What is Firenze|China?

The partnership with Microsoft Firenze and Cheung Kong GSB's East-West MBA All-Star Case Challenge is what Firenze|China is all about. It preserves all the objectives of these 2 programs while helping them work together across global boundaries to make innovation truly global.

Why the name Project Firenze?

Firenze (Florence, Italy) was the birthplace of the renaissance, a city from the Western hemisphere that had right and left brained geniuses roaming the same streets, learning off each other and ultimately creating the sort of innovation that neither of them could create without the other. Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Machiavelli were the products of this intellectual confluence. So what better way to have an East-West MBA All-Star Case Challenge than to marry 2 great cities – Firenze and Beijing – to help take this program to the next level.

Why Project Firenze?

The idea was to get students from top MBA programs to collaborate across borders and stretch them with a case competition that is several levels tougher, ambiguous and more difficult than any other. By doing something like this, participants will be forced into a state of discomfort which immediately leads to innovation and learning, and which is precisely when good teamwork, and mentorship is facilitated. Projects run with that motive will necessarily generate leadership and learning experiences, which is the goal of the project. Those students who can go through such a rigorous process while still learning from and loving the experience have the skill set and competencies congruent to the most successful Microsoft employees.

Finally, by sharing current business problems that we are trying to solve, with high-caliber students one of the goals, Microsoft will get a chance to see some innovative thinking which we can take and implement, making the situation truly win-win.