Exclusive Interviews with Alumni | Li Erjun: Gratitude to ZUEL, Endeavoring and Starting Again
Li Erjun, male, born in December 1972, senior economist, party secretary of Henan Tiantong Electric Power Company, 2014 MBA student of School of Business and Administration(SBA), enterprise cooperation tutor of SBA of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law(ZUEL), and guest professor of Henan Urban Construction College.
In ZUEL, I completed my MBA studies, fulfilled my youthful dream, and realized the butterfly change from a former teacher's graduate to a market mover and then to the head of a state-owned enterprise.
In 2013, I successfully passed the MBA Joint Entrance Examination and interview, and got the admission notice from the coveted ZUEL. Here, I met my lifelong grateful mentor, Prof. Du Peng. Although he is young, he is a marketing expert and authority in the academic field. He has both theoretical height and practical cases, and his teaching style is both rigorous and avant-garde, and his point of view of it's better to be different than to be better has opened my eyes. There is also Professor Song Weiliang, whose teaching style is funny and humorous, and pays great attention to the positive interaction with students, which makes the teaching effect very good; and Professor Xiong Huibing, who is able to skillfully apply the appreciation of movie clips to show the principles of organizational behavior, which is fascinating. The teachers of the MBA program of ZUEL are all carefully selected by the school, and all of them are very knowledgeable and skilled. There is the old dean, Prof. Wang Haisu, who is learned in both Chinese and Western cultures, Prof. Wenhao and Prof. Wu Yingna, who are gentle and elegant ......
Under the guidance of the excellent tutors, I was like a fish that had been away from the sea for a long time, and I was excited and greedy to swim in the sea of knowledge again. At that time, I had been transferred to Pingdingshan City to work, and the teaching site in Henan was 160 kilometers away from my home. In order not to delay the study, every time the class, I would leave before six o'clock in the morning, drive to Zhengzhou, almost always the first class into the classroom, always sitting in the first row. My classmates praised me for being the farthest away, the earliest, and never late. In order to be able to fully digest the knowledge taught by the professors, I specially purchased a tape recorder to record the entire lectures of the professors, and I would use my cell phone to take pictures of the class materials that I couldn't record in time, and then study them again and again after I went home. Because of my positive attitude towards learning, active participation in class activities, and cooperation with teachers in organizing teaching, I was elected class president, and had more opportunities to get in close contact with teachers, and was also taken care of by many teachers. My mentor, Prof. Du Peng, has given me many pointers and detailed discussions, which often gave me a sense of enlightenment. What I especially admired was Prof. Du's work efficiency. I remember that every time I sent the draft of my thesis to Prof. Du, his reply never stayed overnight. Once I sent it to him in the middle of the night, but in the morning I saw an email reminder that Prof. Du processed it immediately after receiving the email, and replied to me in the early hours of the morning after making corrections. Professor Du's rigorous attitude, excellent communication skills, and high efficiency have benefited me a lot, and I am always reminded not to slack off.
In 1995, I graduated from the teacher training school to enter the workplace, into an export-oriented enterprises, the company's main products, car refrigerator all exported. 1999, suffered the impact of the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, the company's sales have plummeted, high inventory, capital chain, production and operation is limited to the predicament. Company leaders decided to export to domestic sales, the implementation of full sales, the company up and down everyone's head are divided into sales targets, personal income costs all rely on sales commission. No sales experience I am no exception, was divided into the Wuhan region. The bustling streets of Wuhan, from now on, there is a young man carrying samples back and forth. In order to save money, I stayed at a relative's house. The relative's house is located near ZUEL. Every morning, I would take a bus to Hanyang to look for customers at the entrance of ZUEL. Occasionally, my relative would take me to the campus of ZUEL for a walk and work out. My relatives told me that the school was founded in my hometown Pingdingshan, Henan Province, and moved to Wuhan after a few years, which made me feel close to the school. Look at the campus students or meditation, or talk, teachers or quote, or writing ...... compare yourself, empty blood, but not half of the economic management knowledge, not only by the eyes of others, the sales performance is a lack of good, and suddenly feel ashamed of themselves, the heart of the secret resolve - - I must come here to study. -I must come here to learn.
As if history repeats itself, in 2008, the financial crisis sweeping the world under the hostage, I worked in the enterprise as if overnight, the product from the seller's market into a buyer's market, the price of a day three drop, inventory out of stock, forced to reduce production. The original sales team was immersed in the long-term seller's market feeling, and was completely at a loss in the face of the drastically changing situation. I was appointed to be the manager of the sales department. In order to quickly open up the situation, I openly recruited 20 marketing staff within the company. But they were as enthusiastic as I was, lacking in knowledge and experience. In order to improve the sales level of myself and my team, I purchased marketing textbooks, actively participated in training courses, and then explained to the marketing team after learning the knowledge. However, due to insufficient understanding, or copying, the effect is not ideal. With everyone's enthusiasm and the company's strong incentive policy, we barely survived the crisis. Several years of marketing practice have made me deeply appreciate my lack of theoretical knowledge and realize that enthusiasm and experience alone cannot achieve marketing goals. The idea of in-depth systematic study in an excellent formal institution was once again born in my heart.
With the gradual stabilization of the company's operations, my free time gradually more and more, long hidden in the heart of the seed of systematic learning germinated. 2011, I overcame the difficulties of the first time to participate in the examination, due to the poor foundation, but also lack of experience in the examination, and ultimately due to the lack of results in the single subject of English and fell short. After a short period of adjustment, I work harder to strengthen the review, listen to online classes, do exercises, memorize vocabulary ...... long nights and lonely lamps, summer and winter, the taste, only they know. 2013, I once again walked into the examination room. The hard work of the people of heaven is not to be disappointed, the results of the joint examination successfully passed, after the interview, I finally obtained my once dream of ZUEL of the acceptance letter.
Only through the unremitting struggle to create the opportunity, will be cherished. Two years of study, under the guidance and help of professors and teachers, and under the diligent efforts of my hunger, my professional ability has been significantly improved, and my network of resources has become stronger, and the most crucial thing is that my way of thinking has changed qualitatively, and the angle and scope of analyzing the problem have become more comprehensive, and the business philosophy has become more scientific. During the study period, I actively applied the knowledge I had acquired to my work, formulated strategies, cultivated brands, segmented the market, promoted my strengths and avoided my weaknesses, reorganized internally, which was unanimously recognized by customers and peers.
After graduation, SBA still continues to deliver energy to me, such as providing lifelong free back-to-school learning, resource referrals, project consulting and alumni sharing. Like water from a source and wood from a source, under the guidance of systematic theories, I based on practical, scientific planning, and successfully solved the various problems encountered, has grown into a principal of the state-owned enterprises, is leading the company's cadres and workers in the high-quality development of the road stride forward.
I remember that the old president of ZUEL, Prof. Wu Handong, once said: MBA education of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, not only the pursuit of students to obtain knowledge, ability to improve, the expansion of network, and more importantly, is the change of mindset and philosophy. Looking back, without the training of ZUEL, I could not have the work performance today. Entering ZUEL has opened the skylight for my career and laid the foundation for my life. I am grateful to ZUEL!