On Thursday the 20th this October, Our international class went on a trip to Volkswagen Manufacturing plant Nb3. in the surroundings of Shanghai. After a one-hour bus journey, we reached the impressive premises of the company (see Volkswagen pic1). We were welcomed by the company staff and were briefed about Volkswagen implementation in Shanghai. Our group attended a video presentation which gave us an overview of the company’s scope of activities, history, values and extensive production capabilities nationally and internationally. Then we took on a tour through the facilities, production lines and assembling units. During the tour, Volkswagen staff was providing us valuable information on the different activities we could observe. In the end we could ask questions and inquiries before returning to our school by the middle of the day.

The trip was most certainly useful for the aspiring managers we are! On the one hand we understood how a product is elaborated from nothing to the final shipment going through the different stages. On the other hand, we had a perfect example of a German multinational company successful implementation in China. The adaptation to the Chinese environment and the structure of the production lines (lean management, quality management, staffing...) were of the utmost interest regarding the practical application of "How to run a business in China".

To put it in a nutshell, this short trip was a good opportunity to realize the impact of globalization on managerial practices and the adaptations a multinational needs to undertake within the Chinese environment.

Jonathan Choppin