2021 "Idea Explorer" Innovation & Entrepreneurship Global Summer Program was successfully concluded. Different from past years, the 2021 program adopted online operation, providing participants with opportunities on enjoying courses and interactions during the impact of COVID-19 still remains. 30 of participants were selected to make their groups and complete the final business projects. Reviewed by ZJU-SOM professors and program peers, the group ElderHub was awarded the Most Innovative Group. By the conclusion of the program, feedback and comments are received from the program director, academic lecturer as well as participants.
Program Director
Associate Professor of Tourism and Hotel Management
School of Management, Zhejiang University
ZJU-SOM started the program in 2012, channelling SOM faculties’ understandings and practices on innovation and entrepreneurial to students from our partner universities. As a natural extension, the program themed in Innovation & Entrepreneurship: embracing digital world, which welcomed 297 students from 26 countries across 5 continents.
We enjoyed 10 video courses deliberately prepared by ZJU-SOM professors, with topics ranging from decoding the rising of Chinese Internet firm to digitalization efforts in, for example, healthcare and city management. Virtually, we visited a Hangzhou-based start-up by an alumnus of our PIEGL program and Zhongce Rubber Group.
In addition to students’ commitment and devotion to the courses, what impressed me the most is the quality of group projects. The odds were stark: virtual communication, limited preparation time, different time zones, and unfamiliarity of team members, to name a few. But the outputs are stunningly amazing, which care for the environment, the elderly, the younger, and the disabled, physically and mentally. Through the projects, I see the idea explorers we are expecting. I hope life will return to normal soon and meet our participants in Hangzhou as well as our beautiful campus.
Program Academic Lecturer/Mentor of the Most Innovative Group: ElderHub
ZJU 100-Young Professor of Service Science and Operation Management
School of Management, Zhejiang University
It was super fun to advise a team of students breezing and refining an innovative project. The students are diverse, creative, and diligent. My job is to push them to think more specifically and comprehensively. But, of course, the most enjoyable thing is observing the DDL drives the team to be more creative and productive.
Apichaya Trakarnsakdikul
Thailand
Management (Undergraduate)
Sasin School of Management
It’s very fun exploring new China Business opportunities and innovation in many aspects such as overall market, smart cities, healthcare, tourism, etc. We also have opportunity to work with teammates globally to develop ideas together. Though different cultures friends, we have learnt a lot and shared experiences among us! We also had specialized professor as our mentor. I would like to encourage you to be part of this program!
Rishaan Oodeen
Guyana
Supply Chain Management/ MIS Concentration (Undergraduate)
Rutgers University
Idea Explorer paved the way for me to cooperate with individuals globally for a shared purpose and goal. I learned about different cultures and perspectives, all while exploring a multitude of ways to preserve those cultures and heighten those perspectives. I am extremely grateful for the Idea Explorer program, as it allowed me to grow in many ways more than one. It provided a way for me to learn about China while establishing a way for our business, ElderHub, to be sustainable. I will remember this experience, and I will always value the knowledge, insight, and guidance I gained from my peers and mentor throughout this journey.
Goh Khai Hong
Malaysia
Information Systems (Postgraduate)
National University of Singapore
The ZJU-SOM Global Summer School 2021 was a unique and an unforgettable experience. It was a perfect combination of challenging business project, awesome people, and amazing virtual cultural learnings.
The group project which was designed by the organizers of ZJU Global Summer School helped us to make friends from all over the world and simply enjoy our virtual learning journey with Zhejiang University! The very diverse student group provided a fantastic opportunity for thought provoking perspectives in the virtual classroom as well as for intriguing cultural learnings.
The program was exceptionally well organized, allowing us to grow personally and professionally. It is also an excellent complement for my master’s degree. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Once again, I would like to express my great gratitude to the organizers for the awesome ZJU Global Summer School 2021!
Henry Boyer
France
Management (Undergraduate)
ESCP Business School
Having lived more than 14 years in Asia. I wanted to know more about this continent that I consider home. The Idea Explorer program at Zhejiang University is valuable. The courses are interesting and give you a good aspect of business and e-commerce in China. In addition to this, we had the opportunity to attend a lecture by a former student who opened a start-up in Hangzhou, which completed well with classes. Also, the fact of being able to work on a project with other international students is excellent and helps to discover other perspectives and cultures. To sum up, I appreciated the program. It did net all my expectations. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about business in Asia and China and wants to encounter an international experience.
Liu On Ni
Hong Kong, China
BBA (Law) & LLB (undergraduate)
The University of Hong Kong
We started by developing best practices to enable teams to connect easily and for various purposes by leveraging technology, followed by establishing roles, responsibility and outcome clarity. It was difficult at first to keep virtual teams engaged and connected across time and space initially, especially when some of us were 12 hours apart in terms of time zones and the majority of us had internships during the daytime. We resolved it by using When2meet for scheduling meetings, WhatsApp for instantaneous communication, Google Drive for co-editing shared documents and Zoom for team meetings, alongside the ATC (Action, Timetable and Checkpoints) model to manage accountability.
Logistics aside, working remotely means no casual chats in the breakroom or on the elevator ride up to the classroom, but it was entirely possible to translate our in-person leadership skills into virtual tactics to continue that human connection. We adapted our virtual leadership skills in creative ways to keep everyone connected, from taking photos of our workstations to get a different glimpse into each other’s responsibility to a 30-minute happy hour video call without agendas and work talk but for the sole purpose of cultural exchange.
By practicing virtual leadership competencies and creating a sense of place for the team, we ended up with a highly satisfactory deliverable and formed lasting friendships beyond the 2 weeks of cross-cultural projects. I now become much more comfortable and confident in leading a high-performing team scattered geographically and separated culturally in a positive direction. I can foresee educational institutions and companies to roll out even more virtual programes, training and internships for years to come, allowing me to take full advantage of my virtual team building capabilities.
Lee Xin Yi
Singapore
Law and Business Management, Finance and Accounting (Undergraduate)
Singapore Management University
The Zhejiang University Global Summer program gave me the amazing opportunity to work with undergraduates and postgraduates from all over the world in diverse fields. Our project was on the launching of an eldercare product in China. Through the project and mentoring by Professor ZHANG Zheng, I learnt a lot about the Chinese market, including the implications of policies and the growth and development of China’s economy. I would highly recommend this program to students with a keen interest in China and a desire to meet people from all over the world.
"Idea Explorer" Innovation & Entrepreneurship Global Summer Program is an English summer program focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, and is highly appraised by our partner universities as well as their students.
