Shanghai Administration Institute held the Training Program of Integrated Management Course for MBA Candidates of the Germany Advanced Institute College of Economics from September 12 to September 20, 2015. The training program has been held by the Institute for nine consecutive years since 2007. The participants joined in the program for the MBA degree of German Specialized College of Economics. They are all intermediate and senior management members of well-known German enterprises, engaging in industries including decorative building materials, renewable energy equipment manufacturing, bio-pharmaceutical, kitchen-ware production, orthomolecular medicine and special chemical manufacturing.

ZENG Jun, Vice President of the Institute, attended the opening ceremony of the training program and gave a general introduction to the Institute. MEI Lihong, Dean of the Institute, exchanged ideas and feelings about the training with the participants and awarded them the course-completion certificates at the closing ceremony.

This training program featured three characteristics in the course arrangement: Firstly, the contents were closely related to the occupational characteristics and the interests of the participants. Courses were scheduled in the order of participants’ interests, mainly covering China’s business and investment practices, automobile manufacturing industry, decision making and management of major engineering project, Chinese traditional culture, Shanghai economic and social development, Shanghai public administration and public services, and “One Road and One Belt” development strategy, etc. Secondly, the training focused on the importance of integrating theories with practices. The program aimed to help the participants to integrate theories with practices through experience-based teaching. Arrangements were made for the participants to visit Shanghai Volkswagen, Yangshan Deep-Water Port, Shanghai Electric Lingang Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Base, Shanghai Wind Tunnel Center for Ground Transportation, Shanghai Functional Center for New Energy Automobile, and Shanghai Wushu Museum and appreciate Shanghai’s city appearance and ancient town in regions south of the Yangtze River. Thirdly, it highlighted relevance and coherence among the courses. The program attached great importance to the relevance and coherence between the themed lectures given in the morning and the field teaching activities in the afternoon. For example, the visits to Shanghai Electric and Yangshan Deep-Water Port were closely related to the themed lecture “Decision-making and Management of Major Engineering Project” given in the morning; the visits to Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai Wind Tunnel Center for Ground Transportation, and Shanghai Functional Center for New Energy Automobile were closely related to the the themed lecture “Development Dynamics and Trend of China's Automobile Market and Industry”, and the visits to Shanghai Wushu Museum was closely related to the themed lecture “Chinese Traditional Culture”.

The participants generally considered the training as an unforgettable experience. They learnt much information about China and Shanghai in different aspects through the ten-day training, which were rich and useful in contents and professional and standardized in management services. Mr. Sascha Altmann, Global Sales Manager of a German renewable energy equipment manufacturer said: “This is my first visit to Shanghai and my first contact with Shanghai Administration Institute. It’s completely different from what I’ve imagined. I strongly support the Institute to hold this training program. I will definitely recommend it to my colleges.” Ms. Heidi Hohensohn, Head of the German Delegation and Professor of Germany Advanced Institute College of Economics pointed out: “This training program has been held for consecutive nine years. Over these years, I have witnessed the changes and progress made in the program as well as the noticeable achievements and progress made by Shanghai Administration Institute, which indicates the development of China. As an administrative academy which mainly provides training for leading cadres and civil servants, the Institute does not restrict itself to delivering theoretical courses but also provides practical ones. Through the class interaction which enables free and full communication, the participants can communicate with the professor, discussing problems and exchange ideas without any concern. These good practices are important foundation for the cooperation between us in the past years. Most of the participants of the training program have business relationship with China. Many of them told me that they learnt a lot about China through the ten-day intensive training, which is far more extensive and in-depth than what they have learnt from frequent business travel to China. They see a real China, which will be very helpful for them to carry out business in their motherland. Therefore, I am so grateful to the Institute for its strong support to the training program for so many years. I hope we will carry this program on. Wish our friendship remains forever.”