How long before a Chinese-born CEO leads a foreign-based Fortune 500 company?
Stephanie Cheung calls on China – and Hong Kong – to take up the challenge of producing global thinkers who can compete with the best in the corporate world
Cases in point include: Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive of America’s PepsiCo, who was born in India; Joseph Jimenez, chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis – born in the US; Carlos Brito, chief executive of Belgium-based beer company Anheuser-Busch InBev – born in Brazil; Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, born in India; and Maureen Chiquet, the former global head of Chanel, the world’s paramount luxury French brand, who hails from the US.
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This realisation led me to a search for Chinese-born chief executives – in Hong Kong or the mainland – leading global names. So far, I have drawn a blank.
Why is it that China has yet to export world-class chief executive officers? How should we modify our education curriculum to ensure our next generation become top leaders?
For one thing, the exam-oriented education system tends to emphasise theory instead of problem-solving skills. To gain an entrance ticket to universities in mainland China, there is only one key determining factor – the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, commonly known as the gaokao. To prepare for the most important exam in students’ lives, homework is mostly based around memorisation of facts and data. Students have little chance to get involved in research-based projects until they get to college. Freedom of expression is not encouraged in class; instead, students are praised for how well they can retain knowledge and information “in the box”. This is hardly conducive to fostering creative thinkers with leadership and problem-solving skills. The system hinders them from becoming well-rounded students.
