NewsletterHKUST Business School

Issue 44

Celebrating 15 Years ofKH EMBAPage 3

Depth and Breadth in Career ServicesPage 4

Diet, Exercise and Body Mass:We Eat as We BelievePage 6

From the DeanWe have just completed another successful academic year that has seen us continue to expand our reach, explore new opportunities and horizons, and celebrate our achievements.

I was most pleased to welcome the first class of

students of our pilot Part-time MBA in Saudi Arabia in May. This program is offered in partnership with Saudi Aramco, and it is our second company-sponsored program (the first being the MSc in Global Management program that was sponsored by the Shinhan Group of South Korea) and an important expansion of our geographical reach.

Our first international partnership program, the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA, has received high international praise for its excellence. In June we celebrated the KH EMBA’s 15th anniversary with a gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, where more than half of all KH alumni attended and singer George Lam and his son performed. Congratulations to everyone involved, and in particular to Judy Au and her team, in organizing such a wonderful event with superb professionalism!

Another form of partnership is carried out through the School Advisory Council, whose members come from the community and offer us helpful guidance on our future path. They held their third meeting in May and offered many fruitful suggestions, and I thank all members for their valuable contributions.

And to all other readers, may you enjoy a great summer break!

Leonard ChengJuly 2013

The Business School has extended its reach to the Middle East with the launch of a new MBA program in partnership with Saudi Aramco, a state-owned oil company that manages the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

It is the School’s first company-sponsored MBA program and it will be similar in all ways to the current part-time MBA curriculum, with students earning 45 credits of coursework over 25 months.

The aim of the curriculum is to prepare students to think and act globally, with the first and final courses to be taught at the HKUST campus in Hong Kong and the remainder at Saudi Aramco’s premises in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, all taught by HKUST staff.

A New Partnership in Saudi Arabia

Dean Leonard Cheng said the new partnership was a welcome opportunity to develop talent and business leaders in another region of the world and meet the needs of the energy industry.

Website: www.bm.ust.hkContact us: bmpr@ust.hk© 2013 by the HKUST Business School.

All rights reserved.

“We are very excited that we are expanding our geographical reach and bringing our world-class program to another part of the world,” he said.

A pilot program was held in HKUST in May for 29 students who met the School’s rigorous admission requirements. A diverse group of students, including nationals of Saudi Arabia, the US, Canada, Pakistan and the Philippines, attended a five-day residential program at our Hong Kong campus.

2

News

The School Advisory Council, whose members include leaders in business, academia and public organizations, held its third annual meeting in May to advise on the School’s wider, strategic issues and directions.

The Advisory Council heard progress reports on the revision of the School’s mission statement, undergraduate intake, faculty development, executive education programs, and community engagement.

It also heard reports from four ad-hoc committees set up in the past year to consider external

forces and opportunities for the School, including internationalization, China business expertise and networks, integrating business ethics, responsible leadership and sustainable development into the curriculum, and new modes of teaching and learning.

Dean Leonard Cheng said the Advisory Council was generally pleased with the considerable progress being made.

“The Advisory Council’s valuable advice and recommendations not only help us to reflect upon our work, but also serve as useful guidance for our future development,” he said.

The Advisory Council has expanded its membership with nine new members and 24 returning members. They represent a diverse range of expertise and experience.

Looking at the Bigger Picture

The School has made great strides in achieving excellence in business education and making a positive impact in the region and beyond – these are the defining qualities of our institution. Now they have been transformed into our brand. “World Class in Asia” is a phrase that will be closely associated with HKUST Business School in future.

This is the outcome of a recent major branding exercise that was conducted school-wide to identify key consistent messages that apply to all our programs and activities.

While “World Class in Asia” is the brand, it is supported by four core values that reflect our deeper goals: World Class Quality, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Caring Attitude and Positive Impact.

The branding exercise also resulted in the development of visuals and other materials to help promote these values, which can be seen most prominently at our revamped website. The website is a major channel for reaching the School’s stakeholders and the wider community. Please visit www.bm.ust.hk and have a look for yourself.

‘World Class in Asia’

The School has been ranked among the top institutions in the world in four key areas, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings by Subject released in May.

These areas are Statistics & Operational Research, ranked 7th; Computer Science & Information Systems, 12th; Accounting & Finance, 16th; and Economics & Econometrics, 32nd.

The rankings measure key indicators such as academic reputation, employer reputation, citations

HKUST EMBA for Chinese Executives Program joined with media outlets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangdong to hold a forum on the role of urbanization and industrial innovation in promoting China’s economic development.

Recognition for Individual Strengths

Thought Forum on New Forces Driving China’s Economy

and the productivity and impact of scholars’ published work. The School’s rankings were based on the work of our Accounting, Economics, Finance and ISOM departments.

Dean Leonard Cheng said: “While rankings are not the only barometer of the quality of our work, these latest results are nonetheless a welcome recognition of our academic achievements in these areas. We will continue to focus on sustaining and enhancing the quality and impact of our teaching and research programs.”

Titled “Driving Forces of Economic Development in China”, the forum attracted representatives from China’s Ministry of Finance, the China Center for Urban Development, business leaders from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangdong, and scholars.

The event was held in June and was divided into two sessions of debate followed by Q&As from the audience, and it was covered on television and online. Radio Television Hong Kong, Radio and Television Shanghai, and Radio Guangdong hosted the event and the Business School was the co-organizer.

3

EMBA

Learning to Lead Across Diversities in Singapore

The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program marked its 15th anniversary with three days of special events over the weekend of June 7 that attracted around 400 alumni and guests from Europe, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as Hong Kong.

The celebrations began with a Welcome Cocktail on Friday, June 7, at the Foreign Correspondents Club. The highpoint of the weekend was Saturday’s

black tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, featuring keynote speaker Professor Janice Eberly, the former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist at the US Treasury Department.

Also attending the gala dinner were some of the people who have played a key role in building up the top-ranked KH EMBA program, such as Kellogg Dean Emeritus Donald Jacobs; Professor Yuk-Shee Chan, Lingnan President and former HKUST

Celebrating 15 Years of KH EMBA

Teamwork was key to the success of a 37-member team of alumni from the Business School that completed the grueling four-day race across the Gobi Desert in the 8th Inter-Business School Gobi Challenge 2013.

The School fielded its largest team ever in the four years it has taken part in the annual event, which this year was held from May 22-25. Our team comprised alumni of the HKUST EMBA for Chinese Executives Program and MBA Programs.

The HKUST team braved extreme desert conditions against more than 1,000 students and alumni from 20 of the region’s top business schools to finish the 112km expedition. Professor Yan Xu, Associate Dean of the School and HKUST EMBA Program Director, led the team.

The Gobi Challenge follows the inspirational route taken 1,400 years ago by the Tang Dynasty monk Xuan Zang, who crossed the desert in his journey to the west.

A diverse workforce can be a source of frustration, and also energy and innovation. Participants in the module learned about the influence of different cultural dimensions on organizational behavior, managing cross-cultural conflicts, establishing and maintaining a healthy corporate culture, and the critical factors of success in leading across diversities.

Speakers included Mr Yeo Guat Kwang from Singapore’s People’s Action Party, who spoke on Singapore’s efforts to foster belonging across a diverse population, and Ms Claire Chiang, Senior Vice President of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, who talked about her company’s initiatives to strengthen ties with its employees and improve understanding of local cultures.

Teaching corporate leaders to understand and embrace cultural differences in order to harness the inherent strengths of diversity was the goal of the “Cross-cultural Management” module introduced by the HKUST EMBA for Chinese Executives Program for the Class of 2012 in Singapore in late February. The study field trip consisted of a mix of lectures conducted by Professor Caroline Wang and corporate visits and leadership talks.

Gobi Desert Success

Business School dean; Professor K C Chan, the Financial Services and Treasury Secretary for the HKSAR Government and former HKUST Business School dean; our current Dean Leonard Cheng; Kellogg Dean Sally Blount; and Professor Steve DeKrey, Founding Director of KH EMBA Program, to name only a few of the invited guests.

On the Sunday, the KH15 Class Graduation took place on the HKUST campus. The 50 graduates represented 17 nationalities and had an average 14 years of professional experience. Dr Vincent Lo, Chairman of Shui On Group, gave the commencement address.

4

Master’s Programs / UG

Depth and Breadth in Career Services

HKUST MBA students have pulled off a hat trick by clinching three championships at international competitions, beating teams from the world’s top business schools.

Calling their team Solaris, full-time MBA students Clément Dieudonné, Nicky Loh and Simon Zhu

The latest trends in public relations — one of the fastest growing service sectors in Hong Kong and the region — was the keynote address topic at the Global Leadership Forum 2013 organized by the BBA in Global Business program.

Mr Albert Shu, Managing Director of Weber Shandwick, gave the address on April 17 and discussed the implications of PR trends for businesses, governments and NGOs. He highlighted the importance of reputation management and how

won two of the competitions with their plan to commercialize HKUST Engineering Professor Zhiyong Fan’s patented solar panel technology.

Solaris’s business plan won top prize at the INNOVATEChina 2013 Entrepreneurship Challenge in March in Shanghai, and a month later won first prizes for Best Trade Show and Lightning Round at the University of Oregon’s New Venture Championship. The team’s success paid tribute to HKUST’s focus since its inception on technology transfer and entrepreneurship.

The other winning HKUST MBA team, comprising Lex J. Arayanimitskul, Christian Maentele and Karan Singh, won the 4th NUS Asian MBA Stock Pitch Competition, held in Singapore in March.

Closer to home, Solaris also took grand prize and

critical it was to one’s success.

Dean Leonard Cheng opened the biannual forum and pointed out that PR and stakeholder engagement were important in meeting the public’s high expectations for corporate transparency.

The talk was particularly timely for the School, which has a just unveiled a new branding position as “World Class in Asia”.

the Elevator Pitch Award at the HKUST 2013 One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition at the end of May, which was open to teams with at least one HKUST member.

MBA Students Score Hat Trick

Global Leadership Forum Spotlights Public Relations

The new Head of Career Services, Joseph Palumbo, has arrived, keen to broaden and deepen the already substantial career support for MBA and MSc students so they start off with clear goals from the first day of classes.

Mr Palumbo comes from Schulich School of Business at York University in Canada, where he helped to strengthen career services there.

“The goal is to offer students more complete services, even before their classes start, so they state their career goals upfront early in their studies and use that awareness when selecting such things as specialization courses and clubs to join. This will help them to get grounded sooner and have a sense of direction sooner,” he said.

Mr Palumbo is working with others in the School to develop this provision, as well as with current and potential corporate partners.

He is also supporting student initiatives on career development and recently joined a trip organized by the Japan Club, together with more than 30 MBA students to meet with alumni and newly-admitted candidates in Japan.

They visited five major cities and five leading companies, such as Nissan, over seven days to make business connections and learn more about culture, business and life in Japan.

Joseph Palumbo

5

Executive Education

More Chinese enterprises are turning to HKUST Executive Education programs to equip their teams to meet today’s business challenges.

For three years, the School has led a six-day CITIC Pacific Leadership Development Program. The value of that training prompted past participants to request a refresher course, so in April Professor Caroline Wang brought a two-day Leading Change module to CITIC’s Hong Kong training center. Executives from diverse CITIC industries learned how to manage change in ways that produce desirable outcomes.

Also in April, over 100 senior advertising executives from China and Tencent’s management participated in a one-day Strategic Marketing program. After Marketing Professor Oliver Zhao presented the latest marketing trends, participants worked in groups to create and present a marketing plan for a designated product. Participants said they gained new ideas they could use in their work.

China Construction Bank International (CCBI) has commissioned the School to organize a two-part program for their senior executives. In May the CCBI group learned how to make quality decisions and worked on Managerial Decision Making with

More Chinese Firms Seek Executive Education Professor Caroline Wang. In August the group will return for part two, where Professor Roger King will

cover Family Business Management and Professor Roger Chen will look at Strategy Management.

Deans and representatives from 14 business schools and 12 countries and regions in Asia Pacific attended the Association of Asia-Pacific Business Schools (AAPBS) Academic Conference, which was held May 9-10 at the School.

The theme was “Building Sustainable Research Programs in Business Schools” and scholars, researchers, administrators and business leaders shared their expectations, experiences and challenges.

In his welcome speech, Dean Leonard Cheng said business schools had a responsibility to provide

HKUST Hosts Asian Business Schools Conference

Since 2007 business leaders and entrepreneurs with a decade or more of work experience have been recharging their professional batteries through the Leading for Success Consortium Program offered by the Executive Education Office.

The upcoming program, which runs from September to December, offers four modules: Achieving Success through People; Leadership and Change Management; Strategy and Marketing; and Competing through Strategic Management.

Participants in past programs range from C-level executives to vice presidents, managing directors, general managers, directors, regional and department heads, managers and professionals. Some 85 per cent have bachelor or master’s degrees, 78 per cent are from Hong Kong and 22 per cent hail from other countries and regions.

Learning to Leadfor Success

research that addressed the business challenges of the day. The rapid rise of Asia was an obvious area where a deeper understanding of the economies and business practices was needed.

“Nobody is in a better position than us to contribute to an international understanding of Asian business and culture, as well as of the region’s individual economies,” he said.

Mr David Cunningham, Jr., President of Asia Pacific Division of FedEx Express, and Mr James Thompson, Founder and Chairman of the Crown Worldwide Group, gave keynote addresses.

6

Research

For reasons that may

be very much about

the bottom line, as

it turns out. New

research by Anirban

Mukhopadhyay,

Associate Professor of

Marketing at HKUST,

and Brent McFerran,

Assistant Professor

of Marketing at the

University of Michigan, shows that people who think

obesity is caused primarily by lack of exercise, rather

than poor diet, tend to eat more, and therefore be

heavier. By linking their food products to exercise,

firms are capitalizing on that misperception.

The two authors conducted the first investigation of

laypeople’s own views on the cause of obesity, in

five countries on three continents (Hong Kong,

South Korea, the US, Canada and France).

Participants provided their heights and weights (used

to calculate body mass index, BMI) and responded

to questions on their beliefs about obesity. In each

instance, those who thought obesity was primarily

due to lack of exercise had significantly higher BMIs

than those who thought it was caused by diet.

In Korea, for instance, the diet theorists in the

study had a mean BMI of 21.55 versus 23.10 for

exercise theorists (representing a difference of

about 10 pounds for someone 5 feet 4 inches tall).

This pattern was repeated in all countries, even

controlling for other major factors known to affect

weight, such as education, sleep deprivation, stress

and medical conditions.

“People’s beliefs guide their actions,” explained

Professor Mukhopadhyay. “If we believe overeating

is the cause of obesity and we want to lose weight,

we cut our intake. But if we believe weight gain is

mainly the result of insufficient exercise, we try to

increase our physical activity.”

This offers a window for marketers to sell their

messages but it also contradicts medical research,

which has shown it is much more difficult to rely

on exercise for weight control than diet. “People

often reward themselves for their exercise with

an indulgent treat and end up consuming more

calories than they burned off. They also generally

overestimate how many calories they burn off in

exercise and underestimate how many calories they

eat. And most people do not have enough time in

the day to truly exercise off the extra calories they

eat,” he said.

The new research also looked at participants’ actual

eating habits by offering them chocolates in two of

the studies. As expected, those who rated exercise

as the main cause of obesity ate more chocolates.

However, the authors also showed that this

outcome could be manipulated. In the final study

they had participants read a passage that either said

exercise was the main factor in obesity, or diet was.

Those who read the exercise passage ate more

chocolates.

“This finding suggests that simply informing people

that eating too much is the main cause of weight

gain could impede the obesity epidemic. People’s

beliefs can change in response to public health

campaigns from trusted sources so public health

communications should focus on getting people

to reduce the amount they eat, especially of high-

calorie foods,” Professor Mukhopadhyay said.

That may not be what food companies want to

hear, but they have not yet heard the last on this

topic. Professor Mukhopadhyay said they were

doing further research to explore how major food-

marketing companies are actively promoting the

exercise lay theory.

Diet, Exercise and Body Mass:We Eat as We BelieveFood industry giants Coca-Cola and McDonald’s were among the sponsors of the 2012 Olympics. Kellogg’s launched a “Get In Step” campaign that encouraged people to walk then eat a bowl of cereal. The CEO of Pepsico responded to a question about her firm’s role in the obesity crisis by pointing out that children’s playtime had changed from running outside to sitting in front of the computer. Why are food companies interested in exercise?

Based on: “Lay Theories of Obesity Predict Actual Body Mass”By Brent McFerran of University of Michigan and Anirban Mukhopadhyay of HKUST Business SchoolPsychological Science - forthcoming

BASED ON:

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

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onna

Bar

stow

201

3

7

Events

Alumination 2013 — HKUST Business School’s annual alumni event — brought together hundreds of alumni, students, staff and guests in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

With the theme “Connecting. Enlightening”, HKUST alumni shared their business experiences in panel discussions. These began March 16 in Singapore on “The Emergence of Luxury Business in the Asia

Hundreds Connect at Alumination CelebrationsPacific Region”. On March 31 in Shanghai, panelists discussed “Leading Business Success in Diversified Cultural Environment in China”. Then on April 21 in Beijing, alumni exchanged views on “The Secrets of Success for Entrepreneurship in China”.

Supported by the MBAAA (Guangdong Chapter) Unlimited Sailing Club and the EMBA Walker’s Club, Shenzhen Alumination event was held on June 22 at Shenzhen Marina Club with over 90 alumni and guests enjoying a unique reunion party through sailing and hiking. Participants of the 8th Gobi Desert Challenge also shared the unforgettable experiences of their 112-km trekking in four-days across the desert.

There was another reason to celebrate because in early June, Alumination won the Silver Award for “Marketing and Branding” of Alumni Relations Program in the Circle of Excellence Awards, organized by the international Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

A homecoming event has also been planned for the end of the year at the new Lee Shau Kee Business Buidling in Hong Kong and it will cap Alumination 2013.

At the annual HKUST MBA Alumni Association dinner, nearly 100 MBA alumni and students toasted their program’s No 8 ranking in the world by the Financial Times — the fourth consecutive year the program has been in the top 10.

Souvenirs were presented to the full-time Class of 2009 to recognize their contribution to the successful ranking. Dinner highlights included a speech by the newly elected alumni president Fritz Chen (MBA 2009), a lucky draw and a live performance by an MBA alumni band.

HKUST Business School and its partners in the World Bachelor in Business (WBB) program organized an informative seminar on its approach to globalized education this spring.

The WBB is offered by HKUST, University of Southern California (USC) and Bocconi University and classes will start this fall. This is the first undergraduate program to allow students to live, study and earn degrees at three universities in three continents.

At the April 22 seminar in Hong Kong, the WBB Program Directors — USC Professor Ty Callahan, HKUST Professor Angela Ng and Bocconi University Professor Carlo Altomonte — discussed the challenges for higher education in today’s globalized world.

After Professor Ng’s introduction of the WBB program, an active Q&A session ensued as students, parents and teachers wanted to learn more about the innovative program.

More than 30 Shenzhen MBA students got a first-hand look at the operations of Shenzhen Yantian Port Group Co Ltd at the world’s fourth largest port.

On May 9, the students were given a boat tour around Yantian Port, where 40 major shipping lines handle export and import container traffic with about 100 sailings each week to the world’s major ports. The students were impressed by the port’s technologically advanced and efficient operations area.

Yantian Port management spoke to the students about port operations. Speakers included Mr Deyun Chen, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee of Yantian, and Mr Alexander Zhong, General Manager of the Secretariat of the Yantai Port Group’s Board of Directors and an alumnus of the Shenzhen MBA Program.

MBA Alumni Celebrate Top 10 Ranking

Designing Education for a Globalized World

Shenzhen MBA Students Visit Yantian Port

Dean Leonard Cheng, Interim Associate Dean (Master’s Programs) & MBA Academic Director Professor Albert Ha, and Alumni Development Head Ms Kitty Chong attended.

Alumni also organized mini ranking celebrations in Bangkok, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.

8

People

Administrative AppointmentKristiaan Helsen, Associate Professor of Marketing, is appointed Acting Head of Department.

New AppointmentsAssistant Professors

FinanceKai Li, PhD, Duke University. Research interests: Asset pricing, macro finance, financial economics.

George Panayotov, PhD, University of Maryland. Research interests: Investments, risk management, asset pricing, derivatives, hedge funds.

ISOMJing Wang, PhD, New York University.Research interests: Crowdsourcing, web-based behavioral experiments, user-generated content, social networks, data mining.

MarketingYoung Eun Huh, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University. Research interests: Consumer judgment and decision making, motivation, consumption.

Adjunct Professor

ISOMJoseph Phi, MBA, University of the Philippines. Mr Phi has wide experience in global logistics and supply chain management. He currently is President of LF Logistics, one of Li & Fung’s three global business networks.

Adjunct Assistant Professor

MarketingYi Xiang, PhD, INSEAD. Research interests: Media strategy, marketing strategy, market evolution, business-to-business marketing, marketing channels, information economics.

The Management Department has won the Franklin Prize for Teaching Excellence for the 2012-2013 academic year, marking the department’s fourth win in the six years the prize has been awarded to an entire Business School department for outstanding teaching.

Individual professors to win the Franklin Prize this year at the undergraduate level are Professor Darwin Choi in Finance, Professor Jiewen Hong in Marketing, and Mr Charles Lam in Accounting.

Two professors in the Management department have been appointed associate editors of two top-tier journals in their field – important positions that reflect their global recognition.

Professor Riki Takeuchi has been appointed as a new Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ)

and Professor JT Li as Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ). The appointments will involve a significant amount of work and time commitment.

“Developing the Leader in You” taught by Management Adjunct Associate Professor Karen Lee and Instructional Assistant Ms Agnes Lai has won an Honorable Mention in the inaugural Common Core Course Excellence Award.

Professor Melody Chao of the Department of Management has received the Early Career Award from the International Academy for Intercultural Research. It is an international award that recognizes individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of intercultural relations early in their careers.

Growing up in a culturally diverse environment, Professor Chao has always been curious to learn about the dynamics of psychological processes in intercultural contexts. Her research thus focuses on how individuals actively participate in cultural processes and how they negotiate between conflicting cultural values and norms. She was delighted to receive

Professor Takeuchi said the appointment was highly significant, given that AMJ is the flagship journal in the field, and he is one of only two East Asians in a pool of 18 Associate Editors.

Professor Li, who is currently on his 2nd 3-year term as SMJ Associate Editor, said his position carried great responsibility because it could influence the careers of promising faculty members. He said he took seriously the role of helping authors to develop their papers.

The leadership course aims to raise self-awareness to help students achieve personal growth and manage their career.

The Excellence Award was newly established by the University to recognize courses that demonstrate HKUST’s work to offer a holistic education in line with the four-year undergraduate reform. Selection is based on the exemplariness of the Common Core course, the design of its syllabus and assessment plan, and the course delivery, pedagogy and teaching innovation.

this recognition because it indicated that her research work appealed to an interdisciplinary audience that consists of both quantitative and qualitative researchers.

Professor Chao added that she also integrated her research work into teaching practices. She aspires to foster a supportive learning environment that encourages students to share and exchange different ideas openly. “Intercultural interaction can be challenging, yet there is much that we can learn through working with people from diverse social cultural backgrounds,” she said.

Management Department Wins Fourth Franklin Prize

Top Journals Appoint Management Professors

Common Core Excellence Honored

Cross Cultural Curiosity Earns Early Career Award

The prize winner for MBA required courses is Professor Tai-Yuan Chen in Accounting.

The winners for MBA non-required courses/MSc Teaching are Professor Christopher Doran in Management and Professor Jaideep Sengupta in Marketing.

The Franklin Prize for Teaching Excellence was established in 2000 with donations from the Larry and Mei Kwong Franklin Endowment Fund to recognize business faculty contributions through teaching excellence at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Riki Takeuchi

J T Li

Melody Chao