This week, the MSJ talked with Professor Linda Lim. Or better said, Linda Lim talked to MSJ (she can talk!). Professor Lim teaches the World Economy core class (Strategy 503) and Business in Asia (Strategy 584), an elective. During our interview, she basically taught me both courses in a nutshell. Can I waive out, Dean?
A Passion for Southeast Asia
Linda Lim earned her BA in economics from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, and then finished her MA at Yale, specializing in development economics, now better known as the study of emerging markets. She started her academic career as an economics professor at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia.
Professor Lim came to Ann Arbor to complete her economics Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, principally because of the University's Southeast Asian Studies curriculum (see Page 15 for "A History of the Relationship between University of Michigan and Asia"). Since then she has dedicated her research to the study of business and economic development in Southeast Asia.
During her Ph.D. program, Professor Lim studied the Indonesian language (at Michigan!) in order to do field work in Malaysia (the Malay language is very similar to Indonesian). While writing up her dissertation on international outsourcing by the multinational electronics industry, she was invited to speak at a conference on Southeast Asia in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she met her future husband.
The Lim Family
The Lim family is originally (four generations ago) from China, and belongs to the Hokkien dialect, which is spoken by 80 million people in China's Fujian province, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The family migrated to Singapore where Lim Yuen Ching (or Linda Lim, her 'English' name) was born and raised. Professor Lim speaks five languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, the Cantonese and Hokkien Chinese 'dialects' and Indonesian/Malay, though she speaks none of them fluently except for English.
Linda Lim is married to Peter Gosling, a retired Professor from the University of Michigan. Their 24-year-old daughter Mya, who does not like publicity (I hope she doesn't read this!), completed a Masters degree in Southeast Asian Studies (to do something different!) from the University of Michigan. She is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies at the University, while continuing her study of the Thai and Indonesian languages here.
At Ross, Linda Lim is a Professor of Strategy (previously International Business). In the World Economy course, she and her colleagues teach students how globalization affects business, in particular, how business differs internationally, and how companies adjust when doing cross-border trade and investment. In the Business in Asia elective, Professor Lim focuses on analyzing business and dealing with the specific business environments throughout Asia.
Professor Lim is also part-time Director of the University's multidisciplinary Center for Southeast Asian Studies, which was established decades ago by her husband. Her term as Director ends in June 2008. She has lived in Michigan for over 30 years and has been a member of the faculty at the University of Michigan for 22 years.
The Role of Government in Economic Development
Professor Lim researches the role of government and private business in economic development, especially in Southeast Asia. Specifically, she examines how government policies shape the business environment and national economic competitiveness. She is particularly interested in Singapore, her native country, which is usually ranked as one of the world's most competitive and open economies, implying a lack of government intervention. However, in reality, the government has a very heavy hand in the economy and business as well as politics, as Professor Lim showed in her widely-cited article published over 20 years ago, titled "Singapore: The Myth of the Free Market Economy."
In her current research, Professor Lim considers if government intervention, which may have been useful early on, becomes unnecessary and even inefficient when an economy reaches an advanced stage of development, such as Singapore's has. For example, government ownership and regulation may "crowd out" private business, discourage risk-taking and entrepreneurship, and divert talent and capital from the private sector. Working from a political economy perspective, Professor Lim also considers the political motivations behind government trade and investment policies, and questions if government-linked business entities can separate political or even personal interests from business-which in some cases can lead to forms of corruption or simply poor investment and management decisions. Professor Lim is also researching is how China's rapid growth is shaping the economic development of its neighbors, and how they can respond to increased competition from China in world markets.
Professor Linda Lim is the senior faculty member in international business. I encourage any student interested in an international career to talk with her on how you can prepare yourself for such a career. Which brings me to my last point: Are we [Ross students] being prepared to be leaders in the Global World?
Do Ross Students Lack an International Perspective?
As you already know, recruiters selected the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan as the No. #1 Business School in the world, as reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on September 20, 2006. However, there was one observation about the business school that we should all be concerned about. The MSJ asked Professor Linda Lim for some advice.
The WSJ said that the "recruiters gave Michigan its lowest ratings for students' international knowledge and experience". So, what's wrong? Why is this happening? And better yet, what can we do to improve our international focus?
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