September 30, 2020. Shanghai – As decided by the CEIBS Management Committee, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor of International Business and Strategy Shameen Prashantham as Associate Dean and MBA Director.

Prof. Prashantham will celebrate his ten years of teaching in China next year, having joined CEIBS in 2015 after previously working at Nottingham University Business School China.

“More than ever, the world needs high-quality managers and entrepreneurs with a global mind-set and a commitment to responsible leadership. As the pre-eminent business school in China, the highly-ranked MBA programme plays an important role in this regard, even as it continues to attract exciting young talent as evident by the profile of the forthcoming intake,” Prof. Prashantham says. “It’s a privilege for me to seek to build on the excellent work of my predecessors and be part of a dynamic and hard-working team whom I look forward to working with.”

Prof. Prashantham’s research and teaching interests relate to international entrepreneurship and strategy. His research focuses on new venture internationalisation and, in particular, how start-ups “dance with gorillas” (i.e. how they partner with large multinationals as a means to improve their prospects of innovation and international expansion).

Effective from October 1, 2020, Prof. Prashantham will take over from Professor of Management Juan Fernandez, who steps down from the role following three years of service. During his tenure, Prof. Fernandez led the introduction of several new initiatives in the programme, including a concentration in digital business, overseas electives in Accra and San Francisco and a China module in the ancient village of Jinhua.

“I have known Professor Prashantham for many years and have always been impressed by his teaching and research. I’m confident our students will enjoy connecting with him and find him to be a helpful guide along their MBA journeys,” Prof. Fernandez says. “My vision coming into the role was to position our programme as the most advanced MBA in Asia, as a place where people and the digital revolution could live together. I’m delighted with the hard work we, as a team, put into the programme to realise this vision and look forward to witnessing Professor Prashantham’s achievements in the coming years.”

One of the first tasks for Prof. Prashantham will be to welcome the new MBA intake to CEIBS’ Shanghai campus on October 12, 2020. Prof. Prashantham will also be extending a virtual welcome to MBAs in our Zurich section. For the first time in the school’s history, one section will begin their MBA journeys from CEIBS European campus on the shores of Lake Zurich, until COVID-19-related restrictions on non-Chinese nationals traveling to China are further relaxed.

CEIBS Vice President and Dean Professor Yuan Ding, who will travel to Switzerland to personally greet the Zurich section late October, shared his enthusiasm for starting this new chapter in CEIBS MBA history.

“I look forward to working closely with Prof. Prashantham,” Dean Ding says. “Together, and with the support of our great team, we will continue to work tirelessly to elevate our unique China Depth, Global Breadth-inspired programme to new heights.”

For more about the CEIBS MBA programme, please visit our programme overview page here.

For more on Prof. Prashantham’s teaching and research interests, please visit his faculty profile here.