Multinational corporations increasingly rely on Chinese executive talent versus expatriate managers to oversee their subsidiaries in China. Qualified local managers, however, are often in short supply. Moreover, there is a high job turnover of local management, i.e. an annual turnover of nearly 13 percent - two to three times the global average (Hewitt & Associates, 2004). How to develop the management skills of local executives and to retain them within the company has become a challenge for many multinational enterprises to effectively managing their operations in China.

Training and qualification measures are key elements in developing local management capabilities. A strong understanding and acquisition of in-depth management skills by local managers are essential in helping multinational companies to ensure the quality of products and brands, to efficiently organise local supply chains, to guarantee knowledge transfer, to develop highly qualified, trained and motivated local employees, and to achieve industrial leadership positions. This is particularly important in China's increasingly complicated and rapid changing business environment.

A key factor for a multinational company to retain their local executive is to make them feel that they are part of corporate headquarters' management rather than 'just locals.' This objective could be achieved not only by transferring corporate management systems to local executives, but also by creating opportunities for local executives to be integrated into the multinational corporation's network, to share international experience and cross-cultural competencies with other managers of the group, and to deeply understand and familiarise with the corporate culture.

Efficient communications between the local executive and company headquarters are crucial for creating high degree of trust between local management and headquarters. Implementing a platform for communication and knowledge exchange, such as special assignments at Western headquarters for executives from subsidiaries or special training and coaching sessions with participation of executives from both headquarters and subsidiaries can be a helpful tool.

This programme is built upon three sequential modules, which allow participants to gradually acquire and extend not only their management knowledge, but especially their cross-culture communication skills within a multinational company.

Module I. Management Skills (150 hours)
The first group of participants, i.e. local executives of Flemish/Belgian subsidiaries in China, will be integrated in the Global Management Programme which is jointly organised by Antwerp Management School and the Management School of Xi'an Jiaotong University. They will follow five core management courses in the fields of corporate strategy, marketing, HR, financial management and logistics/supply-chain management (30 hours for each course). This module will take place in several Chinese cities, such as Suzhou, Shenzhen, ingdao and Xi'an, and organised during the weekend. The purpose of this module is to update the management knowledge and skills of local executives;

Module II. Cross-cultural communications (45 hours)
This module provides participants with the theoretical and practical tools necessary to be effective in cross cultural communication and management. The aim of this module is 1) to help participants to understand how to match the external-firm communication of a company with its desired corporate image in China; 2) to help participants to understand how to achieve the highest level of intra-firm communication within the group for knowledge transfer, strategic development and decision making process. This module will take place at Antwerp Management School during one week. The managers of Belgian parent companies, who work for their Chinese operations, will be invited to participate in this module, together with their Chinese counterparts, in order to reduce the culture gap and to develop skills in cross-cultural communications. The interaction between the participants from Chinese subsidiaries and Belgian parent companies is crucial for the success of the programme

Module III. Corporate familiarisation
This module provides the opportunity for Chinese participants to take an internship in their Belgian parent company under the supervision of academic professors of Antwerp Management School. This module will be developed by Antwerp Management School with Flemish/Belgian parent companies for their Chinese subsidiaries and related to a specific management area according to the management function of the participants. The objective of this module is to integrate Chinese executives into Belgian headquarters' management system and corporate culture.

These programmes are open to all Flemish/ Belgian enterprises with operations in China. The target participants are:

1. Mid and top level executives from Chinese subsidiaries, who need to acquire specific knowledge for working within a Flemish/Belgian owned group;

2. Mid and top level/specialist skills executives of Flemish/Belgian parent companies, who need communications skills with their Chinese counterparts;

China's Local Management Development (CLMD) programme is designed for Flemish and Belgian companies to develop the local management capabilities of their subsidiaries in China on the one hand and to enable local and headquarters' executives to communicate and cooperate in a more effective way

English

full-time

Module I. Management Skills (150 hours in China)
Module II. Cross-cultural communications (45 hours in Belgium)
Module III. Corporate familiarisation (flexible)

March 2009

The first module of the programme will start in March in China in collaboration with the EMBA Centre of Management School of Xi'an Jiaotong University and Antai Management School of Shanghai Jiaotong University. The lectures will be given by Belgian and Chinese academic and executive professors.

The second module will take place at Antwerp Management School in September (one week), followed by the third module, i.e. internship, which will take place in the Flemish parent company of the Chinese participants. The duration of the internship will be decided by the company according to their needs.

Module I. Management Skills: in several Chinese cities
Module II. Cross-cultural communications: in Belgium at Antwerp Management School
Module III. Corporate familiarisation: in the Belgian parent company

Participants who successfully complete the programme will be awarded a certificate of Antwerp Management School.

Participants who are qualified for the admission condition of Antwerp Management School's Master of Global Management Programme can apply for the MGM programme. The credits that they have obtained in this training programme can be transferred to the MGM programme.

2950 EUR (21% VAT not included)
The tuition fee for the whole programme is 2950 EUR, while it is 1400 EUR for managers from Belgian parent companies, who only participate in the second module.

The travel and accommodation expenditures are not included in this fee. Yet, Antwerp Management School and its partner universities will provide the necessary support to facilitate these practical issues.

To obtain more information on the programme, please contact:

Haiyan Zhang
Programme Director
Antwerp Management School
Sint Jacobsmarkt 9-13
B-2000 Antwerpen
tel. +32 (0)3 220.46.97
fax +32 (0)3 220.47.34
e-mail haiyan.zhang@ua.ac.be

Xiaorong Li
Programme Assistant
Antwerp Management School
Sint-Jacobsmarkt 9-13
B-2000 Antwerp
Belgium
fax +32(0)3 220 47 34
e-mail xiaorong.li@ua.ac.be

Click here to register for this programme.

General conditions