The 5th and 6th academic seminars of the Business School were held in the No. 5 meeting room of Academic Conference Centre. Guest lecturers invited to the seminars were Professor He Yahui from Free University of Berlin and Professor Sun Hongqing from Berlin Institute of Technology. The seminars were chaired by Associate Professor Tan Kun from Shantou University Business School and attended by Associate Professors Mr. Li Yue, Ms Sima Qianshi and Ms Lin Jiali.
The topic of Professor He’s lecture was ‘the relationship between EU economic policies and the debt crisis of Greece’. The lecture centred on the integration of EU economies and the debt crisis of Greece. Focusing on the integration of EU economies, Professor He presented a flow chart to outline the development courses of the EU from the 1950 Schuman Declaration to the introduction of Euro Zone in 1999. She explained with profound details the connotation of the Declaration while using the prisoners’ dilemma to examine the integration of the EU, and shared her understandings of the Euro Zone, as well as the cause and consequence of the Greek debt crisis. Relevant theories were used to illustrate the difficulties facing Germany and France and the underlying issues of the Theory of Optimum Currency which had led to the economic crisis in Greece and southern European nations.
In comparison with Professor He, Professor Sun Hongqing’s lecture did not pay much attention to politic or economy, but rather focused his topic on ‘open innovation and management of customer knowledge-how to sell an apple for a million dollars’. In sharing with the attendees his experiences in study and research, Professor Sun pointed out that finding the right method is crucial. After years of studying in Germany, he concluded that the first priority of a student is to get familiar with the fundamentals and look for the right method of studying. Such processes are helpful for students in discovering self individual characteristics and the importance of details within these processes are indismissable. In the midst of essay discussion, the example of selling an apple for a million dollars was used to interact with the attendees and led to the lecture topic of value adding to products. Professor Sun analyzed the topic by explaining the need of customers, capability, knowledge management, customer participation and customer relationship management and argued that the most important point is the utilization of contemporary structural mode and method as compared to customer knowledge and relationship management. In concluding his lecture, Professor Sun emphasized his point that customer knowledge management can serve to supplement customer relationship management, though the former cannot replace the latter.
The topics of the 5th and 6th academic seminars reflected the recent news headlines while new perspectives were put forward. According to some attendees interviewed, the lectures widened their visions while provided joy of learning.
