ZJU-SOM beginnings can be traced to 1927 when the Department of Agricultural Sociology was founded as part of ZJU, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in China with its beginnings rooted in 1897. The modern version of ZJU was set in 1998, when the council approved merging of four major Hangzhou institutions: Zhejiang University, Hangzhou University, Zhejiang Agricultural University and Zhejiang Medical University. Today, ZJU is a member of the C9 League, the Yangtze Delta Universities Alliance and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and it is currently amongst the world's top universities:
- Placed 87th in QS World University Rankings;
- Placed 9th among BRICS countries universities (QS World University Rankings: BRICS);
- Placed 3rd in China (Webometrics Ranking of World Universities);
- Placed 84th in the world (Webometrics Ranking of World Universities);
- Placed 42nd in WU Rankings by Subject: Engineering and technology.
Based on the CEEMAN International Quality Accreditation procedure it was recognized that ZJU-SOM excels in combining academic and practice-oriented research with education. Most faculty members do their own research, and combine it with their teaching activities. An important part of the ZJU-SOM’s mission is to advance management theories and methods with insights from Chinese context that contribute to social welfare. To this end, faculty members are encouraged to publish in leading international journals, while maintaining a strong presence in top tier Chinese journals. During the period of 2014-2016, ZJU-SOM has published 297 articles in the international refereed journals, among which 271 are SSCI/SCI indexed (approximately 90 per year), and 20 are regarded as top journal articles (UTD/FT).
Concerning knowledge transfer, the Peer Review Team found that each program has set student learning outcomes in the following three aspects: knowledge acquisition, mind sharpening, and general capability improvement. “Knowledge” objectives include business knowledge, cultural knowledge, and general expertise. “Mind” primarily covers critical thinking, innovativeness and entrepreneurial spirit, global perspective and social responsibility. “General capabilities” include communication skills, teamwork and leadership, strategic decision-making. All curricula have been modified correspondingly to the needs of ZJU-SOM’s stakeholders.
ZJU-SOM is also a great example regarding its commitment to responsible practices. The school is committed to community services through embedding the content of business ethics and social responsibility into its education programs, and strongly advocating and supporting student extra-curricular activities, in order to cultivate professional leaders who can contribute to social welfare with social responsibility. In order to develop students with an awareness about ethics and CSR while at the same time to enhance their abilities to deal with CSR issues in the real world, the teaching of business ethics and CSR rely heavily on case studies. ZJU-SOM invites guest speakers from industry and other institutions to introduce the latest development of CSR practices and sustainable development issues in the business world. Finally, ZJU-SOM also encourages faculty members to conduct research addressing current and emerging CSR issues. Based on its research expertise on innovation and entrepreneurship, ZJU-SOM focuses its research on inclusive development, environment management, and eco-innovation.
Based on these findings, CEEMAN Accreditation Committee on September 20, 2017 awarded School of Management at Zhejiang University International Quality Accreditation.
“CEEMAN IQA is more than a kudos. The accreditation journey is actually a quality enhancing process for its developmental nature. The insightful recommendations put forward by the PRT are quite thought provoking which help us spot potential future improvements in providing relevant and sustainable management education. Our School has always been and will continue fostering responsible practices and stakeholder involvement. As we endeavor to grow global networks, we also take CEEMAN IQA as an important step to facilitate cooperation with business schools from the “Belt and Road” countries." School of Management at Zhejiang University