Prof. Cheng Yun (Paul)
Dr. Cheng Yun obtained his Master and Doctor degree in Wuhan University. He has worked in HUAWEI Technology Co., Ltd for more than 20 years and he has successively been engaging in the areas of human resource management, designing and delivering development programs for managers, and enabling the internal learning experts. Main research interests: human resource management, talent development, leadership development
Q1：We learned that you have many years of experience in human resource management in multinational company. How do you define excellent talents? What traits are particularly attractive to employers when recruiting on campus?
Paul Cheng: Firstly, excellent talents should be competent for the requirements of his / her position, and deliver excellent performance continuously. Secondly, they should have aspiration, grit and capability. These traits are the fundamental elements of his / her continuous high performance. " Aspiration " means having a dream in mind, setting goals by oneself instead of the goals arranged by the organization, pursuing excellence and constantly surpassing oneself. "Grit" refers to the willingness to make extra efforts to surpass responsibilities, persevere, getting up again and moving on when falling down and never giving up until the goal is achieved. Capability" means that he/she has practical and innovative ideas and ability to unite others and integrate resources to achieve goals efficiently.
There are different competencies requirements for different jobs recruitment on campus. But the following six competencies are required commonly. Achievement orientation, that is to pursue excellence, self-challenge, and strive to reach a certain high standard. Initiative, which means identifying opportunities actively and taking actions quickly instead of waiting and finding excuses. Analytical thinking, to express views methodically, analyze problems logically. Learning Agility, being curious and always be willing to explore new experiences, new ideas and new knowledge, actively seeking feedback and self-adjustment. Tenacity, perseverance, getting up again and moving on quickly when falling down. Teamwork, can cooperate well with others.
Q2: In 2020, our International Business will involve human resource management. Could you please introduce this course? What are the main benefits it will bring for business students?
Paul Cheng: Human resource management is a key subject in all kinds of organizations. In the course of human resource management, students will be led to the chance of deeply discussing the trend, concept, method and practice cases of human resource management. In addition, the course also tries to combine relevant human resources theories and tools to improve the students’self-awareness and self-improvement, so as to help them grow rapidly and achieve excellence in future work. For example, the following topics will be discussed and practiced: how to prepare for the job and successfully pass the recruitment interview; how to grow rapidly in the organization; how to assume greater responsibility and contribute greater value in the organization.
In addition to the regular way of self-study, lecture, case study, individual and group homework, the teaching method also concludes role-play in the recruitment interview and performance assessment, enabling students to experience the key scenes of job application and appraisal.
There are mainly two benefits it will bring to business students. One is to understand how to effectively build enterprise competitive advantage through systematic human resource management, from the perspective of "management team". The other is to understand how to prepare for employment during the study period, and how to effectively and rapidly grow up after work, so as to contribute more value in the organization, from the perspective of "job seeker" and "employee".
Q3: Human resource management, talent development and leadership development are one of your research directions. Also, we will offer elective courses in human resource management in IB major in 2020. What preparation that students need to do before studying it? What’s the career prospect of this area?
Paul Cheng: When I was working in the enterprise I have been to more than ten countries for business trips. When I went to a country, even those remote countries, I met many Chinese people working there. Recently, I have contacted some domestic enterprises, and also found that the companies I have contacted either have overseas business or are preparing to expand overseas business. In our office, there are colleagues from Germany, Malaysia, Canada and Croatia, so several Chinese colleagues have to communicate with each other in English. The world is already a "global village", and internationalization is an inevitable choice for all organizations.
On the other hand, the pace of internationalization in recent years is too fast and many domestic organizations and individuals are not ready and well prepared, and there are only a few management and professional talents with a global perspective. The major of "international business" aims at this demand. As long as we can lay a solid professional foundation during our study, we will not worry about finding a good job.
In preparation for study, my personal suggestion is that you can cultivate your global perception. When you absorb information, find ways to solve the practical problems and make decisions, please deliberately enlarge your vision to the worldwide range, not just China, or just your own city.
Q4: What do you expect from the upcoming 2020 cohort students of SZTU Business School?
Paul Cheng: Our business school is committed to cultivating international business elites, which is "the place where dream begins". I hope the future elites, with your dream and passion, bloom youth and prepare for the future on this platform. In the future our business school must be honored because of you.
