Where to Study Buisness?

[Aiden5]

Hello, I am planning on starting a business in China in my future, but am wondering which university would be the best for buisness studies. I am also not familiar about which courses would be best for starting up a buisness, but will greatly appreciate it if someone was to tell me about these courses. I am also thinking of living in the province of Shandong, and would love to know both the best university in the country and in the province.

[ZhangKaiRong]

If you plan to learn practical things about business, then don't attend a Chinese university. You're going to cram books and memorise unnecessary content, and what you will actually learn there is how to take exams. Learn the basics of business at a Western business school, and take classes on East-Asian business culture (most unis offers this kind of classes) which highlight the differences between Western and Asian business environment. Spend a semester or two abroad in China, see how things are there, and start to think what product/service could be the basis of your business, and get to know a lot of people (guanxi is very important for doing business in China). I would also recommend you having some years of business experience in your home country/a Western country, because starting business in China without prior experience is like sending a rookie troop to a minefield.

The "best" unis in China are Beijing University, Tsinghua Univeesity (also in Beijing) and Fudan University (in Shanghai). The best one in Shandong is the Shandong University in Jinan. But don't fall for these titles, it is important for Chinese to attend these universities, as they have better job opportunities with diplomas from here. You as a foreigner won't profit too much from them (except for the guanxi later).

[roddy]

And if at all possible, get a better idea of what kind of 'business'. Import export, you could maybe study international trade. Etc. 

 

Also it's business. Not buisness. 

[Hofmann]

Are you dead set on doing this in China? If not, I highly recommend studying business at an American or English university and supplement it with Chinese classes or self study. Most of your business courses will be useful for startups. If you have a choice, then it would be clear from the course descriptions.

[kdavid]

Your marketability in China will hinge on your ability to offer things locals cannot. Your biggest asset will be a foreign face. Second will be your education.

 

Ask yourself this: why would a Chinese firm or Chinese business partner (the latter is especially important) choose to do business with you over, say, a local Chinese who earned his MBA from an American university? The local would be fluent in English and Chinese, and, most importantly, comfortable navigating the cultural, linguistic, and bureaucratic challenges one faces when doing business in the PRC. Can you, with a business qualification from the PRC, compete with this individual?

 

Your best bet is to do your education in the west while spending your spare time in China, learning the language and traveling. After you finish your MBA, get a job with a western firm doing whatever. Use this time to gain the necessary experience to take things to the next level. Hell, you may even make enough with this firm that you decide starting your own business isn't worth the hassle.

 

Good luck!