I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”. I separated them into six groups and gave them an example: a restaurant chain. The more original their idea, the better, I said. Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains. The sixth suggested a catering service. Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment.
My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state-owned and global companies. They were not without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness. The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years’ teaching at the school. Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review. Case study debates were written up and just memorized. Students frequently said that copying is a better business strategy(策略), better than inventing and creating.
In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold. But there are so few well developed marketing and management minds that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand.
With this problem in mind, co-operation with institutions like Yale and MIT have been started . And then there’s the “thousand talent program”: this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization(现代化). It can attract top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with big money. But there are worries about China’s research environment.
At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about co-operation with top Western universities. Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s about offering a rich learning environment for young minds. It’s not that simple.
Why does the author feel disappointed at his students?
A.Because there is one group presenting a catering service. |
B.Because the six groups made projects for restaurant chains. |
C.Because all the students copied a case for the difficult topic. |
D.Because the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness. |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
A.China can make and sell any product all over the world |
B.high pay may not solve the problem of China’s research environment |
C.cooperation with institutions has been set up to make a Chinese brand |
D.the new government program are aimed at encouraging imagination |
Which is the best title of the passage?
A.Look for a New Way of Learning. |
B.Reward Creative Thinking. |
C.How to Become a Creator. |
D.Establish a technical Environment. |