Hainan University (HNU) held its 15th Luminaries Lecture in Humanities & Social Sciences in the auditorium of the Social Science Complex on the afternoon of December 2. Wang Zhongming, a Distinguished Expert of Zhejiang Province, delivered a lecture titled “Competency Development and Growth Strategies in the AI Era”. Zhang Jiyou, Executive Deputy Chair of HNU Council, and other HNU leaders were in attendance. HNU Vice President for Academic Affairs Zhang Kezhong chaired the event.

Drawing from his five new books, Wang integrated management psychology and entrepreneurship education to outline the challenges and opportunities for business education in the AI era under three key trends: capacity-driven development, industry integration, and green innovation. He further examined critical issues facing economic and management talent, including overcoming career stagnation amid rapid transformation, moving beyond reactive compliance toward responsible leadership, breaking down data and organizational silos to foster collaboration, shifting from short-term thinking to long-term value creation through innovation, advancing substantial Greenovation rather than superficial “greenwashing”.

Wang Zhongming delivering the lecture (Photo by Zhang Danting)

With a focus on capacity empowerment and development, Wang proposed a management framework centered on five core competencies: Ecological Competence, Team Competence, Innovative Competence, Cultural Competence, and Action Competence. He elaborated that Ecological Competence is grounded in human-environment thinking, focusing on sustainability and supported by resilience and empowerment. Team Competence is based on collaborative thinking, centered on team management, and enhanced by team synergy and digital intelligence. Innovative Competence is built on design thinking, guided by innovation, and powered by technology and entrepreneurship. Cultural Competence relies on regulatory thinking, focusing on responsibility management, and strengthened by accountability and ethics. Lastly, Action Competence is rooted in performance thinking, oriented toward change management, and propelled by transformative and lean capacities. Together, these “Five Competencies” interact synergistically to form an integrated empowerment system.

Wang emphasized that business management talent should enhance resilience to cope with risks and adversities, foster a stronger sense of responsibility, build team competence to drive collaborative sharing, fuel innovation to break free from short-term thinking, and ultimately develop sustainable capability to achieve green growth and value creation.

On behalf of HNU, Zhang Jiyou presented Wang with a commemorative plaque of the Luminaries Lecture in Humanities & Social Sciences.

Zhang Jiyou presenting Wang with a commemorative plaque (Photo by Li Chunyang)

The lecture attracted a packed audience. In the Q&A session, they raised questions about AI’s role in reshaping professional capabilities in specific industries and the integration of resilience training into education. Wang offered detailed and professional answers, sharing his unique insights and valuable experiences.

Q&A session (Photo by Li Chunyang)

Over 300 faculty and student representatives from Haidian campus, as well as heads of the departments concerned, attended the event.

Translated by Ning Keer

Proofread by Pan Junfeng