We invite you to the MBA Open Days of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where Zvonimir Stopić, ZSEM lecturer will hold a lecture on the topic “Doing Business in China: Some Tips to Keep in Mind”. The presentation of the Graduate MBA program under the leadership of the vice dean for graduate studies, dr. Maja Martinović.
Whether it attracts us or we fear it, China remains puzzling for the political “West”. The same is true when looking at China’s position toward the West. The gap between them is filled with mutual misunderstanding, language issues, cultural differences, lack of knowledge, destructive generalizations, and over-simplifications, all of which create unrealistic and misguided expectations. If we add political interests, global tensions, or media sensationalism to this, all of which feed on spreading fear, this gap becomes impenetrable. However, there is no present or future without functional cooperation between the West and Asia in general, in which China will always play a central role. Drawing from personal experience and accumulated knowledge gathered from more than a decade living and working in and with China, the aim of this lecture is to present a few important “tips” to anyone interested in an attempt to take on the challenges of China, and hopefully, at least a little bit, expand the understanding of what China is and how it functions.
Zvonimir Stopić completed his history and philosophy studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb, Croatia (2009), and now holds a Ph.D. in the history of international relations, obtained at the Capital Normal University, Beijing, PR China (2018). In 2020 he completed Mini-MBA in Crisis Management from the Luxembourg School of Business (LSB). Zvonimir currently works as an assistant professor at the CNU and an Assistant Director at the CNU’s scientific institute for the Study of Relations between Central and Southeastern Europe – Center for Study of Civilizations. In Croatia, Zvonimir collaborates with Croatia’s Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where he helps coordinate a “CroaAsia institute.”
Dr. Maja Martinović received her doctorate at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb and completed International Faculty Development. Program at IESE Business School in Spain. At ZŠEM, he teaches courses in the field of the strategy of marketing, serves as head of the Department of Marketing and Tourism, and is vice dean of the graduate MBA study. She taught at the MBA study of the Barcelona Management Institute and the MBA study at Sarajevo Graduate School of Business in collaboration with Texas A&M University-Commerce University and Burch University (IBU).