platform for entrepreneurs to master knowledge about positioning. The course has now become a PHBS brand, and the income the course generates has been increasing year by year.
Last year, we founded a new program called “Founders Top Level Design,” through which we train leaders of enterprises to see further, have an overall viewpoint, and take management to a higher level. Besides generating more profits, an enterprise must also take on more social responsibilities, which coincides with the PKU spirit of educating students for the purpose of better serving the society.
Students in the programs described above come from all over China, and many of them do a great job in running enterprises; five or six are listed companies. Students are grateful for the knowledge they acquire at PHBS and speak highly of the platform we have built for them. They know that there will be no small group without the big platform of the school where they not only gain knowledge, but also harvest friendship.
Looking back on these years, I realized that I have done many things, from course design to enrollment and administration affairs, from brand promotion to running of the alumni association, even including classrooms and offices renovation and the application and construction of the school new building. My colleagues joke that I am a fireman who jumped into the fire!
At present, my team and I have no concerns in managing programs, because we are a cohesive team which shares the same values. We can feel a sense of responsibility and mission in our blood, so we are fearless, believing that any difficulties can be overcome as long as we join hands and work together. The one-way life journey is so precious that even troubles and challenges are a part of the scenery along the way.
Now I treasure friendship more. During my six years at PHBS, through friendship I have discovered the power of calmness, solidity and steadiness. This strength comes from a natural, selfless bond between people, and I carefully collect and store memories of these relationships.
I define the meaning of life as this: What kind of world we will strive to build when we are alive and what kind of world we will leave to our descendants? Maybe there is only a little you can do when alive, but that means small things should be persistently done. Six years of working at PHBS is absolutely the most important part of my life and has had a lot of touching moments. I also have learned to forget. It is not easy to erase unhappy things from our minds, but only if we learn to do it will we maintain the simplicity and peace in our hearts.
Last, I would like to express gratitude for Professor Hai who founded PHBS and enabled me to take on such wonderful career. I also thank the students who have provided me with wonderful memories, my team who has offered support and love when I am lost, and every colleague and friend with whom I have experienced such unique scenery. We have witnessed and participated in the first ten years of PHBS. We look forward to its 20- and even 30-year anniversary. PHBS has accomplished so much in ten years and it is no doubt that its future will be brighter and more splendid.
