ECNU MEM Public Lectures and Briefing on Admissions Policy was livestreamed on April 16. The event was organized by ECNU Shanghai International School of Chief Technology Officer (hereinafter referred to as “CTO School”) and co-organized by Minhang Chunshen Pyramid Talent Academy, Shanghai Lingang Canhejing Talent Co., Ltd., Shanghai Pudong New Area Talent Market and China-Israel Innovation Hub. Prof. He Jiaxun, Executive Dean of CTO School, Qin Shuo, an observer of humanities and finance and Specially Appointed Professor of Practice at CTO School and Ding Wenxuan, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Business Analysis at emlyon business school and Specially Appointed Professor of International Courses at CTO School gave lectures in succession on the theme of the public lectures - “AI, management reform and career advancement.” Peng Yuxin, Director of the Office of Admission of CTO School, introduced advance interviews for the ECNU MEM Program. The event livestream had logged 1,546 views.
The first public lecture was given by Prof. He Jiaxun, who expounded on “The Dual Drive of Science and Humanities and CTO Degree Program.” Starting from a research result that he had recently published internationally, Prof. He explained how brand innovation backed by technology and tradition backed by cultural assets play a significant role in brand strength in a country, which in turn affects brand globalization and competitiveness. He held that technology and humanities are the dual drivers for advancement in both world development at the macro level and organizational and personal development at the micro level. Citing the examples of the two Daxia National Champions Brand Strength Indices that had been released, Prof. He pointed out that the dual strategy of technology and humanities is consistent with the dual nature of a brand and is conducive to the growth of an enterprise.
Technology and humanities are also inseparable in talent cultivation. According to Prof. He, the T3 excellent education logic for cultivation of T-shaped talent proposed by CTO School is an application of Drucker’s management theory in talent education. As Drucker interpreted management as a liberal art, CTO School brings together scientist spirit and entrepreneurial spirit to form the core of cultivation of senior management.
According to Prof. He, Academician Qian Xuhong, President of ECNU and Chairman of Board of CTO School, has led CTO School to study the development trajectory and evolution of the CTO role worldwide over the past 40 years. The CTO School defines the core of CTO as a combo of technology, strategy, management and innovative leadership. As a pioneer of CTO degree education, CTO School has established a unique 4 + X curriculum system to cultivate future CTOs in the Master of Engineering Management program. At the end of his lecture, Prof. He put forward the five-star model for becoming a CTO, which is to develop a sense of mission, change mindset, enhance innovative leadership, improve expertise and adapt to globalization.
Afterwards, Prof. Qin Shuo gave a lecture entitled “Thinking on Management in the Era of Technology Innovation.” Prof. Qin first summarized the changes in the logic of China's economy. The first logic is composed of foundry, real estate, infrastructure and indirect financing and the second logic technology innovation, domestic demand and direct financing. The first logic prevailed and the second logic served as a supplement in the first several decades of reform and opening-up. From now on, the second logic is becoming the dominant one while the first logic is becoming a supplementary one for China’s economy. Management is indispensable to the growth and development of a successful technology company. To a certain extent, technology innovation is the outcome of the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of entrepreneurs. Prof. Qin analyzed three cases to expound on the significance of strategy formulation in business development of high-tech enterprises. The SHEMAR case proved that every step a company takes forward is a progress in management. The CSOT case was used to illustrate industry-leading efficiency underpinned by 4X. The UNISOC case offered a closer look at problems arising at the early stage of reform. On the basis of an analysis of these cases Prof. Qin concluded that entrepreneurs need capital to drive technology innovation and should clarify the direction and lead employees in working as one. Prof. Qin held that management is indispensable to technology innovation and is of critical significance to technology innovation. He summarized the core of a CTO role: future-oriented, continuous adaption to changes, entrepreneurship and professionalism.
Next, Prof. Ding Wenxuan gave a lecture entitled “AI and its Application in Management Science.” According to Prof. Ding, CTO, as the major drive for in-depth integration of digital economy with real economy in a market economy, has overtaken CFO to assume a dominant role in the operation of a technology company. CTOs have to race against time as enterprises grow faster, enterprise elimination quickens, product lifecycle becomes shorter and the time window for winning over users is shortened. To make sure that the concept of CTO plays a leading role, it is essential to further optimize the organizational structure, optimize the production method, and design a process that conforms to the production method. Technology companies are expected to empower machines with human intelligence and enable them to develop a certain kind of consciousness and form a type of productivity consciously and autonomously in the future.
Prof. Ding redefined enterprise from the perspective of AI empowerment. First, it gives rise to digital employees, which have been employed in some manual and repetitive work and have resulted in the unemployment of some laborers. Second, the organizational and cultural transformation has posed new challenges to employees’ skills and way of working. Prof. Ding proposed specific solutions to the strategy formulation and execution of AI enterprise from two perspectives: a better human experience and a better success framework. At the end of her lecture, Prof. Ding put forward the AI conception and working approach, which is a process of scene informatization, information digitization, digital cognition, cognitive algorithmization, algorithm programming, program coding, code instructions and finally instruction empowerment.
During the briefing on admission policy, Peng Yuxin introduced advanced interviews for the ECNU MEM program, including the basic interview process, interview results, content of evaluation during interviews, batches of advanced interviews, online application guidelines and points for attention during interviews. He also answered questions of students about exam preparation suggestions, exam requirements, interview requirements, interview time, background requirements, scholarship, length of schooling, curriculum setting, teaching mode, employment and settlement. Online participants asked questions actively and Mr. Peng answered them one by one. After about three hours, the ECNU MEM Public Lectures and Briefing on Admission Policy drew to a successful close.