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HKUST BUSINESS SCHOOL – Newsletter
PROFESSORS APPOINTED TO NEW
GOVERNMENT ADVISORY BODIES
T
he HKSAR’s Financial Secretary Donald Tsang recently appointed Dean Yuk-Shee Chan and
Prof. Leonard Cheng, Head of the Economics Department to two new government advisory bodies.
Dean Chan was appointed a member of the Steering Committee of the Feasibility Study on the Financial
Services Institute (FSI). The Committee is a cross-sector group of financial and educational professionals.
It will consider the need for and feasibility of the establishment of the FSI which aims to co-ordinate training
for the financial services sector. The study, supported by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address, has
received warm response from the financial sector.
Prof. Leonard Cheng has been appointed to be a member of the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific
Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). PECC is a tripartite partnership of business, government and
academic representatives from 23 Asia-Pacific economies who work on practical government and business
policy issues to increase trade, investment and economic development in the region.
Dean Yuk-Shee Chan
Suggestions and comments on this newsletter are welcome. Please
contact us by email at:
bmmhung@uxmail.ust.hk
(May Hung) or
echu@uxmail.ust.hk
(Elaine Chu) or by fax (852) 2358 1467.
HANG LUNG CENTER FORMS CORPORATE
ADVISORY BOARD
T
he Hang Lung Center for Organizational Research has formed a corporate advisory board in a move to
strengthen its links with the business community.
The Board consists of leading businessmen from Asia (see table below). Its role is to provide industry
perspectives on China-related management issues and facilitate the work and progress of the Center.
C
harles Plott, Edward S. Harkness Professor of
Economics and Political Science at the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Gary
Bolton, Associate Professor of Management Science
in the Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania
University, each made presentations at HKUST on
how laboratory methods can be used to test the
effectiveness of a theory or a government policy.
The events were organized jointly by Dr Soo
Hong Chew of the Economics Department and Dr
Rami Zwick of the Marketing
Department. These lectures
reflect the on-going efforts
of the HKUST Business
School in bringing world-
renowned aca-
demics to Hong
Kong to share their
expertise and re-
search findings
with members of
HKUST as well
EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMISTS TALK ABOUT
TESTING THEORIES IN THE LABORATORY
as the public.
Prof. Charles Plott is a pioneer
economist who started testing eco-
nomic theories by using laboratory
methods in 1970. He is the founder
and director of the Caltech Labo-
ratory for Experimental Econo-
mics and Political Science.
His multi-media
presentation fo-
cused on “Smart
Markets: Replac-
ing Bureaucratic
Decision Processes
with Decentralized and
Competitive Allocative Mechanisms using Experi-
mental Economic Testbeds”.
Prof. Gary Bolton is a pre-eminent researcher in
bargaining and dispute resolution and in experimental
economics. He talked about “Designing Experiments
to Separate Hypotheses: Three Instructive Studies
in Bargaining”.
Charles Plott
Gary Bolton
FROM THE DEAN
Ronnie Chan,
Hang Lung Development
(Chairman of the Board)
Robert Chan,
New China Hong Kong Group
Linus Cheung,
Hong Kong Telecom
Lily Chiang,
Chen Hsong Holdings
Henry Chow,
IBM Greater China Group
Yei Ching Chow,
Chevalier International Holdings
Herman Hu,
Ryoden Holdings
Chun Ying Leung,
CY Leung & Co.
David Lie,
Newpower Group
Bill Lui,
Hewlett Packard Asia Pacific
Daniel Ng,
McDonald’s Restaurants (HK)
William Overholt,
Bank Boston
David Pong,
Shui Wing Steel
Steven Poon,
Bright World Enterprise
Helmut Sohmen,
World-Wide Shipping Group
Michael Tien,
G2000 (Apparel)
Wilfred Y.W. Wong,
China Investment Group
MarjorieYang,
Esquel Enterprise
Kent Yeh,
Tai Ping Carpets Int’l
Hang Lung Center for Organizational Research Corporate Advisory Board Members
T
he month of May is probably the
most hectic month for our
students. Many of them are now busy
preparing for their final examinations
or completing their reports and team
projects. Our 678 graduating BBA/
BSc students are even more busy as
they have to make time for their
i n t e r v i e w s f o r p r o s p e c t i v e
employment or plans for further study.
It is expected that the job markets for new graduates will be difficult
this year due to the recent Asian economic downturn. However, some
of the news for our students has been encouraging. Accounting
majors, in particular, have been doing very well – more than half of
the class have job offers from the Big-6 accounting firms. This
represents an over 130% increase in only two years.
The last few months have seen the formation of new cabinets
for our various student unions. Activities such as recreational
gatherings, study trips, alumni events and skills enhancement
workshops have been organized. All these are part and parcel of
the overall development that our students gain here as they prepare
for their future.
Recruitment for new students for the coming academic year also
gathered pace in May. Six information sessions on BBA and three
on Accounting have been held on the campus for the university-
bound students. Over 2,000 participants in total were drawn to the
sessions. At the same time a special team of the School has been
visiting high school principals and teachers since April. The team
was charged with the responsibilities of updating the high schools
that they visited with the HKUST Business School’s latest
developments and also bringing back suggestions on how to
strengthen the relationship between the Business School and the
high school sector.
At the postgraduate level, rounds of interviews have been
conducted for prospective MBA students. So far there have been
500 applicants for our part-time program, a 5% increase over last
year, indicating a growing demand for our MBA programs. The
specialized master’s programs – the MSc programs in Economics,
Information Systems Management, and Investment Management –
have also seen substantial increase in applications, which we expect
will yield a larger enrollment of experienced managers and
professionals.
Responding to market needs, the Business School has continued
to improve its program offerings. A new BSc degree in economics
and finance has been approved for the academic year 1999/2000.
The new program aims to prepare students, with a strong quantitative
training, for careers in economic research, and in banking and
finance. We have also reformed the MBA programs to offer more
flexibility to our students. The changes include the introduction of
the dual MBA/MSc degree program as well as the option to shorten
the part-time MBA study from three to two years by taking advantage
of the summer course offerings.
All areas of the Business School have been undergoing healthy
development in the midst of our rapidly changing business
environment. For every change we believe there will be an
opportunity and by being proactive and versatile, our School will
continue to provide students with the training to prepare themselves
for the challenges and opportunities in their careers.
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