ABC Conference Recap

More than 300 people attended Haas' Asia Business Center inaugural conference, "2008: Managing Family Business in a Global Marketplace," in December at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. ABC Director Teck-Hua Ho called the conference a "high-impact success" that served to launch a series of plans to increase Haas' visibility and to energize the school's alumni in Asia.

"It was a huge success to gain exposure for the UC Berkeley/Haas brand. We received positive energy and established a momentum. Now we must sustain that momentum," said Ho.

The Asia Business Center is engaging Asian partners and universities to join Haas in developing world-class management training programs. Meeting face-to-face with Asian executives and academics also helped the center position itself as the authority in providing executive training programs in the Asia region. The conference welcomed S. Iswaran, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry. The event also provided a rich, comprehensive forum of topics such as Professor David Vogel's session, Managing Growth in a Global Economy.

Increasing the school's "global footprint," especially in Asia, is one of Dean Rich Lyons' strategic priorities. Lyons presented the conference's opening and closing remarks. "Asia is a natural area of competitive advantage for the Haas School, and has been for a long time," explains Lyons. "We aim to leverage that advantage even more going forward, particularly given that such a large share of the world's economic growth will come from the region over the coming decades."

The conference focused on family ownership, an integral and powerful foundation of business in Asia. Panelists discussed the challenges of managing family wealth during uncertain economic times and succession planning and conflict resolution in family business. About one-third of the attendees were Haas alumni.

The Singapore conference was followed by a gala in Singapore for alumni that marked the initiation of the Haas School of Business' Global Campaign in Asia. Both events were generously hosted by one of Haas' own, Kwee Liong Seen (BS 74).

You may view photos of the conference here.