Increasing digitalisation and connectivity in the world have resulted in the creation of huge quantities of data. Used correctly, big data can transform and improve businesses and sectors such as public healthcare through innovation and new technology.

Professor Haipeng SHEN, Professor of Innovation and Information Management and Associate Dean (Executive Education) at HKU Business School, is the recent recipient of the Patrick S C Poon Professorship in Analytics and Innovation. The Professorship will support his academic and research activities in data-driven decision-making in the face of uncertainty, including fundamental methodological research about the challenges imposed by big data as well as interdisciplinary analytical research in business analytics and precision medicine. Professor Shen uses analytics to extract the most useful and actionable information to help organisations increase their competitive edge and efficiency through better decision-making.

He is also working with medical professionals to enhance treatments for patients at a lower cost and enable hospitals to run more efficiently. His research into strokes has led to better quality of care for stroke patients. He works with neurologists and cardiologists to use analytics to build innovative data-driven support systems that will improve clinical decision-making, leading to better management of chronic diseases.

The Patrick S C Poon Professorship in Analytics and Innovation builds on HKU’s leading role in researching and teaching these drivers of sustainable progress to create a better world. “Dr. Patrick Poon is one of the earliest graduates from HKU’s Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, he knows data science well. He is also a successful entrepreneur and a long-time supporter of HKU and the community,” Professor Shen said. “I feel extremely fortunate and greatly honoured to be associated with him through this endowed professorship”.

“Data creates connectivity. It connects me with extraordinary people like Dr. Poon,” Professor Shen added. “I intend to use this generous support to deepen and broaden my research and knowledge exchange activities in business analytics and healthcare management. I am also dedicated to further pursuing inter-faculty and inter-institution initiatives to continue to generate real impacts through data science”.

Professor Shen was the inaugural winner of the Faculty Special Contribution Teaching Award in 2018. He founded the Master of Science of Business Analytics programme and the Executive Master of Business Administration programme (in collaboration with Peking University Guanghua School of Management).

To cheer up final-year students before their last exam period at HKU and to celebrate them joining the FBE alumni family in advance, the Faculty organized a #FBEalumni pop-up event at K.K. Leung Building Concourse on April 24, 2019.

As millennials, students love to share, inspire, and express who we are on social media. So we set up a trendy Instagram photo-booth, together with eye-catching backdrops and props, especially a replica of the famous HKU East Gate, where students can strike a pose, snap a shot, and have their photos printed by the hashtag #FBEalumni via their Instagram accounts. Tasty handmade and picture-worthy cookies were exclusively distributed to those graduates-to-be. Hot and fresh popcorn was also passed to HKU community members who followed our FBE social media accounts.

This event captured the wonderful moments our final year students spent on campus. The Faculty is excited to stay connected with our new FBE alumni and support them throughout their endeavour beyond HKU.

     

     

     

The winning team members (2nd from left) Rachel Cha, Gary Ngai, Irving Teh and Kony Kwong, with representatives from Hong Kong Maxim’s Group and JTH Group.

The HKU team consisting of four BBA in International Business and Global Management students, CHA Lok Yiu Rachel, NGAI Tai Ki Gary, TEH Irving and KWONG Hing Tim Kony, is named as one of the four winning teams in the JOS Innovation Awards 2018-19. In this year competition, participants were asked to suggest ideas on improving the customer experience in different sectors, including technology, insurance, food & beverage services and property.

Partnering with Hong Kong Maxim’s Group, the HKU team Finnovate has suggested a proposal on expanding features of Maxim’s mobile application which focuses on customer health, including a personalised health tracking portal that provides key insights based on consumer behavior, and a one-click smart ordering function. By utilising big data and technologies, the team believes that customers can gain valuable insights on their eating habits, intelligent and adaptive food recommendations, and facilitate a healthier diet and lifestyle.

The JOS Innovation Awards 2018-19 this year attracted over 50 teams. The shortlisted teams attended an interactive sharing session and received guidance from business leaders. Following a final contest, four winning teams each won HK$30,000 and further mentorship sessions.

Organised by the Ivey Business School, the Scotiabank International Case Competition took place from 20 – 23 March.

A team of four undergraduate students (photo from left), consisting of BBA(Law)&LLB student AU-YEUNG Yau Man and BBA(IBGM) students NGAI Siu Chung, CHEUNG Ming Yan and WONG Yat Nam, was named the finalist and 2nd Runner-up in the competition. The team was coached by the Faculty Advisor Mr. Albert Fung.

Presented and sponsored by the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey and Scotiabank, the four-day packed case competition gathered a total of 13 teams from 11 countries. The business case of this year focused on challenges and opportunities of the evolving consumer automobile industry. In addition to the vigorous case preparation and presentations, the team got the opportunity to tour the Mercedes-Benz London dealership, and had better understanding about the car buying and servicing process in Canada.

The competition also provides an excellent platform for students to experience different cultures and international networking, and get real experience with international business.

Student feedback about the competition:

Throughout the contest, we were thoroughly humbled by the breadth and importance of the industry insights, in particular how major stakeholders connect with each other. The scale of the competition speaks for itself. Participants are all endowed with versatile backgrounds and unique talents. We met tons of great minds through social events and the final presentation.

The feedback from judges are valuable. Their experience in the banking and consulting industries facilitates our reflection on case management, and benefits our future career. Professionalism aside, we were able to have better cultural sensitivity, which is often considered indispensable for a global leader.

(From left) Prof. Dragon TANG (Area Head of Finance), Mr. Henry CHAN (CIO of BEA Union Investment Management Limited), Dr. AU King-lun (CEO of Value Partners Group), and Prof. Anna WONG (Professor of Practice in Finance)

The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Hong Kong jointly hosted a forum on 21 March 2019 to offer university students the opportunity to learn more about the current landscape and future trends of the financial services sector.

The forum, titled ‘Navigating Your Career in Financial Services – in the Right Place at the Right Time’, featured two keynote speakers from leading asset management firms – Dr. AU King-lun, Chief Executive Officer of Value Partners Group and Mr. Henry CHAN, Chief Investment Officer of BEA Union Investment Management Limited. Dr. Au is also a board member of FSDC.

At the forum, the two speakers explained how financial technology and innovation have dramatically transformed the financial services landscape.

With over 30 years of industry experience in asset management, Dr. Au said that new technology has created numerous jobs in the financial services industry such as programmers and IT specialists. However, he added that there are also growing opportunities for other non-IT related graduates. ‘Many asset management firms are looking for investment writers who not only can write perfectly in English and Chinese but also tell compelling stories of their products’, Dr. Au said. He continued to explain why communicating complex investment ideas in a dynamic fashion is a crucial aspect of driving customer engagement. ‘As we are now in the era of information explosion, getting the right message across to our customers on social media has become very important.’

Mr. Chan, who specialises in managing Asian equities, shared his story about how he got into the industry. ‘I joined the industry in 1995. China was hot and everyone wanted to become a China or Asian fund manager’, he said. He first started his career as an analyst. He then later was introduced an opportunity to be a Taiwan fund manager. ‘At that time, Taiwan was tiny, even Indonesia had a bigger index rating than Taiwan. There was no technology sector and 70 per cent of the market was insurance companies and banks.’ Despite some voices of disapproval from his peers, he accepted the job offer and managed the Taiwan fund well. He remarked that Taiwan opened many doors for him. He said, ‘Had I not done Taiwan, I would never have had the chance to become a Greater China manager’. He advised students to always stay prepared and be in the right place all the time.

The Practitioner Speaker Series is an initiative developed by the FSDC and local universities that offers students the opportunity to hear from industry experts and professionals in the financial services sector about their experience, latest topics and trends, and job prospects in the field.

For the video recording of the forum, please click here.

Jointly organised by HKU Faculty of Business and Economics, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, Faculty of Law, and HKU Law Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship Programme, the conference “HKU FinTech Conference: Market Developments and Regulations” was successfully held on 24 May 2019 in the campus. Over 80 participants from academia and industry attended the event.

Professor Dragon Tang, Area Head in Finance, welcomed all the participants to the conference and introduced the keynote speaker Professor John Griffin. Titled “Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered?”, Professor Griffin talked about how Tether is used to affect Bitcoin prices. Both academics and practitioners had a very engaging session with Professor Griffin, raising many questions and feedback on the Bitcoin market and its regulations and standards.

Five papers were then presented, after the keynote session, by scholars from all over the world. They are Professor Xiaoyan Zhang from Tsinghua University, Professor Lin Peng from Baruch College of City University of New York, Professor Roger Loh from Singapore Management University, Professor Yi Huang from Graduate Institute Geneva, and Professor Alex Yang from London Business School and The University of Hong Kong. These speakers presented a wide range of topics on the area of FinTech, such as peer-to-peer lending, real effects of FinTech, and framework of cryptocurrencies. Their papers were commented by discussants – Haitian Lu from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Vikas Agarwal from Georgia State University, Johan Sulaeman from National University of Singapore, Jinfan Zhang from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Bin Wei from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as well as the audience. The two sessions were chaired by Professor Tse-Chun Lin from HKU Faculty of Business and Economics, and Dr. Ilhyock Shim, Head of Economics and Financial Markets for Asia and the Pacific of Bank for International Settlements.

Mr. Eugene Huang, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of OneConnect (the main FinTech platform of Ping An Group), then gave a highly impressive speech on Ping An’s FinTech system in the plenary session. Mr. Huang has shared how Ping An integrates all aspects of FinTech and how people’s daily life is impacted in a positive way. He also explained how Ping An is entering other markets replicating the success in China.

The conference was ended with a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Brian Tang from Asia Capital Market Institute. Five panelists with different FinTech practices talked about their ongoing work and projects, and debated on the regulatory framework on FinTech.

Overall, the conference has successfully addressed timely and important issues on FinTech related areas, and facilitated a fruitful knowledge exchange between academics and practitioners. For more information please visit the conference website https://www.hkubs.hku.hk/conference/ftc-mdr/index.html.

The 12^th Inauguration of Endowed Professorships was held last night at Loke Yew Hall of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Three Faculty members are appointed Endowed Professorships. They are:

Professor Haipeng SHEN
Patrick S C Poon Professorship in Analytics and Innovation

Professor James KUNG
Sein and Isaac Souede Professorship in Economic History

Professor Simon LAM
Ian Davies Professorship in Ethics

An “Endowed Professorship” is one of the most significant awards bestowed upon eminent academics within the University in support of their academic and research activities. A total of 116 Endowed Professorships have been established at HKU since 2005.

For more information about Endowed Professorship, please click here.

Photo(s) provided by the Development & Alumni Affairs Office

Gender-balanced boards are proven to result in greater business success. The Executive Education of the Faculty of Business and Economics has launched the eight-session Women’s Directorship Programme to answer the call from the worldwide business community tackling the existing gender diversity imbalance in boardrooms. The first session of the Women’s Directorship Programme has taken place from 23 to 25 May 2019.  We welcomed a cohort of inspirational women across the globe, representing a range of industries and functional expertise, and prepared them to be ready for responsibilities in the boardrooms.

Mr. David Lee, Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Business and Economics, who led the first two modules of the programme, has set the pace for the participants. In the programme, the first module has covered Roles and Responsibilities of Board Members, with topics such as the wisdom of the crowd, diversity of thoughts, corporate governance, transformational learning and purpose, and etc. The second module covered Strategic Leadership at the board, and discussed the topics of covering, reframing and decision making.  While the third module was led by Ms. Lindsey Coen-Fernandez, Adjunct Assistant Professor, focused on Persuasive Communication and Conflict Management. A board simulation was brought into class to allow participants practice their skills.

With the strong support from many senior business leaders, the programme has also invited many guest speakers to share their experience with participants, and to bring knowledge into life. This session was joined by Jean Pascal Tricoire, CEO and Chairman of Schneider Electric, Chia Ko, Director of Grace Financial, and Johan Bygge, Senior Advisor to EQT Asia and Rick Haythornthwaite, and Chairman of Mastercard and Centrica.

The second session of the Women’s Directorship Programme 2019 is going to resume in September. For more information please visit: www.wdpinternational.com.

Aiming to empower business leaders from Chinese mainland by instilling innovative business ideas, impactful business strategies and global mindset, and to reinforce their competitiveness in the global arena, Executive Education of the Faculty of Business and Economics has successfully launched the ‘Business Leader Programme’.

This comprehensive programme consists of five core modules and one overseas module. Each core module focuses on different angles of global market, to equip participants with cutting-edge knowledge of macro-economics and politics, finance, management, creative thinking and frontier technology.

Dean Hongbin CAI expressed his warm welcome to the first batch of programme participants in the Opening Ceremony held on 24 April, 2019 and highlighted the importance of lifelong learning. Professor Haipeng SHEN, Associate Dean (Executive Education), commented that executive training is essential and HKU would be a great place to develop knowledge of global and China perspectives. At the Gala Dinner held in the evening, Ms. Winnie LAI, Deputy Director of China Affairs of HKU, gave her opening speech and congratulated the commencement of the Business Leader Programme.

The theme of the first module is ‘From the World to China’, emphasising the uniqueness and importance of China business in the international economic stage. Professor Zhiwu CHEN and Professor Geng XIAO from the Faculty of Business and Economics and Professor Guoqi XU from the Department of History, came to the class and shared their insights on topics of global finance, international relations, economic development of the Greater Bay Area, and history of internationalisation of China.

Dean Hongbin Cai and Associate Dean Haipeng Shen at the Opening Ceremony.

Ms. Winnie Lai, Deputy Director of China Affairs of HKU, at the Gala Dinner.

Professor Zhiwu Chen and Professor Geng Xiao in class.

Professor Guoqi Xu in class.