From September 25 to 28, the ZIBS delegation visited Innsbruck, Austria to attend the 32nd Annual Conference of the Central and East European Management Development Association (CEEMAN). The theme of this year's conference is Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age: CEEMAN Members' Responses. The ZIBS delegation participated in academic exchange activities such as corporate visits, keynote speeches, and roundtable forums organized by CEEMAN, deepening communication and international cooperation with business schools and enterprises in Central and Eastern European countries as well as regions and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.
During the conference, BEN Shenglin, Dean of ZIBS, delivered a keynote speech titled The Practice, Progress, and Prospect of an Aspirational Global Business School - Academic Entrepreneurship & Business Education in the Digital Age, introducing an analysis of the current global landscape such as new global economic growth, regional globalization, and global digital transformation through a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) era perspective. He focused on interpreting major topics such as sustainable development and technological innovation; he also introduced the case of ZIBS as an academic entrepreneurship example, which sparked enthusiastic responses from the attendees.
ZIBS Professor ZHANG Ruidong participated in a roundtable discussion on Harnessing AI for transforming education, and exchanged ideas with renowned university leaders and entrepreneurs in the digital economy industry from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, India, and other countries on educational transformation in the digital age. He introduced ZIBS as a science & technology-focused premier global business school from China and a trendsetter in digitalization innovation.
The CEEMAN Annual Conference is beneficial for deepening participants' understanding of the host country's commercial, political, and social realities, and building a discussion platform for participants in the business school hosting the conference on the development of management, best practice cases, and cooperation achievements. During various communication sessions of the conference, BEN Shenglin proposed that the current international development of business schools should focus on the systematic integration of business studies + technological innovation + internationalization, based on the ZIBS model of globalization, digitization, and ecosystem strategy. He hopes that ZIBS will have more concrete cooperation with CEEMAN in the future.
During the tightly scheduled meeting days, the ZIBS delegation divided into groups to engage in exchanges with universities such as ESSCA, Woxsen University and others from France, Germany, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Georgia, etc., exploring opportunities for international talent cultivation, global scientific research cooperation, international admissions, executive education, etc. We proactively set the direction of next steps of implementation, proposed sustainable development of relationships.
The ZIBS delegation had a cordial exchange with Danica Purg, the founding chairwoman of the CEEMAN alliance, and reached further consensus on deepening cooperation between the two sides. At the closing banquet, the delegation and Professor WU Xiaobo, Director of the Department of Social Sciences at Zhejiang University and Vice Chairman and board member of the CEEMAN Council, extended heartfelt thanks to Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), the host of this year's CEEMAN Annual Conference.
The annual conference attracted nearly 200 representatives from more than 50 universities around the world. Through the event, ZIBS has promoted win-win cooperation and share-to-win strategy among business schools and enterprises in Central and Eastern European countries and regions as well as countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, enhancing integration and advancement of business education internationalization and global sustainable economic development. WU Si, Program Manager of ZIBS iMBA Center, and XU Shengdan, Managing Director of ZIBS Executive Education Center, attended the conference as part of the ZIBS delegation.
Founded in 1993, CEEMAN initially focused on accelerating the development of management education in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the past 30 years, it has expanded to over 200 member universities in more than 50 countries across Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Africa, with over a half of members from Belt and Road Initiative countries, establishing CEEMAN as a globally influential management association. ZIBS joined CEEMAN in 2022.
