Yat-sen Management Research Award Application（till 9/1）
Time: Please submit the files before 5 pm, September 1st for further processes. Coordinator: Ms. Chuang. Ext. #4526 Short briefing:
Rewarding Journal Publications: To reward College faculty who have published in internationally top-tier journals (as listed in Appendix 1).
Recipients: Faculty must be full-time affiliated with the College at the time of application and receipt of award. Jointly appointed faculty must follow the university’s ‘Standards for Faculty with Joint Appointments’ and be either mainly appointed by the College or must serve as his/her main affiliation. Authors with two or more joint appointments shall be considered first if National Sun Yat-sen University is listed as his/her primary affiliation in the publication.
Reward Amount and Standard: First and corresponding authors will be awarded NTD $400,000 for each journal publication. Authors who are not listed as the first or corresponding authors will be awarded NTD $200,000. Each journal publication can only receive support once. In the case that two or more faculty of our college co-author a manuscript, only one faculty will receive the award. Awarded manuscripts must already be circulated and published under the name of National Sun Yat-sen University.
Process of Selection: At the end of each September, the Dean’s Office will total the number of publications from the previous year (and include specifications of the journal, volume and page numbers) that fulfill the reward requirements.
The awardee will also be awarded with a ‘Yat-sen Management Research Award’ plaque. Awardee shall make public and share research findings.
【EMBA】won "Gentleman's Tripod'' again in 2020 EMBA Alliance Summit Competition after nine years
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that started in the first half of 2020, the EMBA Alliance Summit Competition was postponed to July 25 and 26, 2020. Among the different categories the College of Management, National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) entered in the competition, including the "Business Management Cup Case Study Competition", "Bai Li Cup Case Competition" and "Bai Li Cup Innovation Business Model Proposal Contest", the College of Management, NSYSU won the Best Innovation Award of Business Management Cup under the Taiwan Group, the Bai Li Cup Innovation Business Model Proposal Enterprise Innovation Award, and the dark case contest champion after 9 years, brining the highest honor, "Gentleman's Tripod", back to NSYSU.
The College of Management, NSYSU participated under the team name of "Concentric Circles" in the Business Management Cup Case Study Competition under the Taiwan Group. The entry case was "UCB: Data is the New Drug". Under the guidance of Professor Lin Lin Hao-chieh from the Department of Business Management, the team placed emphasis on various aspects, including production, sales, human resources, information, finance and others, and proposed the future development blueprint based on the UCB advantages, multi-faceted analysis, and innovative viewpoint design, which won them the Best Innovation Award under the Taiwan Group. The "Dream Angels" team of the Asia-Pacific EMBA Group (APEMBA) of the NSYSU EMBA Program was advised by Professor Huang Ming-xin from the Department of Business Management. The team participated in the "Bai Li Cup Innovative Business Model Proposal Competition". The team’s proposal was based on a distinctive corporate background and the team was able to analyze and plan from multiple angles, so it won the "Enterprise Innovation Award." Under the guidance of Professor Wang Chou-wen from the Department of Finance, the 22nd NSYSU EMBA students formed the "Crashing Wave West Bay" team to participate in the "Bai Li Cup Case Competition". Their meticulous and specific proposal won unanimous approval from the judges who awarded the team the Chinese Group Champion. That was also a glorious moment for NSYSU EMBA for winning the trophy of the "Gentleman's Tripod" again after nine years.
The EMBA Alliance Summit was established in 2007 and co-founded by 9 schools including National Sun Yat-sen University, National Central University, National Chung Cheng University, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, National Cheng Kung University, National Chengchi University, and National Tsing Hua University. Every year, the EMBA Alliance Summit Competition is held, cross-strait Deans and Chief Executive Officers of each school participate in conferences, and cross-school courses are organized, which all aim at promoting exchanges among business elites at different schools through the spirits of "making friends through literal competitions" and "participating in contests like gentlemen". The goal of the competition is to connect global Chinese management talents, share business management wisdom as well as management skills, allow each school to demonstrate their strengths, and expand the value of the EMBA platform.
Julio Leon Originally from Ecuador Lives and works in the USA IBMBA Alumni Class of 2015 NSYSU, Taiwan
As part of the Leading Global Academia in Taiwan, the International Business MBA and Global HRM MBA at NSYSU are committed to provide a diverse and inclusive learning environment for our local and international students. Our alumnus Julio Leon came from Ecuador to Taiwan to study in the IBMBA program. Zhanna Samodurova, President of the Students Association, conducted an interview with Julio and asked him a few questions about his experience.
-Julio, could you please tell us a bit more about yourself?
Sure! Thanks for having me today. My name is Julio Leon, I grew up in Ecuador, a country located between Colombia and Peru in South America. I am currently working in the USA with Maersk Line in the North America Division as South Atlantic Inland Delivery Specialist, my main role is to simplify trade by keeping our customers cargo moving. I am very passionate about international trade and I am helping my company to become the Global Integrator of Container Logistics. Or as we like to say, we go #AllTheWay to satisfy our stakeholders needs by going the extra mile.
-Why did you choose the IBMBA Program at NSYSU?
I started my journey in Septembre 2015. I chose Taiwan after a thorough research. Taiwan is in the Heart of Asia, a beautiful island with 23 million people who are very kind to foreigners and professionally eager to thrive in all industries, especially in high tech and manufacturing. Furthermore, I wanted to expand my knowledge about Asia and Taiwan’s location is unique to travel to other destinations such as Japan, China or South Korea. The fact that NSYSU is located in Kaohsiung also influenced my decision. In 2014, I was working for Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) which is a South Korean Shipping Line, and coming from a logistics background I got very interested in living closer to the biggest Asian transshipment port for containers logistics. For those of you who don’t know, Kaohsiung is not only Taiwan’s main Marine Port but it is the Door to Trade in Asia, vessels call in Kaohsiung every day and containers get diverted to smaller vessels going to different Northern and Southern routes.
-What do you like about the country Taiwan?
I like everything! I love bubble tea, the oyster omelets, matcha ice creams. I am fascinated by Taiwan’s rich culture that I try to visit every other year just to eat their Taiwanese cuisine and visit some friends. Taiwan is a safe country and not only in terms of security but also in terms of health, at the time of this video it’s Spring 2020 and we are having to deal with millions of people infected with Covid-19 in the USA. Taiwan has managed to keep the numbers low with effective Health and Economic policies. I truly admire Taiwan and I strongly believe that this Nation is top 5 in the World, I will always have appreciation towards Taiwanese colleagues.
-What was your favorite course during your entire program, why?
I also enjoyed Professor Sung’s class Consulting Methods and Practices. We worked on a couple of projects with him through which my classmates and I had the opportunity to attend classes in Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo Japan, we visited several high-ranking companies such as Haneda Chronogate, Lintec Corporation, Mitsui & Co. amongst others, and it was great that we could get so much knowledge during the day and then explore such an amazing city with our friends at night.
-Who was your favorite professor during your studies at NSYSU, why?
I had the honor and privilege of being Dr Lin Teh-Chan’s student during my first year. Then, on my second year he accepted to be my advisor and he guided me through the thesis process. It was a very fruitful experience due to the fact that he introduced me to the Chinese culture, we would talk about history and politics, I learned a lot, I even got the chance to travel to a small town in China, an hour away from Guangzhou called Qingyuan, we visited some factories managed by Taiwanese entrepreneurs in China and we did some networking with them.
-Did you do any internship while studying?
As part of our consulting class, we had to work on a project where we developed a report and presented it to the CEO. We used the DMAIC(Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) approach, it took us the whole semester to gather data, analyze it and then process it. Our final goal was to introduce this fastener company to the Canadian market. Thus, we were responsible for marketing research, finance and some legal paperwork.
-Would you recommend this program to your friends or future Master students?
Absolutely! This experience helped me understand a broader concept regarding international trade and business management. It changed my way of thinking towards real life cases that I get every day at work. I got exposed to such a rich culture, exciting Taiwanese company visits and Teamwork at its best. If you want to make a difference in your field, IBMBA is the way to go, what are you waiting for?
Respondent: Julio Leon (NSYSU, IBMBA Alumni, Class of 2015) Interviewer: Zhanna Samodurova (President of Students Association, 2020) Date: 15/04/2020
【Interview】Double Degree Program Alumni：Christoph Schmidt (GHRM MBAxNTU)
Christoph Schmidt • Originally from Germany • Alumni of NTU, England • Finished Dual Degree Program in NSYSU, Taiwan
The National Sun Yat-sen University offers a wide array of dual degree programs in which students can participate for an additional degree. One of such students was Christoph Schmidt from Germany, who came to Taiwan from Nottingham Trent University (NTU), England. The Students Association met with Chris and asked a few questions about his experience.
-What was your major at NSYSU and why did you choose Taiwan for studying?
My study program at NSYSU was the Global Human Resource Management program. I started at NSYSU in February 2019 and I stayed in Taiwan until the end of June 2019. I chose to study in Taiwan, because I spent vacations in Japan and China a couple of years ago and I have been fascinated with Asian culture since then. Furthermore, I was also looking for a chance to improve and practice my Chinese skills.
-What do you like about the country Taiwan?
Taiwan has a great countryside and I loved doing road trips during my stay there and visiting cities such as Taipei or Taoyuan. I also enjoyed going to night markets and discovering the Taiwanese street food. Other highlights for me were the many different sights to visit around Kaohsiung such as the Lotus Pond or Fo Guang Shan Monastery.
-Why did you choose GHRM MBA Program specifically? Who were your favorite professors and which class did you like the most?
I think the people and culture of a country play such a big part in Human Resource Management, which makes it a particularly interesting program to study abroad. Even though I did not decide to directly go into the field of HR at the beginning of my career, I believe personnel management skills are very important to further someone’s progresses professionally. As for teachers, Professor Ryan and Professor Young were among my favorite professors. They both had an entertaining teaching style and taught me a lot about the business culture in Asia. Talking about classes, I would recommend “Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Management”, because we had the opportunity to develop our own product idea and business model, and the course gave me more self-confidence in my entrepreneurial skills.
-Regarding to your professional skills, do you work now? Which company?
I will start working on the 1st of June and complete a two-year Management trainee program at Agaplesion, which is a large German Healthcare provider.
-Did you do any internships while studying?
Yes, after having completed my semester at NSYSU, I conducted an internship of two months at a consultancy in the area of sales and telecommunication in Munich.
-Was it hard for you to find a job after graduation and did you feel that Degree from NSYSU helped you while job-hunting period?
I realized that application processes need a lot of time and consist of multiple steps nowadays, but overall, I was happy with the amount of positive responses that my applications received. Answering the second question, I could definitely say “yes”. I think once you get invited to an interview, it really only matters what kind of skills you gained and what kind of experiences you made and because of the time I spent at NSYSU I had plenty to tell!
-Would you recommend this program to your friends or future Master students?
I would definitely recommend this program to my friends. During my time at NSYSU I was able to form international friendships, gained lots of intercultural experiences, enhanced my Chinese skills and received a high-quality education.
Respondent: Christoph Schmidt (Alumni of Dual Degree Program of NSYSU, 2019) Interviewer: Zhanna Samodurova (The President of Students Association, 2020) Date: 10/05/2020
"National Sun Yat-sen University is a top university in Taiwan, and obtaining a diploma from this university is a huge advantage for me in landing a job after graduation.", said Tran Ngoc Lam (Woody), our alumni from IBMBA 102.
Woody is from Vietnam. He is currently working as an salesperson at AWOT Global Logistics Company in Hanoi, Vietnam. His hobbies are reading books related to Economy or Philosophy, going to the gym and swimming.
Asking about Woody's IBMBA studying experiences at National Sun Yat-sen University, he had seeked suggestions from friends and relatives and his cousin introduced him to NSYSU . His cousin had studied at NSYSU and gave him the advice to choose IBMBA. She believed that IBMBA was the most suitable program for Woody since IBMBA tuition fee was affordable and the learning environment was excellent, also the local people always show great hospitality to international students in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
As a student who did not have a business learning background before entering the IBMBA program, Woody was struggling with some foundation courses, such as economy, statistics, and accounting. Thanks to the devoted teaching of professors and helpful friends, Woody could finally overcome his difficulties and achieved outstanding results. He also mentioned that spending more times in the university library is also a good way to gain more knowledge and be able to keep up with the lesson progress in classes. NSYSU library has a treasure which included thousand books, newspapers and other supplementary papers in variety topics, a reader could look for any item by the catalogue.
Sharing about the field trips experiences that Woody had while taking the IBMBA program, he said: "we usually had two or more fields trip each semester. In class, I learned so much that theoretical knowledge and field trips were a good opportunity for me to apply the knowledge. For each field trip, we had the opportunities to work with the local businesses, talked with the company's CEO or managers, practice real business cases, and make more networks." Woody saw these activities as a stepping stone for his future career.
After Woody graduated from the IBMBA program, he spent one more year at NSYSU to strengthen his Chinese proficiency at the Chinese Language Center. Being fluent in the local language, Woody was able to get a job in Taichung and worked for three years before coming back to Vietnam.
Talking about the job interview experience in Taiwan, Woody said “ the IBMBA, NSYSU degree did helped me to have more chances to receive job opportunities. Most companies recognize NSYSU as one of the top universities in Taiwan and graduates are diligence and potential candidate. Not only at the workplace, in daily life, whenever Woody mentioned that he graduated from NSYSU, people give him much admiration.
Woody would like to offer three advices to both our international and local students. The first thing is to strengthen Chinese ability if international students seek further career development in Taiwan. Being fluent in the local language will help students in the workplace and daily life. Making good use of all the facilities in NSYSU is the second important thing. NSYSU provides students everything that a student should have, from high-quality academic courses to extraordinary campus life, so make sure that you utilize those resources. Lastly, Woody said it is essential to stay healthy. NSYSU has all the facilities that can help students stay strong and well, such as a gym, running field, swimming pool, tennis course, it is all welcome.
Interviewee: Tran Ngoc Lam Class: IBMBA102 Finalized by Alex Dang
Trent Prestegar Originally from Australia Lives and works in Taiwan IBMBA Alumni Class of 2011 NSYSU, Taiwan
As part of the Leading Global Academia in Taiwan, the International Business MBA and Global HRM programs at NSYSU are committed to provide a diverse and inclusive learning environment for our local and international students. Our alumnus Trent Prestegar came from Australia to Taiwan to study in the IBMBA program. Zhanna Samodurova, President of the Students Association, conducted an interview with Trent and asked him a few questions about his experience.
-Trent, could you please tell us a bit more about yourself?
My name is Trent and I’m from Australia. I’ve been in Taiwan for 13 years. I lived in Kaohsiung for 5 years where I studied mandarin at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages and then studied IBMBA at NSYSU. I’ve now been living in Taipei for around 7 years and have spent some time working in Guangzhou, China as well.
-Why did you choose the IBMBA Program at NSYSU?
I was already living in Taiwan for a few years before studying at NSYSU. I realized that I would need to do an MBA degree at some time in my career, and I found that the program offered by NSYSU had a good reputation and cost less than in other countries. Also, I was able to receive financial support as a foreign student, which helped finance my studies even more. I thought I would probably stay living and working in Asia in the future, so I figured studying MBA in Taiwan would be quite relevant, as well as a low cost of living and high living standard. The campus of NSYSU is also a great place to study and always felt happy to be there.
-What do you like about the country Taiwan?
Living in Taiwan is exciting, interesting and convenient. There are so many things that are different from life in Australia, and every day I still have new and interesting experiences, even after living here for so long. Taiwan is in a great location in Asia, which makes it easy to travel around the region. The standard of living is high but the cost of living is still quite low compared to a lot of other developed countries. Taiwan is also an amazingly beautiful country with so much to see and do. I really enjoy getting out of the cities and into the mountains, especially for cycling, and it’s very accessible even from the big cities like Taipei and Kaohsiung. You can get all kinds of great food at any time of the day or night, and of course there’s always a convenience store close by selling whatever you need. The transport in and between cities is convenient and cheap and cities like Kaohsiung and Taipei are clean, convenient and safe, and the people are, of course, wonderful.
-When and why did you decide to join the IBMBA program?
After living in Kaohsiung and studying mandarin for more than 2 years, I was preparing to return to Australia to continue my career, but I also did not want to leave Taiwan. When I found out about the IBMBA program from a previous graduate I was very interested and thought it would be a good idea to further my career and extend my time in Taiwan. I enrolled in the spring of 2009 to start in the fall semester. As I mentioned above, the cost of studying at NSYSU was much more reasonable and affordable than in Australia, which is one of the reasons made the program very attractive. I also knew that NSYSU had a very good reputation in Taiwan and in Asia.
-Who was your favorite professor during your studying at NSYSU, why?
My favorite professor was Dr Yih Jeng. I took several of his finance classes and they were always so interesting. He knew so much about finance and investment and was always able to explain everything so well. Also, he would plan a social dinner each semester when the whole class would go out at night for food and drinks and get to know the professor and other classmates outside of a school environment.
-What was your favorite course during your entire program, why?
My favorite course was Institutional Economics taught by David Andersson. It was a different take on economics compared to the standard theory, and the class was more like a big discussion than a lecture. We would discuss aspects of economics which I had never even thought of before and it really required the students to think about economics from a different perspective. We even organized a small celebration in honor of the 100th birthday of one of the famous economists in the field of institutional economics.
-Could you please tell us about your work experience? Was it hard for you to find a job after graduation?
I currently work at D-Link as Consumer Product Marketing Manager in Taipei. I've been in this position for 3.5 years and been at the company for almost 7 years. But answering the second question, yes, I would say it was hard for me. I tried to find a job right after graduation, but there were no jobs in Kaohsiung and it was hard to job hunt in Taipei without being there. And also, not having a lot of experience didn’t help either. In the end I returned to Australia for a few months and then when I came back to Taiwan I went directly to Taipei and decided to stay there until I found a job. I was living in a hostel while job hunting which was definitely an interesting experience, I told myself that as soon as I got an offer, I could move out and find my own apartment. Luckily, I immediately got more interviews after being on the ground in Taipei and felt that I had a much better chance of being successful. I was offered my first job at D-Link after only one month in Taipei and have been with the company since then.
-Did you feel that Degree from NSYSU helped you during your job-hunting period?
I think that with no experience in Taiwan, it was helpful to have an NSYSU degree on my CV. Most Taiwanese companies recognize this degree and university and it definitely helped me to get my first job when I had no other relevant experience.
-What is a moment that you never will forget about your life at NSYSU?
Every morning when I rode my scooter over the mountain at the back of the campus and saw the coastline and the ocean view, it made me happy to be there. I will never forget the feeling of just looking out and seeing the whole ocean and Kaohsiung harbor every morning, it almost made me forget that I was going to school.
Respondent: Trent Prestegar (NSYSU, IBMBA Alumni, Class of 2011) Interviewer: Zhanna Samodurova (President of Students Association, 2020) Date: 03/06/2020
Tomasz Sniedziewski • Originally from Poland • Lives and works in Taiwan • IBMBA Alumni Class of 2014 NSYSU, Taiwan
As part of the Leading Global Academia in Taiwan, the International Business MBA and Global HRM programs at NSYSU are committed to provide a diverse and inclusive learning environment for our local and international students. Our alumnus Tomasz Sniedziewski came from Poland to Taiwan to study in the IBMBA program. Zhanna Samodurova, President of the Students Association, conducted an interview with Tomasz and asked him a few questions about his experience.
-Tomasz, could you please tell us a bit more about yourself?
My name is Tomasz Śniedziewski, I’m originally from Poland but for nearly the last 10 years I live in Taiwan. From 2012 till 2014 I had the pleasure to attend the IBMBA course at NSYSU.
-Why did you choose the IBMBA Program at NSYSU?
For me, as it happened, I have first arrived in Taiwan and then I have enrolled in the IBMBA course. It was not a random decision - for many years before starting my studies at NSYSU I have been watching how taking an MBA course is changing the lives of the people I know and I have decided to one day enroll MBA studies to redirect my professional career. Taiwan, being the gate to China, with many Taiwanese companies having a footprint in the Mainland, seemed like a perfect place to set on this endeavor. The opportunity came when my very good friend from Taiwan who was doing the internship in Amsterdam had to go back to his country and then invited me to visit there and decide maybe I’d consider staying in Kaohsiung for a while and visit the city around. After spending one year in Japan during my studies I was happy to go back to Asia and I instantly fell in love with Taiwan and with Kaohsiung. During my research, I found that National Sun-yat Sen University (NSYSU) offers one of the best business programs in Taiwan. After visiting the campus, beautifully located between the mountains and the sea, I just knew I wanted to study there! I did all necessary preparation and I remember being very happy and excited to become part of IBMBA 101.
-What do you like about the country Taiwan?
As I have lived here for nearly 10 years, I got used to many qualities related to living here, such as tropical weather, beautiful nature, the diverse and vibrant culture, and last but not least, the local cuisine that one can easily fall in love with. Above all, Taiwan is the country of amazing people. Back in my country, I came across the description saying “even if they are bend down, in the scorching heat when they work in the paddy fields, Taiwanese will not fail to say hello to you and give you the kind smile”, which I think well summarizes the friendliness of the residents of Taiwan. Among the majority of Taiwanese, I could feel the friendly curiosity towards the foreigners with the willingness to help.
-What is a moment that you never will forget about your life at NSYSU?
We, the foreign students, had plenty of chances to receive help and learn the local culture also from our Taiwanese classmates. I will never forget when my IBMBA friend, Kathy, invited me and several other classmates to visit her family in Central Taiwan and the delicious dinner prepared by her mom - we really felt like being at home away from home. Also, my classmate from IBMBA 101 was famous Cindy, called by us Cindy Mama, who was a very good year representative and has been tireless to teach us, the foreigners about Taiwanese culture. I say famous Cindy because after graduation she has joined the administration of NSYSU and helped many people from around the world become the students of the business programs. Of course, friendships have no nationality, so at the same time, it is possible to learn much from international friends, who come to study at NSYSU from all around the world. From my experience, I can say that after graduation many bonds remain strong and it is always a pleasure to meet each other, keep in touch, or at least learn about the professional way of my classmates. Last year I have been very happy to visit my important IBMBA classmate friend Sebastian in Germany, I’m looking forward to future meetings with my classmates when the travel restrictions due to the pandemic are over.
-Could you please tell us about your work experience?
Right after the studies, I have joined the company of my Taiwanese friend HAL Architecture Design and Research based in Kaohsiung. In this new venture, I had been responsible for a product, by which we mean addressing the needs of the clients, especially the functional, organizational of business needs and work out the best solutions. These few years have been a very exciting time of true development. The majority of projects we do are B2B (business to business) projects, contracted by the public institutions. In our architecture portfolio, we have company headquarters, social housings, kindergartens, schools, dormitories… One of the projects, the Junior High School Building in Daliao District, has been awarded this year's architecture award. Currently, we are working on some high-profile projects. One of them is the new office building for the National Immigration Agency, which will be located in the city center of Kaohsiung. Another of the projects we work on is the new dormitory for the National University of Tainan.
-Do you have any other jobs?
Yes, I have another job, being a correspondent for professional aviation news online outlet in Poland, “Rynek Lotniczy”. For many years I have been interested in the aviation industry and this interest has been expressed in the choice of my master thesis at IBMBA studies: “Crisis Management in Aviation Industry - The Role of Social Media”. The airline industry field has been so interesting for me, that even after I got my job for HAL I kept following it and write a blog on the topic. Somehow this blog became popular what gave me the confidence to apply for a journalist job at one of the Polish airline news portals. After a few years of work for them, I have decided to change for the work at “Rynek Lotniczy” (“Aviation Market” in Polish). At this job, I’m a news correspondent from Asia but also, I do the reports and analysis of the industry. The outlet title belongs to the Business Advisors Publishing House, so besides providing the news and the analysis, sometimes our service requires consulting reports for the various industry players.
-How do you manage to successfully combine two jobs?
From my experience, having two jobs gives a very comfortable position in which, when I am tired of one of the jobs, I can devote more time to the other. In general, I find both of them exciting and inspiring, in fact, I consider myself one of these lucky people who do what they love to do, get paid for doing it and hardly ever feel bored.
-Would you recommend this program to your friends or future Master students?
I believe this comfortable situation I’m in right now has been possible because of the MBA degree I have obtained at NSYSU. It didn’t help me in a job hunt, in a way I feel I was not looking for a job but the job found me, but studying MBA provided me with skills and outlook that I find very useful in everyday professional life and I cannot overstate how much it boosted my self-confidence. For the more basic things, graduating from IBMBA allowed me to get the residence status in Taiwan and live and work in the country. For this, I can confirm to the people who consider studying at NSYSU, this degree can positively change a life.
Respondent: Tomasz Sniedziewski (NSYSU, IBMBA Alumni, Class of 2014) Interviewer: Zhanna Samodurova (President of Students Association, 2020) Date: 02/06/2020
【Internship】GHRM MBA Zhanna Samodurova’s Intern Experience at Envoy Enterprise Co. Ltd.
As defined in the Oxford dictionary, internship is the position of a student or trainee who works in an organization, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification. This definition is proven to be correct by one of our GHRM MBA students, Zhanna Samodurova from Russia as she shares to us her internship experience.
Zhanna is currently doing her internship at Envoy Enterprise Co. Ltd., a company that supplies foundry raw materials in Taiwan. She started her internship last February 2020 as a marketing researcher. Through Professor David Lin, also a consulting adviser of the said company, Zhanna was able to know the company. Her background in Materials Science Engineering and MBA makes her suitable for the job. This makes her application as Envoy’s intern processed smoothly.
On being an intern
Her primary task as an intern is to do a research about Eastern Europe, focusing on countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland. Being more specific, she is tasked to research on different companies’ market share, competitors, the level of GDP on each country, as well as on how to enter the market in Eastern Europe. Zhanna is responsible on knowing these pieces of information for Envoy. Her outputs will help the company arrange possible negotiations with business partners in these countries. The negotiations will then help Envoy to provide products to their customers.
On working conditions and culture shocks
Knowing the relevance of her work makes Zhanna appreciate her internship so much. For her, it is important to understand why she is doing her job and how clear her roles are. According to Zhanna, the company provides everything that she needs for her job. This makes her willing to put 100% of her efforts. She told us that she enjoys her internship so much, and she has no doubts on saying yes if she’ll be asked to work for the company as a full-time employee. “I never felt lost during the process because Sarah, the Vice President, always helps me. If I have questions, I can come to her directly even she’s quite busy,” Zhanna mentioned.
When we asked Zhanna on culture shocks in working on a Taiwanese company, this is what she said: “I didn’t have any culture shocks despite of the fact that Envoy is a Taiwanese company. Since it [Envoy] is a global company and they operate all over the world, I don’t feel any big difference.” She also added that there are no language barriers since all of her co-workers can communicate with her easily. She also mentioned that she doesn’t have any problems communicating with her boss.
On her motivation and advice to do internship
Zhanna answered simply when we asked her on what’s her motivation on doing an internship: “To put something on my resume, and to experience the big world.” According to Zhanna, it is better to do internship, rather than not doing it at all. For Zhanna, the internship makes the students familiar with working conditions which will help them estimate and evaluate themselves as employees. Through her internship, she can actually see the bigger picture of what she wants to do in the future. According to her, “The requirements from you, as an intern, are not very high. The pressure during internship is lower, compared to a full-time job. It’s good for interns to feel how it [the internship] is going to be”
With Zhanna’s story, the College of Management hopes that more students would be more interested in doing an internship to experience the real world!
Attending International conferences is an important activity for all postgraduates. The International Relations (IR), College of Management, NSYSU, understands that many PhD students might experience some anxiousness while preparing for a conference, and also may be unsure of how to properly prepare. To help address these issues an experience sharing seminar was held by the IR and four PhD students were invited to discuss and answer questions about their experiences attending international conferences. At the beginning of the seminar Director of the International Relations Office, Professor Chien Yuan Sher, shared that it is a requirement for every PhD student to attend an international conference, principally because it is a valuable opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with other scholars. Though many students find themselves nervous and puzzled with the application process, Professor Chien stated his belief that this seminar could help students to prepare for future conferences. Many recent conferences have been forced to postpone, cancel, or change to an online format due to the ongoing concern surrounding COVID-19, but there should be more opportunities to attend conferences in person after the pandemic has been brought under control.
In the beginning of the seminar, PhD student Prasanthi Yepuru from the Department of Information Management shared her experience of attending the PACIS conference (Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems) in Japan in 2018. According to Prasanthi, it is always a valuable experience to attend a conference because you can increase your awareness of new topics in your research field as well as build up your personal network, which may someday prove helpful in finding future co-authors or collaborators. Prasanthi reminded those who need to prepare a poster presentation for a conference to be sure to arrange different versions of the posters and get them printed with plenty of time to spare. As for the poster content, Prasanthi recommended to keep it simple and focus on making the design visually attractive. For students in Information Systems field, Prasanthi recommended a useful platform: https://aisnet.org/page/Conferences. Useful details about conferences can be found there. Last but not the least, Prasanthi recommended that everyone prepare a question list and actively participate in the conference, so as to receive in-depth information and have more direct feedback for your future research.
The second speaker, Benson Wang, is a PhD student from the Institute of Human Resource Management. Benson attended two conferences in 2018: IACMR and AOM. IACMR (International Association for Chinese Management Research) is the largest management seminar in Asia, and Benson had the opportunity to present his research. According to Benson, he tried to include Chinese elements in his slides so as to attract more attention from other scholars. Benson suggests that every PhD student define their research topic clearly, have concise points, and exercise good time management during their presentation. In this way, fellow scholars can easily follow your research and the following discussion will be more focused and productive. The other conference Benson attended was AOM (Academy of Management), the largest conference for management in the world. If attending such a big event, Benson encouraged students to carefully check the agenda of the conference beforehand, take note of the sessions that you are interested in, and try to attend as many events as possible. The first three days of the conference are the most crucial because they present the best opportunity to meet fellow scholars. According to Benson, there are two reasons to attend a conference. The first of these is functional: every PhD student can use this opportunity to promote their research. The second reason is practical: students can use the opportunity to build up their network in the research field. Benson encouraged every student to get ready to join upcoming conferences.
Jennet Achyldurdyeva from the Institute of Human Resource Management was the third speaker and she has attended many conferences including URAM (European Academy of Management) and AIB (Academy of International Business). Jennet explained the process of applying for a conference, raising funds, and preparing for the conference itself. Above all, Jennet encouraged students to choose the top conferences to attend and continue joining events for several years. Another important idea that Jennet tried to convey is to never feel disappointed if you get rejected from a conference, because there are always more opportunities in the future. Jennet used herself as an example. She was rejected by several conferences but received some suggestions from others and had chance to talk to other scholars, which helped her to improve her study. Furthermore, Jennet explained that different conferences have different regulations and agendas. The pace of conferences in the U.S. is fast, and participants need to illustrate their idea in about three minutes, whereas the focus of conferences in Europe is more about relationship-building. Regardless of which conference you attend, you need to be well-versed in your research so that you can seize every chance to acquire new insights and suggestions.
Andrew Argue from the Department of Business Management was the fourth speaker of the day, and he attended EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) in Edinburgh in 2019. According to Andrew, it takes about one year to complete conference preparation, and he encouraged students to be patient when going about the process. Taking himself as an example, he began to prepare for the conference in July 2018, got accepted by EGOS in February 2019, and attended the event in Edinburgh in July 2019. There are seven sessions which comprise EGOS, and the scholars are divided into groups according to the themes of their papers for discussion. Each member in the group not only has to discuss their own research, but also needs to review the paper of two other scholars. The process of EGOS is quite different than other conferences, and the audience was always eager to know more about how it was undertaken, so there was an ongoing discussion during Andrew’s talk. Andrew also demonstrated how to handle the MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology) platform for step by step fundraising, which was extremely helpful for the foreign PhD students. At the end of the seminar, one student expressed his appreciation to the IR office and indicated that he had received many useful points during the seminar. Now he – and all the other students who attended - are more aware of what it takes to successfully prepare for and participate in an international conference.
