(SBU) SHANGHAI MBA SCHOOL FEELING IMPACT OF FINANCIAL

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CH ECON EFIN ELAB
SUBJECT: (SBU) SHANGHAI MBA SCHOOL FEELING IMPACT OF FINANCIAL
CRISIS


1. (SBU) Summary. A prominent Shanghai-based international
business school is seeing demand for its Executive MBA (EMBA)
program dropping in recent months as the financial crisis hits
the bottom line of foreign and domestic corporations in China,
according to two new Consulate contacts speaking with Congenoffs
on January 20, 2008. The contacts also said that MBA students
close to graduation are having trouble finding employment. End
summary.


2. (U) According to the school's website (www.ceibs.edu),the
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) was
established on November 8, 1994, in Shanghai. Based on its own
campus in Pudong, Shanghai, the school is a not-for-profit joint
venture established under an agreement between MOFTEC (now the
Ministry of Commerce, or MOFCOM) and the European Commission.
CEIBS also has offices in Beijing and Shenzhen. CEIBS receives
financial support from the Municipal Government of Shanghai and
the European Union. The school has a faculty of 50, most of
whom are U.S. citizens. The 18-month MBA program enrolls around
180 students, while the two-year Executive MBA (EMBA) program
enrolls around 600-650 students.

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Corporations Trimming Back Executive Training
============================


3. (SBU) CEIBS is seeing demand for its EMBA program dropping
in recent months as the financial crisis hits the bottom line of
foreign and domestic corporations in China. CEIBS Dean Rolf
Cremer said that the decline is not yet significant, but he
anticipates that applications could fall by 10%-20% should the
crisis last one to two years. The declines in applications for
CEIBS's Beijing and Shenzhen satellite campuses is more
noticeable than at the main Shanghai campus, said Cremer.


4. (SBU) Cremer said that one of the drivers of lower EMBA
applications is reductions in nonessential expenditure by
enterprises. He is hearing from foreign corporations in
Shanghai that "cash is king," leading to cuts in executive
training. Nonetheless, this will not affect CEIBS's operating
revenues, since the school currently only accepts one-quarter to
one-third of qualified EMBA applicants.


5. (SBU) Changes in student demand for the MBA program do not
track with those of the EMBA program, because MBA students
generally are not relying on a sponsor, said Cremer. Therefore,
as in other fields, business school applications are up, said
Cremer, implying that applicants are finding the job market less
than favorable and look to school as a place to ride out the
economic hard times. MBA Academic Director Lydia Price said
that the current class of MBA students is CEIBS's strongest yet.


6. (SBU) However, students close to graduation are having
trouble finding employment, said Price. Cremer and Price agreed
that foreign students in China have particular difficulties, as
they generally attend CEIBS as an entry point to a career in
China, but they are facing a time limit on their job searches
because of time limits on student visas. Price encouraged
Congenoffs to help bring CEIBS graduates, one-third of whom are
from the United States and Canada, to the attention of U.S.
corporations and business forums.

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CEIBS Welcomes Greater Cooperation with the Consulate
============================


7. (SBU) Cremer emphasized that CEIBS is looking to increase
exchange with the Consulate. CEIBS sponsors high-level industry
forums--including ones on the automotive industry, banking,
heath care, luxury goods, and media--which Congenoffs are
welcome to attend, said Cremer. CEIBS has close connections
with the Lujiazui financial district, thanks in part to

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co-President Zhu Xiaoming, who is also a vice chairman of the
Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference, Cremer explained. Zhu was instrumental
in establishing the CEIBS Lujiazui International Finance
Research Centre, which holds periodic finance salons and an
annual financial forum. (Note: Treasury U/S David McCormick
was a keynote speaker at the forum on October 21, 2008. End
note.)
CAMP