The seminar is limited to 24 attendees. There will be a waiting list, since our experience is that (i) at the beginning of the registration period, students are overbooking various seminars, with the consequence that these are fully booked after a few hours; (ii) appr. 20% of the students usually cancel their registration for the course during the following days. So if the course is already fully booked, please contact jana.salot@wu.ac.at for the waiting list.

This course – a “spin-off” of the seminar “Scenarios of globalization”, held by Dr. Reichl between 2008 and 2019 – is a consequence of the ever increasing importance of China for the global economy. The successful mix of teaching and learning methods of this globalization course will be continued and transferred to the online platform Zoom.

Course description

Since China started to implement its market-oriented economic model in the 1980ies and early 1990ies, China has become the second biggest economy after the US, regaining its leading position, which it had held until the early 19^th century. During the last two decades, China has gained – propelled by its special political model – an ever-increasing influence on the global economy, cumulating in the “trade war” between the US and China during the last 2 years. It has rapidly developed from a low-cost manufacturing location for high-volume consumer products and from a vast market for Western investment goods in the 1990ies to a producer of intelligent and increasingly competitive, technologically leading investment and consumer goods as well as to a competitive and challenging market.

China has not only started to compete with established Western companies in their home turfs but has increasingly been active as acquirer of Western technologies and assets. Its demand and sourcing strategies of raw materials have increasingly influenced global production volumes and prices in many economic sectors. Today, every globally active company is influenced by China’s economic strategies and most globally active company can risk not to be present in China.

All this is only slightly negatively influenced by China’s Zero-Covid-strategy, its demographic trends, and the war in Ukraine. China still has a huge reservoir of well-educated and ambitious human labor and of (potential) consumers, creating opportunities and challenges. For most countries and companies, the basic questions are: What can be future models for a balanced world economy including China? What position should China have in the overall strategy of a company? How should companies proceed when optimizing their presence in China? What should they consider before expanding or restructuring their activities in China?

This highly interactive course will analyze and describe the past, present und possible future developments of China’s economic development and the impact it has and might have on other parts of the world (especially on Europe, the US and Africa/South America) as well as in various industries.

The course will provide an understanding of the economic background and attitude of Chinese society and politics, China’s recent economic structures, trade flows and trends, economic forces, as well as risks and opportunities for Western companies and investors.

After participating in the course, students should be able

i) To understand the structure of China’s economy with regards to economic sectors, regions, social values, and the role of the state.

ii) To judge Chinese companies, their strengths and weaknesses, and their global strategies.

iii) To assess China’s potential for Western companies as well as approaches for investing and optimizing a company’s presence in China.

iv) To understand the impact, which China and its companies are having and might have in the future on world markets.

Missing 6 (out of the 28) units will results in a negative evaluation.

It is Dr. Reichl’s experience that participants benefit the most when they study, prepare and present specific subjects on their own or in small teams. Students highly appreciate the opportunity to work in a practical way (as later in companies) and to get experience in online presentation and communication. All this can be very well achieved also in online mode, as done and tested in summer semester 2020 and winter semester 2020.

Since most information and data are available online, the real value-added of the course will be in discussing, connecting and interpreting information, data, and trends, which will be prepared and presented by students or Dr. Reichl. Consequently, the course will include around 15 short presentations by students on pre-defined subjects, like historic and recent developments, characteristics and role of state-owned companies, situation and trends in specific industries (e.g. in Agriculture, Consumer Goods, Energy, Automotive), or financial markets. In addition, there will be a mix of working types, like writing a pre-course assignment, participating in two blogging exercises, overview discussions, and discussions with one or two guest speaker(s), who will highlight his/their own experiences, views and interests.

There will be a homepage available for the course on learn@wu, providing a platform for all material and learning work of students.

Missing 6 (out of the 28) units will results in a negative evaluation. The grade for the course will be calculated based on the following criteria:

i) Pre-course assignment (max. 15 points) – written

Pick two articles of the reading list on learn@wu and express your opinion on (at least and maximal!) two DIN A4 pages (1 1/2 lines distance, character Arial, size 11). The header of each page has to contain the name of the participant and the titles of the articles commented. It is recommended to comment on articles on related subjects. Send the document with your opinion statement until noon of the first day of the course (i.e. March 16, noon) to the email address supplied after registration.

è Evaluation according to substance of opinion and clarity of expression

ii) Contributions to the online bloggings (max. 13 points) – written, online

As a “warm-up” to the main block, Dr. Reichl will name two subjects which should be discussed on the blogging facility of learn@wu. Students are expected to participate and feed in fresh thoughts.

è Engagement will be tracked

iii) Engagement / verbal contributions in discussions during the course (max. 13 points) – oral

Students are strongly encouraged to actively take part in the discussions and contribute their own opinions and experiences.

è Engagement will be tracked.

iv) Teamwork and seminar presentations (max. 24 points) – oral

Students are required to engage in teams to prepare homework jointly and to present the results in short presentations

è Engagement will be tracked and evaluated

v) Written Exam (max. 35 points) – in learn@wu online platform

in strict sequencing mode

On May 20, 2021, 6:00 pm, there will be a 90 minutes written exam with 4-5 multiple choice questions and 3-4 text questions about the contents of the course.

· Students should have studied/have experience with economics/business for at least 3 years

· Students must have written an Opinion Statement (pre-course assignment) (in English language; 2 DIN A4 pages, not more, not less! more specification opnline) on two of the articles in the folder “Reading material” on learn@wu (obligatory; registered students, who do not deliver the pre-course assignment until the first course on October 10 cannot be considered for participation. In exceptional cases, this deadline can be prolonged until October 17, 2022).

After 20 years as a Senior and Managing Partner of a major Management Consulting Firm, Dr. Reichl has invested in young technology companies, becoming the first Austrian Business Angel of the Year in 2009; he was a Senior Adviser to The World Economic Forum (WEF/Davos) and to UBS Investment Bank. Today, he is acting as a Senior Adviser to major companies, and is serving in various non-executive positions.

Before joining Roland Berger in 1987, he was European Marketing Program Manager at Hewlett Packard in Böblingen/Germany and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Management and Organization in Graz/Austria, lecturing IT-organization, Computer Aided Design and Artificial Intelligence. He studied at the Technical University in Graz/Austria, at Stanford University in California, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Civil Engineering and Doctor degrees in Engineering and in Law.

In China, Dr. Reichl had worked for the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos) and for companies focusing on China. He was hosting and chairing conferences on China, and is cooperating with Chinese companies in his role as investor and as a Senior Advisor (e.g. to the Strategy- and M&A-consulting firm InterChina Partners, founded in 1994 by Europeans in China to support European and American companies).

www.manfredreichl.com: his website with old fashioned layout and not always up-to-date infos.