Detecting Hedging in Corporate Risk ManagementPage 6
From the DeanClose engagement with the business community has always been a key development direction for the School. We reached a new milestone in this area this year with the establishment of a new School Advisory Council,
which comprises local and international business and academic leaders who advise the School on strategies and issues that will help us achieve our vision and goals. This is also a crucial step in promoting effective interactions with the business community that can help strengthen our outreach and benefit student learning.
The School’s outreach activities aim, among other things, to promote thought leadership. We have ongoing efforts to that end, such as hosting the second Business Insights Presentation Series, the China Economic Development Forum and a Nobel Lecture on the global financial crisis. Through these channels, we offer effective platforms for the exchange of knowledge and views. Find out more about these events in this issue.
As we begin a new academic year, we will continue our drive for research, program and teaching excellence as befits a world-class institution. As always, we count on our enthusiastic faculty, staff and students, as well as the support of our alumni, the business sector and the community at large, to achieve this aim.
May I wish everyone a smooth start for an exciting school year ahead.
Leonard ChengSeptember 2011
Business and academic luminaries from Hong Kong and internationally will provide strategic advice and support on the School’s current and future development.
The appointment of the 26-member School Advisory Council comes at a crucial time for the School as it seeks to solidify its rapid rise as one of the world’s top-ranked business schools.
The newly formed Council replaces former advisory bodies to offer advice on the School’s strategic directions on a range of issues, including research activities, program and curriculum development, academic standards and faculty development. It will also help the School to develop closer interactions and exchanges with
New Council to Advise School
the business community, and to strengthen its public engagement.
Chaired by Dr William K Fung, Executive Deputy Chairman of Li & Fung Ltd, the Council consists of local and international business leaders from various professional industries and academic leaders from global business schools. The inaugural Council meeting was held in June
2011 on HKUST campus. Members were briefed by University and School management on the School’s vision, the opportunities and challenges the School faces, and its development directions. Valuable views and useful comments were exchanged among members. The Council will form committees on key issues to give specific suggestions to the School.
The membership and terms of reference of the Advisory Council are found on the School website (www.bm.ust.hk/school/advisorycouncil.html).
2
News
The first center for research and training on investment management in Hong Kong has been launched at the Business School.
Hong Kong’s First Academic Center for InvestingThe Value Partners Center for Investing will contribute to Hong Kong’s role as a regional asset management centre, by training students at HKUST,
giving them real-world experience through a Student Managed Investment Fund, enhancing industry-academia interactions through outreach activities, and supporting scientific and policy research on investment management in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
The centre has been made possible through a generous donation of close to HK$10 million from Value Partners
“Twenty years ago, China was hardly on the world’seconomic radar, and our university was just a ship that had barely left the harbor.”
Those words by HKUST President, Prof Tony F Chan, opened the China Economic Development Forum in March and highlighted the two decades of miraculous advancement of both China and HKUST, with the latter celebrating its 20th anniversary and enjoying a high reputation despite its young age. The Forum, attended by more than 400 guests from the HKUST community and the general public, was a key celebration event of HKUST’s 20th anniversary. The four Forum speakers were current and former professors of the HKUST Business School who hold high-powered positions in Hong Kong, China and global organizations.
Prof Justin Lin is Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, Prof David Daokui Li is Director of the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University, Prof Yi Gang is
The Crossed Paths Of Two ‘Miracles’
Group Limited.
HKUST President, Prof Tony F Chan, expressed his gratitude. “The establishment of the center is a perfect partnership that enables us to promote the shared goal of training business leaders with vision and experience who contribute to Hong Kong’s role as an international financial center.”
Dr Eddy C Fong, Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission welcomed the center, saying Hong Kong needed new ideas and talent given the changing global financial landscape.
The center became fully operational in September.
A chance to hear the School’sacademics offer their views on topicalissues and explain their research findings has proven to be popular among students, alumni and membersof the business and general community.
The second Business Insights Presentation Series, launched in January this year, featured six well-attended monthly luncheon meetings. Topics included healthcare financing by Prof Siu Fai Leung and Prof Mingshan Lu, direct and interactive marketing by Prof Kai Lung Hui and Prof Ralf van der Lans, product harm issues by Prof Kristiaan Helsen, supply chain problems by Prof Ki Ling Cheung, corporate governance by Prof Vidhan Goyal, pay disparity in firms
Bringing Our Research to the CommunityA new research fund has been established under the auspices of a company whose senior management includes two HKUST PhD alumni.
Dr Jie Zhang is the Executive Director of Rega Capital Management Ltd, while Dr Xin Chang is a Director. They were instrumental in setting up the Rega Financial Research Project, which will provide HK$1 million a year
Alumni Give Back
Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China and Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and Prof K C Chan is Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong.
The speakers each talked about China’s ascendancy to become the world’s second largest economy, and the challenges ahead.
Prof Lin reviewed China’s achievements in the past 20 years and described its growth prospects and challenges in the next two decades, including the need to rebalance domestic demand, income distribution and environmental sustainability. Prof Li favored efforts to adopt a new approach to reform that can balance varying interests and improve social needs, given the social tensions that are bubbling up in the country.
Prof Yi said China would increase the flexibility of its exchange rate regime and reduce its trade imbalance by increasing imports through higher domestic demand and increased income
over the next three years for research.
The research fund will be dedicated to projects related to the Greater China securities markets and financial institutions. This is an area that has not received adequate attention within the university and the research fund will definitely help improve the situation. The research fund will be under the management of theSchool’s Center for Asian Financial Markets and Department of Finance.
“We hope to use the money to support faculty and PhD students doing China-related research,” Finance Professor Chu Zhang said.
This fund is a very welcome example of alumni giving back to the School.
and social protection. Prof KC Chan explained Hong Kong’s development into an offshore RMB business centre and foresaw tremendous potential in trade settlements using RMB which are growing at a rapid pace.
The keynote speeches were followed by panel discussions moderated by Dean Leonard Cheng and Prof Francis Lui of the School. The enthusiastic response by Forum participants was reflected by the high number of relevant questions raised by an inspired audience.
by Prof K C John Wei, diversity in the workplace by Prof Elizabeth George and Prof Ron McEachern, corporate risk management by Prof Peter MacKay and stock price movements by Prof Haifeng You.
The talks complement the School’sonline HKUST Business Insights column, which offers summaries of our faculty’s research findings, www.bm.ust.hk/research/business_insights/index.html.
3
News/Undergraduate Programs
Cohort Cup and a Good Deed
Honors for Social ServiceAn important quality in leaders is their demonstrated commitment to the community. To recognize and encourage such commitment, the first Dean’sService Awards were handed out to 10 students who have made outstanding contributions to the community on and beyond the campus.
The awards are open to all undergraduate students in the Business School who must provide a detailed summary of their community services and supporting documentation, and undergo an interview. The success of their application is based both on their proven record of service to the community, and their demonstrated leadership and organizational abilities.
The recipients of this year’s awards were Lok Yee Chan, Patrick Manuel Felgner, Sher Lyn Khor, Ho
Ching Kwan, Matthew Yat Wah Lee, Byron Wang Hon Li, Ho Yi Lo, Sze Jye Tan, Solomon Bing Kin Wong, and Kwan Lok Wong.
The recipients received a cash award each and a certificate from the Dean, Prof Leonard Cheng.
A new corporate advisory board has been formed to gain expert input on the BSc in Quantitative Finance (QFIN) program and enhance interactions with the finance industry. The Quantitative Finance Corporate Advisory Board held its first meeting in January and includes high-powered professionals from the industry in Hong Kong.
The board comprises nine industry members and four HKUST academics, who will offer advice on, among other things, program curriculum design and strategies for student recruitment and placement.
QFIN Corporate Advisory Board
The first Business Cohort Cup Champion team was honored on a day that also saw Business School students raise more than HK$57,000 to support the Hong Kong Red Cross’s Japan earthquake relief work.
This year’s Cohort Cup winner, the Nash Cohort, was announced at the fundraising day in April in which a 1.5-kilometer “Turkey Run” was held to raise money for Japan. Each of the Cohort teams ran in colorful turkey costumes of their own design and they were also joined by a faculty team led by Dean Leonard Cheng.
The run was the final of a series of activities for the Cohorts this academic year. Matthew Lee, one of the Cohort Chiefs of Nash, said the Cohort initiative had been a great success. “We’ve got a stronger sense of belonging and that has helped to enrich our university life,” he said.
The Business Cohort Community is a new initiative to build unity among students and enhance personal development through organized social activities.
The HKUST MBA solidified its ranking among the world’s best, rating sixth place in the 2011 Financial Times table of the top 100 full-time MBA programs. It was also the only Asian business school to crack the top 10.
This is the highest ranking for the program, which placed 9th last year and 16th in 2009. The School’s research also ranked high at 14th best in the world.
HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan hailed the results as “an extraordinary accomplishment”. “With a history of merely two decades, the HKUST Business School has built a top-tier status that strongly affirms its academic excellence,” he said.
Dean Leonard Cheng said: “The achievement
MBA 6th Best in the World and Best in Asia
is an honor for everyone in the School who has made a contribution to making the program a transformational learning experience.” The high ranking reflects the MBA program’s ability to develop its graduates’ careers and expose them to a high degree of international diversity.
The ranking was based on a survey of students from the 2007 MBA graduating class, who came out best in the world in salary percentage increase, which rose 142 per cent above their pre-MBA salary. The program also had 93 per cent of its students coming
from outside Hong Kong.
Senior Associate Dean and Director of Masters Programs Prof Steven DeKrey stressed that the program’s highly international student body and faculty offered unique and diverse perspectives in a truly global MBA experience.
The ranking was celebrated with a poolside party in March at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, which was attended by 200 guests including faculty, alumni and VIPs.
The industry members include Rex Auyeung of Principal International, Louis Chow of Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Limited, Amy Fong of HSBC, Andrew Fung of Hang Seng Bank, Andreas Klainguti of Standard Chartered Bank, Lawrence Lam of the Royal Bank of Scotland, James Maquire of AON Asia Pacific, Min Park of Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited and Kenneth Tsui of the Treasury Markets Association.
The Business School representatives include Prof Kalok Chan, Prof Dennis Chan, Prof Veronique Lafon-Vinais and Prof Angela Ng.
4
MBA/EMBA
A team of HKUST MBA students was one of only six teams internationally to make it to the prestigious Hult Global Case Challenge.
The Hult competition was organized in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative and Water.org and the final was held in New York City at the end of April.
The HKUST team progressed to New York after being declared regional champion in March, and comprised first year full-time MBA students Gaurav Bhatia, Venisa Chu, Jeffrey Chow and Lucas Pech.
They competed against teams from Stanford University, Boston University, the University of Belgrade, SDA Bocconi University and the eventual winner, Cambridge University.
Competing with the EliteMore than 130 teams from universities from five continents participated in earlier rounds, such as MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, INSEAD and HEC Paris.
Former US President Bill Clinton was on hand to greet the finalists in New York. The winning team, Cambridge, received US$1 million to work with Water.org on implementing clean water solutions.
Thirty MBA students visited China for a four-day field trip in April that gave them access to companies in a variety of industry sectors in Beijing and Tianjin.
The group visited such companies as Besunyen, which is chaired by a HKUST EMBA alumni who
MBA China Field Tripshared his insights as an entrepreneur and his successful experience in leading his firm to become publicly listed in Hong Kong within 10 years; and Walmart, where students saw how a multinational company integrates into the Chinese market.
They also visited China Construction Bank International, Li Ning, Tianjin TEDA and Digital China, and met with corporate leaders and senior government officers who discussed the challenges of doing business in China.
The field trip has become an important learning experience in the MBA program by exposing students to the real-world practices of business in China.
“Embracing the Dragon” was the theme of a high-powered MBA Finance Conference that considered the growing economic power of China and its impact on financial markets in the region.
More than 100 business professionals, regulators and HKUST faculty, students and alumni attended the event. The conference was also organized as part of the University’s 20th anniversary celebrations. The former Dean and Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Prof K C Chan, gave the keynote address, speaking on Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre and on China’s 12th Five-Year Plan.
This was followed by panel discussions in which industry leaders shared their insights on managing risks and opportunities in Hong Kong’s financial services market and the buy-side thinking on China’s rising role in the financial sector.
The conference was organized by the HKUST MBA Finance Club, which is run by full-time MBA students. The Director of the MBA Program, Prof Steven DeKrey, said the event showcased the high quality of the contributions that students make, while the Club’s Chairperson, Tina Khoe, said it was a good opportunity to share knowledge and build networks with the community.
Talking up the Dragon
Students in the 14th Kellogg-HKUST EMBA class had just emerged from one of their lessons for a tea break on Friday, March 11 when news of the Japanese earthquake came through. The devastating scenes prompted them into swift action and by the end of the weekend, they had chipped in HK$48,000 for relief efforts in the country.
A collection box set up on the Saturday raised HK$24,000 within a few hours, while a bidding game that was part of a lesson on Sunday resulted in two classmates matching the first day’s funds.
Michael Chan and Sheldon Xie helped to pull their classmates together. Michael said: “Initially we wanted to extend this to the whole Kellogg-HKUST Alumni, but given the urgency of the fund and the administrative work involved, we decided to focus on raising funds within our class.”
They were assisted by Judy Au, Head of the KH-EMBA Office, who helped them to secure a donation box and identify a charity, and by fellow student Milo Chao, who helped to design a poster to promote their efforts. The money was donated to World Vision.
Swift Action to Help Japan
Dynamic and responsible leadership is an important goal of the School’s programs. Three alumni of the HKUST EMBA for Chinese Executives Program demonstrate how it can be practiced in the greater China region.
Zhao Yihong (2011 graduate) listed his herbal tea company Besunyen Holdings Co Ltd on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010. As Chairman of the company, he was in the midst of his studies during the course of the IPO. Mr Zhao is a devoted Buddhist and his company blends Buddhist concepts
Proud Examples of Alumni Leadershipinto the production and promotion of traditional Chinese tea and medicine.
Shen Dongjun (2006 graduate), CEO of high-end jewelry chain TESIRO, has a passion for fine wine – which he turned into a business opportunity. He acquired a French vineyard in the Medoc region in March this year and imported wine into China and invested in improving the quality of his Cabernet-Merlot blend.
Zhang Min (2005 graduate) is the Supervisor of The One Foundation. She was CFO of the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology. Both organizations are non-profit green groups set up by Chinese entrepreneurs. She joined the non-profit organizations after working with listed companies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and has devoted herself to working for good causes, including frequently donating to those in need. Ms Zhang was also involved in a project that showed the collective power of HKUST EMBA graduates in contributing to society. The Class of 2005 graduates donated money to build the Yangla Maoding Primary School in Yunnan province.
5
MS Program/Executive Education/Award
An insider’s view of capital markets and corporate investment was offered at a seminar organized by the HKUST-NYU MS in Global Finance Program with the South China Morning Post and the Treasury Markets Association.
Jenny Chau, Head of Treasury at Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd, gave the opening remarks at the event in April and the keynote speech was given by Prof Alexander Ljungqvist, Ira Rennert Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at NYU Stern. A panel discussion followed involving
Capital Markets and Corporate InvestmentMatthew Harrison, Head of Research & Corporate Development in the Market Development Division of HKEx, Terry Wong, General Manager-Portfolio Projects for a leading international energy company, and Prof Ljungqvist.
They considered whether market-listed firms invest sub-optimally due to separation of ownership and control, why listed firms invest less and are less responsive to change than similar unlisted firms, and the observable patterns in industries where stock prices are particularly sensitive to current profits.
The Business School offers short programs that provide business leaders and executives with the latest business knowledge and insights that can be applied in their professional spheres.
Fall programs will cover such topics as leading for success, managerial decision making, strategic financial management for non-financial managers and competitive positioning.
The programs are open for registration at www.bm.ust.hk/ExecEd, which also provides further information about the programs.
Open for Enrolment
Executives and executive students from around the world come to the Business School to gain an edge from our expertise and location. Recently, managers from the Bank of China Hong Kong (BOCHK) and EMBA students from Latvia and Ukraine attended the School’s executive education courses to gain the latest knowledge and perspectives to stay ahead in the dynamic business world.
The BOCHK-HKUST Academy for Management Excellence is one of our tailor-made company programs and was established in 2007 as a long-term partnership to provide training to
Executive Advancement
A pioneer in a new branch of consumer psychology, HKUST Marketing Professor Anirban Mukhopadhyay, has been honored for his work with the prestigious Early Career Award from the US-based Society for Consumer Psychology. The award is given for distinguished scientific contributions to the field by a psychologist who is no more than eight years post-PhD.
Prof Mukhopadhyay helped to develop the study of “lay theories” that underpin consumer behavior.
Consumer Insights Earn Professor an Honor
the bank’s high potentials. In 2010-11 seven classes were held for more than 250 middle managers on professional development. Talks were also held on the challenges of innovation in large corporations, corporate responsibility, and leadership in Asia to advance the business knowledge of BOCHK staff.
Tuanjie Huo, General Manager, Human Resources of BOCHK said, “The Business School was able to customize its executive programs to match our requirements. The faculty members’ commitment to that end and their interactive teaching
He showed that those who believed that people in general have limited amounts of self-control, but which can be developed over time, were likely to, for instance, buy children educational toys rather than entertaining toys which the child would like more.
The theory was further applied to whether people thought emotions were fixed or malleable, which was found to have consequences on their willingness to indulge themselves, donate to charity or pursue a task with a delayed effect such as studying.
“I am extremely honored to get this
award,” he said. “With lay theories, you observe very strong effects that people haven’t seen before and it allows you to understand behavior that may make people, for example, impulse buy, overeat or procrastinate. Behavior is underpinned by deeper beliefs. We’re all walking around with different kinds of beliefs that we may not even be aware of.”
Prof Mukhopadhyay earned his PhD in marketing from Columbia University in 2004, having moved into the field after doing a BSc in physics at Delhi University. He joined HKUST in 2004 and is Associate Professor.
Prof Mukhopadhyay’s current projects include a study related to people’s beliefs about greed, and another on overeating and the messages people take from food labeling.
approach left an unforgettable impression on participants who gained advanced management knowledge in a comfortable and interesting environment.” Meanwhile, from abroad, a group of 32 students from the EMBA program of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia were on our campus for a six-day China Business program in April, while 17 Ukrainian Catholic University Lviv Business School EMBA students attended a one-day International Business Program at HKUST in March.
6
Research
Companies facing market volatility in costing and pricing want to manage their risk exposure. Hedging is a tool for this, but it has a downside for investors because companies do not tend to announce details about their hedging activities. Prof Peter MacKay of the Finance Department argues that this does not mean the information is unavailable.
He proposes a different way of viewing company account statements that can detect the extent of hedging a firm is engaged in.
“Investigating corporate risk management can be challenging because we face a lack of good data. How do you know what companies are doing in terms of risk management? There are footnotes in their account statements but these aren’t very standardized across companies and in fact, the information they offer is not very revealing. You can also hold surveys and ask people about their policies, but then you’re relying on a very noisy process,” he says.
“My contribution is to set these problematic data sources aside and think about what we can infer
from data that is publicly available, mainly in financial statements. Through backward engineering, we can find out what firms are actually doing.”
Using the oil refinery industry as a testing ground for this approach, Prof MacKay shows that it is possible to determine how much a firm hedges and how far in advance.
The industry faces volatility on both the cost and revenue sides, making it an ideal “black box” foruncovering what he calls cash-flow hedge accounting. This assumes that the company will not be going to market every quarter with full exposure to the vagaries of the prices of that product, but will instead try to balance its risk through hedging. By relating current sales to lagged future prices, it is therefore possible to uncover corporate hedging activity.
His research looks at hedging up to two years down the line and finds that most oil firms hedge 20-25 percent of their exposure – a figure, he emphasizes, that is based on information available from company financial statements.
The inspiration for his research came from another study he was involved in that raised questions about the value of hedging. It looked at an airline that started out hedging fuel prices but went deeper into the process and started trading on its options.
“What were they trying to achieve – managerial incentives? Are they really working for shareholders? Who knows? But once we can discover how much firms are hedging and how far ahead they are hedging, we can return to the question of why firms hedge,” he says.
Games of RiskMaking money in the stock market means betting on companies. But how can an investor determine if a company is worth the effort? Two academics consider factors that may sway their decision: corporate risk management, and investor recognition.
Prof MacKay and Prof You were speaking at a Business Insights Presentation Series luncheon talk in June 2011.
Detecting Hedging in Corporate Risk Management
The fashion house Prada decided to launch a major IPO in Hong Kong and approached it with great confidence. The company planned to sell its shares at about 28 times of its earnings forecast, much higher than similar firms such as Louis Vuitton (traded at about 20 times of its earnings forecast) and Gucci (about 14 times). How could such an ambitious target be achieved?
A clue can be found in the idea of investor recognition. As the name implies, this is the degree to which a stock is recognized by investors. There are many ways to boost investor recognition and Prada pulled out the stops with catwalks and road shows. But does this work for investors? Can they benefit from investor recognition?
The short answer is yes, according to research by Prof Haifeng You of the Accounting Department and his colleagues. “Investor recognition is a very important determinant of both stock prices and stock returns.” Prof You says. Using institutional ownership breadth as a proxy for investor recognition – so a stock with a lot of investors has high recognition – Prof You says that stocks in the top 10 percent of recognition could be priced 50
percent higher than those in the lowest 10 percent.
More importantly, changes in investor recognition were found to affect stock returns. Stocks that saw the highest improvement in their investor recognition compared to three months ago on average had an 84 percent higher return over stocks with the lowest change in investor recognition.
“Given the substantial impact of investor recognition on stock prices and returns, investors should pay close attention to investor recognition in their investment.” Prof You says.
He cautions against investing in high investor recognition stocks because investor recognition tends to be highly changeable. “Today’s hot stocks that attract a tremendous amount of attention could soon fall out of favor, while neglected stocks could eventually move into the spotlight and see substantial jumps in investor recognition and stock prices.” He quotes Warren Buffet: “The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.”
Prof You says he built a comprehensive indicator
of investor recognition and tested the usefulness of the indicator in stock investment on China’s stock market. Over a 118-month period, he found that firms that started out with the lowest investor recognition earned a cumulative market-adjusted return of 184 percent and outperformed the stock market every year. Those that started with the highest investor recognition experienced a drop of 84 percent in cumulative market-adjusted returns.
So investors are advised to look at companies in context – on the catwalk and in the market.
Fads, Investor Recognition and Stock Price Movements
Prof Haifeng You
Prof Peter MacKay
7
Prof Robert Engle, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, attracted a large crowd to his talk on Global Financial Volatility and Long Term Risks in June on HKUST campus. The talk was co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Study, HKUST Business School and the HKUST-NYU MS in Global Finance Program.
Prof Engle, from the New York University Stern School of Business, was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences for his research on the concept of autoagressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH). He developed this method for statistical modeling of time-varying volatility. The model is a key tool used for asset pricing and evaluation of portfolio risk.
At the talk, Prof Engle discussed the two failures of the recent financial crisis – of risk management
Nobel Laureate Robert Engle on Campus
Events
and regulation – and how volatility models actually performed well in making forecasts. The problem, however, was that there was a risk that the risks being hedged against were changing.
As failure of large complex institutions imposed costs on the whole economy, regulation therefore had to focus on systemically risky firms. He offered a model for calculating risks in firms.
Prof Engle cited three lessons from the crisis. Firms and investors should make sure they only take the risk they intend to take including long-term risks. Regulators should reduce incentives to take systemic risks. And policy makers should understand that reducing long term risks gives benefits today.
Asia’s position as a main engine of world economic growth has made it a place of great opportunity for entrepreneurs. With that in mind, the HKUST Asian Entrepreneurship Roundtable was organized to bring together world-renowned academics and regional practitioners.
The Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies arranged the event and its Director, Prof Roger King, said they aimed “to create
Asian Entrepreneurship Comes Under the Microscope
an opportunity for better understanding and to explore new subjects of entrepreneurship research that have greater relevance”.
The March event attracted over 100 academics and market participants from diverse industries and countries, who joined sessions on such topics as whether Asian entrepreneurs are different, financing growth for the region’s entrepreneurs, corporate entrepreneurship in Asia and the challenges of globalizing Asian entrepreneurial businesses.
The Acting Dean, Prof J T Li, welcomed the participants. “New challenges specific to Asian entrepreneurial businesses demand new perspectives on management practices, business strategy and entrepreneurial behaviour,” he said.
The roundtable is also a great networking opportunity and a cocktail reception was held afterwards featuring special guest speaker, Mr Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group.
The HKUST chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma has held its 11th induction for new members joining this prestigious, invitation-only society.
Beta Gamma Sigma encourages and honors excellence in studies and business practice. Only affiliates of the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) are eligible to establish a chapter, and the HKUST chapter has been a member since 2000.
Some 120 new members, comprising students, graduates and faculty from the HKUST Business School,
Beta Gamma Sigma Meetwere inducted at a HKUST chapter induction ceremony and recognized for their outstanding scholastic achievements. The total number of members in the HKUST chapter now stands at more than 1,300.
Among the members are leaders from the community inducted as Honorees for their distinctive achievements in business, administration or service to community. This year Robert Cook, Senior Executive Vice President and General Manager, Asia, for Canadian-based Manulife Financial, and Connie Lau, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Consumer Council, joined their ranks.
The expanded HKUST 2011 Entrepreneurship Competition attracted bright ideas and brilliant business plans from across the university community, showcasing the innovation and business expertise on offer here.
This year’s competition opened application up beyond MBA students to all full- and part-time students, Post-Docs, alumni, researchers, faculty and staff from all academic departments at HKUST. This exemplifies the spirit of “1-HKUST”, with synergy achieved through bringing together the talents from different disciplines.
Some 124 entries were received and Prof Ali Beba, Chair of the competition, said the judges had difficulty narrowing the entries down to 12 finalists. The winner was Wah Kin Holdings Ltd, whose project offered a hair-testing technology while LEDoS and Allegro IQ won the first and second runner-up trophies. The Student Award went to Bull B Tech and the Innovation Prize went to Energy Storage.
He congratulated the winners on the quality of their proposal, but also said others should persevere.
“This by no means should be assumed as a ‘stop sign’ for business ideas which did not become finalists. We are all aware that there is still a very good chance that some of these business plans may be turned into successful businesses with additional hard work, dedication and passion,” he said.
The competition was organized by the Business School, School of Engineering and Entrepreneurship Centre and offered prizes totaling more than HK$1 million in cash and kind.
Entrepreneur Contest Attracts 120+ Entries
8
People
Administrative Appointments
Xu Yan, Associate Professor of ISOM, is appointed Associate Dean overseeing the HKUST EMBA for Chinese Executives Program, non-degree executive programs, and the School’s China initiatives.
James Thong, Professor of ISOM is appointed Head of ISOM.
Shaohui Zheng, Professor of ISOM is appointed Deputy Head of ISOM.
Kitty Chong is appointed Head of Alumni Development.
New AppointmentsAssociate ProfessorEconomics
Yuk Fai Fong, PhD, Boston University.Research interests: industrial organization, applied microeconomic theory, dynamic/repeated games.
Assistant ProfessorsAccounting
Xi Li, PhD, Vanderbilt University.Research interests: international corporate governance, earnings management, corporate events, financial analysts.
Derrald Stice, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research interests: debt contracting, debt covenants, covenant violations, firm disclosures, information flows in debt and equity markets.
EconomicsWooyoung Lim, PhD, University of Pittsburgh. Research interests: microeconomic theory, game theory, experimental economics, industrial organization.
ISOMYongsuk Kim, PhD, University of Texas at Austin. Research interests: IT-enabled knowledge sharing and coordination, knowledge management, virtual communities, social media used in organizations (enterprise 2.0), and open innovation.
Xiaojun Zhang, PhD, University of Arkansas. Research interests: knowledge management systems' implementation and job outcomes, social networks and culture, IT and healthcare.
Xinghua Zheng, PhD, University of Chicago. Research interests: statistical inference for financial models, random matrices, stochastic interacting particle systems, random walks.
ManagementJoon Nak Choi, PhD, Stanford University.Research interests: social networks, organizational theory, global cities, industry clusters, international business strategy, political economy.
Sam Garg, PhD, Stanford University. Research interests: corporate governance, strategic decision making, power dynamics, and cognition in entrepreneurial firms and international businesses.
Adjunct ProfessorsAccounting
Earl Kay Stice, PhD, Cornell University. Research interests: capital market impact of financial accounting choices, capital market impact of the institutional use of financial accounting data, the nature of analyst forecasts of accounting earnings.
ISOMSamuel Po Shing Wong, PhD, Stanford University. Research interests: applied statistics, data mining, quantitative finance, risk management, statistics in medicine.
ManagementEden Y Woon, PhD, University of Washington in Seattle, has been appointed Adjunct Professor. Dr Woon is also Vice-President for Institutional Advancement at HKUST.
Visiting ProfessorsEconomics
Hamid Sabourian, PhD, University of Cambridge. Research interests: economic theory, game theory.
MarketingVilcassim Naufel, PhD, Cornell University. Research interests: structural modeling, modeling household choice behavior, pricing, and empirical modeling of competitive interactions.
PromotionsProfessorsEconomics
Susheng Wang, PhD, University of Toronto. Research interests: information theory, agency models.
FinanceJie Gan, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research interests: corporate finance, banking, real estate, Chinese economy and financial markets.
Mark S Seasholes, PhD, Harvard University. Research interests: trading behavior and asset prices around the world. He has written on cross-border equity investments, herding behavior of individual investors, loss aversion, and liquidity provision.
