The Undergraduate Mentorship Programme Kick-off Gathering, jointly organized by the Undergraduate Office and The BBA Alumni Association, was held on 1 November. The gathering allowed mentors and mentees to meet each other, share about their expectations of the Mentorship Programme and discuss plans of activities to do in the coming year. Mr Dick M.K. Lee, GBS (李明逵先生), former commissioner of police, was invited as the guest speaker of the gathering. Mr Lee said that both mentors and mentees should be proactive so that both parties could get the most out of the Mentorship Programme. We take this opportunity to express our thanks to Dr William Ho, JP (何兆煒醫生), former Chief Executive of Hospital Authority, and other mentors for coming.

Front row, from left: Dr William Ho, JP; Mr Dick M.K. Lee, GBS; Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, SBS, JP

"It was a thrilling experience for me to attend this inspiring marketing conference, in which there were many marketing professionals and talented students to share their opinions about marketing and law. Participating in the conference allowed me to evaluate the on-going practices of some marketers who may not be aware of the importance in upholding the ethics of their profession.

Among all the creative speeches delivered by the honorable guests, I was most impressed by Dr Royce Yuen's "Top 15 marketing principles" on how brands can gain acceptance in a new potential market. These were basic theories, but often overlooked by many marketers in the industry. In fact, I found marketing to be a more interesting subject than I had thought after going to this conference – The Magic Combo that Empowers the Marketing Brain. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to CUBA for giving me this valuable chance to learn, to further equip myself and to gain a broader exposure to this industry." — Chan Chui Yi, Christy (Integrated BBA Year 2)

“I appreciated this opportunity to meet the elites in both the marketing and law industries. The conference theme, "Empower Your Marketing Brain", inspired me to be a sensitive marketer. In a real-life context, there are not many clearly written guidelines for what you should do or not do in order to market your products. In this regard, a responsible marketer should think from the legal perspective and avoid offending others' interests.

Two CUBA students with Dr Royce Yuen (middle), Chairman, Ogilvy Hong Kong and Chairman, HK4As

From left: Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan; Ms. Lilian Leung; Swani Wu

CUHK Participants included:
- Ricky Choi (Professional Accountancy Year 4)
- Margaret Fung (Global Business Studies Year 3)
- Grace Ho (Integrated BBA Year 4)
- Justin Yeung (Global Business Studies Year 3)

The McCombs International Business Challenge is a student-run undergraduate business case competition held each fall. This year, eight additional teams were invited on top of those from the previous years to the distinguished list of universities from around the globe for a total of 20 teams competing. Each team of four students was given a case drafted by a sponsoring corporation illustrating a real-world problem. The students had two days to prepare a solution that showed their qualitative and quantitative problem-solving skills. The teams presented their solutions to the “client,” a panel of distinguished judges, including representatives from corporate sponsors, noted faculty members, and community business leaders.

"The intensive case competition was a great learning experience as it sharpened my analytical skills and our team's ability to deliver a creative yet actionable strategy even under tight time constraints. A unique feature of this competition was the emphasis on the interaction between judges and presenters. The 30-minute long Q&A session was quite overwhelming with judges constantly firing tough questions, but at the same time it was a good challenge. In particular, it was a special opportunity for us to present our idea to Dell's VP of Global Consumer Marketing & Sales, which greatly enhanced the sense of the reality of the competition." - Margaret Fung.

"Each and every case competition has been a unique experience to me. The McCombs International Business Challenge was no exception.

Firstly, coordinating our team was definitely one of the big challenges. Since two of our teammates were on exchange in the United States, it was only the day before the beginning of the competition when all four of us could finally meet in person! Despite having limited time for team building, we had great synergy in our spontaneous teamwork no less than any of other competing teams who had met well ahead of us. This enhanced our adaptability in facing challenges and also reflected our flexibility in being able to work with people of different personalities and styles. This is an essential quality for the commercial world where we cannot always choose our partners. Of course, the willingness to cooperate and strive for a common goal was the key to our success.

Another exciting thing about MIBC was the interrupted format of the presentation. This means that judges could interact and question participants anytime during the presentation. Unlike any class projects or other competitions, not only did we have to prepare an extensive amount of information and become familiar with our specialized part, but having a thorough understanding of the whole presentation, the ability to address the judges' concerns and immediate responsiveness were all equally important as well.

Despite these new challenges, one thing the competitions have had in common was that they all required us to own and be enthusiastic about our business plans. Certainly, winning the competition over other renowned universities from around the world was very encouraging, but the effort we put in and the things we learnt during the process were what made this competition a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Mr Denis Yip, President of EMC Greater China, was invited to be the guest speaker of Heart to Heart Talk on 29 October. He discussed how information technology facilitates the operation of the business and the economy, and about the qualities required for the economy in the future. Those in attendance were CUHK undergraduate business students and over 50 secondary six students of CUHK FAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School.

"During the talk, Mr Yip told us about the current situation in China and the IT industry. Eight years ago, the IT bubble burst, and the industry crashed. However, the situation today has changed: the IT industry has entered a new millennium, transitioning from technology to information. And EMC is the market leader in this area. The demand for IT is absolutely huge, especially in China. For example, there are lots of CCTVs in Beijing for security purposes, so amount of information they generate is enormous. EMC assists officials in managing the information. The important thing Mr Yip mentioned is that China’s culture is very different from the West or even from Hong Kong. Hearing this, I raised two questions:
1.    In the mainland, relationships with others plays a large part in one's success compared to the part it plays in Hong Kong. How can we build up our relationships at this time?
2.    Given that the cultures of Hong Kong and China are so different, how can we increase our adaptability?
Mr. Yip assured us that this isn't a big problem, but he then reminded us to read China's newspapers to stay informed. Having this knowledge will give us topics of discussion that will help when we need to build our relationship with the mainlanders. He even suggested that we find internships in the mainland, so as to gain a deeper understanding of the culture there. The experience Mr Yip shared really helped me a lot. I am looking forward to the coming “Heart to Heart Talk". — Wilson Fung (Integrated BBA Year 1)

CUBA has partnered with the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina (USC) to launch a new International Business and Chinese Enterprise (IBCE) concentration to nurture "International Business Talents with China Intelligence". The new initiative, which represents a new concentration of the existing CUHK Integrated BBA programme, provides students with the unprecedented opportunity to prepare for pursuing careers in international business with an emphasis on business activities between China and the United States. The first batch of student starting in Hong Kong will be in 2010 with a normative study period of 3 years. The intake number will be limited to 20.

A lunch meeting was arranged on 4 November 2008 during which the key staff members from the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research (CLEAR) and the Faculty of Business Administration had a fruitful exchange of views over issues relating to students' experiential learning activities and the implementation of the Outcomes-based Approach (OBA) to teaching and student learning. CLEAR participants included Prof. Carmel McNaught, CLEAR Director, Prof. Keith Thomas, Associate Professor, and Mr Simon Ho, Project Manager. From the Faculty, participants included Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), Prof. Stella So, Associate Professor of Marketing Department, Ms Melina Iu, Administrative Director (Undergraduate Programmes) and Mr Chan Chi-ho, Executive Officer of UGO. A follow-up meeting may be held later between the UGO of the Faculty of Business Administration and CLEAR to have more discussion on how the experiential learning activities can be further strengthened and what sorts of activities should be offered so as to best meet the educational needs of our business students. The main goal is figuring out ways of serving the needs and expectation of the Hong Kong community and the region at large.

Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, SBS, JP, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), was invited by the Commissioner of Correctional Services to present academic certificates to the inmates of Shek Pik Prison in recognition of their academic achievements.

Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), was interviewed by Hong Kong Economic Times on Quality Customer Services. Details can be found at http://www3.baf.cuhk.edu.hk/download1/getfile.asp?fileID=471.

Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), and Prof. Chow Ying Foon, Associate Professor of the Department of Finance, were interviewed by Metro Radio on 18 November 2008 and they introduced the QFN-RMS programme on air. Click here to listen the programme.

Dr. Y.C. Chow, Chairman of Chevalier International Holdings Ltd., spoke at the Conference on "Family Enterprising - Asian Pacific and Global Views" on 22 November 2008. The Conference was organized by the Faculty of Business Administration. Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) acted as the convener in the Q&A Session.

Lam Ka Shing George (Global Business Studies final year) and three other Global Business Studies Year 2 students won the Champion of SCMP / IPFHK Financial Planner Award (University Student Category) in summer 2008. An Award Presentation Dinner was held on 6 November. George represented the winning team to receive the award. Prof. T.J. Wong, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, attended the Award Presentation Dinner and shared in the celebration.