She’s now Vice President of the Nordic furniture producer Flokk’s Chinese operations and describes the investment in an MBA as one of the smartest decisions in her life.
“I believe the BI-Fudan programme was a big milestone in my career. The experiences I got from the programme have been a huge advantage when working with Scandinavian companies. In addition to new knowledge, I think the programme also let me have the chance to know the Scandinavian culture,” says Yan, and points out that the Nordic business culture carries ingredients that foster an innovative work environment.
Yan says that she felt the need to improve herself with new skills as leadership, strategy and how to read financial reports.
“Nordic business culture promotes equality, collaboration and transparency. Including a global mind-set deriving from the Nordics’ small markets, the result is all necessary ingredients to foster an innovative work environment in a company. Combined with Chinese pragmatism, entrepreneurial spirit and market opportunities, I believe the BI-Fudan MBA programme provides the best and most effective approaches when conducting business,” says Yan.
BI’s joint program with School of Management Fudan University in China is ranked as the 27th best in the world on the 2019 ranking from Financial Times on part time executive MBA programs. Since its first listing in 2013 (placed 54), the BI-Fudan programme has climbed 27 places and ranks highest amongst its Nordic peers. On the 2019 ranking, BI climbs two places from 2018.
“Besides the systematic learning from professors, I feel the learning from classmates is also a very important experience. My classmates were from different industries and had different roles in their companies. To be able to discuss different subjects and complex business cases with them, broadened my knowledge,” says Yan.
Facts about Cherry:
- Name: Cherry Y. Yan
- Employer: Flokk - market leader in the design, development and production of workplace furniture in Europe. About 2300 employees
- Position: Vice President, China
- Age: 42
- Graduated from BI-Fudan: 2010
- Reads daily: 1 hour (news from China Daily, New York Times, books about history, design and fashion magazine, etc)
- Interests: Travelling, Playing Tennis
- Last vacation: Summer house in Southern Denmark near the Ocean
- Favorite app: Wechat, Tmall
Facts about the BI-Fudan MBA programme:
- An English taught part-time MBA program in Shanghai
- EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA accredited
- 90% Percentage of students is working in multinational companies
- Modules in Shanghai, Berkeley, Singapore, Madrid, Oslo