A degree from a U.S. institution is highly regarded in China, but not all students have the opportunity or funds to go abroad, explained Fairfield Dolan Dean Zhan Li, DBA. The Fairfield MBA program in Shanghai, in partnership with the management company Golden Education, was begun to address that need. The program is taught by Fairfield professors and allows students to continue working while pursuing the degree in the evenings and weekends. The first cohort of 35 students began in September 2020.

Recently, a student in that cohort was honored with a second place finish in a contest sponsored by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Linda Wang’s case study, A Tough Decision for a Finance Director – Be a Hero (or Play a Hero), examines ethical dilemmas employees encounter at work and asks students to use conflict of interest policy and ethical accounting standards to make ethical decisions. The paper originated from an assignment in the business ethics course taught by David Schmidt, PhD, director of applied ethics.

Wang, currently a financial director in a global logistics company, studied economics and management in college. “The ethical classes I attended before were often dogmatic and rarely solved dialectical problems in real practice,” Wang said. “Professor Schmidt gave me a new perspective on this discipline. He is able to draw the students’ attention through interesting examples in class and has managed to make the course vivid and interesting. He would bring up inspiring subjects…allowing students to express their opinions and discuss how to apply what they learned in class to real life, which triggered sustained thinking after the meeting.”

The officials at the IMA noted that they were particularly interested in Wang’s paper, as few people had tackled the topic of business ethics. They have since paired her with a professor so that together they can develop a teaching plan based on her case study that will be used in IMA classes for management professionals.

“Linda’s award is especially impressive because she was the only entrant who was not an IMA trainer or professional writer,” Dr. Schmidt continued. “This noteworthy achievement reflects positively on both Linda and the Shanghai MBA program.”

The program’s third cohort began in October. Students enrolled have an average of 13 years of work experience, many working for internationally recognized companies such as Alibaba, Amazon, Citibank, and Huaxia Bank.