MING-JER CHEN        PhD, MBA.

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STUDENTS & TEACHERS

To the Chinese, Confucius is considered the father of the teaching discipline. In many ways, my practices in the classroom derive from his philosophy. In particular, my pedagogical approach emphasizes integration of various aspects of life, long-term mentorship, and a balanced, harmonious perspective.  

My courses emphasize the connection between theory and practice, and between business and life. Aiming for a balanced, harmonious approach, I develop electives based on my own academic research, and this research, in turn, benefits from my teaching and work with students. I enjoy teaching at all levels—MBA, Ph.D., undergraduate, and executives—and across national borders. I consider myself a life-long mentor to my students (or “learning partners,” as I prefer to think of them), and I value the close ties I maintain with many former students throughout their careers.

 Perhaps the most important sense of “balance” I strive to instill in my students is that between business and humanitarian concerns—a continuous “self”-improvement, a genuine concern for the “other,” and a harmonious integration of the two. I believe self-other-integration holds promise for developing a global perspective in managers. 

Current Class Offerings at Darden Graduate School of Business:

Strategic Thinking & Action  

This course develops students’ ability to analyze the organizational and external factors essential for crafting and executing a firm’s strategy for sustained success.  It draws heavily from the key concepts, frameworks, and tools of strategic management.  Taking an action orientation, the course reinforces and revitalizes the general management perspective—the core mission of the school.  Because of increasing global interdependence and an ever-shifting business environment, it emphasizes both the dynamics and the global aspects of strategic management.  Topics include developing and evaluating strategy, developing firm capability and sustaining competitive advantage, analyzing industry evolution and competitive dynamics, and linking strategy and execution.  Course objectives are accomplished through exposure to cases from a range of industries and managerial settings.  By providing MBAs with an opportunity to apply the analytical skills they learn in various first-year core courses, it fosters an integrative mindset that will enable them to operate at multiple levels and in different functions in their business careers. 

Competitive Dynamics

Business competition is both dynamic and relative. It is defined by the interplay between companies as they constantly juggle their market positions by exchanging moves and countermoves. The soundness of a firm’s strategy and actions—and even its performance—must be considered in the context of its competitors’ actions. This advanced strategy seminar provides class participants with an integrative framework and specific analytical tools for understanding how firms interact in the marketplace—within an industry, across industries, and beyond national borders. The premise of the course holds that when a company initiates a competitive move (a new product introduction, expansion into a new market, an acquisition bid, or a simple price cut), it should be prepared to meet potential counteractions from rivals. Understanding the relative nature of this dynamic process is the key to building and sustaining competitive advantage.

Strategic Thinking:  Integrating East and West 

As economies and businesses become more global, companies worldwide will increasingly need to examine their economic practices and beliefs. The purpose of this research seminar is to help participants 1) develop a deep understanding of the strategic concepts and business models underlying foreign (in this case, Chinese) business, based on a thorough knowledge of cultural and institutional differences, and comprehend the implications of these differences for enterprise management in general; 2) use this understanding to think broadly about global enterprise and future enterprise development; and 3) develop a globally integrative perspective that enables them to conduct business in any part of the world.

Previous Courses

–        East Meets West: Strategic Implications for Managing in the 21^st Century

Cases and Notes

–“Hainan Airlines: En Route to Direct Competition?” (UVA-S-0101) and Teaching Note (UVA-S-0101TN)

–“The Battle for Logan Airport: American Airlines vs. JetBlue (A), (B), (C)” (UVA-S-0116, -0117, -0118) and Teaching Note (UVA-S-0116TN)

–“The Battle of the Asian Transshipment Hubs: PSA vs. PTP (A), (B), (C)” (UVA-S-0108, -0109, -0110) and Teaching Note (UVA-S-0108TN)

–“Spuyten Duyvil: Turning Entrepreneurial Momentum into Future Growth” (UVA-S-0124)

–“Instructor Note in Teaching Industry Analysis” (UVA-S-0125)

–“Embraer: Shaking Up the Aircraft Manufacturing Market” (UVA-S-0135) and Teaching Note (UVA-S-0135TN)

–“FedEx in the Chinese Express Delivery Market: Face Off in the Forbidden City” (UVA-S-TBD)

–“Indirect Competition: Strategic Considerations” (UVA-S-0102)

–“Indirect Competition: Resource Diversion” (UVA-S-0103)

–“Competitive Dynamics: Competition as Action-Response” (UVA-S-0123)

–“Cultural Foundations in Communication: Relationship-Building in the Chinese Context” (UVA-BC-0182)