Prof. David Ahlstrom Named Among the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers

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David Ahlstrom, Professor of Department of Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School, was named by the Clarivate Analytics list of Highly Cited Researchers 2018 as one of the world’s top researchers who has demonstrated significant influence by publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade (2006-2016).

96 researchers around the world were identified as Highly Cited Researchers in the Economics & Business field, and Prof. Ahlstrom is among the five researchers from universities in Asia.

The Highly Cited Researchers list recognises world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance in one or more of 21 broad fields (those used in Essential Science Indicators (ESI)) or the cross-field category, determined by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1 per cent by citations for field and year in Web of Science.

Please click here for the full list of Highly Cited Researchers 2018.

This article was first published on the CUHK Business School’s website on 3 December 2018.

A press release was also posted on the CUHK website on 2 December 2018.

Getting To Know More About Professor Roger Levermore

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It was such a privilege to be able to sit down with Professor Roger Levermore, who recently joined the CUHK Business School, for a chat and understand a bit more about him. Professor Levermore will be teaching strategic management courses and Scenario Planning, a new course aims to help students develop a forward-thinking mindset to think and plan 5-10 years ahead. He will also be teaching ethics courses for MiM and Undergraduate programmes. Through his position as Associate Director of the MBA Programmes, Professor Levermore is commissioned to help students cultivate different soft skills, etiquettes of meeting people and how to make better connections in order to advance their career network.

It was quite intriguing when we learnt that it was not entirely smooth sailing for him in his early years when he got rejected by 29 out of 30 universities in the UK due to his poor A Levels results. At the end of the day, he got accepted by one university and it was the place where he met 3 inspirational professors who saw skills and traits in him that he was unaware of – combined, they changed his life in different ways and prompted him to move to teaching. The first one was a history professor who praised him for excellence in “research, structure and presenting”. The 2^nd professor was “firm but fair” and showed him the benefit of hard work whilst the 3^rd professor was a philosopher who inspired him to realise the fact that education should not be only about educating people, it would mean a lot more by making a difference in people’s life.

His first job was with an insurance company inputting claims; he realised this was not a job he wanted to be in for a long time and it acted as a strong motivator to strive for a better career by getting a university education. Then he started teaching in 1998 whilst doing his PhD.

As one of the shyer students in class with nickname “Litmus”, he said his face would turn red every time he started talking in front of people. Hence, one cannot imagine how he can stay on top of teaching and coaching. He said a lot of preparation to get things in shape, as well as his beliefs in pushing out of his comfort zone, has landed him with 2 teaching prizes whilst he was at HKUST. He knew he has to try things out on a trial and error basis and one can always get better and stronger.

He likes the education system in Hong Kong when compared with that of the UK which is often seen as more inward-looking at the historical and heritage side of things rather than going beyond to see the other side of the world. What he likes about CUHK is its awareness of looking outside of the local borders and a lot of respects are given to the teachers.

Professor Levermore came to Hong Kong 6 years ago. When asked why he chose Hong Kong, he said it is the energy, vibes and buzz in this city that attracts him. He was also proud to share with us how he managed to communicate with taxi drivers using his version of “Cantonese” !

Last but not least….. His advice to students

Show hunger
Stand outside of the comfort zone
Strong sense of curiosity that feeds the hunger
Open growth mindsets and turn challenges into opportunities

And finally….Get off campus as much as possible and meet people!!

Hong Kong team awarded the third place in Warsaw Negotiation Round

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On April 22, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) fulltime MBA team was awarded the third place in the 2018 edition of Warsaw Negotiation Round.

In the three-day long international negotiation tournament of intense competition, Trishaan Gill, Raunaq Kumar and Jessica Xiaojie Zhang proved their mettle against 11 teams representing leading Schools of Business and Law from Asia, Europe and North America. The team stood out with their perseverance, great teamwork and professional skills and brought honor to CUHK MBA with their preparedness.

“Prior to the competition, we went over negotiation case samples, studied negotiation strategies, and reached out to previous CUHK teams for advice together as a team. We were also equipped with a diverse range of practical theories and empirical knowledge from the courses at CUHK MBA, which helped us perform better in negotiation cases covering different industries and ultimately boosted our advantage over the other teams,” Jessica explained.

This was the ninth round of the prestigious Warsaw Negotiation Round, an international negotiation tournament organized annually by Warsaw School of Economics. The tournament presents realistic business scenarios and evaluates the negotiating teams’ motivation, speed, team spirit and their ability to work under pressure.

“Through the competition we’ve learned first of all the importance of teamwork and trust. The best team is not a team with top performers of the same skills, but diverse performers who have complementary skills and have trust in the strength of the team. We also understood that negotiations are not about winning and losing. They are about different parties working together to come up with solutions that create value for all sides,” Jessica said.

Part-time MBA students win prize at HEC Business Game 2018

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Two part-time students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) MBA won the HEC Business Game 2018 Strategy Challenges held on April 13-14, 2018.

Year two students Franklin Law and Katina Chong competed with 210 postgraduates from 40 nationalities and 60 universities for the prize. Earlier, they contested a place for participation challenging 700 applicants from all over the globe.

The intensive two-day competition presents four real-life business cases hosted by well-known corporations. Unlike other competitions, for the four challenges held over the weekend, HEC Business Game puts together different participating teams. For every challenge three teams of two people each are brought together to solve the business problems.

“The first and most exciting business case was Strategy Challenge hosted by the global management consulting firm Bain & Company. We had three hours to look into the information we received, compile the data, look for possible solutions and prepare a PowerPoint presentation. We then had to present our recommended solution to a Senior Manager from Bain. This was followed by a Q&A session,” explained Katina Chong.

She added: “At the HEC Business Game 2018 closing ceremony a partner at Bain announced our prize. He said that we won the Strategy Challenges because of our strategic thinking, good presentations and well-balanced voices from both genders.”

Organised by a dedicated group of HEC students, the Business Game is held on the HEC campus just outside Paris, France. Students spend the whole weekend together, solving two business cases per day, and having lunches and dinners together.

This MBA Landed An Internship At One Of The Hottest Technology Startups In Hong Kong

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Media Coverage by BusinessBecause:

Alex Sonnenwald, an MBA student at top-ranked CUHK Business School, is interning in the strategy department at Tink Labs, one of the hottest Internet of Things (IoT) startups in Hong Kong.

Having raised over $100 million, Tink Labs aims to be Hong Kong’s first unicorn startup.

Its pioneer product, ‘handy’, is a revolutionary IoT solution for the hospitality industry—a free-to-use mobile phone for hotel guests which, in turn, provides hotels with valuable data on their customers.

Alex, who’s working on handy, first heard about CUHK while studying business at undergraduate level in Germany. The school’s global focus stood out—CUHK boasts 6,600 MBA alumni spread across 40 countries.

Alex had never travelled to Asia before he first stepped on-campus for the CUHK MBA—Hong Kong’s first MBA program. Now, he has the industry connections he needs to take his career forwards.

BusinessBecause caught up with Alex to find out more.

What can you tell us about your MBA internship at Tink Labs?

I got the opportunity to learn SQL-based coding as part of my regular work schedule. Currently, I’m working on automating the data visualization dashboards I previously designed. I’ve also been performing research and Excel-based analyses to advise the senior management on diverse strategic topics spanning the organization.

What have you gained?

I’ve really enjoyed experiencing strategy consulting from an in-house perspective. Also, I’ve gained a better understanding of the startup work environment and how business is done in this part of the world.

I’m currently looking into full-time strategy or operation-related roles in the technology industry, mainly in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. I feel like my time at Tink Labs, especially the coding-related projects, has definitely gotten me closer to where I want to be in the near future.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA at CUHK Business School?

I was in the fortunate position of being able to choose from various MBA programs, including some in the US, Australia, and the UK.

The high level of support provided by CUHK’s MBA staff definitely stood out. The MBA office offers great support with visa and housing applications so that minimal effort is required from the student’s side. Plus, the program is ranked among the best globally by the Financial Times.

What stands out from your MBA experience so far?

Various intensive courses are offered as part of the curriculum. These courses are usually three to five days long, highly practical, and provide an in-depth overview of one particular topic.

I had the pleasure of doing Professor Haydn Pound’s Business Modelling course and, even though I was already quite familiar with the creation of Excel models, I was very surprised by the amount of progress our class made by the end of the third day.

As part of the curriculum, professors also organize five-to-seven-day trips to selected locations including Singapore, Chile, Germany and the US (Silicon Valley). The trips provide students with the opportunity to connect with companies in the chosen region.

Finally, through the mentorship program I was paired with the managing director for transformation at data storage firm Dell EMC, a Dell subsidiary. And it was my careers advisor at CUHK Business School who directed me towards the internship opportunity at Tink Labs.

Media: BusinessBecause
Section: News/ MBA Hong Kong
Date published: Apr 16, 2018

Original Post

Business Schools Put Accent on Fintech and Entrepreneurship

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Business schools are focusing on financial technology, or fintech, and entrepreneurship to help MBA students apply new skills. This comes as fintech innovations continue to disrupt long-standing financial structures and change the way that traditional financial instruments are used.

With fintech, AI and entrepreneurship and innovation hot topics across the business community, Stephanie Villemagne, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Director of MBA Programs at CUHK Business School, tells South China Morning Post its MBA curriculum will offer two concentration options that will focus on finance and technology, and entrepreneurship and innovation. To provide robustness and rigor, the School offers comprehensive entrepreneurship program to nurture students’ creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial mindset. “Our courses are very practical because they feature real-life cases,” Villemagne says. “We have also launched new courses to focus on fintech, social entrepreneurship and sustainability.”

In addition to the interactive classroom sessions and opportunities to network, CUHK MBA includes business field studies to emerging markets. “As well as cultural and social issues, students are able to broaden their horizons, get an insight into local business practices, acquire a range of new business skills and enhance their business acumen,” she says… Read More

This article was first published on the CUHK Business School’s website on February 8, 2018.

The story appeared in the Professional Education Guide 2018, a print booklet published by South China Morning Post with headline “Switch to new skills” on 1 January, 2018.

Antoinette Catonia Mia Bailey Scoops the MBA Student of the Year Award at the AMBA Excellence Awards 2018

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Antoinette Catonia Mia Bailey, a social entrepreneur with 10 years management experience from the MBA Program of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School won the MBA Student of the Year Award, proudly sponsored by The Wall Street Journal at the Annual AMBA Gala Dinner and MBA Excellence Awards (#Gala18), hosted by The Association of MBAs (AMBA) on 2 February 2018.

Antoinette’s commitment to creating a positive impact for society and the environment as a whole can be seen through her various roles, both academically and professionally.

During her MBA Antoinette was elected President of the Student Association, Harvard Business School HPAIR Entrepreneurship and Technology delegate, and founded the InterMBA Asia initiative to create a sharing economy between Hong Kong’s best and brightest Business Schools. Antoinette has a proven track record in innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and social enterprise.

She has also led multiple fundraising projects for social enterprises during her MBA programme such as the ‘Nurturing Social Minds’ programme run by a Hong Kong family’s philanthropic organisation, and as one of 12 finalists at the UBS Social Innovators APAC Summit in Singapore. Antoinette is currently in the process of launching a technology product targeting social impact and sustainability causes.

Antoinette Catonia Mia Bailey added: “I feel humbled, after seeing all the other candidates, and the great work they’re doing. It feels great and it really motivates me now to make an impact and help people to actually see the benefits of focusing on sustainability”.

This article was first published in the CUHK Business School’s website on February 5, 2014.