On October 14, the 8th China Action Learning Forum was successfully held with the theme of "Action Learning in the Era of Digital Intelligence: Helping the Sustainable Development of Industrial Ecology". The forum was guided by the China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee and the Steering Committee for Teaching and Learning of Business Administration in Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education, co-sponsored by East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee and Shanghai Management Science Society, and organized by the School of Business and the Action Learning Special Committee of the Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee. The conference was presented to attendees in the form of live streaming, with nearly 80,000 viewers. In the era of digital intelligence, the forum aims to help the sustainable development of the industrial ecology by taking the application practice of action learning as a grip.

At the opening ceremony, Yan Haifeng, Vice President of ECUST, Lei Xinhui, Vice President of Tongji University, member of the China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee and member of the Steering Committee for Teaching and Learning of Business Administration in Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education, Huo Jiazhen, President of Shanghai Management Science Society, and Xu Xin, Secretary General of Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee, delivered speeches respectively.

Speech by Yan Haifeng

Yan Haifeng said in his speech that 2022 is the 70th anniversary of the founding of ECUST. Over the past 70 years, ECUST has insisted on implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and actively dovetailing with national needs, and has made significant contributions to economic and social development through the achievements of education and scientific research. As the pioneer in introducing action learning in China, the School of Business has shown a pioneering and enterprising spirit in its long-term practice of action learning. He pointed out that the forum topic is perfectly appropriate in the context of the integration of digital economy and real economy, and expected the action learning project to play a greater role in accelerating the pace of enterprise development and helping to build a health industry ecosystem in the future.

Speech by Lei Xinghui

According to Lei Xinghui, the deep integration of economy, technology and society brought by digital intelligence in recent years has achieved many new breakthroughs and new developments. The action learning approach is also generating endogenous wisdom to drive digital transformation and create more efficient and sustainable collaboration models. It is believed that the action learning approach will be strongly justified in the application practice in all aspects of social economy.

Speech by Huo Jiazhen

Huo Jiazhen remarked that the comprehensive promotion of digital intelligence transformation in all fields of economy and society is both a new requirement of the times and a new opportunity to open up a new situation for development. As an innovation to be shared globally, action learning will be more adapted to the needs of society in the digital economy than traditional organizational management and business education approaches.

Speech by Xu Xin

According to Xu Xin, China's economy is transforming into one driven by technology and intelligence. Digitalization is a proposition that companies are currently exploring, and will be the focus of development in various industries. Under such a background, Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee will actively respond to the national strategic layout, practicing the "four-in-one" collaborative development path and continuously exploring new experience and new modes of MBA education.

Ma Tieju hosted the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the forum was hosted by Ma Tieju, Dean of the School of Business.

Keynote Speech

In the main forum, Prof. Huang Yasheng from MIT Sloan School of Management delivered a keynote speech on "Action Learning at MIT". Wang Chongming, a senior professor of liberal arts at Zhejiang University, a special expert of Zhejiang Province, and a recipient of the Merit Award of School of Management, Zhejiang University, further deepened the new connotation of action learning with the topic of "Sustainable Development Strategy of Action Learning". Su Jingqin, Chairman of the Management Case Study Committee of Chinese Research Council of Modern Management, Founder of China Management Case Sharing Center, Professor of DUT School of Economics and Management, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Management Case Studies, presented his views on the topic of "Is action learning suitable for business school education?". Song Zhiping, President of China Association for Public Companies, President of China Enterprise Reform and Development Society, and recipient of Fortune CEO Lifetime Achievement Award, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Transformation and Development of Business Schools in China". Yu Feng, President of Honeywell China, Director of Lean Six Sigma Institute of Shanghai Management Science Society and Visiting Professor of ECUST, shared concrete cases of action learning in the new environment under the topic of "Action Learning in the Era of Sustainable Development". The main forum was hosted by Zhang Shiwei, Special Assistant to the President of Anhui Sanlian University and Dean of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Sub-forum

In the sub-forum, two forums with the theme of "Action Learning Collective Lesson Preparation" and "Practice Sharing of Action Learning Special Committee of Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee" were held successively. Ten experts and scholars from the academia and industry discussed the action learning practice in their respective fields, taking case development, teaching practice, creative cultivation and problem solving paths as entry points to gradually improve and enrich the action learning cultivation platform, providing new impetus and new ideas for the connotative development of action learning cultivation methods. The forums were presided over by Chen Wansi, professor of School of Business and convener of the Action Learning Special Committee of the Shanghai MBA Education Steering Committee, and Su Taoyong, professor and doctoral supervisor of School of Economics and Management of Tongji University and academic director of the MBA/EMBA Center, respectively.

Selected Cases of Action Learning Practice released

As the organizer of this forum, the School of Business has always taken the lead in the field of action learning. It is worth mentioning that the book Selected Cases of Action Learning Practice led by the School of Business will be released soon, and the book launch was successfully held in the forum, which was managed by Ge Yongsheng, Deputy Director of the Professional Master Programs Center of the School of Business. This book is a compilation of more than ten selected cases from more than 10 years of action learning practical teaching in the School of Business, covering various aspects such as e-commerce, industrial manufacturing, and targeted poverty alleviation in new rural areas, etc.. It is a complete and comprehensive reflection of the real application of action learning approach in industry practice. In the future, ECUST School of Business will continue to explore more ways of knowledge transformation by action learning approach and contribute to the construction of a sustainable and resilient industrial ecology.

Written by: Zhang Zixuan     Reviewed by: Ge Yongsheng