Course equips employees with the skills to deliver results in tough times
Employees with skills in crisis and turnaround management are prized assets of any corporation, particularly in times of economic difficulty.
The MBA programme at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) offers subjects that incorporate these skills. Their main objective is to equip students with the tools to manage businesses and deliver results during tough times.
'Many of our students are what we call 'fair-weather captains', who have not experienced any crises in their careers so far,' said Marcus Schuetz, an adjunct professor of the faculty of business and economics at HKU.
One course focuses on the theory and techniques of crisis and change management. Another is a management consulting course featuring many classic cases, including the Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive turnaround, which Dr Schuetz was responsible for between 2003 and 2006.
In the course Doing Business in China, Dr Schuetz takes students through the entire life cycle of a company in China, from its establishment, merger and acquisition involving other corporations, crisis and turnaround management, bankruptcy, to its exit from China. Students look at cases compiled from various sectors.