Test Gains Popularity

BY WUN MIN Business Weekly staff

Ye Mai, a graduate student from the University of International Business and Economy (UIBE), was glowing on Thursday night as she and her teammates were crowned champion of the Global Management Challenge (GMC) China'99.

Ye and her four partners will be heading to Portugal next year for an international contest . The win marks the team's second GMC victory, but Ye said winning certainly was not everything this time around . "

We did not come for the championship this time," Ye said with a smile. "Instead, we view the contest more as a channel to communicate with other participants and put what we have learned into practice." Their educational approach was echoed by other participants. "

It is a good opportunity for our MBA students to exchange views and learn to exchange views and learn to compete with others," Said Lu Junhua of the University of Electronic Science and Technology.

Initiated in Portugal, the global management challenge has become an international activity aimed at fostering the practical abilities of MBA students and the training of managing personnel, sources said.

It utilizes specially-designed computer software, which imitates the real operations of corporation. during the competition, participants are required to work out comprehensive management plans for their companies. The results are based on the final performance of companies valued at the companies stock price. "The contest will enhance the contestants' understanding of the essence of corporate management and inform them of the global developments in the sector," said Luis Costa, Chairman of the GMC organizing committee. In addition, through working as a team the participants also learn how to work and co-ordinate with others, which is key in business management, he added. With the increased impact of the contest in China, more and more domestic colleges that provide MBA courses are participating in the competition. Domestic enterprises and institutions are also adding energy to the game.

Among the 235 teams participating in the GMC china '99, approximately100 are from Chinese enterprises, according to sources from the organizing committee. Two of those advanced to the finals, both from China's Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, an institution with a sound research and development background and more practical managing experience than the colleges, the sources said. But Luo Beiqing, a member of the institutional teams, said they have more to learn from their college rivals, who are more in pace with the international development trend of corporate management.

Business Weekly DECEMBER19-25,1999