Chasing a Goal Larger than Life
Sherman Chu
Part-time Flex Mode, Class of 2019
Pre MBA: Deputy General Manager, BMW Business Division, Shenzhen Jiahong Autogroup
Current Role: Associate Director of Operations, Shenzhen Jiahong Autogroup
After earning his BBA in Hospitality Management in the UK in 2005, Sherman Chu kick-started his career at a leading luxury hotel in Hong Kong until his ego took him to the road of entrepreneurship in Mainland China one year later.
Five years of entrepreneurship experience was not a success in any kind of dimension. Causes of failure were long and tearing, and reality has brought him back to employment. In 2012, he joined a top automobile retail group in China that focuses on the high-end market segment. Again, his career path has not been a simple journey of progress, but it was his endurance to weather the many ups and downs that helped him progressively climb up the ladder after achieving fruitful results in various projects including those with McLaren, Lamborghini and BMW. In 2017, he was appointed Associate Director of Operations. As the right-hand man of the Chief Executive, it means that he has to take up plenty more responsibilities and make decisions on his own.
Improving himself through further studies has always been on Sherman’s mind no matter how occupied he is. In fact, the arrival of his son in 2015 was a real push for him. As he could foresee that parenting and coaching would take up most of his time and energy, he decided to start doing his master’s degree as quickly as possible.
After some careful comparison and consideration, the CUHK MBA programme was chosen for its excellent reputation as well as its comprehensive, well-balanced and flexible curriculum. The fact that some of its courses were offered in the Flex mode was an added advantage, as it would enable Sherman to better juggle work commitments, family and studies. “It wasn’t a tough call to make to study MBA at CUHK!”
Coming from a non-finance background, Sherman has opted for a Finance Concentration as he wanted to get the most out of the Programme, knowing that he would need to step out of his comfort zone. He also capitalised on some electives related to entrepreneurship and innovation, which he considered “remarkably valuable” to his career.
Despite the fact that his Part-time MBA was designed to be a 2-year version, Sherman extended his studies for an additional year so that he could be part of a signature ingredient of the Programme – “Remodelling and Fundraising in Asia”, a highly practical course that provides a platform where students can pitch their startup projects to angel investors and venture capitalists for real money. Though his newly established sports technology venture eventually did not obtain funding from real investors in the final round of presentation, it still generated a significant amount of nutrients that are vital for the future growth of his venture as well as for himself, professionally.
Bringing his favourite sport, rowing, to the campus was surely a noteworthy achievement of Sherman as an MBA student, though he admitted that it has been quite a challenge to keep this first-ever MBA Rowing Cub in Hong Kong on the go. Being a rowing coach, Sherman explains that the sport is good not only for health, but also for understanding the many parallels between everyday life and the business world. It is advantageous for any business leaders to engage in the sport as a life-long activity. Sherman will be serving as a consultant to the coming cohort and he looks forward to meeting the next committee of the student association.
“I have a strong belief that I am chasing a goal that is larger than life. Such a vision drives me to move ahead. It may take quite some time to reach my destination, but I know it’s vital to get myself geared up for any ups and downs throughout this journey. Earning an MBA is a wise move. It certainly makes me sharper,” concluded Sherman.