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Novartis opens corporate campuses
By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-03 07:55
More multinational companies doing business in China are offering their own Business 101 classes at corporate campuses for local employees. Novartis International AG established Novartis China Corporate University this summer to provide professional and management training to the pharmaceutical company's 4,000 employees in China. Frank Waltmann, head of the Swiss company's corporate learning division, said 20 percent of his educational budget now is earmarked for China. Waltmann said his division wants to offer employees continuing training opportunities focused on doing business in China and also on doing business in the global marketplace.
"Our investment in the university in China nearly doubles that of Russia," Waltmann said, declining to disclose the amounts invested in each campus. The company's corporate learning program includes open-enrollment basic learning courses, e-learning programs and an MBA learning program in cooperation with Peking University. The MBA program is tailored to employees of Novartis in China with its focus on local business case studies. Training sessions are available to all levels of employees, from production line operators to senior executives. Novartis has invited instructors from Harvard Business School, IMD Business School, Tsinghua University, Peking University and China Europe International Business School to design programs and deliver lectures. Waltmann said corporate training is important, especially for Novartis recruits who ultimately reach management ranks at its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and in other locations around the world. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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