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A brand-new course will be jointly offered by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School and IBM China/Hong Kong Limited (IBM). Titled “IBM Global Business Services – Business Consulting Course,” the four-month course will consist of different topics taught by a number of top IBM management consulting experts. To officially launch the course, an orientation event was hosted today (10 January) by the CUHK Business School and IBM at Cheng Yu Tung Building LT6. 

“Business consulting services has always been one of the best options for Business School graduates to kick start their careers in the business world. Faced with the challenges of an extremely competitive business environment and rapid technological developments in recent years, both local and global enterprises have felt the need to continuously increase their competitiveness by reviewing their business practices through using business consulting services. In light of this, we are bringing in a team of experts from IBM, who are extremely familiar with enterprise operations and external business environments, to familiarize our students with the different scopes within the business consulting services industry, and to share with them real-life case studies,” said Professor Dennis Fan, Associate Dean of CUHK Business School.

A number of senior executives from IBM Global Business Services and experts from various disciplines have been invited to teach 11 topics, including Business Consulting Industry and Career, Fundamental Business Consulting Skills, Strategy Consulting, Business Process Consulting, Organizational Change Management, Business Analytics – Big Data Phenomenon and Customer Centricity – New Generation of Customer.   

“Practitioners in the business consulting field must stay in the forefront of current market developments and global economic activities. More importantly, they should know their clients’ internal and external operational environments and requirements inside out. I believe that our students will have a better understanding of the current development in the field and be able to better prepare themselves for graduation if they are taught by senior executives currently working in the industry, as the content and information provided by these executives will be most hands-on and relevant,” said Professor Fan. 

The 39-hour course will start from January this year and is open for enrolment by students in Year 2 or above from the CUHK Business School, Faculty of Engineering and School of Journalism and Communication. Forty-six students have been admitted to the course after a rigorous selection process. 

Professor Tak-Jun Wong, Dean of the CUHK Business School, remarked, “We are honored to join hands with IBM as strategic partners to foster a new generation of talents for the business community and business consulting industry. I believe that students participating in this course will be able to take advantage of this invaluable opportunity to learn from world-class business consulting professionals and greatly benefit from their business acumen, experience and insights.” 

“Facing a fast-changing and fluid global economy as well as a new business environment where the digital and social media and mobile spheres are converging, organizations need to reinvent themselves more than ever today to ensure sustainability and growth. Increasingly, enterprises are seeking help from external consulting partners,” said Joseph Wong, Partner and Hong Kong Practice Leader, Global Business Services, IBM China/Hong Kong Limited.

“We are delighted to partner with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a leading university in Hong Kong and the region, to offer the Global Business Services course to address this emerging demand. We look forward to cultivating a new generation of consulting professionals forHong Kong’s continued growth and success in the connected economy,” Wong continued. 

About CUHK Business School

CUHK Business School comprises two schools – Accountancy and Hotel & Tourism Management – and four departments – Finance, Decision Sciences & Managerial Economics, Management, and Marketing. It is Hong Kong’s first business school to offer MBA and EMBA courses. Today, the school offers 10 undergraduate programs and 31 graduate programs (10 MBA/EMBA; 15 Master, MSc and MPhil; 6 PhD). 

In the Financial Times’ 2012 global MBA rankings, CUHK’s MBA program is ranked No. 28. In its 2012 global EMBA rankings, CUHK’s EMBA program is ranked No.17 and its OneMBA program is ranked No. 24 in the world. CUHK has the largest number of business alumni (25,000+) in Hong Kong – many of whom are key business leaders. The faculty currently has more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Professor Tak-Jun Wong is the Dean of CUHK Business School. 

About IBM

For more information about IBM Hong Kong, please visit www.ibm.com/hk and the Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/Ua9XpQ 

For more information about IBM Global Business Services, please visit www.ibm.com/services/gbs