Lan Ma, adjunct professor of management at NYU Shanghai, teaches Business Consulting in China, an elective course for senior business students that aims to increase experiential learning so that the theories and tools learned in class are applicable to real life experience. The project-based course teaches students about consulting processes and frameworks, and simultaneously applies the curriculum to actual consulting projects for companies.
With over twenty years’ experience with companies like Procter & Gamble, McKinsey and DuPont, Ma believes these skills are important to have, regardless of a student’s major. “Business consulting is a good entry job for new graduates to explore various industries and types of jobs,” she says.
Other than teaching, Ma currently also does consulting work for companies and conducts corporate trainings on business topics. She even started her own lifestyle brand. “I found my entrepreneurial pursuit very challenging yet very exciting. It again gives me the opportunity to apply my knowledge and experience to a real start-up company.”
Lan Ma is the Adjunct Professor of Management in NYU Shanghai Business as well as a member of the Center for Business Education and Research (CBER) at NYU Shanghai, which aims to promote innovative research on China-related business and to inspire academic collaboration among industry leaders, business faculty and students.
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教授观点 // 掌握商业咨询技能的重要性
上海纽约大学管理学兼职教授马兰，讲授“中国商业咨询”这门面向商学专业高年级学生开设的选修课。这门课旨在提供更多实践性的学习经历，让学生不仅学到相关理论和工具，更能将课堂所学应用于实践。马兰教授介绍说，“课程以实际咨询项目为基础，学生可以学到商业咨询的流程和方法，与此同时，还能将所学运用到实际的公司咨询项目中。”
马兰教授拥有超过20年的大型国际企业和管理咨询经验, 曾在宝洁、麦肯锡和杜邦等公司任职。她认为，无论学生主修专业是什么，掌握咨询技能都能使他们从中受益，“对于应届毕业生来说，商务咨询是一份很好的入门工作，有助于他们探索各行各业以及不同的职位类型。”
除了日常教学工作，马兰教授同时在为一些公司提供咨询服务以及企业培训。此外，她还创办了自己的生活方式品牌。 “我觉得创业是很有挑战性的，但同时也很令人兴奋。可以说，创业再一次给了我机会，让我将自己的知识和经验应用于实践，应用于一个真正的初创公司。”
对马兰教授来说，她现在做的这些不同类型的工作，可以相互契合、相互促进、相互补充，令她能够把理论和实践有效地融合在一起，并同时提高和完善这两者。
马兰教授在上海纽约大学担任管理学兼职教授，同时她也是上海纽约大学商学教育与研究中心（CBER）的成员之一。该中心是一个为校内外多方参与者建立的资源分享型平台，旨在促进商学教学和研究的创新品质，强化人文博雅教育相对高等商学教育的重要性。