Commencement Speech to 2016 Graduates of Yuan Ze University

An agile organization must be built on an integrated foundation of management practices that create an adaptable organization.——Christopher G. Worley

Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent.——Bill Gates

Europe and U. S., the two advanced economies, used to lead the role of maintaining global stability.  However, their political and economic developments had unexpected outcome during the past year.  In 2017, Brexit negotiation process was initiated and its impact to the European Union’s social and economic system has gradually immerged; while due to global connectedness, Brexit also posed threat to the international financial market and economic growth.

On the other side of the world, the unorthodox political figure Donald Trump inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, leading to drastic shifts in both internal and foreign policies, the U. S. international trade negotiation will focus more on trade balance and safeguard the American interest.  As the U. S. turns toward trade protectionism, China seizes the bigger role on world stage.  Mr. Xi Jinping became the first Chinese President to speak at World Economic Forum, who made the opening remarks expressing strong support of free trade and globalization, elevating China’s dominance in global economy.

With dynamic changes in today’s political and economic global environment, the world nations have become more and more closely connected.  The borderless flows of people, trade, finance and data have continued to expand along with the speedy globalization.  The rise of emerging markets has led to urbanization and the transition of economic activities centered around emerging cities which brings tremendous spending power and business opportunities.  In addition, technological innovation also brought dramatic changes to our society.  The three previous industrial revolutions have immensely improved human lives.  Now with the integrated application of various innovative technologies, we are entering into the 4th industrial revolution with faster speed, expanded scope, and bigger impact to the whole world.  It is worth noting that with lower birth rate, slow population growth, and aging workforce, the future demographic dividend will disappear which will deepen economic burden at the labor level.  The above-mentioned globalization, urbanization, technological advancements and aging societies are the four major forces disrupting the landscape of the world, which are also the critical trend that you must seize.  Furthermore, you should also pay attention to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Financial Technology (FinTech), and etc., the key technologies in the next decade which will have the deepest and the most significant impact to industries.

From operations point of view, when outside environment is changing swiftly, we must maintain agility, integrate and manage internal resources, change existing mindset, and create an adaptable organization to respond to changes and stay competitive.  This also applies to individuals as well.  Time continues to evolve, under the trends of globalization, urbanization, technological advancements and aging societies, past life style will be changed drastically.  We should enhance our agility, adjust mindset, and strengthen professional competency to remain adaptive to the changing environment.  Instead of waiting passively and standing idle, the utmost move is to embrace the new trends proactively.

You are about to graduate from the Yuan Ze University.  During your studies in school, you might experience many difficulties and challenges as well as joy and laughter.  For good or for bad, these are all major undergoing in your lives to set the stage for a better tomorrow.  The world is changing so fast, but you should not be afraid.  I am convinced that graduates from the Yuan Ze University will be equipped with good virtue, knowledge, and most importantly broad vision, outstanding adaptiveness and responsiveness.  The efforts you made at school to cultivate capability and accumulate knowledge will prepare you to draw a bright future.  There is no shortcut for success, aside from unceasing efforts, you should often expound on the three following questions to define yourselves:

Who are you?  Clearly understand your strength and weakness, what you can and cannot do.  Continue to keep your strength and improve your weakness, be confident but not complacent.

Why are you here?  Examine the strength and weakness of yourself and peers, ensure your position in the job market, try to become leader, but not follower.

What do you want to be?  Stipulate future development goals, examine at all time the macro environment to seize changes in trends, make sure to seek the right direction, and walk on the right path.

Living in the turbulent and unpredictable era, the world often changes beyond our imagination.  You must embrace the changes and be well prepared, in particular to enhance your agility and adaptability so as to seize opportunities from intense competitions, and become an agile leader.  Last but not least, I would urge you to keep moving forward, always be motivated to uplift yourself from good to better, and from better to be the best!＃