2500 years ago, when Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote, "It is better to make one journey than to read a thousand books," little did he know that this would one day become the doctrine of a Dutch university department, which currently offers the most popular minor at the Universiteit Twente. Yet this principle is exactly what the International Management Group espouses.
Led by Professor Erik-Joost de Bruijn, the International Management Group aims to introduce an international and developmental perspective into the technical and social subjects covered by various departments at the UT, focusing on the role of technology in the industrializing world.
In the early 1990s, the group elected to focus on just a few countries, namely Indonesia, South Africa and China. Despite having no prior experience with the culture, Dr. Sirp de Boer volunteered to tackle China and conducted his first study tour in 1994. No doubt he relied on his years of field experience in industrial development cooperation projects in numerous countries, including Indonesia, Liberia, Fiji, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.
Each year roughly fifteen students participate in the China program. For undergraduates, the emphasis is on exposure to a new culture and introduction to organizing and executing a project. Graduate students, on the other hand, engage in tasks that focus on demonstrating mastery of a specific field. Both groups, however, are responsible for initiating projects. They must be committed, independent, and highly self-motivated. Treated as international consultant trainees, their supervisors encourage them to demonstrate skills rather than to reiterate theories. Sirp de Boer adds that it is important that students "engage in a relevant project" and that "they learn to contribute." Examples of past projects include working with components of a solar factory and a water rig. After theories are drafted at the UT, students travel to China to apply them in European companies involved in joint ventures with Chinese businesses. This is the great test: to reconcile abstract plans with reality.
De Boer's job description extends beyond challenging young minds to ensure that their theories can be practically applied. He spends time exchanging ideas and developing various projects with his peers at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou (200 km southwest of Shanghai), the third-ranked university in China. He also identifies companies with correlating interests. Most frequently he deals with Philips, Unilever, and Lufthansa/Air China. UT students tend to work for European rather than Chinese companies because the latter view an internship as a favor the company does for the university. They reason that it is the responsibility of a university to educate students, not of a company. In fact, under such conditions, a company may even demand compensation from the university for theservice it is rendering.
What makes De Boer's mission complicated are the cultural and institutional differences separating China and Europe. Communication between industrialized and industrializing nations is often problematic. It can take multiple conversations to define the core of a joint venture. Furthermore, educational philosophies differ. At Chinese universities Masters programs employ a theoretical, scientific approach in contrast to the practical approach implemented at the UT. Another distinction between Chinese and Dutch cultures derives from attitude, in particular, taking orders versus taking initiative.
For the moment, no Chinese students come to the UT as reciprocal participants in this program, but De Boer dreams of this in the future. Currently he is exploring a TSM Executive MBA in China, tailored to the needs of companies and potential students. As you read this, De Boer is engaged in a journey through China, charting fresh challenges for UT students.
