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Dr. Haico Ebbers of Nyenrode Business University Visited the College of Management and Delivered a Speech titled “Globalization and Economic Transformations”
　

The College of Management of Chang Gung University invited Dr. Haico Ebbers of the Nyenrode Business University to delivered the speech titled “Globalization and Economic Transformations” in the Shengeng Lecture Hall on the 3rd of March 2015.

The internationally renowned Nyenrode Business University is the only private university in the Netherlands. Under the support of the late Prince Bernhard, captains of industry from leading Dutch corporations took the initiative in 1946 to establish the Nyenrode Business University, where lucrative scholarships are offered and an action-inclined, internationally focused generation of new business leaders are educated. It is our honor to have Dr. Haico Ebbers to visit Chang Gung University to share his views on globalization and key economic issues with us. Dr. Haico Ebbers is a professor of international economics at Nyenrode Business University. He works in the Centre for International Business and Diplomacy. He is chairman of the Europe China Institute at Nyenrode. He has been invited to speak in the VIP crown of the Dutch pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, and at the forum of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) in 2013. He is adept at turning a complicated idea into something easy to understand. In his speech, he elaborated on culture, business strategies, and macroeconomics. It is our esteemed pleasure to have such a distinguished and illustrious speaker as Dr. Haico Ebbers to talk to the students of the College of Management.
 

Dr. Haico Ebbers first analyzed the factors that were associated with the world’s economic growth, and used the transformative economy of an emerging market as the framework of his speech. Then he tapped into the strategies commonly used by the multinational enterprise in an emerging market to help the audience understand their roles and how they may be associated with the GDP growth of a country. Next, he explained how the flow of income circulates. This gave the students a clearer understanding of how foreign investors, governments, and banks inject capital into the production sector, and eventually the capital flows back to the investor after consumers purchase products. Using the Smiling Curve Model, he asked students to contemplate how much value R&D as well as after-sales service can add to products. All of these concepts aim to help the students understand how an emerging market can maximize its profits.
　

As an old Chinese proverb goes, History is a mirror that can help one identify the cause for rise and fall. Dr. Haico Ebbers used historical data and examples to predict economic growth and future trends by factoring in GDP growth rates, labor force, and production levels. An emerging market differs from a developed market in that the advantages of urbanization have just started emerging in an emerging market. Using the Diamond Model proposed by Michael Porter, he further pointed out the role of urbanization in profit sharing.

Even though an emerging market enjoys the advantages resulting from urbanization, Dr. Haico Ebbers pointed out the likelihood of rebalance in an emerging market. He then expressed his views on the problems commonly found in an ageing society by referring to Arthur Lewis’ Turning Point Model, the middle income trap phenomenon, and the Duel Sector Model. He inferred that the current lively activity in an emerging market could possibly slow down, and accordingly we would be witnessing changes in the proportion of the middle income population. Such changes will propel an economic transformation. The stance that a government should take, according to Dr. Haico Ebbers, is to be more open and transparent in its policies.

To conclude his speech, Dr. Haico Ebbers reviewed the overall economic development in China. He appeared to be confident that China would be able to continue leading the world’s economic growth by relying upon its massive workforce and expanding middle class. On the other hand, will the relatively late start become the Achilles heel to the emerging economies? This is the question he proposed for the audience to ponder.

It is clear that through his speech and sharing of knowledge and ideas, Dr. Haico Ebbers certainly gave the students food for thought on emerging economies as well as expanded their global perspectives.