24 September 2008
Some of the participants in this meeting included:Víctor Urcelay (Dean of ESTE faculty, José Luis Bozal (Director of AEEDE), Mario Buisán García (General Manager for Training and Investments at ICEX), Eugenio Bregolat (Spanish Ambassador in Andorra), Manuel Sánchez (Director of Marketing and Business Strategies at China Consultants). In addition, the rules of the game in China were also presented in support of internationalisation, which helps to understand the growing importance of this market in an increasingly globalised economy. Finally, and during the closing ceremony, the 25th anniversary of the first international exchange group at ESTE was celebrated.
As explained by Mario Buisán, General Manager for Training and Investments at ICEX, the aim of the Virtual Centre for Internationalisation Experiences is not only the dissemination of successful experiences of Spanish SMEs in their internationalisation process. It also seeks to promote integration between the academic world and the Spanish business world, to create a forum for discussion on an academic-based internationalisation strategy, and to design a pioneering project for the online transmission of internationalisation. The Virtual Centre for Internationalisation has several partners, including prestigious business schools at national and international level such as:ESTE, Comillas, EADA, IESE, San Telmo International Institute, EAE, Instituto de Empresa, EOI, ESADE, La Comercial, ESIC and AEDE.
During the first part of the conference, the cases of two participating companies in this new project like Salto Systems and Corporación Patricio Echeverría in Guipuzcoa were also examined.
Then, and in support of internationalisation, a series of lectures on the rules of the game in China were given by Eugenio Bregolat (Spanish Ambassador in Andorra and former ambassador in China on two occasions), and Manuel Sánchez (Director of Marketing and Business Strategies at China Consultants). As E.Bregolat pointed out in his analysis of the opportunities and threats that China represents:"the obsession with high technology is one of the keys to deeply understand the significance of the process of China"s economic emergence and the impact it will have on the global economy and geostrategy in the future.The pace at which China is able to gradually conquer new high-tech sectors and higher levels of added value will determine the pace of its economic development, of its penetration into world markets, and its transformation into a real power".He also stressed that " the response to the Chinese challenge is not protectionism, which tempts the United States and the European Union, and that would end up impoverishing them all, but to prioritise investment in R+D and education".With regard to the opportunities offered by the big Asian country, he added:"China offers increasing opportunities for the export of goods and services, for investment in manufacturing, as a source of investment, and for service management. China is a country in need of everything and there are good opportunities for our companies".
On the other hand, the lecture by Manuel Sánchez focused on the characteristics of the different types of consumers in China, the main challenges involved in Marketing Management, and the key concepts to include in the Marketing Plan that help to successfully position a brand in this fascinating market. As he pointed out:"there is a parallel and highly interesting profile of Chinese citizens and potential consumers that make up "the new middle-high class in China" and that, at present, represent 250 million people"; the aim is "to optimise the positioning of western brands and products in the mind of the Chinese consumer in response to their needs?. During his talk, he also described how to overcome, in the context of marketing mix, the determining factor involved in "the country brand image" since, as he explained,"the incredible feeling of national identity in any of the consumer profiles in China has resulted, within the Marketing world, in Chinese consumers" purchase preference for Chinese brands".
