ICP Beijing edition: Welcome Ceremony and Group Meetings

ICP Beijing edition: Welcome Ceremony and Group Meetings

Our work day has begun in earnest, here in Beijing. 8:30 am meeting in hotel lobby, followed by short walk to the CCAFM offices. The GM of the firm, Mr. Hong Sheng Qiu, officially kicked off year #12 with a warm welcome speech. He provided background on this year’s corporate governance projects, explaining how important the students’ research will be to his firm’s domestic client management and new business development. He was very complimentary of the 2 teams’ work ethic. Go Eagles!

Both teams are now meeting their Chinese counterparts to review, in person, 6 months of research completed on two continents, and 3 rounds of PowerPoint drafts in August, October and December. Each of the two teams has in excess of 100 slides; but with several CCAFM clients coming to the final presentations on Friday, the focus will now shift to “presentation strategy.” Should the students:

1) Send the clients an abstract or the entire presentation deck?

2) Present fewer slides in favor of a longer, two-way discussion or instead impress the audience with research depth?

3) Share their conclusions in advance and then justify their findings, or methodically walk through their analysis, leading the audience to the final recommendations at the end, step-by-step?

4) How much to present in English vs. in Chinese with translation support?

This is international business strategy consulting in true “real time.” In past years, CCAFM’s clients have been quite vocal during the Q&A, pushing back on the students’ and CCAFM’s findings. Very excited for this year’s BC graduate students.

More updates coming over the next few days.