Agribusiness Seminar – An Asian Offering

(中文网站) 

Harvard Business School (HBS) is bringing its renowned Agribusiness Seminar to China, a critical agribusiness region. A more intimate version of the annual flagship session in Boston, this HBS Executive Education program, offered in collaboration with the School of Management, Fudan University in Shanghai, is a unique forum for assessing emerging global trends and issues, identifying best management practices, and exploring promising new business strategies. You will gain fresh insights into the industry's future in a world where the demand for food, biofuels, and other agriculturally based products is rising dramatically.

What You Can Expect

Since its inaugural session in 1961, the premier Agribusiness Seminar has helped agribusiness executives set the right short-term path and long-range strategy for their organization. The Shanghai session combines a structured learning environment with the opportunity to share ideas with peers from around the globe, enhancing your leadership capabilities and effectiveness.

Your Course of Study

During this leadership development program, you will examine the critical factors that are changing the world of agribusiness. Stepping back from day-to-day responsibilities, you will examine how companies are introducing innovative strategies to address geographic shifts in the market landscape, boost the supply of both food and fuel, and evolve the supply chain to better address customer needs. With a more holistic understanding of the market, you will improve your ability to make decisions and lead your organization amid ongoing global change.

Who Is Right for the Program

Participants will include thought leaders and key decision makers in the global food and agribusiness industry.

What You Can Expect

For more than 50 years, the renowned HBS Agribusiness Seminar has explored the business, economic, technological, environmental, and social issues that impact the agribusiness industry, providing timely knowledge and an essential cross-industry, global perspective. In 2012, this unique seminar returns to China, offered by HBS in collaboration with the School of Management, Fudan University in Shanghai. The program is designed to help agribusiness industry leaders confidently address a daunting set of challenges, take advantage of emerging opportunities for growth, and explore new routes for securing their company's future.

The program takes place in China at HBS's state-of-the-art meeting space in the Pudong District of Shanghai. The world’s largest agricultural producer and one of today’s most important agricultural importers, China reflects some of the most significant issues facing the industry today: an expanding population, shifts to urban living and more resource-intensive diets, constraints in cropland and water, and growing concern over the sustainability of high-intensity production models. The seminar addresses these global challenges, examining their potential impact on industry players, governments, and society.

Like the annual Boston-based session of the Agribusiness Seminar, the 2012 Shanghai session offers the expertise of HBS faculty, illuminating case studies, a global participant base, and a lively exchange of ideas that will inspire and reenergize you. The smaller scale of this session, however, offers you a rare opportunity for in-depth networking with peers from a range of enterprises and with presenters who conduct groundbreaking research in their fields.

Improving Your Organization's Performance

Taking a forward-looking approach to agribusiness industry trends, this HBS Executive Education program will help your company make the right moves in a complex, volatile business environment. Providing relevant lessons in the classroom that yield a broad view of the global food and agribusiness system, the program will help your company to:

Taking Your Skills to the Next Level

World-renowned HBS faculty will lead you and an accomplished group of global peers in an exploration of the vital chain that brings food, feed, fiber, and fuel from the farm to the consumer. This program will help you to:

To ensure the most comprehensive learning experience, this discussion-based seminar is offered in both English and Chinese with translation. Participants will preselect either Chinese or English for their classroom materials.

About the Agribusiness Seminar at Harvard Business School

The Agribusiness Seminar is a premier forum that brings together senior decision makers from every type of industry organization—including producers, manufacturers, marketers, retailers, policy makers, and service providers. Because the industry is constantly changing, the curriculum is reinvented each year to spotlight the most current innovations and challenges. That's why many participants attend yearly to explore the latest trends and to network with other industry leaders.

Your Course of Study

Recognizing the increasingly important role the agribusiness sector plays in supporting human health, economic development, political stability, and global prosperity, the Agribusiness Seminar helps executives succeed by providing new perspectives on the issues that matter today—and a preview of those that will be important tomorrow. The 2012 Shanghai seminar will put you at the forefront of industry thought leadership, presenting not only a broad view of the global food and agribusiness system, but also an opportunity to shape its future.

During the seminar, you will gain effective strategies for addressing key challenges, taking a leadership position in the industry, and driving performance across your company. This session will include cases selected for their relevance to the Asian agribusiness market, as well as many of the same global cases presented in the January 2012 program on the HBS campus. Exploring fundamental challenges and opportunities in key markets, seminar topics include:

Responding to Geographic Evolution

Achieving Balance in a Volatile Market

Building a Customer-Focused Supply Chain

A partial listing of cases to be featured in the Shanghai seminar includes:

Who Is Right for the Program

The Agribusiness Seminar: An Asian Offering brings together global senior industry executives who are thought leaders and key decision makers. Their diverse backgrounds and geographic bases enrich the learning process through the exchange of varied industry perspectives and experiences. The seminar attracts leaders across a range of organizations, including:

Visit the admissions section for details about our application process.

Meet the Program Faculty

At the Agribusiness Seminar: An Asian Offering, you will interact with faculty members from Harvard Business School and Fudan University. They are skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors. Recognized thought leaders on international business and management issues, the faculty maintain dynamic relationships with top companies around the world. Their business expertise and field-based research continue to serve as the foundation for our illuminating case studies.

Through publishing, consulting, and teaching, they deliver the fresh insights and enduring concepts that shape the practice of management around the world. The result is a teaching team that exposes you to multiple perspectives, challenges your thinking, and takes you to a new level of leadership.

For more detailed biographies, click on each faculty name.

David E. Bell, George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business. Senior Associate Dean, Director of Faculty Planning and Recruiting; and member of the Marketing Unit. Faculty chair of the "Agribusiness Seminar."

Forest L. Reinhardt, John D. Black Professor of Business Administration. Faculty chair of the European Research Initiative; member of the Business, Government and the International Economy Unit; faculty cochair of the "Global Energy Seminar"; and faculty chair of the "Agribusiness Seminar: An Asian Offering."

Mary L. Shelman, Director, Agribusiness Program. President of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) and former chairman of the board of RiceTec, Inc.

Faculty from the School of Management, Fudan University to be announced.

Admissions

Because a diverse participant mix is an important part of every HBS Executive Education program, we look for candidates who reflect a broad range of industries, functions, countries, and backgrounds to enrich the learning experience.

Fees, Payments, and Cancellations

The program fee covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals.

No payment is necessary until you have been accepted into an HBS Executive Education program. After admission notification, we will send you an invoice via email; payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. If admission is within 30 days prior to the start of the program, payment is due upon receipt of the invoice. Payment is required prior to the program start date. We accept payment by company check, bank wire transfer, or credit card (American Express, MasterCard, Visa). Details are included on the program invoice.

If you need to cancel or defer participation, you must submit your request in writing more than 30 days before the start of the program to receive a full refund. Due to program demand and the volume of preprogram preparation, cancellations or deferrals received 14 to 30 days prior to the start of the program are subject to a fee of one-half of the program fee. Requests received within 14 days are subject to full payment.

Requirements

Although there are no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility. We look for professionals who have demonstrated business talent and leadership potential.

HBS Executive Education programs enrich both participants and their sponsoring organizations, and require full commitment from each party. While participants devote time and intellect to the learning experience, sponsoring organizations agree to relieve individuals of their work responsibilities during the program.

We deliberately design our programs to encourage individual growth and to foster productive interaction among participants. For that reason, this program is taught in both English and Chinese with translation. Participants will preselect either Chinese or English for their classroom materials. When forming discussion groups, program administrators consider each executive's language capabilities to ensure optimal exchange of ideas within the group.

Application Process

Program participants must be sponsored by their current employer. The Admissions Committee must receive your application and all required documents in order to review the application.

To apply, you may use our online form or download an application. You also may request a brochure by mail.

If you submit your application online, we will promptly acknowledge receipt of your submission via email. In the unlikely event that an email acknowledgment is not received, please contact the Admissions Committee by email: exed_admissions@hbs.edu, phone: +1-617-495-6226, or fax: +1-617-496-1731.

If you choose to submit a printed application, be sure to type or print legibly and sign your application. Send the application to the address or fax number listed on the form. Mailed or faxed applications are processed and acknowledged promptly upon receipt via email.

Complete Your Application

Please answer all questions thoroughly—the Admissions Committee will only consider completed applications. After reviewing your application and making the necessary edits or corrections, print or copy the application for your records.

Meet the Deadlines

We request applications at least four weeks in advance of the program start date. Early application does not guarantee admission. Programs often fill to capacity, so early application is recommended.

Notification of Acceptance

We acknowledge receipt of all applications and maintain all application information in strict confidentiality.

To optimize the learning experience and maximize the exchange of ideas, the Admissions Committee selects a class that balances each participant's experience, the scope of his or her current responsibilities, and the type of organization.

The Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications four months before the start date, and qualified candidates are admitted on a rolling, space-available basis. Once the review process has begun, applicants are notified within three weeks via email regarding Admissions Committee decisions. If your application is received within three weeks of the program's start date, the Admissions Committee will notify you of their decision as soon as possible.

Need help?

For further assistance, contact our client service specialists at: 1-800-427-5577 (outside the U.S., dial +1-617-495-6555).