In the era of artificial intelligence, many new majors (such as big data) emerge as the times require, and most of the students also engage in management work in enterprises after graduation, which forms alternative competition for talents trained by the old-brand business administration major. From the perspective of enterprises' demand for talents, under the new technological environment and development trend, enterprises' business models have been transformed, business management has shifted from the foreground to the background, and data-driven decision-making and intelligent management using the artificial intelligence technology have become the general trend.
In this context, the business administration major needs to consider how to establish a new knowledge structure and ability for students to be competent for new management work by adjusting the direction of the professional training. In line with the trend, the Asia Europe Business School has actively sought innovation and changes and set up the specialization of AI & Business for the undergraduate program of class of 2024 to conduct educational innovation experiments in order to cultivate outstanding talents.
Background
The Asia Europe Business School raised the plan and discussed with its partner emlyon business school many times and formed a consensus, namely setting the AI & Business specialization for the undergraduate major of Business Administration of the Asia Europe Business School. On the basis of the core courses of Sino-French cooperative business administration, six step-by-step intelligent business courses will be added, to build up students' core strengths.
On January 16, 2020, Professor HE Jiaxun, Chinese Co-dean of the Asia Europe Business School convened Chinese and French experts to demonstrate the training plan of the school for setting up AI & Business for 2020 undergraduates. Experts participating in the demonstration included Professor ZHOU Yong, Executive Deputy Director of the Faculty of Economics and Management of the East China Normal University and Dean of the Institute of Statistical Interdisciplinary Sciences, Professor DU Gang from the Faculty of Economics and Management of the East China Normal University and the Asia Europe Business School, Professor ZHANG Luyao, Ph. D. of Economic of the Ohio State University and course Professor of the Asia Europe Business School, Professor DING Wenxuan, Doctor of cognitive science and information technology of the Carnegie Mellon University and Professor from the emlyon business school, and WANG Zhenyuan, Professor from the Faculty of Economics and Management of the East China Normal University and Director of the undergraduate program of the Asia Europe Business School.
At the demonstration meeting, experts discussed the cultivation objectives and curriculum construction of the AI & Business specialization, fully discussed the cultivation schemes proposed by three experts respectively, and reached a consensus. According to the school’s plan, the first class of students will be enrolled in September 2020. In other words, starting from 2020, the business administration undergraduates of the Asia Europe Business School will be divided into two classes, one being the classes still retaining the original specialization of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the other being the new specialization of AI & Business. Both Chinese and International students can choose between the two specializations.
Development objectives and curriculum
Through the cultivation of the AI & Business direction, graduates will have obvious advantages in the following three aspects compared with traditional graduates majoring in Business Administration:
1. Commercial application ability of technology
Students have the ability to integrate business problem awareness with technical solutions, understand the development trend of technology, know the development solution architecture of server/client/mobile terminals, as well as the basic knowledge of large-scale product architecture design, development and maintenance programs, and get acquainted with the core application of big data technology architecture and intelligent technology.
2. Strategy and leadership
Students are trained to have the insight and foresight to lead the business change with technology, the leadership to work cooperatively across departments, and the ability to integrate the backstage support for the implementation of the forestage strategy, as well as team leadership, teamwork spirit, enterprising spirit and dedication to work, etc.
3. Ability to create and innovate
Through the training of a series of technology courses, integrated technology and business courses, students are trained to have a true understanding of creation and innovation, goodwill criticism, strong creative thinking, abstract thinking, inductive and logical analysis ability, and a sense of mission and responsibility to change the world and contribute to the society.
Around the above objectives, teaching hardware and software, cooperative enterprise resources and enterprise mentors are equipped. It is planned to develop some experts from AI enterprises or from AI research institutes to conduct cooperative teaching and provide data training support.
