ACE was delighted to host a rather impromptu visit and seminar by a leading Chinese entrepreneurship scholar, Professor Zhong-Ming Wang. Professor Wang who was in town for the AMBA Dean’s conference, made the time to present to us about his entrepreneurship centre and program of research.
Professor Wang is Professor and Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Research Centre at Zhejiang University, regularly ranked as one of the top three universities in China.
Located in Hangzhou near Shanghai, the centre is situated in a technology and entrepreneurship hotspot known as ‘the Silicon Valley of China’. It provides the perfect backdrop for engaging in some exciting research projects. He encourages his large cohort of PhD students to engage closely with companies and conduct some case studies as part of their studies – ensuring their research is grounded in real world problems.
Professor Wang highlighted four research programs the centre is engaged in:
a) Women’s entrepreneurship – developing and assessing an entrepreneurship training specifically designed for women;
b) Business Model Innovation – this project was born out of working with green technology companies that found existing business models inadequate;
c) Regional entrepreneurship strategies – promoting development in China’s less advanced Western provinces
d) Global entrepreneurship – models of global value chains that facilitate significant Chinese operations and partnerships
Professor Wang has extended an invitation to ACE Director Per Davidsson to visit his centre and also came up with preliminary suggestions for collaboration, so some form of follow-up is likely to ensue.
Associate Professor Paul Steffens, Professor Zhong-Ming Wang and Professor Per Davidsson