Think, analyze, implement for long-term success

Most major multinational enterprises have emphasized that localization is critical for their China strategy as the Middle Kingdom is big, diversified and so different from the West.

But for Ilian Mihov, dean of INSEAD, one of the world's top business schools, Western management skills can be very useful in China, even in the unique context of the country.

"When you study in an MBA program, it is not just about memorizing some cases in the United States or Europe. The main task is to learn how to solve problems ... and the problems people face are very similar around the world," said Mihov, who was appointed dean in October.

The Singapore-based Mihov is the first Asia-based dean of INSEAD, which has three campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France) and Asia (Singapore and Abu Dhabi). It was founded in France in 1957 as the European Institute of Business Administration.

"It is all about how you manage your team, how you motivate your team, how you manage your supply chain and how you do your marketing," Mihov told China Daily in an interview in Beijing, while he attended the 2014 opening of a joint EMBA program offered in conjunction with Tsinghua University.

"Being local to me is that you have to understand the context. At the end of the day, the strategy is the strategy, but the context may be different," he said, adding that people also need the skills, knowledge and techniques to help them solve problems and implement solutions.

He said he often reads media commentaries saying that business schools should give people skills that are required in today's job market. "But we are not preparing managers who will be mangers this year or next year. We prepare people who will be managing for the next 20 to 30 years or even 40 years," he said.

Nobody knows what will be required 30 years from now, he said. "But I still think if we mange to develop people as thinkers, as problem solvers, 30 years from now the skills of thinking and problem solving can still be valuable," he said.

So at INSEAD, students are taught to think, analyze and implement. "I think that's valid in China, whether you manage a State-owned enterprise or your own business or your parents' business," he said.

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