2016 Fall Semester, Class MBA3 Weng Yuangao
Life is like a journey. It is the landscape along the way and the mood to enjoy the scenery that needed to be cared about rather than the destination.
Let the mind to travel in October!
Through the common organization of Zhejiang Gongshang University MBA School and Jiangsu University MBA School, more than 10 MBA students crossed over the Pacific Ocean and started the journey to California in the Western United States. The study on “beauty” in this journey to the west was both journey and study and it was neither pure journey nor pure study abroad, but runs through the academic exchange and sightseeing.
For me busy running about working with less leisure time, the ten-day immersive and deep learning tour made me gain a beautiful mood of enjoying the scenery along the way and a learning attitude of thinking while walking. At this very moment, I am writing down all I saw and heard and my thoughts to share with you.
Visit to elite schools
University of California, Berkeley
As the top public research university in the United States and the most famous and top public university all around the globe, University of California, Berkeley is honored as the academic leader in the Engineering Science and Technology Circles in the United States together with Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ranks third in the U.S.News World University Rankings in 2016. As of April 2016, there are 72 Nobel Prize winners, 13 Fields Medal winners and 22 Turing Award winners in Berkeley.
Walking in the school, you can see beautiful scenery everywhere. The bell tone of Sather Tower is long, solemn and respectful as if it reminds the numerous students to cherish time and make each day count so as to create beautiful future. There are parking lots with name and it is only the privilege of Nobel Prize winners. However, this is not the key point; the key point is that the best parking lot is not for them but the disabled. Thus it can be seen the school’s respect for the disabled and style and characteristic of humanization.
Leland Stanford Junior University
Leland Stanford Junior University is recognized as one of the most outstanding universities in the world. It ranks third in QS World University Rankings in 2016, fourth in U.S.News World's Best Universities, first in 2016U.S.News Business Rankings of American Institutes for Research and second in 2016U.S.New most innovative university rankings. The University is located in Stanford of California close to San Francisco. In accordance with the statistics on the universities cultivating the most megamillionaires in 2010 in the United States of Forbes Magazine, Leland Stanford Junior University ranks second with 28 megamillionaires, second only to Harvard University.
Entering the university campus, what you see firstly is the building with red roof surrounded by earthy yellow stone wall, arcades connecting with each other and brown cangues in line, full of thick cultural and academic atmosphere in the combination of classics and modernization. “The wind of freedom blows” is the school motto of Leland Stanford Junior University and the President explains that the meaning of school motto is to encourage and guarantee the students and teachers can freely work on unimpeded teaching and relevant subject research.
The alumni of Leland Stanford Junior University have founded many famous companies and institutions, such as Google, Yahoo, HP, Nike and Cisco. The founder of Apple Inc-Steve Jobs once came to attend the graduation ceremony of Leland Stanford Junior University as a guest in 2005 and made a speech titled “Stay hungry, stay foolish” in which he mentioned his lifetime and encouraged the graduates.
California State University, San Bernardino
As one of the universities for California State university system, the university founded in 1960 year. It provides more than 70 traditional bachelor's degree and course for master’s degree, education certificate, certificate course and doctoral course. During the period from 2004 to 2015, the university was selected as one of “the best universities in Western United States” by famous Princeton Review (Princeton Review) for 11 years in a row. It ranked among the top 25% universities throughout the United States all the year around. Among 23 branch schools of California State University, there are only seven universities that rank as “the best of the West”. Business school of the university again ranks among the best business school throughout the United States in Princeton Review this year.
We were lucky to accept short-term training in business school of the school, and to dialogue with famous professors in zero distance of MBA management major of the school. Courses were set very closely, and professors developed overall communication with us combined with practical conditions of China and America in aspects of marketing, sales, human resource and enterprise management. At the same time, professors also introduced to us how to apply basic principles learned at school to practical management of enterprise after graduation as graduates of MBA. How to be a qualified manager of the enterprise as soon as possible was also taught, and what conditions shall be possessed for being a real enterprise manager shall be known.
Innovation and inspiration
Silicon Valley (Silicon Valley) is located in south of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, and it is famous for design and manufacturing of silicon chip in early times. Other high-tech industries are thriving later, and the name of Silicon Valley refers to all high-tech industries in general. Silicon Valley is an important electronic industrial base for America, and it is also the world’s most famous electronic industrial concentration. Computer companies that choose Silicon Valley as site have been developed to about 1500. Its characteristics are to rely on world-famous universities of Stanford which is the first class universities of America, Berkeley and California Institute of Technology etc. that have strong scientific research force based on high-tech middle and small company groups. It also has big companies of Apple, Intel, HP, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and Nvidia, which can integrate science, technology and production.
Why is America the first big country of the world's technology? Why does Silicon Valley become center of technology innovation? What kind of innovation essence do Chinese enterprises shall learn from Silicon Valley? ....... With various doubts, we head for Silicon Valley to visit Google Company, Apple Campus and Intel museum, and to know high-tech development tendency brought to human by high-tech cradles that have world’s representatives in the 21st century in the future.
In contrast, after extensive economic development of China in recent years brings huge profits, it is in the difficult stage of traditional industry confronting transformation and upgrading. Change will bring solution and invariability will bring pain. There are many things worth learning by the countrymen in the success of Silicon Valley. In short, the organic combination of the spirit of innovation with the determined to forge ahead, scientific and technological achievements after severe training and hammering and commercial capital of being resourceful may be just the epitome and foundation stone of the strong innovation capacity of Silicon Valley.
Cultural experience
In speaking of California culture, you will think of wine, Hollywood and NBA. We came to California from a great distance for the purpose of experiencing these.
To taste the most authentic wine, we drove to Napa Valley. Napa Valley is located in hilly land which seems like plain but has ups and downs and which seems like mountain land but has no peaks. This is the most famous place to produce wine in America and the valley boasts exceptional and particularly favorable natural conditions, moderate climate all a year round, abundant sunlight and less rainfall, which constitutes the natural environment to produce wine that can match scarce Bordeaux District in France in the world. We visited the most famous Beringer Chateau in local place and knew historical development of win-making technology and learnt wine-tasting knowledge at the wine tasting in wine cellar. At the same time, we knew business model, management methods, market development, marketing strategy and means of chateau.
If you are a movie fan, you will be definitely familiar with Hollywood. This highland of movie culture influences life of people all around the world. Hollywood is not only birthplace of world fashion but also center of music and movie industry in the world. It has top leisure industry and luxury brand in the world and leads and represents the highest level of world fashion, such as DreamWorks, Disney, Fox in the 20th Century, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Sony Corporation, Universal Pictures Co., Ltd., WB (Warner Bros.), Paramount and these giants in movie. Furthermore, some top record companies such as Inters cope Records are included in scope of Hollywood. The fashion and technology here mutually promote development of each other and the nature is not artificial here. Supported by profound fashion heritage and strong technology, it has been being imitated all around the world. During our visit, we further learned about historical development process, business model, film making and marketing methods as well as distribution channel of movie in the world.
As a senior basketball fan, in speaking of NBA in America, I will definitely spare some space to talk about my feelings. Since my school days, I was obsessed with NBA competition in America and was very familiar with all basketball stars. Thinking of the old days, I was a teenager of will and spirit in pride of my success on the pitch. This time I came to home court of Lakers—Staples Stadium and viewed a match of Lakers against Nuggets on the site. I felt the basketball culture getting the whole audience crazy personally, so it was a rewarding trip!
Americans spread a kind of ideology painted with the color of “American spirit” all over the world through a basketball and several basketball matches, which is admiring. It is not difficult for us to find that creative Americans are in virtue of media platforms to expand their global influence in perspective of marketing to view American basketball culture: constructing unique cultural phenomenon to digest depth and rationality of meaning; creating consumption wonders in collusion with the market and business. NBA enters into people’s daily life in a special way when fans all over the world are excited with breathtaking scenes in the stadium. NBA integrates multicultural elements such as technicality, ornamental value, commodity, etc. It has powerful economic strength as the backing and multi-channel media propaganda of TV mainly and eternal cultural glamour the public initiatively confers to it.
During these days in California, I often thought of the topic of “cultural soft power”. With increasingly stronger Chinese national power, we emphasize worldwide spreading of Chinese culture more and more, and we also try different spreading ways continually. All sings are transmitting a kind of attitude: Chinese culture is waking up. As the young generation, we are obliged to create a kind of new cultural spreading language and regain national cultural self-confidence with all our strength!
A glance at beauty
California is full of beautiful sceneries. In this place where the air is filled with sunshine, you can see breathtaking beautiful sceneries anywhere if you have the eyes to find the beauty.
Magnificent Golden Gate Bridge, St Mary’s Cathedral showing originality, fabulous Roman Palace of Fine Arts, Fisherman’s Wharf known far and wide, colorful Lombard Street and Idyllic Monterey Peninsula are all too delighted to leave.
Golden Gate Bridge
St Mary’s Cathedral
Roman Palace of Fine Arts
Fisherman’s Wharf
Lombard Street
California Seventeen Miles
A study tour is not definitely a simple visual enjoyment, but it is a kind of mind feeling and life experience. Along the tour, you can experience local customs, accept edification of cultural atmosphere of foreign lands and gain unexpected surprises with like-minded friends. These tour experiences will definitely add some life molding, life thoughts for you and a intangible fortune for your mind tour.
West tour of “beauty”, all the way happy!
