Said Business School has drawn upon its considerable experience in working with female entrepreneurs internationally, including female social entrepreneurs who often work in developing countries with little infrastructure and support.
Both schools have also sought the input of their female MBA students, which include residents of 27 countries at Said Business School, who brought valuable insights to the process of designing the program.
The program's topics included business and entrepreneurship skills, international perspectives and ongoing mentoring.
Mentors for each of the participants were drawn from Goldman Sachs professionals, from among successful Chinese women entrepreneurs and from alumni of Said Business School and Zhejiang University.
A range of delivery mechanisms was employed, including lectures, workshops, company visits, practitioner input and a number of case studies developed by Said and Zhejiang specifically to support the program.
The curriculum combined local and highly practical training for entrepreneurs in Zhejiang province with examples of best practices from entrepreneurs across the globe.
The inclusion of field visits to trainees' businesses in Ningbo, as well as the involvement of successful women entrepreneurs as speakers and mentors, ensured that the curriculum was focused on the specific challenges the scholars would face locally in their businesses.
Zhejiang and Oxford professors worked closely to develop a five-module program to build up crucial business skills and entrepreneurship competency in China. The modules were supported by case studies the two developed together, and there was an ongoing program of lectures by financiers, lawyers and entrepreneurs, science park site visits and business planning supervision, as well as mentoring by entrepreneurs and business people.'
Q: In addition to training, do you offer follow-up support to those female entrepreneurs?
A: It has been a key concern of the program designers to create a means of supporting the program participants after the program is completed.
So a key feature of the program has been the one-to-one support of mentors, including Goldman Sachs employees and Oxford University alumni, with whom the participants will remain in touch beyond graduation as they put their learning into practice within their own businesses.
In addition, there will be networking and graduate events to continue to share best practices and to build competency.
Many of the women have spoken very positively about the strength of support they received during the program from their fellow participants, and how they plan to keep in touch to support each other in growing their businesses.
Q: Would you like to share some interesting or impressive stories about the training project?
A: A number of the women have commented on their experience in the program.
Jiang Xianglian, vice president of the Rui'an Rural Village Agriculture Association, is one example. She said that she absorbed more information in this short period of three months than in her 30 years of experience.
The teacher in accounting helped her solve some problems in her organization, even though she is not an accountant. And the teacher in human resources taught her how to communicate with employees, and the teacher in management taught her to manage the company effectively.
According to tableware disinfectant service provider Zhang Bingling, the program gave her new ideas and a solid foundation in many areas, including employee training, operational process standardization and service quality control.
