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Tim Cook Joins Board of Advisors at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management

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Apple CEO Tim Cook has become a member of the advisory board at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM), according to the school's website (via TechCrunch). The Beijing-based university itself is among the top schools in China, with the SEM's advisory board meeting annually to "offer advice on the development of Tsinghua's SEM," according to the group's mission statement.

Other members of the advisory board include tech executives such as Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou and Nokia Corporation chairman Risto Siilasmaa, along with notable American executives such as president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Michael T. Duke and chairman and CEO of PepisCo. Indra K. Nooyi.

It is not entirely clear why Cook specifically joined the SEM's advisory board, although the CEO has made numerous visits to China to raise Apple's profile in the country and to discuss a potential deal with China Mobile, which is the world's largest carrier and the only Chinese carrier to not carry the iPhone. Cook was first spotted at the carrier's headquarters in June 2011, and also visited China Mobile last January and this past July leading up to the announcement of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last month.

The launch of both of the new iPhones on China Mobile now seems to be very close, with Chinese officials licensing the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to run on China Mobile's TD-LTE standard in September, and an alleged poster promoting the release of both new iPhones on the carrier recently surfacing.

Cook has also emphasized Apple's desire to grow its retail presence in the country during his visits, reiterating Apple's plans to build at least 25 stores within the region. The company has opened several stores in Shanghai including one in the Pudong district and a store on Shanghai's famous Nanjing Road, and is also set to open a two-story retail store in Shanghai's new IPAM mall within the next year.

Apple has also worked to speed up the approval process for its products in China, moves done to allow product launches and sales in the country to occur more quickly. For the first time last month, the new iPhone models debuted in China as part of the first wave of launches. Earlier this month, Apple supplier Foxconn also stated that it would assist Apple in shipping products directly to China, which will result in an easier transition from production to shipping and ultimately sales in the country.

Article Link: Tim Cook Joins Board of Advisors at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/22/tim-cook-joins-board-of-advisors-at-tsinghua-universitys-school-of-economics-and-management/
This sort of thing, an intellectual group surrounding a university and providing consulting and guidance to local businesses and students (via the university) is very similar to what Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and U of CO does in various industries.

To assist in guiding China forward has high leverage value with so much "managed change" going on.

Rocketman
 
Rocketman said:
This sort of thing, an intellectual group surrounding a university and providing consulting and guidance to local businesses and students is very similar to what Stanford, Harvard, MIT and U of CO does in various industries.

To assist in guiding China forward has high leverage value with so much "managed change" going on.

Rocketman
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Most intellectuals have very little real-world experience. This kind of thing is needed throughout education. Fewer theories and more proven facts. Knowing intellectuals as I do, they probably won't listen to anything any of these groups have to tell them about economics if they don't already agree with it beforehand (much of it likely to disagree with their Keynesian theories), at least in this country.
 
GoCubsGo said:
How is it a smart business move for him?
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Singhua and Beijing University are the best in China, ahead of most Universities in Asia by most rankings. It's like seeing some CEO become a board member of Harvard. It adds more credibility and respect to his/her company.

EDIT: It looks like Tim is Shooting a horror movie lol.
 
szw-mapple fan said:
Singhua and Beijing University are the best in China, ahead of most Universities in Asia by most rankings. It's like seeing some CEO become a board member of Harvard. It adds more credibility and respect to his/her company.

EDIT: It looks like Tim is Shooting a horror movie lol.
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I fully agree. I wasn't unsure of the answer, I just think people write things and never actually have an expanding thought. Such as "cool move Tim Cook". So why is it a cool move? Anyway, I was just curious to see if there was anything more to add.
Moving on.
 
szw-mapple fan said:
Singhua and Beijing University are the best in China, ahead of most Universities in Asia by most rankings. It's like seeing some CEO become a board member of Harvard. It adds more credibility and respect to his/her company.

EDIT: It looks like Tim is Shooting a horror movie lol.
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And Tim Cook is Head of Apple..... Harvard would benefit from having him being associated with them.
 
It's pretty obvious Apple wants to woo the Chinese market, and a board membership can bring some good business connections in a market like China, where who you know is as or more important than what you know.

That said, there is some political risk domestically as a result of this. Chinese universities are cracking down on dissident professors, and while it's unlikely a business school would employ an overly political professor, it's conceivable (potentially someone opposed to state ownership of all the big businesses there).
 
MH01 said:
And Tim Cook is Head of Apple..... Harvard would benefit from having him being associated with them.
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I concur that I see this going the other way around. Nobody/nothing can add credibility to Apple - Apple can add credibility to anything/anyone.

But maybe things are different in China. I wonder if we'll ever stop making "in Soviet Russia..." Jokes and move onto "in communist China..." jokes.
 
Photographer's Credit?

I know this is off topic, but shouldn't the photographer (Photo: Marco Grob for TIME) get his credit here?

I don't know the specific licensing of this particular image, but you can bet your a$$ that Marco Grob wouldn't mind a mention. It's all too common for editors to screen grab an image for these articles, and while I appreciate that no-one seems to give a crap, it doesn't make it right.
 
DOSNET said:
Most intellectuals have very little real-world experience. This kind of thing is needed throughout education. Fewer theories and more proven facts. Knowing intellectuals as I do, they probably won't listen to anything any of these groups have to tell them about economics if they don't already agree with it beforehand (much of it likely to disagree with their Keynesian theories), at least in this country.
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Einstein and Bohr would disagree with that opinion.
 
If Steve Jobs were alive today, he probably never would have been offered a spot on that school's board of advisors. That's because Jobs doesn't have a college degree. Cook has an MBA from Duke. Cook is nowhere close to as insightful and talented as Jobs was, but academia takes him more seriously than Jobs because of his credentials.

As overvalued as credentials are in the U.S., they are even more overvalued in China. Nonsense like the prestigiousness of a school's brand name is pathetically overvalued in the U.S., but more so in China. This stifles innovation, especially innovation on the scale that Jobs facilitated during his time at Apple.
 
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