December 2012 Published by the Undergraduate Office, CUHK Business School

Let’s go entrepreneurial!

Faculty Spotlight -Dr. Andrew Yuen

Lan Kwai Fong -Lifestyle Matters

In the October Issue, CU iBUS opened the door for you to explore the career services offered by the Undergraduate Office. Now, let us show you the other side of the story—forget about the pressures of finding a job; be an entrepreneur (substituting job hunt pressure with business anxiety)!

Also in This Issue06 Local and national competition winnings07 Study tours of the Global Business Programs08 Lightbox - Snapshots of the Year14 Newsroom17 Column - Matt Ng

Click to download the full issue

CU iBUS

From the Editor

BuSIneSS SchooL

Jan 25Workshop - Job Hunting Skills

Jan 25Briefing Session -Student Editorial Team

Feb 1Workshop -Interview Skills: Individual

eDIToRIAL

editor-in-chiefProf. Dennis Fan

MembersDr. Susanna KwokMs. Carol HoMr. Joseph TongMr. Nan Yi

cu iBuSDecember 2012

unIVeRSITY

Jan 3CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia Launch Ceremony

Jan 29Distinguished Lecture - Professor Philip George Zimbardo

MeSSAge FRoM The eDIToR

This issue of CU iBUS is all about the entrepreneurial spirit.

Have you ever thought of opening your own business? Then don’t miss this issue: our Cover Story examines the entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurship education here at CUHK Business School. Also, an idea came to mind: now that we are at the end of 2012 it seems a good opportunity to review the major events and happenings throughout the year in our School. So, in Snapshots of the Year our editors recap the greatest stories and events that have taken place this year and to reveal a new vision for 2013. Finally, our Hong Kong Brand Series presents its fifth case study, Lan Kwai Fong. If Dr. Allan Zeman had never committed to opening a restaurant called California on a back street in Central some thirty years ago, there would have been no Lan Kwai Fong today. This is what entrepreneurship is all about.

I hope you enjoy our series of stories and get inspired. As 2012 draws to a close, what have you resolved to do in this new year? On behalf of the Undergraduate Office, I wish each of you all the best in achieving those resolutions, and of course, a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.

Prof. Dennis FanEditor-in-chief, CU iBUS

Jan

Jan

Jan

10

27

29-30

IBM Global Business Services Business Consulting Course Orientation Gathering

CUHK 50th Anniversary Kick-off Ceremony Walkathon and Carnival

E-Devices Collection Day

conTRIBuToRS

Ms. Noren ChanMr. Kenneth DaiMs. Celia IpMs. Diana LawMr. Alan Wong

conTAcT uS

AddressRoom 616, Cheng Yu Tung Building, 12 Chak Cheung Street, Shatin, N.T.

Telephone3943 7746

emailbba@cuhk.edu.hk

01Cover Story

entrepreneurial!

Let’s godoor fo

r you to explore th

e career services offered by

the Undergraduate Office. Now, le

t us show you th

e

other side of the story—forget about th

e pressures

of finding a job; be an entrepreneur (s

ubstitutin

g job

hunt pressure with

business anxiety)!

What is entre

preneurship?

Generally speaking, when one talks about

entrepreneurship, one re

fers to creatin

g a new

venture. The Chinese University

of Hong

Kong (CUHK) w

as once the base fo

r a

regional team of th

e Global

Entrepreneurship Monito

r (GEM). I

n

2009 GEM found th

at a total of 6.5%

of the adult H

ong Kong

population was involved in

different levels of

entrepreneur-

ship; the

Ready to go?

Before you start reading, go th

rough the above

checklist of th

ese twelve signs indicatin

g that

one is meant to

be an entrepreneur. I

f

say half of th

em fit you, there’s a good

chance you have the

entrepreneuria

l spirit so please

continue re

ading:

In the October

Issue, CU iBUS

opened

the

Prof. Dennis Fan, Associate Dean

Prof. Kevin Au,

Associate Dire

ctor of C

enter

for E

ntrepreneurship

Knowledge Transfer Office

organizes various seminars

for fu

ture entrepreneurs.

400,000,000

percentage fluctuates with the macro economic situation.

As widely believed, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. However, if you consider the broader concept of entrepreneurship as defined by Prof. Howard Stevenson of the Harvard Business School to be “the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled”, you can see that this kind of spirit can be found in all of us, a spirit that can even be applied to your studies or jobs.

Why entrepreneurship?

GEM’s research also showed an interesting phenomenon. Unlike most parts of China, people in Hong Kong who possess higher educational qualifications are the ones who are more likely to start their own companies. “Sometimes, one gets refused or fired by his or her employer and thus becomes an entrepreneur simply because there are no other options,” Prof. Kevin Au, Associate Director of Center for Entrepreneurship (CfE) of CUHK, explained to CU iBUS. He went on to say that “for many other cases I observed, entrepreneurs desire to be independent, to fulfill his or her very own dreams, even to change the world. The strength of a stronger education background, for example, the professional training offered by our Business School, is that students get a better understanding of the basic business knowledgelike human resources, marketing, accounting and finance. But what they don’t acquire, domain knowledge, in other words, the exposure to industries, makes it impossible for them to gain access to resources and networks and to identify real possibilities.”

can entrepreneurship be taught?

So, is entrepreneurship something that can be taught in business school? Yes, definitely. Since entrepreneurship can be deemed more broadly as a way of thinking and acting, entrepreneurship education can thus be focused on helping students understand, develop and practice a set of skills neededto be entrepreneurial. Historically, Harvard BusinessSchool offered the first entrepreneurship course in 1947. This grew to over 1,600 schools in the U.S. around the year 2000, offering 2,200 entrepreneurship related courses. Peter Drucker, a management guru, defined entrepreneurship as a discipline, saying “it’s a discipline and, like any discipline, it can be learned.”

At CUHK Business School, coaching in entrepreneurship is offered both in and out of the classroom. If you would like to take a glimpse of

where entrepreneurship can take you, you can take courses like MGNT4570, Global Entrepreneurship or MGNT4620, Analysis of Management Topics. Or you may consider participating in various co-curricular activities offered by the School, for example, the Hong Kong Social Business Challenge organized by the Undergraduate Office, the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge and the Vice-Chancellor’s Cup of Student Entrepreneurship organized by the Center for Entrepreneurship. What’s more, through support from CUHK’s Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO), CfE launched a CU Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program. “The best of the Program and other entrepreneurship competitions is that we successfully gather a group of stimulated and passionate young people”. Explained Prof. Au, “they come to us because they are already interested in creating their own businesses. We are the platform, and the rest belongs to students and participants. Through learning by doing, these students make the most of this co-curricular entrepreneurship education opportunity. And I will promise you that even more schemes and projects offered by CUHK are in the pipeline.” On campus, KTO also organizes a series of workshops and seminars to guide students through various stages of start-up including the technical know-how required such as registering a patent.

The first step

The initial preparations are finished, yet one still hesitates to take the first step. Prof. Dennis Fan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) described a dilemma that you may encounter in his second weekly message of this academic year. When you are facing an analyst offer from a leading investment bank or an AO offer from the Government, the opportunity cost to turn your own entrepreneurial idea into reality after graduation would be just too high. “That’s what I learned from the book Good to Great,” explained Prof. Fan. “Good is the enemy of great. When we are settled with the status quo, it’s just too risky to make the change.”

As the ancient Chinese saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, every conglomerate must have begun with an entrepreneur.Sometimes, one needs to take the risk. Prof. Fan observed, “recently, I have witnessed more and more business students who are willing to at least give it a try. The seeds of entrepreneurial spirit have been rooted in our students’ minds.”

03

400,000,000

Cover Story

people around the world are entrepreneurs. Will you become the next one?

Lesson from an angel investor

Ms. Norris Lam, Managing Director and President of G2 Asia and Forbes PCG Asia, summarized four crucial “Ps” for a start-up when first approaching angel investors,specifically proposal, presentation, passion and practicality.

“An angel investor on average screens 1,000–3,000 business proposals a year”, explained Ms. Lam. She further elaborated that “your proposal gets two minutes to impress the investor. So it has to be simple and straight to the point, with a clear focus on your unique propositions. If you are invited to present your idea face-to-face, you should be well prepared for the Q&A session. If you cannot overcome any doubts on your proposal’s feasibility, the investor will definitely reject your idea.” On top of the proposal and presentation, Ms. Lam prefers to invest in the right people (or entrepreneurs). “To me, the people is always more important than the proposal itself. Plans can be modified; people cannot be changed. I have to see the passions, abilities, emotional stability, and the willingness to tackle any obstacles before I make up my mind whether to make the investment. Always make your proposal practical; do seek advice from professors or industry practitioners, and set your five-year or ten-year strategic directions.” Ms. Lam added a final tip. “Before you reach out to any investor, try to gain a brief understanding of his or her background first. It helps you to predict whether he or she may be interested in your idea.”

Lesson from an entrepreneur

Jack Cheng, an Integrated BBA alumnus (class of 2010) started his own business right after he graduated from CUHK Business School. In collaboration with his peer Sandy Lau, he set up his own company Green Collar to turn food waste into organic fertilizer for growing vegetables in an environmentally friendly way and to sell them on the market. Early this year, Jack rebranded his own company with the new name of Aubree and a clear focus on food waste bioconversion.

“I had to google what food waste was when a friend first suggested it to me,” Jack recalled. It was not surprising that this First Class Honours graduate lacked related knowledge at the very beginning. Lack of network and skills further challenged the infant business. “Experience from my grandfather who was involved in agriculture and livestock and input from a Taiwanese farming master helped,” as Jack explained how he overcame the hurdles. Adding assistance from Prof. Andrew Chan who connected him to industry executives, Jack has been running his company for over two years. Looking ahead, Jack has a vision of enhancing the effectiveness of food waste recycling.

03

Cover Story

The 2012 Hong Kong Social Business Challenge (HKSBC) is co-organized by CUHK Business School and SOW Asia to encourage students to design and implement commercially sustainable solutions to socio-environmental concerns. Two Social Business Boot Camps were held to inject a more thorough understanding of entrepreneurship, in particular social enterprise, to the Challenge participants (more coverage in our June issue). The Final Presentation was successfully rolled out in the evening of October 31 and marked the official conclusion of this year’s HKSBC.

Congratulations to the following winning teams:

At the same time, we would like to express our special thanks for the support from our panel judges:

- Prof. Denis Wang (CUHK)- Ms. Norris Lam (G2 Asia and Forbes PCG Asia)- Mr. Darius Yuen (Founder, SOW Asia)- Ms. Moon Kim (Senior Advisor, SOW Asia)

“It’s our honor to jointly initiate the HKSBC with CUHK Business School,” said Mr. Darius Yuen. “Participants become inspired in the Challenge, generating brilliant ideas. Although they may or may not become an entrepreneur, they have already learned the idea of being socially responsible. And twenty years later when they occupy senior management positions in large corporations, they will start to make the impacts and demonstrate the importance of doing well and doing good at the same time.” Prof. Dennis Fan is also delighted to witness the growth of our students, “organizing the HKSBC is one of the ways we try to promote the entrepreneurial spirit on campus. Through incentives such as the cash prizes and investment funds, students started to get interested in this type of topics and took action. It’s the way we approach being a business school pioneer and reinforce our entrepreneurship education.”

When entrepreneurshipadds one more element

Special coverage on the 2012 hong Kong Social Business challenge

eDIToR’S PIcK

Awards (cash Prizes) Teams

Champion (HK$30,000) I-Start-Eyes (Team 1)

1st Runner up (HK$15,000) Step 2 (Team 16)

2nd Runner up (HK$5,000) Buildtiful Garden (Team 2)

Special Merit (HK$2,500) TEAM (Team 7)

Clockwise:Group photo of the participants of HKSBC with Mr. Darius Yuen, group photo of the participants of HKSBC with Mr. Scott Lawson, and award presentation to the Champion of this year’s HKSBC, team I-Start-Eyes

05

About your profession

Is this the profession you always dreamed of?More than what I ever dreamed of. Our workplace—the University—is a platform for intellectual challenge and interaction among teaching staff ourselves, and with students. This is something I have dreamed of. The thing that gives me greater satisfaction is that we can change someone’s life through in-class teaching and out-of-class mentoring.

Have you ever failed any students?Sure. If any students “fail” to meet a certain standard, I do not have any hesitation to “fail” them.

What was the topic of your most recent research project? Why are you interested in this topic?Environmental issues in the aviation industry. It is a very important topic for our future.

About cuhK

In your opinion, what changed the most at CUHK or with CUHK students as compared to the years when you were a student in CUHK?CU students are always friendly, caring and enthusiastic. One difference could be that in the past, we just wanted to know which professors were good. Now it seems to me that many students want to know which professors are good… grade-wise. GPA is becoming more and more important to students (but not employers), which leads to many “strategic” behaviors by students in the School.

(Question suggested by Prof. Dennis Fan): Tell us one of the most memorable things when you were studying at CUHK.At the pier near CU Water Sports Centre, where being under the starry sky, facing the quiet and beautiful

Tolo Habour, drinking beers, discussing dreams with best friends… This should be the romance of youths.

Were you a top student in CUHK? What was the lowest grade you obtained, and from which subject?Depending on the definition of “top”… C+ for Buddhism and Chinese Philosophy, taught by Dr. Tao Kwok Cheung as an elective. Yet it was one of my favorite and inspiring courses in CUHK. Dr. Tao is still teaching in CUHK. I highly recommend his courses to our students… provided they don’t care about their GPA too much.

What is your favorite corner at CUHK?BASO Society room at the K.K. Leung Building, at which my Jong Yuen and I spent lots of happy times. In the room, we had lunch and dinner, made table stands, did assignments, chit chat… But it is probably used by other units now.

Which canteen and which dish at the university do you enjoy the most and would recommend to our students?I think that most students in CU will agree that diningat CU is for survival only, not for taste. Indeed, the most enjoyable dining experience in CU is not related to the choice of canteen but with the pleasure of dining with your best friends.

About yourself

How and when did you meet your wife / girlfriend?Currently single.

Is there a book, song, and movie you would like to recom-mend to our students? Please elaborate.Youth and Knowledge by Mr. Tang Junyi. In this book, the author shared his suggestions to the youth in the process of acquiring knowledge. The Appendix could be especially meaningful for final year and New Asia College students.

Dr. Andrew YuenAssistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies)CUHK Business School

Faculty Spotlight

| Born on Mar 1| Alumnus, Integrated BBA, Class of 1999| Serving CUHK since 2007| Teaching DSME1040 and DSME2020 in the second semester

Local and national competition winnings

Below: Team Infinity (from left)—Wayne Chu (IBCE Year 3), Josephine Lo (IBCE Year 3) and King Kwok (IFAA Year 3)

A group of three business students from IBCE and IFAA triumphed in the Joint University Business Management Challenge (JUBMC) 2012, bringing home the Championship and also winning the crown for the Most Creative Team. The team leader, Wayne Chu, also won the Best Presenter Award.

JUMBC is a business case competition held by nine universities in Hong Kong. With more than 200 teams and 900 participants, five teams were shortlisted to the Grand Final, which was held on December 8, 2012. The finalists were to present their business plan for rejuvenating a traditional bakery, Fu Yuan Guan.

Wayne Chu attributed this outstanding outcome to their team’s teamwork and creativity. Their innovative presentation - a drama performance showcasing their business plan - surprised the judges and audience, and is what won them the Most Creative Team Award. Josephine thanked the IBCE stream for widening her international horizons and giving her grounds to exercise her own passion. King Kwok also credits the IFAA program for enabling him to analyze the case from a different perspective.

On Nov 24 to 28, seven Global Business Studies (GBS) students formed three teams and flew to Shanghai Tongji University to participate in the eighth China Challenge Cup, a bi-annual national undergraduate business plan competition. The teams were selected by the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE) to represent CUHK.

Kate Tsoi from the team Young Intelligence wrote a reflection to CU iBUS after winning the silver award:

“‘Entrepreneurial spirit is an ever-seeking integrity, fearing none and always marching forward.’ This was one of the slogans of the China Challenge Cup.

It was a delightful experience for us to reach out and get to know different business cultures. We found that most Mainland teams presented entrepreneurial projects with strong technology elements, while the Hong Kong and Macau teams were proud to share their proposals on education and service-oriented industries. In the Grand Final, 223 national finalist teams had to deliver a four-minute long business pitch and answer questions from a panel comprising professors, private investors and the media.

As we progressed in the competition, we continually made changes to improve our business plan, presenting it to various advisors for their comments and advice. The competition may not be easy and there is never a guarantee of any promising results, yet the business inspirations and exposure we gained were truly rewarding and worthwhile. After all, what it takes to ignite a budding entrepreneurial idea is passion, versatility and persisting with what you believe in.

Finally, we would like to thank Professor Hugh Thomas from the CfE and Dr. Dominic Chan from Decisive Consulting for their valuable advice, as well as the CfE and the Young Entrepreneurs Development Council for their generous sponsorship.”

Congratulations to our winning teams:

chow! Task Manager (gold Award)Li Man Hei Matthew (GBS Year 2)Young Intelligence (Silver Award)Poon Ka Ki Keith (GBS Year 3) | Yip Tsz Chung Alan (GBS Year 3) | Tsoi Chi Ying Kate (GBS Year 1)Rewardrobe (Silver Award)Ng Wai Ying Zoe (GBS Year 2) | Kong Hiu Fung Adrian (GBS Year 1) | Lam Kai Shing Isaac (GBS Year 1)

China Challenge Cup

JUBMC

07

On November 15, 2012, around 30 IBCE Year 1 students paid a visit to the tallest Coca-Cola plant in the world—Swire Beverages in Shatin. Apart from visiting the Coca-Cola Museum and the factory production floor, the students also met with Mr. Lance Wright, General Manager of Swire Coca-Cola HK. Mr. Wright imparted a deeper understanding of the management and organization of Swire and shared with students a variety of topics ranging from the pros and cons of manufacturing in Hong Kong to their strategy for product development, also challenges in increasing market share of their non-sparkling beverages, as well as the limitations of their vertically-built beverage plant.

Spotlight

Nov30City of Dreams,Macau

“We spent a fruitful morning at the City of Dreams complex (COD) where we were shown around to see the facilities available in such a huge entertainment and hotel development. It is clear that COD seeks to satisfy each and every need of their customers, the people who gamble in the casinos, to attract as many of them as possible even to the extent of making huge investments in décor and amenities. Since the market is small and full of competitors, COD has to use every marketing tactic possible to withstand fierce competition.

We then met with Mr. Jimmy Chan, Vice President, Human Resources, Melco Crown Entertainment where we got a picture of the operation of the entertainment and gaming industry; he also spoke about Macau’s labor market situation. We learned that Macau’s labor market is totally different from the ones in other countries. The presentation by Mr. Chan also provided us a new perspective in HR management reflecting the HR conditions in Macau. We also visited the Macao Trade Investment Promotion Institute and were given a talk about Macau’s economic situation and its economic potential. The presenter shared how the institute tried to support the SMEs in Macau despite the hard times brought by the labor shortage and their need for funding. Macau’s economic growth is still largely based on the entertainment sector which long-term is not expected to contribute as much to the economy as it does now. How the institute helps to promote businesses outside this sector is an important but challenging task for Macau.

The trip enabled us to get a glimpse at Macau’s economy and experience how the entertainment sector became so prosperous.”

On November 30, 2012, around twenty-five GBS students went to Macau to get to know more about Macanese businesses, particularly the casino business. Read these thoughts from Mike Tam (GBS Year 1) to see what they learned from their journey.

Study tours of the global Business Programs

MACAU

SWIRE BEVERAGES

Snapshots of the Year

A notable recap of this year’s quotes, photos and events

As you start your life with the CUHK Business School, look for opportunities, look for growth, look for impact and look for mission. And most importantly, build your knowledge and skills, not your resume.

Prof. T.J. WongDean, CUHK Business School

The better prepared you are, the easier for you to identify, grasp and leverage on opportunities which open the door to success. Moreover, the better prepared you are, the higher would be your self-confidence level, which is another key element of success.

Mrs. Bethy TamBeta Gamma Sigma Guest Speaker

Hong Kong’s first Global Corporate Social Responsibility Research Scholarship sponsored by SOCAM Development Limited

E-waste survey and Center for Responsible Business launched

Prof. T.J. Wong and Mrs. Bethy Tam at the Inauguration Ceremony

September 2012, CU iBUS

September 2012, CU iBUS

March 2012, Alumni Link

09Lightbox

Life is a matter of choice. You can choose to take it easy (“hea”) and then regret it later, or you can choose to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. This choice is entirely yours.

Prof. Dennis FanAssociate Dean (Undergraduate Studies)

Thanks for all the help during my study in CUHK. It means a lot to me.

A business graduateClass of 2012

The 71st Congregation for the Conferment of Degrees

Winners of the nationwide ACCA Job Hunting Competition

62 student teams enrolled into our School’s hallmark competition, Academic Cup

Hong Kong Championship at the HSBC YDC Young Entrepreneur Challenge

Incoming exchange students posing together at the Inauguration Ceremony

november 2012, CU iBUS

July 2012, CU iBUS

october 2012, CU iBUS August 2012, CU iBUS

September 2012, CU iBUS

Lifestyle Matters

hong KongBrand Series #05

Credit: Lan Kwai Fong Association

11

Brought to you by the Department of Marketing, CUHK Business SchoolCU: Prof. Leo Sin, Dr. Susanna Kwok, Department of Marketing

LKF: Dr. Allan Zeman, Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Limited

Unsatisfied with the status quo, a visionary foreigner makes the legendary Lan Kwai Fong (LKF). LKF is today the trendiest entertainment area in town, gathering local residents and tourists, a meeting point between east and west. It is not only a must-see tourist attraction, but a lifestyle deeply rooted in everyone’s mind.

Evolving from an anonymous back street into the hippest neighborhood, what inspired Dr. Allan Zeman, the “Godfather of Lan Kwai Fong”, and how did he succeed in transforming the area? Let us present you the world of Lan Kwai Fong.

Why we had nothing herein hong Kong?

CU: Would you share with us the background behind the opening of your first restaurant California and transformation of the area around Lan Kwai Fong?

LKF: Back in the 70s, I was in the fashion industry. I relocated from Canada to Hong Kong with a view to expand my apparel business. In those years, Hong Kong was quite different. Unlike today, there were no street restaurants in the city. If you wanted to have a good meal, you had to go to the hotels. It was all very British: everything was in the hotels. And in order to get into the hotels, you couldn’t wear casual clothing, you had to wear a jacket. If you didn’t have a tie, they would give you a tie. For me, I was probably one of the early activists. I hated wearing ties and things like that. As I was doing the fashion business, we had buyers and designers coming from all over the world who didn’t wear ties. I just thought that Hong Kong was such an international city that everybody loved doing businesshere. Cities like New York, they have SOHO, while London has the West End. But in Hong Kong, we had nothing here. So I asked myself: why not we create a place where a young man could look for girls, a place where we could all enjoy ourselves?

At that time, Lan Kwai Fong was just a back street—it was on the fringe of Central; there was nothing there. I walked around and found this street with great potential. If I start a restaurant, all I needed to do was to attract people to move one block up from Queen’s Road. I spotted an old supermarket located at the ground floor of a building which was owned by a Chinese Malaysian. I saw the potential and thus rentedthis space. To open the restaurant, I was looking for something that could unite all the aspects and make everybody comfortable. Look at the world, people from different parts of the world have their own cultures. Then I came up with the name of California, because everybody was sort of familiar with movie stars, sexy girls, and Beverly Hills.

This was my first restaurant. With more and more restaurants and bars springing up, I thought to myself that Lan Kwai Fong could become a little village. Maybe we can start to create an area.

Lan Kwai Fong is all about lifestyle

CU: What is your brand philosophy?

LKF: Lan Kwai Fong is not just a place; it’s a lifestyle. Working hard and living in small homes, people in Hong Kong are under high pressure. So I created an area where people can come after work to enjoy themselves late into the night. One can mix with foreigners, locals and tourists, people from all over the world. During the day, you are a student, professoror reporter; but when the night falls, everyone is the same at LKF. You are in the party and you enjoy yourself. It’s a meeting place, a place everyone can feel they belong. And the best part, you don’t have to spend money - the party is on the street. If you want, you can drink water, standing in the street and watching people. Sometimes, I just love sitting there; I don’t drink. I just love to be there, and feel the energy of people walking across the street. Literally, LKF is something for everyone, not just a place to cost you money.

One day I was sitting in the Starbucks at Lan Kwai Fong Chengdu. Three girls walked up to me and recognized my face. “I wanna thank you,” said one of the girls, “that you changed my life.” You know, I just met her and how I was possible to change her life? “I work in a factory,” she continued the story. “Before there was a LKF here in Chengdu, my life was boring. I went to work and went home, a routine life. Now, we meet

Front Row

It’s a street that belongs to the people, the people who make the party. That has been the psychology behind LKF.

boyfriends, girlfriends and foreigners here at LKF. We love it!” I realized at that time the impact of LKF. LKF actually helps create a lifestyle and changes people’s characters, because we give them the ability to express themselves and enjoy their lives.

The energy of the peoplemakes the place

CU: How did you build up the Lan Kwai Fong brand?

LKF: What I found to be the most important thing was to understand your customers. Ask yourself: what do you want your customers to feel? As an owner, I never think of myself as the boss. Instead, I put myself into the shoes of my customers to review my products and services. As a customer, will I like this? If I like it, then I may at least get half a chance of being successful. If I don’t like it, then I don’t do it.

So I try to understand what our customers want, making LKF a funny area. If LKF were a person, the personality would be the Yuppie lifestyle, easy, free and energetic. But I decided to go one step further. Rather than having just bars and restaurants, I made LKF a place where events happen, say, every one to two months. We organize six events a year. For example, we do the Beer & Music Fest, and we are the first to introduce the Street Carnival and Halloween in Hong Kong. That’s what I always believe—it’s the people who make the party, and the energy of the people makes the place. It’s a street that belongs to the people. That has been the psychology behind LKF.

CU: To summarize, apart from a clear vision and innovative idea, what else drives the success of LKF?

LKF: It’s called staying ahead of the curve. Changes take place every day. You have to anticipate the future, understand the present, and see how you can adapt to stay ahead and be the leader. Don’t be a follower.

(Click here for the full version at University Hall of Branding, Chinese version only)

Brand PersonalityWhen a brand is thought of as a person, human traits, emotions and characteristics can be associated with the brand name, thus bringingthe brand to life. Brand personality inspires strong and unique brand associations, relating what the brand stands for with who the customers are.

Next issue: Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Front Row

You always have to anticipate the change, be the leader, and be the best.

FUN FACTS

70+bars and restaurants form the little village of LKF, out of which eight are owned and operated by Dr. Zeman himself

65%of LKF’s customers are nowadays local citizens. The composition is quite different than that of decades ago, when 75% of customers were westerners

15cities in the Mainland are desperate for their own LKF. Up to now, only three projects in Chengdu, Haikou and Wuxi have been put into operation or officially announced

DID YOU KNOW?

The name of Lan Kwai Fong also stands for flowers. In the old days, this was the match-maker’s lane. Mothersused to take their daughters to meet young gentlemen there. Couples got married in LKF. “Nowadays, young people still meet here. To some extent, we continue the tradition,” quipped Dr. Zeman, tongue in cheek.

BehInD-The-SceneS

13

The Asian Business Studies stream (ABS) is offered in partnership with Fudan and Waseda Universities. Representatives from all three universities met at CUHK in November to review the program performance. On behalf of CUHK Business School, Prof. Dennis Fan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), together with Prof. Fu Ping-ping, Associate Director of ABS, hosted a dinner for Mr. Bao Jun (Fudan) and Prof. Kazuhiko Yokota (Waseda) and all the ABS students of the three partnering universities, marking the end of the exchanging study scheme. Students would go back to their host universities to finish the rest of undergraduate studies.

With the theme “Towards the 50th Anniversary”, the 2012 CUHK Alumni Homecoming was held on December 2, 2012. In parallel with this event, the CUHK Business School held an Open House on the same day.

Around sixty alumni, friends and family attended the event. We were very pleased that Prof. Dennis Fan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Prof. Stella So, Department of Marketing joined us to meet their former students.

In addition to the exhibition, video and tea reception, the highlight of the Open House was the walking tour for alumni escorted by student ambassadors showcasing some of the icons of the building such as the Finance Trading Laboratory, Demonstration Kitchen, Wine Laboratory, and Hyatt Learning Centre, etc. The Open House brought our alumni, faculty members and student ambassadors a day of fun!

Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Representatives from Fudan and Waseda meet at cuhK

Date: Sunday, December 2, 2012

open house for 2012 Alumni homecoming Day

15

Ms. Singmay Chou shared with GBS students on careers in the consulting field and how to be creative at the workplace. She is currently the Director of Kapok Tree Limited, a consulting firm helping clientcompanies with change management, strategic planning and organizational effectiveness. Ms. Chou shared on different types of consulting firms and its “career trajectory”. She also led students through a few games to demonstrate the importance of leadership and creativity at the workplace. Over forty students attended this talk, enjoying their time with the interactive games.

GBS and IBCE programs invited Mr. Vincent Yuen of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) to share on leadership by example and career management. In this talk, Mr. Yuen shared how HPH has repositioned itself internationally in the past decade on the basis of its superior inventory management software. He also shared his insights on how students can better navigate their future careers upon entering industry. Mr. Yuen advised students that successful management always comes down to people skills; without the necessary people skills to win support for oneself, one’s technical expertise will never be fully appreciated by fellow colleagues or superiors.

Date: Thursday, November 8, 2012Date: Thursday, November 22, 2012

Talk on career in consulting—Leadership and creativity

Talk on leadership by example and career management

Newsroom

outreach efforts—admission talksDate School / event Speaker

Dec 3 Tung Wah College Mr. CW Chau, Project Coordinator

Dec 7 Queen’s College Dr. Andrew Yuen, Assistant Dean | Prof. Chow Ying-foon, Co-Director of QFIN / QFRM / GLEF

Dec 8 Information Seminar in Macau

Dr. Joyce Iun, Department of Management

Dec 13 Visit by Principals of Key Middle Schools in Mainland China

Prof. Zhang Meng, Department of Marketing

Held on November 15, 2012, “Professional Talk and Reception Dinner for Year-1 (S6) Students” was organized by the School of Accountancy to further the freshmen’s understanding of the accounting profession. It also gave students an opportunity to meet their academic advisors. This event started with a fun-filled magic show with a theme illustrating the important factors of success. It was then followed by a few comments by Mr. Felix Shiu, a PACC alumnus and former CUSA President. He shared on his career development over the past eight years and the importance of ethics in the profession. About eighty students attended the event, all finding it fulfilling.

The first professional accounting seminar organized by the School of Accountancy of 2012–13 was held on November 27, 2012, featuring guest speaker Mr. David Wu, Lead Partner of PwC’s Beijing Office and also our Adjunct Associate Professor. The seminar not only enlightened the 150 attending students regarding the regulatory structure and corporate governance in the PRC but also increased student understanding about auditing. Mr. Wu also described auditing as a respectable career with ethics being the biggest challenge. The School will continue to provide outside classroom learning activities for students and facilitate experience sharing from prominent professionals.

Date: Monday, November 5, 2012Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Professional talk and reception dinner for PAcc Yr-1 (S6) students

Professional accounting seminar

Newsroom

17Column

If you find staying in a hostel taking too much out of a really tight budget, or if you would like to experience real local life, here is a great resource for you—Couchsurfing.

I bet most of you would be familiar with this community. It is a website, <www.couchsurfing.org> which offers a platform for locals and travelers to meet. Locals offer a free couch where travelers can crash. In return, travelers offer their local host a means of cultural exchange. Basically what you have to do is to sign up, build your profile, and convince people why it would be pleasant hosting you in their house.

My first couchsurfing experience was in Umea in the north of Sweden, sleeping on the air mattress of a young Swede who lived in a small but well-furnished studio, who kept me warm in the freezing Scandinavian winter with his hospitality and who shared with me his passion in music over a very Swedish “Fika” (a Swedish afternoon tea). It was followed by the sofa of an architect in Manchester City, England, a spare room of a sweet couple in Austria, a medical student in Argentina and more. All of them showed me another dimension of their cities, another layer of culture.

But it isn’t always a pleasant experience. There was one time when I was couchsurfing in Brugge, Belgium, I ended up in a basement with a strange and “creepy” old man. When I made the initial arrangement I was too happy to receive a positive response and didn’t bother to do a basic background check. Given I had nowhere else to go and he seemed harmless to me—though the distinctive moldy smell of his gloomy and messy house together with his out of focus vision combined quite “well” to induce anxiety—I hung on to my backpack, fed myself by mixing cereal and milk directly in my mouth (his kitchen was way too dirty to cook anything), and dashed off once the corner of my eye caught the first light of dawn.

It’s not common, but definitely not unheard of, that couchsurfers get in conflict with the host, or even worse, were harmed physically or mentally. To pursue a pleasant couchsurfing experience, here are some tips.

1) Get to know your host—who he / she is, what he / she is doing, why he / she is hosting and if he / she is living alone? Read others’ feedback carefully. It’s not always about meeting people who think like you. Instead, staying with someone with an open-minded and easy going personality will definitely make things easier.

2) Meet your prospective host in a public area; spend some time interacting with your host before you commit.

3) Let your family and friends know where you are, who you are staying with, how long it is supposed to be for and how they can get in touch with you.

4) Mainly for the ladies, avoid single male hosts. Try to find a family or a couple to stay with whenever possible. Set up a quick dial on your phone with the local emergency number.

The system is not about the host accommodating all your needs, nor is it about you entertaining all of the host’s requests. It is built upon mutual trust and respect. It takes both the host and the couchsurfer to keep the arrangement, and thus the basic concept, alive and viable. Couchsurfing is therefore much more than a means of free accommodation.

Matt ng Alumnus, Quantitative Finance, Class of 2012

Traveling on a budget (2)

ABouT The AuThoR

Matt Ng took his first backpacking trip to Nepal during the summer of 2009, and since then he can’t stop traveling.During his one-year exchange studies in Switzerland, the same backpack took him through Europe where he experienced all the highs and lows of being a hitchhiker, a farmer, a lost and robbed traveler, and a homeless street sleeper. Matt has just returned from a five month adventure traveling through Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. In this column he shares with us stories from his journeys and international volunteer experiences.