On May 28, 2018, Antai College of Economics and Management of SJTU held a press conference for the centennial anniversary of the College. Representatives of alumni, professors of Antai College and the mainstream media all over China attended the event to witness the centennial moment.

The College Leadership including Dean Zhou Lin, Deputy Party Secretary Yu Leng, Vice Dean Dong Ming, Professor Chen Xian of Applied Economics Department, Professor Rong Ying of Operations and Management Department, the representative of the elder professors Xuan Guoling and the representatives of the alumni including Xia Qing (1948 alumnus of the Department of Industrial Management), Lin Chengdong (alumnus of the Ph.D. of 2005), Huang Huasheng (EE alumnus), Shi Yonglei (2009 EMBA alumnus), Zhao Chunyan, 2013 EMBA alumnus, Hu Meixiong (2010 EMBA alumnus) attended the conference. The conference was held by Vice Dean Tian Xinmin.

Never Forget Why You Started and Practice Social Responsibility

At the press conference, Zhou Lin reviewed the development of Antai College in the past 100 years. In 1918, Shanghai Jiao Tong University pioneered the Railway Management Branch of Learning, which became one of the earliest management disciplines in the history of modern education in China. Since its establishment, Antai has assumed the responsibility of cultivating national managerial talents. Antai, as a top-ranking business school in China, is thinking deeply and practicing towards how academy contributes to national economy and people's livelihood, how professors and scientific research promote social progress, how College of Economics and Management helps industrial development and how to combine student education with social responsibility assuming.

At the conference, the theme song "Tell the World My Dream" written by Hu Meixiong, an 2010 EMBA alumnus of SJTU, was released for the first time. This song truly echoes the theme of the centennial celebration, "A Century of Antai, A Century of Chinese Dream" - "Antai College has gone through a century, never stopping and bravely moving forward". With "Lighting the Cities’ Starry Sky" activity brings together the wishes of alumni from all over the country, a series of activities such as forums, salons and back-to-school activities are in full bloom.

Put What Is Learned into Practice and Develop Cutting-Edge Wisdom

At the press conference, Antai College published six new books——Wisdom Gathered in Antai - Reviews on Economics and Management of Antai Think Tank, Collection of Centennial Antai Teachers' Thesis- Economics Discipline, Collection of Centennial Antai Teachers' Thesis - Management Discipline, Footprints and Style: Interviews with Excellent Alumni of SJTU Antai College of Economics and Management, Practice of Management Thoughts of Business Schools in China, Profit Model: The Origin of Enterprise Strategy. These books show the development of Antai College in recent years from the perspectives of teaching and scientific research, alumni performance, practice of management thoughts, strategy. As the leader of think tanks among universities, Antai College of Economics and Management has always been committed to outputting edge-cutting wisdom and acting as the leader of ideas.

At the press, Yu Mingyang, Party Secretary ACEM and professor of Antai EMBA, made a brilliant appearance with his new book "Profit Model: Origin of Enterprise Strategy", which re-combs the "Top Ten Classic Cases" that emerged from the Corporate Profit Model Competitions launched by Antai EMBA of SJTU since 2002. As Philip Kotler said, "Profit is the reason why an enterprise exists and the value of its essence. Without this, an enterprise cannot be called an enterprise.”  Up to now, the "Competition of Company Profit Model " has been successfully held for 28 sessions, and many outstanding cases have emerged, many of which are directly industrialized, or invested, or eventually listed. Inspired by this event, in order to deepen the understanding of EMBA students across the Straits, this competition has been successfully upgraded to a joint event from 2010, which is held every two years.

Preface of Profit Model: The Origin of Enterprise Strategy 

It has always been the concern of all domestic and foreign business schools that what business school education should concentrate on and revolve around, and further how they develop and deduce it. From focusing on performance to concepts, promotional skills to strategic positioning, the outside to the essence, business school managers have been exploring the creative origin that best shows the value of business schools.

I believe that all the origins of business schools are based on the creation of business value, no matter it is related to strategy or marketing, supply chain management or human resources, management information system or financial accounting. As Philip Kotler said, "Profit is the reason for the existence of an enterprise and the value of its essence. Without this, an enterprise cannot be called an enterprise.” Therefore, there are good reasons for business schools to be oriented to profit model and regard it as its operation core and principle. Similarly, as an enterprise strategy, it is also the core and principle of strategic development.

The composition of the profit model is quite complex, and different scholars and schools have different definitions of the profit model. In my view, the profit model refers to the logical framework for enterprises to achieve profit. That is to say, if an enterprise does not have a good profit model, its profit is going against the logical structure. Such profit-making is doomed to be unsustainable. And of course, a good profit model won’t bring profits at once. Just as Philip Kotler said, "A right profit model is more important than whether the entrepreneur is making profits or not."

It is also a controversial issue that what factors would determine a profit model. In my view, these factors are nothing more than market demand, strategic differences with competitors, core competitiveness of enterprises, strategy positioning, factor allocation and strategy implementation methods. These factors combine with each other variously in the design and formation process of the specific profit model, thus resulting in differences even a colorful diversity in profit models. On this basis, other disciplines of business schools finally have their own origins of foundation and motivation. Of course, conversely, these disciplines will also provide theoretical guidance and technical support for a clear profit model.

The information revolution represented by the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on the subversion of business format and the reconstruction of market structure. Jobs toppled the record industry. Alipay and Yu’ E Bao have begun to challenge traditional retail banks. Taobao and Tmall have churned up the retail sales of fast-moving consumer goods. Wechat has put traditional telecom operators on tenterhooks. Baidu has even changed the living environment of advertising media. And Tesla is putting great pressure on the traditional automotive industry. Even the most traditional manufacturing industry and the most common simple service industry have to encounter the strong impact from “Internet+”. Dianping, Ele.me, Horizontal Alliances, Group Purchase System and Virtual Community Marketing, all of these are making the Internet an indispensable standard configuration for the development of enterprises, forcing enterprises to integrate into the tide of innovation actively and passively and enter the fast lane of fully docking with the capital market.

In this sense, “Internet+” is the foundation of “innovation+” and “Finance+”. Whereas these three factors have brought a huge challenge to the existing profit model of all enterprises, which forces more and more entrepreneurs to rethink their profit model in a brand-new environment, and also forces more entrepreneurs to consider whether the design of the profit model is up-to-date enough.

The Antai College of Economics and Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University is one of the earliest business schools in China to focus on the profit model, and also one of the business schools that put the profit model at the core. We pay special attention to profit models at all levels of Bachelor, Master, Doctor, MBA and EMBA. And we have initiated the Competition of Profit Model among business schools in China. We have also published many books and collections on profit model, which has a certain influence in domestic and foreign business school systems.

I’m honored to teach EMBA students and act as the judges of competitions about profit models from the inception of EMBA in China and I have witnessed the continuous exploration and diligent efforts of the profit models by the students of Antai EMBA of SJTU for more than ten years. Excellent profit model designs in the past few years have finally gained the appreciation of VC and PE, and have truly become an entrepreneurship project, even gone to the capital market. Our EMBA students have also deepened their understanding of the profit models through such competitions, and then formed a reflection on their own profit model, so as to adjust strategy, rebuild value, make choices and sustain development in the future, and to achieve the ultimate goal of promoting the development level of enterprises through EMBA learning. This book contains ten classic award-winning projects in previous Competitions of EMBA Profit Model of SJTU, which are from different business areas, with different innovation levels, and configured with different factors. But every reader will definitely get inspiration from these cases and trigger his own thinking.

June 12, 2018 is the centenary anniversary of Antai College of Economics and Management. Over the past 100 years, Discipline of economics and management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has gone through many ups and downs. However, generations of predecessors of SJTU have been diligently striving to forge ahead and make great progress, with many first places and honors in the development history of economics and management disciplines in Chinese universities, continuously updating various rankings to a new height. Today, it is the best time in the history of Antai's development. A new century's journey is about to start. And we have established "Excellent First-class International Business School" as our development goal. The grand prospect has been drawn and the curtain has been pulled open; the warships have set sail and the soldiers have gathered. We will meet new challenges and reach new heights with higher spirit. At this time of great congratulations, we solemnly released this book. It is more than a celebration gift for Antai’s centennial anniversary, but also a report card  to the centenary of Antai College. In the end, let’s all take pride in Antai College, and let’s all take pride in all Antai people.