John Quelch has numerous respected titles and positions: business school academic (dean and professor), administrator, public servant, corporate director, consultant, author and public speaker. However when asked which is his favorite title Quelch replied: "My first name, John," before bursting into laughter.

Born in the UK in 1951, Quelch has a remarkable resume in both the academic and business worlds. He is an alumnus of Oxford University, Wharton School and Harvard Business School. In 2011, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honors List for his contribution to promoting British business interests.

Quelch was previously dean of London Business School and senior associate dean of Harvard Business School. It's now more than six months since he took over as dean, vice president and distinguished professor of International Management at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).

Heavy workload

On a regular working day, Quelch wakes at six in the morning and goes for a swim at a nearby hotel. "On a busy day, I work about 12 hours and have a dozen meetings with students, faculty, staff, alumni, or corporate partners," he said.

Another part of Quelch's job is to give speeches to diverse groups including alumni, new or prospective MBA or EMBA students, to graduates at graduation ceremonies, and to major corporate clients on CEIBS executive education programs.

His busy position also includes frequent business trips both in China and abroad. A couple of weeks ago, he was in Dalian at the World Economic Forum where he introduced Zhu Min, the vice president of the IMF, at a CEIBS alumni gathering.

Not long ago he gave a speech at the Forbes CEO Conference in Malaysia which, in his words "was also a good opportunity to publicize the CEIBS brand."

"One reason why I have a heavy schedule is that I have to both build the school brand on the outside, as well as manage the inside," he told the Global Times. "But it's essential we build the brand, because if we boost the brand reputation, we attract more student and clients."

 Branding insight

In 2010, CEIBS was ranked 17th among all the MBA schools around the world, according to the Financial Times. "It should be in the top 10 in three years. Why not?" said Quelch with a confident smile. "There is tremendous potential to move into the top 10, but it does require a lot of staff and faculty members to embrace change and to work harder in the short term."

Faculty recruitment is also an extremely important part of his role. "As for CEOs in companies, talent management is crucial in academia." In Quelch's opinion, the quality of MBA education in China will be enhanced by not only domestically educated professors but also by significant numbers of expatriates and overseas Chinese returning home.

Eye-catching effects are one of Quelch's specialties. The determined dean said: "We placed a half-page advertisement in The Economist with the title: 'New dean needs 30 expert faculty now!'" Such a direct, blunt slogan is seldom seen in academia. "We didn't expect any really good candidates to apply to the advertisement. The aim was to get people talking about what's happening at CEIBS," he said.

"If you make the brand more exciting and have more people talking about it, people will start looking more closely at what you do and, hopefully, will be impressed. When more people apply, and you can be more selective, you can admit and enroll better students," he said.

Quelch also took the opportunity for CEIBS to become a major sponsor at this year's Academy of Management meeting, the most prestigious get-together for business school professors.

Quelch's team also put the school's logo and slogan "China Depth, Global Breadth" on hotel room access cards during the conference. "CEIBS is well-known in China, but not overseas," he said. "However, no international business school can match CEIBS on 'China Depth,' and no Chinese business school can match CEIBS on 'Global Breadth.'"

Bond with local life

Living on the North Bund near Suzhou Creek, Quelch told the Global Times that about 85 percent of his fellow residents are Chinese. "I used to live in a well-run Western compound where I saw few Chinese people. So, after a couple of months, I decided to move into a building that is more generally Chinese."

But although he is now surrounded by Chinese people, Quelch admits he cannot yet speak the language. "I wasn't hired to learn the language!" he joked. "However, I suppose, after one year, I don't expect to be able to use this excuse any longer."

Shanghai has made a good impression on this relative newcomer. He regards the city as "very accessible, and much more user-friendly in terms of traffic than Beijing." And for busy people like Quelch, who have frequent lunch meetings, predicable travel time is important.

Following a balanced diet of half Western and half Chinese food, Quelch finds the diversity of restaurants in Shanghai stimulating, and he is particularly fond of Italian food and spicy Sichuan cuisine.

In his spare time, Quelch likes playing tennis and swimming. Most weekends he plays at a hotel tennis center and is a rare foreign member of the Pudong Tennis Association. "If I didn't consciously insert sports into my routine, I wouldn't last that long," he laughed.

Quelch also has an incisive perspective on Chinese contemporary art and the art market. Although he hasn't bought any artworks for himself yet, he has launched an arts committee at CEIBS and acquired two paintings for the reception area at CEIBS, which in his words, "makes a boring space more interesting, yet relaxed."

"Believe me, before you come to see me, you do need to relax!" he said with a straight face, before bursting into hearty laughter once more.