AMBS Masters’ students have taken part in a consultancy project in China in association with Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS).
Students from both the International Business and Management MSc and the Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship MSc took part in the Global Corporate Consulting Project which looked at how a Chinese mining company could more effectively communicate its ESG strategy.
As part of the project the students spent time in China and developed a framework for the company to analyse strategies and benchmark itself against other companies, before presenting their findings to senior management at the company.
Watch a video about the MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, and read more about the consultancy project below:
Collaboration
Gerald Chan, Lecturer in Innovation, said: “Overall, it was an incredible experience where students collaborated with a highly engaged client to address their real-world management challenges, while also building lasting connections with peers from top business schools around the world. ZIBS was a welcoming host, and students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to explore and learn about China.”
Andrew James: “As Programme Director for the MSc Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship, I am excited that IME students had this fantastic opportunity and performed so well. This is a great example of how the MSc IME is about so much more than what happens in the classroom. It gives our students real world engagement with business and fantastic opportunities for personal development.”
Here, two students who took part in the project share their thoughts on what they gained from the experience:
Carlos Vivero Vivanco
What was the appeal of this project for you?
This project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have been building a career in innovation for sustainability with previous experience in Ecuador, the most biodiverse country in the world, where I worked with enterprises, entrepreneurs, and academia, managing impactful local and international sustainability projects.
In a world of constant change, sustainability should not be treated as an additional factor for businesses, it must be embedded at the core of organisations and integrated at every level. Therefore, this project presented a unique opportunity to work in a global setting with a real company and work towards tackling a pressing sustainability issue.
One of the main reasons I applied was the in-person component in China to present our work to the senior management of our client. It was an invaluable opportunity to learn how global companies address sustainability challenges. It also created a platform for learning and exchanging ideas with industry leaders, professors, and students from top universities worldwide.
The project enabled me to contribute to solving a real-world sustainability challenge, aligning perfectly with my personal and professional goals. And it provided the opportunity to work in a multinational business environment, allowing me to learn from industry experts and connect with a global network of peers.
What did you gain from being involved and how did it help your studies?
The project’s ESG focus was highly valuable for me. I gained practical insight into how businesses integrate and measure ESG practices, a core framework used in corporate sustainability worldwide. With a focus on sustainability-oriented innovation, I strengthened my research and analytical skills by identifying and analysing the environmental and social concerns that are specifically relevant to a company, according to its context. Moreover, beyond identifying the challenges, I improved my skills to develop critical strategies in order to approach complex sustainability challenges in a real-world context.
While our focus was on ESG communication, analysing both our client’s ESG and communication strategies - as well as those of global leaders - allowed me to understand, in practice, the systemic nature of sustainability. I gained first-hand insight into how various actors interact and mutually shape the business environment, an understanding that deepened my comprehension of socio-technical systems and sustainable innovation.
Teamwork played a crucial role throughout the project. By aligning each member’s strengths and backgrounds, we strategically divided the project into several tasks, which helped us to deliver a cohesive and high-quality outcome. I was particularly inspired by the professionalism and passion of every team member. It was truly a pleasure to work with such a driven and committed group of people.
Finally, on a personal note, I was extremely proud to represent Latin America as the only student from the region among all participants from ten international business schools involved in the project.
What were the key business messages you took away from the project?
Firstly, sustainability is not a standalone effort; it must be systemic. A sustainability department is ineffective if it operates in isolation. True impact comes when sustainability is embedded across all business functions, where every department has a role in driving and executing it.
Leading organisations worldwide in sustainability exemplify this through cross-functional committees, including representatives from legal, finance, operations, and other departments, backed by a top-level leadership commitment. Moreover, sustainability must extend beyond a company’s boundaries. Firms are part of wider systems and must account for their interdependencies and broader impact with all stakeholders.
Secondly, data is essential for driving impact. An effective sustainability strategy must be based on robust and reliable data. Assumptions alone are not enough. Companies need solid evidence to track progress toward sustainability goals, substantiate their claims, and shape transparent, credible communications. Without data, sustainability risks and actions become symbolic, rather than strategic.
And thirdly, ESG is about more than compliance. ESG is not a reporting tool that businesses can utilise to check boxes and comply with regulations, public pressures, or investor interests. The ESG strategic framework is a roadmap that companies must use to diagnose their current status regarding sustainability, evaluate their progress, benchmark their performance, and adapt their sustainability strategy to achieve their goals.
Nini Gventsadze
What was the appeal of this project for you?
Given my prior experience in management consulting, I was keen to get involved in consulting projects during my time in the UK, especially those offering international exposure. The prospect of working in a different cultural and professional environment was very appealing to me as client relationships, work dynamics, and expectations can vary significantly across places. I saw this as a challenge to test and further develop my capabilities.
The project stood out for exactly these reasons, as it offered all the excitement and novelty I was looking for. The idea of participating in a consulting project in China, and eventually travelling there, was something I had never anticipated as part of my UK academic journey. I immediately recognised the value of gaining hands-on experience in this space and its relevance to my future consulting work.
My enthusiasm only grew when I saw the diverse and high-calibre backgrounds of the other participants, many of whom came from leading universities around the world. It promised not only a professionally stimulating experience but also a chance to network, exchange ideas, and potentially spark future collaborations. Overall, I saw this as a career-defining opportunity. I knew that whenever I would be asked about the most exciting or unique project I have worked on, this would be the one I would proudly talk about.
What did you gain from being involved and how did it help your studies?
The project deepened our research skills as we had to explore and analyse a topic that none of us were particularly familiar with. This was further complicated by the context. We had to gather information on Chinese companies, which was a completely new area of research for us. It required critical thinking, prioritisation, targeted search, and the ability to distinguish what really mattered. I think teamwork also played a great role in this process, as we often discussed our findings together and filtered the most relevant information.
The importance of critical thinking was equally evident in the later stages, when we had to develop a written consulting report that would be both engaging and useful for the business client. We had to carefully define the structure, shape a coherent narrative, highlight key insights, and make the report visually appealing, all of which also demanded effective team communication and thoughtful task delegation.
Throughout the project, our team successfully broke down, divided, and executed each part of the work in a structured and timely way. I believe this was the result of each member's personal dedication, mutual respect, and a shared sense of purpose that motivated us to deliver our best. This experience also left a lasting impact on how we approached other group projects. We were able to apply these planning, delegation, and accountability skills in other areas, which noticeably improved our overall performance.
Finally, I believe this project gave us a strong sense of motivation. Being selected as participants based on several criteria, including strong academic performance, felt like a meaningful reward, a moment of realisation that our hard work and commitment were paying off in the best way possible.
What were the key business messages you took away from the project?
Developing an ESG communication framework provided us with valuable insights into how businesses, especially those in traditional industries, can navigate the complex challenges of addressing environmental and social issues through their actions.
Once we completed the framework and stepped back to look at the bigger picture, one thing became clear: ESG is not the responsibility of HR, marketing, or any single department alone. For these initiatives to be truly effective, a holistic approach is essential, one that actively involves every part of the organisation. Cross-functional collaboration, bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives, is critical to ensuring that all three pillars of ESG - environment, society, and governance - are meaningfully addressed.
We also learned that ESG should not be treated as a standalone initiative. It needs to be embedded into the core of business operations and considered in every strategic decision. Management should continuously ask how does this decision affect the environment? How does it impact people around us? What steps can we take to better manage our impact? Only by making ESG a fundamental part of the decision-making process can companies create a meaningful and sustainable impact.
The most important insight was understanding that ESG activities are neither one-time efforts nor isolated from external influences. Similar to any other strategic initiatives, companies must continuously evaluate their current ESG initiatives against their strategy, compare them with industry leaders to identify best practices and emerging trends, and then adapt their own approaches based on the gaps uncovered.