CONTENTSIndeed, a shortage of manpower for analysing data has hindered Hong Kong’s development as...

CONTENTS01 Dean’s Message

Business Analytics – A New Chapter in the Hong Kong Economy

The Transition of Finance: From Reporting the Past to Shaping the Future

Prescriptive Business Analytics with Applications in Logistics

Building Links between Patients and Healthcare Professionals

Pursuing an Academic Vocation

Dr Hugo Lam (University of Liverpool)

Dr Xixi Li (Tsinghua University)

Dr Haina Shi (Fudan University)

Dr Xun Tong (University of Groningen)

PolyU’s Operations Management & Management Science Ranks First in the World

PolyU’s Management Subject Ranks 10th in the World

Learning to (Un)learn by “Staying F.O.C.U.S.E.D.”

Faculty Team Wins Nominated Case Award in Global Contest for The Best China-focused Cases

Dr Flora Gu Wins JAMS Best Reviewer Award

Dr Wing Lam Wins Best Paper Award at ISERD−International Conference on Economics, Management, and Social Study

DMgt Alumni Circle Inauguration Marks 15th Anniversary of RUC-PolyU Collaboration

Xiaomi Representative Visits FinTech Centre

Welcome Aboard

Congratulations

Faculty Awards and Prizes for Outstanding Performance and Achievement

Faculty Fellowship

Academic Promotion

Accounting and Finance Team is Second Runner-up in HSBC/HKU Hong Kong Business Case Competition

LMS Students Win Hong Kong Logistics Case Competition

Accounting and Finance Undergraduates Receive Certificate of Merit in Business Case Competition

Accounting and Finance Team is Third Runner-up in TIHK Tax Debate Competition

Miss Chuen Sui Ting Wins CILTHK Kerry Logistics Scholarship

Mr Li Xiyuan Awarded Human Capital Management Society Scholarship

Mr Choi Chun Ming Wins Best Local Community Service Award in AIA Foundation Young Leaders Development Programme

Nine Undergraduates Recognized at Annual Sport Prizes Presentations

Perspectives

Behavioural Bias, Dividends, and Asset Pricing

Managing Large-scale Dynamic Stochastic Systems

How Workplace Anxiety Can Help and Hurt Employee Performance

Multinational Enterprise Buyers’ Choices for Extending Corporate Social Responsibility Practices to Suppliers in Emerging Countries: A Multi-method Study

Increased Non-family Ownership in Family-owned Firms: How Does it Affect CEO Turnover-performance Sensitivity?

Cleansing My Abuse: A Reparative Response Model of Perpetrating Abusive Supervisor Behavior

Nonlinear Consequences of Promotive and Prohibitive Voice for Managers’ Responses: The Roles of Voice Frequency and LMX

Research News

Faculty Secures Over HK$10 million of RGC Funding

Business Analytics

Alumni

Faculty

Students

Past Events

Research

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Dean’sMessage

Season’s greetings from the Faculty of Business at PolyU! I am pleased to present you with the newly published Faculty magazine.

Data collection and interpretation is a vital part of

business these days and there is a great demand for

specialists in the field. This third issue talks about

Business Analytics – making use of data to inform

decisions and boost efficiency and effectiveness. It also

features members of the Faculty community directly

involved in knowledge dissemination and service

provision in this area.

The Faculty’s education and knowledge transfer has its

basis in research – the creation of new knowledge for

the betterment of the economy and society. In addition

to academics and researchers conducting single and

multidisciplinary studies, we have over 100 research

students, including those who have come to PolyU from

around the world under the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship

Scheme. To nurture home-grown talent, the HKSAR

Government waives tuition fees for local students

undertaking UGC-funded postgraduate research

studies. In the current issue, you may find inspiration in

the personal stories of some Faculty PhDs, especially

their academic careers and quests for truth. For a

glimpse of Faculty members’ research, consult the list

of recently funded projects. To learn more about the

scope of their research, you are welcome to visit the

newly revamped Faculty website or contact us directly.

Research output, international collaboration and

academic recognition are crucially important to our

academic standing. KUBS Worldwide Business

Research Rankings™, compiled by the Korea

University Business School (KUBS), show that PolyU

ranks 17th in the world in 2018, and our Operations

Management & Management Science comes first in

the world during the five-year period 2014 to 2018. The

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2018, compiled

by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, shows that we

are ranked 10th in the world for Management studies.

We are proud of this, but we are not complacent about

the achievement. Although we are continuing to foster

inter-institutional and international collaboration in

research, we are constantly updating our curricula and

offering new courses that cater to society’s changing

and long-term needs.

Enjoy reading and have a wonderful holiday.

Ir Prof. T.C. Edwin ChengIASCYS Academician, ScD, PhDDean, Faculty of BusinessFung Yiu King – Wing Hang Bank Professor in Business AdministrationChair Professor of Management

Dean’s Message | 01

performing architecture is essential to meet the next

generation’s requirements of the big data analytics

pipeline. They have also suggested various IoT

solutions, which should allow organizations to process

data by shifting computer power to the user side. This

enables real-time insights from products and services

that are part of the IoT.

In addition to managing internal data, many

organizations have expressed interest in exploring big

data externally through various social media that capture

the pulse of consumer markets. Social media enabled

by mobile devices have become a main communication

network in the daily lives of people around the world.

An organization wanting to learn about and study

an industry, or better understand certain potential

customers, may require an analytics team to look

outside the company’s own data sources for answers.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram,

and Twitter are highly popular, not only with individual

customers but also with corporations. Through social

media marketing, businesses can obtain more insights

into their current and potential customers. For instance,

Google has a wealth of information on search terms,

trends, and other online activities; and Google Trends

provides statistical data on search volumes for keyword

search in Google.

After decades of computerization, the hype around big

data and the race to become a data-driven company

is on. How to deal with big data has become a very

hot topic in business. In general, there are two major

sources of data: internal and external. Data from

internal sources are typically easier to collect and more

relevant to a company’s daily business. This includes

customer profiles, transactional data and operational

data generated from the Internet of Things (IoT). Many

companies mine both current and historical sales

data and information on the shipping trends of their

customers to help glean important insights into their

customers’ buying habits and preferences. By mid-

2017, over 3.8 billion people worldwide were deeply

engaged with mobile devices, electronic wearables, and

IoT technologies. This trend has enabled companies to

monitor device usage in their business operations or

the service provided to their customers. For instance,

GPS sensors on an enterprise’s fleet of vehicles can

offer a wealth of data for logistics optimization.

How to analyse the massive internal data being stored

in the organizational data warehouse is an emerging

challenge. Along this trend, Dr Gabriel Leung, graduate

of our DBA programme and Managing Director of HP

Enterprise Hong Kong, together with his colleague

Rajat Gupta, reported that a flexible, scalable, high

BUSINESSANALYTICS

A New Chapterin the Hong Kong Economy

02 | Business Analytics

Business Analytics

Edwin Wong, graduate of our BBA in Marketing

programme, is the founder and CEO of Cloudbreakr. His

company uses social media analytics to tackle influencer

marketing by searching over 10,000 influencer profiles

and 20 million social media posts of fashion stylists,

beauty bloggers, and sports lovers across the Asia

Pacific rim. Cloudbreakr provides quantitative analysis

for choosing the right influencers for collaboration.

Based on real-time monitoring of particular influencers’

posts and listening to the audience’s opinions, this

approach can help companies grow their business and

generate strong brand affinity.

In parallel with the expansion of organizational data and

social media, there has been rapid growth in the data

centre industry in Hong Kong. Many big corporations,

such as NTT Communications, Rackspace Hosting,

China Mobile, and PCCW have established their data

centres here. The HKSAR Government is committed

to fostering Hong Kong as the prime location for

data centres and ultimately as a regional ICT hub in

the Asia Pacific region. The opening of the state-of-

the-art data centre of the Hong Kong Exchanges and

Clearing in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate marked the

technological foundation of HKEx’s markets and the

emergence of Hong Kong as an international financial

centre. In 2016, the government joined hands with

Alibaba to organize the 2016 Hong Kong E-commerce

Ecosystem Summit to attract and facilitate businesses

wanting to open up more data centres in Hong Kong.

DBS Vickers conducted research in September 2016,

and suggested that the Hong Kong data centre market

would have an annual growth of 15% in the next three

to five years, with increasing demand from multi-media

content providers and Internet players.

Although the infrastructure of data centres is finely

developed and data from organizations and social

media can be conveniently stored and retrieved, for

some reason, such data are being under-analysed and

underutilized, according to some eminent scholars

and business practitioners. Dr Mary Meeker, General

Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, elaborated

on Internet trends, stating that the underutilization

of big data is an issue in many large firms today.

Indeed, a shortage of manpower for analysing data

has hindered Hong Kong’s development as a modern

economy, and has impeded the development of not

only the technology sector but also finance, healthcare,

telecommunications, manufacturing, entertainment,

retail, and almost every other sector.

In Hong Kong, transforming big data into a valuable

source of intelligence for innovating business models

and revealing novel opportunities is still at an early stage.

To foster the adoption of big data, business managers

must be equipped to derive value propositions by

exploiting big data to meet their customers’ needs. As

such, a new MSc programme on business analytics will

be launched in the academic year 2019-2020. It will

explore how business analytics can provide a deeper

understanding and enable better decision-making in

human resources, marketing, information systems and

operations management.

The business analytics programme aims to develop

students’ skills and knowledge relating to big data

for decision support in a business environment. It

emphasizes the utilization and application of data

mining software and statistical tools for better

managerial decision-making in the business world. The

focus is on the emerging area of business analytics and

sophisticated methods of data analysis. A wide range of

data sources available within and outside organizations

can be used to generate useful information for effective

strategy formulation.

The new programme leverages the knowledge and

expertise of experienced professors in the Department

of Management and Marketing and the Department

of Logistics and Maritime Studies in the Faculty of

Business. The approach of this cross-disciplinary

fertilization provides a powerful blend of subject

expertise that enables students to develop multi-

faceted knowledge and skills. The focus is on how to

utilize external and internal data to address managerial

issues in various functional areas, and arrive at better

decisions to enhance corporate performance. The

various research and consultancy activities undertaken

by the professors have allowed them to share with

students both state-of-the-art business analytics and

an extensive and interesting range of real-life case

materials for discussion and illustration purposes.

Dr Vincent Cho Associate ProfessorDepartment of Management and Marketing

Business Analytics | 03

and information to guide future business activities.

The greatest value of BI is that it provides effective

information to support business decision-making and

business analytics. A decision support system has its

basis in the traditional BI statistical model, focused on

developing new insights and understanding business

performance. In other words, querying, reporting,

OLAP, and alert tools can answer questions such as

what happened and where a problem is, whereas

business analytics can answer questions about why

this happened, whether these trends will continue, and

how to optimize future outcomes.

Nonetheless, relying solely on BI to obtain big data

does not necessarily guarantee the right decisions.

Mark Twain said, “It’s what you know for sure that just

ain’t so.” Decisions are about the future, not the past.

Management should be very careful about data and its

interpretation, because data only tell you about the past;

the consequences of decisions will be in the future. This

does not mean that the obtained statistics, parameters,

or relationships are incorrect or biased. On the contrary,

summarized statistics or relationships can be accurate

when looking at the past. Is there something you “know

for sure” in theory but it “just ain’t so” in practice?

Survival of the fittest is the essence of business

management. “It is not the strongest or the most

intelligent, but the one who can adapt to change can

survive.” The rapid advancement of technology in the

big data era has created unprecedented opportunities

for companies, given that they can now access oceans

of information about customers, suppliers, and target

markets. In this information explosion era, obtaining

accurate information in a flexible way and making

effective decisions based on available information are

the most critical challenges to business.

What is consumed by information is obvious: it

consumes the attention of the recipient. The richer the

information, the less attention you have. In the era of

big data, information is not scarce. What is lacking is

the ability of people to process it. Limited attention is

the main bottleneck in organizational activities. With

this huge opportunity and challenge, companies are

using business intelligence (BI) tools, such as querying,

reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), and

alerts, to organize their own and unique information.

The value of the data and information accumulated

by the enterprise information system is not that it

reports the past, but that it comprehensively uses data

The Transition of Finance:From Reporting the Pastto Shaping the Future


Business Analytics

To understand the impact of the different criteria for

the past and the future, one established concept is

Estimation Risk, which is one of the most important

ideas in the business world. This concept means

that the future performance of “good” historical

estimations is only “roughly correct.” To achieve the

best performance in the future, ideally the decision-

maker or management should minimize the estimation

risk. However, very often it is not easy. A more

practical solution is to combine data-driven results and

professional knowledge. It diversifies the risk and may

benefit both sides – with low bias and the low variance,

which is called “roughly correct”.

Decisions cannot be entirely based on data. What

is needed for business analysis is the professional

knowledge to process analytical data. Professional

knowledge is the summary of other practices

dealing with similar cases. Professional knowledge

is usually more like a rule that has zero variance in

decision-making, and that may help to improve future

performance. As the Chinese proverb goes, stones from

other hills may serve to polish jade. Because the criteria

for good estimation results are different for history and

the future, what is optimal in history is not necessarily

optimal in the future. Utilizing portfolio management as

a decision-making case, research has demonstrated

that simply applying data-driven results can be a

disaster because it is only “roughly correct”, and it

has concluded that professional knowledge matters.

A better approach is called “preciously incorrect”.

Benefitting from both professional knowledge and big

data, the new solution can achieve more stable, precise,

and reasonably good performance in management

decision-making for the future.

Business analytics applications run through a

company’s entire profitability chain, including its

financial goals, customer management, market share,

business management, and employee management.

With the rise of digital enterprises, the role of finance,

especially the role of CFOs, has evolved rapidly. Finance

has transformed from a tool for accurate bookkeeping,

reporting the financial situation of companies and

guarding against financial risk, to being the key player in

business analytics that provides insights and direction

for decision-making. From traditionally managing

cost, financial accounting, and reporting to analysing,

forecasting, and decision-making, finance has evolved

into a synergistic role in enterprise decision-making

and shaping corporate strategy.

Traditional financial reports only include simple

horizontal and vertical analysis, providing synergy and

the changing trends in business activities. In contrast,

professional financial analysis and predictions with

business analytics thinking, find intrinsic connections

and change the rules of business activities. One of

the most pioneering applications of business analytics

on Wall Street has been portfolio analytics. Portfolio

construction decisions are not only about analysing

historical performance, but also about predicting

future performance. Business analytics systems, for

example, the Bloomberg portfolio analytics tools,

help users shape the future and incorporate business

expectations into their decision-making. Similar cases

will be analysed when a company has to decide on a

new business plan based on previous data, computing

and estimated sales, costs and profits. If the estimated

outcome is consistent with corporate expectations,

a product concept can be further developed and the

product development phase can be gone through.

In sum, the decision-maker should combine data-

driven results and professional knowledge to

generate more stable, precise, and reasonably

good performance for the future. Business analysis

combined with expertise and big data has transformed

the role of finance from one of reporting on the past,

such as accounting, to anticipating the future, like

producing strategic insights. Deep analytics for

business intelligence and management information

will be important to finance moving forward. Moreover,

with the profitability of companies, the application of

business analytics to finance will become the driving

force in adopting analytics across enterprises – not

just in the financial area.

Dr Yong (Jimmy) Jin Assistant Professor

Miss Ni ZhongResearch Assistant

School of Accounting and Finance


Prescriptive Analytics

The first three types of analytics are used to understand

what happened in the past, why it happened, what

trends and patterns it followed, and if the trends and

patterns continue, what will happen in the future. This

naturally raises a problem: If it happens as predicted

or not as predicted, what shall we do? Such a problem

can be addressed by using the fourth type of analytics,

called prescriptive analytics, which are simulation and

optimization tools used to assist decision-makers in

making better decisions for present and future situations.

Applications of Prescriptive Analytics in Logistics

Many decision-making problems in logistics can

be addressed by using prescriptive analytics. In the

logistics industry, cargo owners or shippers need to

purchase services from logistics service providers.

With descriptive analytics, diagnostic analytics, and

predictive analytics, shippers can understand the

performance of different logistics service providers

based on their historical performance data, and

understand and predict the demands for shipping their

cargo in different origin and destination pairs. With this

information, shippers are often faced with a challenging

problem when making decisions on the selection of

logistics service providers and the assignment of cargo,

so as to minimize their total logistics costs. Prescriptive

analytics can be applied to solve such a problem.

In response to the increase in business challenges

and opportunities, and important improvements

in technology, the use of business analytics in the

business world has been growing significantly. Business

analytics often refers to a broad set of quantitative

tools, including statistics, optimization, simulation,

and artificial intelligence, to support better and more

efficient decisions. Business analytics today has been

widely applied in different business functions, such as

logistics, manufacturing, marketing and finance.

Types of Business Analytics

According to the maturity model of business analytics,

there are four types of business analytics representing

different levels of maturities: descriptive analytics,

diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics, and

prescriptive analytics. The first three are widely known

in the business world today. Descriptive analytics are

data and visualization reporting tools used to describe

what happened in the past. Diagnostic analytics are

data discovery tools used to reveal business insights

behind the historical data through classification,

clustering, and correlation analysis. Predictive analytics

are forecasting tools used to predict what may happen

in the future through data mining, machine learning,

and statistical inference.

Prescriptive Business Analytics with Applications in Logistics


Business Analytics

Because there can be exponentially many possibilities of

carrier selections and cargo assignments, it is impossible

to make optimal decisions manually. Optimization

models and artificial intelligence algorithms, therefore,

must be carefully designed and applied. Due to market

uncertainty, the demands of shipping cargo may

deviate from their forecasted values. Thus, simulation

models and tools are sometimes needed to assist in

evaluating the performance of various solutions for

different market scenarios. Many global shippers, such

as those handling large manufacturers and retailers

in Hong Kong and South China, have successfully

used prescriptive analytics to support logistics service

procurement.

In addition to shippers, carriers face many challenges in

decision-making. A common problem is how to plan the

use of vehicles for carriers, including trucks, vessels,

trains, and even aircraft. Using descriptive analytics,

diagnostic analytics, and predictive analytics, carriers

can calculate the cost and time for shipping cargo along

different lanes, in addition to forecasting the shipping

demands of different shippers. With this information,

carriers must determine the number of vessels needed

to serve the shippers and plan the routing of their

vessels, so as to minimize their total operational cost

or maximize their total profits. Like the problem faced

by shippers, the carriers’ vehicle routing problems are

very complicated, involving many possible choices of

vehicles and their routes. Prescriptive analytics can

be used to tackle such problems, including those

based on optimization models and artificial intelligence

algorithms. Among many others, there is one emerging

solution based on artificial intelligence technology.

Deep learning technology is applied to learning certain

structures related to optimal vehicle routing decisions

derived from multiple instances generated by simulation

tools. The learning results are then used to efficiently

generate near-optimal vehicle routing decisions

automatically. The success of prescriptive analytics in

supporting logistics service providers’ decision-making

has been widely observed in many companies, such as

liner shipping carriers, express couriers, and train and

airline operators.

Prescriptive analytics can also be applied to the

operation of logistics facilities, such as warehouses,

ports, and airports. We have recently completed a

research project on berth allocations for container

terminals. The project was motivated by the desire to

tackle challenges facing terminal operators. In response

to increasing competition among ports and the growing

bargaining power of carriers, terminal operators today

are under intense pressure to improve operational

efficiency and resource utilization. Compared to many

other resources, such as quay cranes, yard spaces,


and vehicles, quay berths are the most critical resource,

and they are often the bottleneck in port operations.

For each incoming or outgoing vessel, a terminal

operator needs to make decisions on when and

where the vessel should be berthed to maximize the

port throughput and optimize their services to ships,

under various practical constraints. Such constraints

include capacity, ship preferences, time windows, and

so on. The problem is very complicated, because the

possible choices of berthing positions and berthing

times grow exponentially with the number of vessels. In

this study, we developed new optimization models and

solution techniques to tackle this problem. One of the

new methods we developed was based on an artificial

intelligence algorithm, which simulates the annealing in

metallurgy, mimicking heating and cooling processes to

control the search for good berthing plans.

How to Apply Prescriptive Analytics

There are three steps to applying prescriptive analytics

to solving business problems.

Step 1. Find and understand the problem

In this step, a decision-maker has to identify a problem

that is solvable by using prescriptive analytics. Very

often, such problems involve making decisions to

fulfil certain objectives, such as minimizing total costs

or optimizing profits. These problems are difficult to

tackle manually because there can be a large number

of possible solutions. The problems often involve

uncertainty about demand, costs, operational time,

etc. To understand these problems clearly, one may

need to specify what decisions need to be made, what

constraints need to be satisfied, and what objectives

need to be optimized.

Step 2. Apply and design solution methods

After the problem is clearly specified, one can begin

to apply prescriptive analytics to design solution

methods. There are three common approaches. One is

to mimic or extend some manual solution methods that

have already been adopted but can be enhanced if they

are automated. The second approach is to develop

standard mathematical programming to formulate the

problem, such that commercial optimization solvers

can be applied to the model. The third approach is to

develop a tailor-made algorithm using some artificial

intelligence techniques to efficiently seek optimal or

near-optimal solutions. Simulation models are often

used to evaluate solution performance when uncertain

factors are taken into account.

Step 3. Implement and test solution methods

Different solution methods must be implemented, and

their performance must be tested. Performance is

usually measured from two aspects. One is the solution’s

quality. Methods that consistently produce solutions with

better objective values are better. The other concerns

running time. Methods that run faster are better. These

methods can be tested on different data sets, including

those collected from actual operations, and/or those

generated from simulation tools. The most effective and

efficient solution methods are often integrated with an

interactive enterprise computer system, which is often

referred to as a decision support system by the decision-

makers in firms.

Dr Zhou Xu Associate ProfessorDepartment of Logistics and Maritime Studies


Katie is a home-grown entrepreneur with a Bachelor’s

degree in Fashion and Textiles and an MSc in China

Business Studies from PolyU. Her business undertaking,

QCURE, is an incubator project of PolyU, and it is now

on the list of the Greater Bay Area homeland youth

joint action items. In 2016, the project won the Far East

Business Leadership Award – Excellence in Health

Mobile Application.

Initial Attempt at Entrepreneurship

Katie was first involved in entrepreneurship on the

Chinese mainland in 2009. After graduation, she did not

join the fashion industry but worked in the Sun Hung

Kai Financial Group. With a strong ability in sales, Katie

received several promotions and became Assistant

Vice President within two years. She noticed that the

Chinese market was huge and full of opportunities,

and decided to explore it. With neither powerful

relationships nor wide business experience, she often

got into difficulties. She spent six years learning about

the Chinese market through trial and error, including

understanding customer demand and the Chinese way

of doing business. At its high point, her company had

five sales locations in different cities in China and a staff

of 100. The question was how to sustain growth and

go further.

Building Links between Patients and Healthcare Professionals

A Different Perspective

To acquire the academic credentials and a systematic

understanding of the country, Katie returned to Hong

Kong to study for the MSc in China Business Studies

at PolyU. She expanded her knowledge of China in

terms of its culture, economy, finance, law, and trade.

What has most exceeded her expectation is the self-

confidence she has built up and the exposure she has

gained. The unconditional support from PolyU and the

Faculty of Business, the chance to present her ideas,

and the valuable feedback on her proposals are things

she could never find in the business world.

What enabled Katie to achieve what she has was the

support she received from PolyU, a valuable shelter

for a start-up company, especially in this keen market.

Without PolyU’s support, her company would not

have had the chance to approach potential investors

and earn their recognition and respect. Through the

opportunities created, Katie expanded her knowledge

and refreshed her mind. Her vision widened before

she could seriously reflect on what she aspired to and

lacked with regard to entrepreneurship. The Master’s

qualification and experience was instrumental in

building up confidence, not only in herself but also

among her potential investors and partners.

Miss Katie Lee Founder and Chief Executive DirectorQCURE

2016 GraduateMSc in China Business StudiesThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Alumni | 09

Alumni

A New Start-up

The idea to set up a medical consultation service

originated in mainland China, where Katie observed

that the healthcare system was overloaded with service

for a population of 1.4 billion. She also noticed how

numerous mainlanders longed to make contact with

overseas specialists to find treatment options for cancer

and other chronic diseases and health conditions.

QCURE, established in 2016, is an online platform

offering international medical consultations. It is also a

one-stop healthcare marketing agency linking clients to

more than 500 doctors, professionals, health services

and healthcare service providers in addition to 350

insurance agents. Clients obtain expert advice for

free and make appointments on the platform. The full

range of services includes inoculations, regular check-

ups, genetic testing, family planning, and specialist

treatments at reasonable prices. To safeguard the

well-being of the users, the company exercises due

diligence with all service providers before accepting

them as part of the network.

Currently, the company focuses on two areas of service.

For patients, it is a platform for medical consultation and

booking appointments, including recommendations

and referrals. For doctors and healthcare professionals,

it helps them with marketing and client relations.

Coming soon there will be a provision for healthcare

education through courses and videos. Doctors in

China and overseas experts have expressed interest in

sharing their knowledge and views.

As a Hong Kong-based start-up, QCURE faces various

challenges, from high rent and high labour costs to

attracting investors and growing the database. Apart

from co-working, it trains staff on marketing and IT, and

involves mainland companies in website enhancement.

The good news is that QCURE is a PolyU-supported

incubation project, and prospective collaborators and

clients highly value the University and the academics’

commendations and recommendations.

A Promising Future

QCURE has received government recognition for being

the first Hong Kong-based international platform for

medical appointment service. It is now on the first list

of projects under the Greater Bay Area homeland youth

joint action, hosted by the Liaison Office of the Central

People’s Government in the HKSAR.

Internationalization is a major objective for the medium-

to long-term. QCURE is going to extend its network,

especially by recruiting more Chinese doctors in

Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan to provide specialist

advice and treatment options. It also plans to create

a database of healthcare information where doctors

can share views and experience, and users can search

anytime to have their queries answered.

Chinese people’s demand for overseas healthcare

service has been rising and the number of consultations

and subscriptions on the platform has been increasing.

In the near term, the company is working to secure

more funds to enlarge its database and upgrade the

appointment and Chatbot system.

QCURE strives to become the largest Chinese-

language international healthcare service platform in

China by 2019 and the largest in Asia by 2024. The

short-term goal in 2019 is to produce 3,000 doctor

authorized medical articles and 1,000 doctor videos,

to establish its official accounts on 30 Chinese social

media platforms for enhanced brand recognition in

the Chinese market, and to boost monthly visits to

10 million. It is also planning to expand its QCURE

healthcare consultants to 1,000.

Advice to Others

In Katie’s view, starting up an innovation and technology

business in Hong Kong is not easy. The Hong Kong

Science Park and other government sources support

mainly scientific research and invention. They are

less available for general applications. In China, there

is more flexibility and therefore more opportunity. A

start-up must know what the market needs, work on

business models, make improvements, work hard and

improve to show that you can prove what you say. This

is the only formula for a start-up to succeed.

(From left) Miss Katie Lee, Faculty Dean Professor Edwin Cheng, Associate Dean (External Relations and Development) Professor Haitian Lu

10 | Alumni

Alumni

I decided to carve out an academic career when I was

working on my MSc dissertation at PolyU. I found

academic research to be really exciting and enjoyable,

so later I decided to switch from industry to academia.

I quit my job as a lead engineer and took up full-time

study for a PhD.

My PhD is specifically and directly relevant to my

capacity as a faculty member in Liverpool – focusing

on operations management, from studying to teaching

and research.

My teaching, research, and administrative roles at the

University have opened many opportunities for me

to realize my aspirations and potential. I am currently

Director of Studies for the MSc in Digital Business

Enterprise Management. I also serve as an Early Career

Researcher Network Representative and a Research

and Impact Committee member of the Faculty of

Humanities and Social Sciences. I am grateful to have

been named Early Career Researcher of the Year in

2016 and to have been presented with a Certificate of

Teaching Excellence from the Management School in

the same year.

I miss life as a student at PolyU and the supervisors who

were inspirations to me. I miss the interesting seminars

by leading scholars in operations management and

various other fields, and the discussions among the

PhD students about research, life, and career. I miss

playing badminton with the academic staff and fellow

students every week, particularly because I have not

had a game of badminton since moving to the UK.

In my experience, it is never too late to pursue a dream.

I had been in industry for a few years before quitting my

job and undertaking the PhD.

“Keep calm and carry on” is what springs to mind

when I think of research students. Research involves

uncertainty and variability, so it is essential to remain

cool under pressure. Research is a long-term task, so it

is important to persevere and go forward.

Dr Hugo Lam Lecturer in Operations ManagementOperations and Supply Chain ManagementManagement SchoolUniversity of Liverpool

2015 PhD GraduateThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Pursuing anAcademicVocation

Alumni | 11

I decided to pursue an academic career when I was an undergraduate in

the Department of Management and Marketing at PolyU. The intensive and

extensive training on theorizing skills in both my undergraduate and doctoral

studies at PolyU has enabled me to pursue my current research interest

independently and collaboratively with scholars from top universities

all over the world. We are appropriating and extending insights from the

psychology discipline to conceptualize and understand the individual,

group, and societal use of different forms of technologies. These include

enterprise information systems, teleconferencing or virtual channels, mobile

technology and applications, and social networks.

I spent more than eight years at PolyU. It was the most precious time in

my life. I still remember the azaleas in front of the library in spring, the

convenience store in the Shaw Amenities Building, and the nice ladies in the

general office.

For prospective and current research students, I encourage you to do

the following:

1. Select a research topic or research direction that truly intrigues and

interests you;

2. Take ownership of your learning. Do not leave it to your adviser;

3. Spend quality time and effort on quality work;

4. Avoid making yourself the same as someone else; and

5. Look for synergies, e.g., synergy among your projects, synergy between

research and teaching, and synergy between life and work.

Dr Xixi LiAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Management Science and EngineeringSchool of Economics and ManagementTsinghua University


Pursuing anAcademic Vocation

12 | Alumni

Alumni

University days were a gift for me that will last a lifetime. I spent eight years at PolyU: three years for

undergraduate study, four years for the PhD, and one year working as Research Assistant.

My life at the University started with a Bachelor’s degree in the School of Accounting and Finance

(AF). In the final year of the programme, I decided to pursue an academic career simply because I was

curious about the workings of capital markets and wanted to advance my understanding of them.

During my PhD, I started to realize that doing a research degree involves much more than learning

how to raise capital. It is necessary to maintain an intensively inquisitive mind and think critically.

My supervisors were supportive, especially when I needed help with research or coping with the

pressures of academic life. The faculty was accommodating and eager to help students, and the

administrative staff were kind and efficient.

Upon graduation, I served as Research Assistant in AF before leaving for Shanghai to join Fudan

University.

An academic career, like any other career, is not easy. I meet challenges from time to time. Whenever

I push myself out of my comfort zone and am rewarded, I feel inspired. Having a research paper

published for the first time was a real affirmation of my dedication.

The PolyU days are very precious to me. I maintain close connections with my supervisors, the faculty,

and my PhD classmates.

For research students, self-learning is crucially important. Be patient and always be curious to discover

more. Cherish your PhD time. It will most likely be the final stage of your student life.

Dr Haina ShiAssociate ProfessorDepartment of AccountingSchool of ManagementFudan University



Alumni | 13

In the last year of my Bachelor’s programme (Industrial

Engineering), I was working in a logistics lab where

the professor-in-charge was conducting research

on seaport terminal operations and developing

optimization models. My responsibility as a research

assistant, and later on as a research associate, was to

develop simulation modules to assess the mathematical

models. I participated in an algorithm development

project outsourced by a logistics company. We delivered

the final product (a tested algorithm) that was later

commercialized and introduced to other companies. I

was so excited to see academic research contributing

to real-world problem solving in the industrial sectors

and I started thinking about pursuing a PhD degree and

becoming an expert.

My research and teaching activities in the Netherlands

are highly related to my PhD projects, mainly focusing

on empirical and simulation studies in operations and

supply chain management. I am very grateful to the

mentors at PolyU, particularly my chief supervisor

Professor Edwin Cheng, who motivated me to set

high standards for myself. Professor Mike Lai helped

me extend my research network, and Dr Chris Lo

became a role model for me to follow in pursuing high-

quality research. Through PolyU’s Research Student

Attachment Programme, I was able to work with world-

class scholar, Professor Kevin Linderman in the Carlson

School of Management at the University of Minnesota

(US). This experience substantially improved my ability

to conduct high-quality research.

At PolyU, I was a hall tutor in the Student Halls of

Residence (Homantin Halls) for two years. I made many

friends there and had valuable experiences organizing

and coordinating hall events and helping students in

need. The friendships I made with hall mates and other

hall tutors are deep and we are still very good friends.

I think my personality fits well with my current role in

academia because I like to think problems through

from different perspectives and investigate them

Dr Xun TongAssistant Professor Department of OperationsFaculty of Economics and BusinessUniversity of Groningen

2017 PhD Graduate The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

using rigorous methods. I also enjoy communicating

with students and scholars on various interesting

research topics. University teaching and research

demands dedication. I like working in a research-

oriented university because I have more freedom to

select research projects, and I have opportunities

to work with self-motivated students and learn from

outstanding colleagues.

For PhD students, the most important thing is to

choose a good research topic in consultation with your

supervisors. Be passionate, dedicated, patient, and

work proactively. Outstanding research, such as that

found in top publications, can only be accomplished

through hard and smart work. Do not be disappointed.

Learn from failure and be determined to achieve your

goals. On top of this, stay healthy, both physically

and mentally, so you can overcome challenges.

Seek work-life balance and prepare yourself for an

academic career.


14 | Alumni

Alumni

PERSPECTIVESRESEARCH

Based on:

Preference for Dividends and Return ComovementJournal of Financial Economics, forthcoming

A prevalent feature of investors is that they like to

allocate capital at the level of asset categories rather

than individual stocks, what we call style investing. There

are multiple styles that investors follow. For example,

some investors group stocks based on whether they

are included in the S&P 500 index and make investment

decisions based on the stocks’ index memberships.

One important implication of style investing for asset

pricing is that it generates comovement in stock returns

as investor capital flows in and out of specific styles

and creates demand pressure for stocks. Consistent

with this argument, follow-on empirical studies show,

for example, that stocks added to the index covary

more than other stocks already in the index, and

the increased comovement cannot be explained by

changes in the fundamental correlations.

In this study, the authors provide fresh evidence of

return comovement driven by investor preference

for dividends. They find that investors treat a stock’s

dividend characteristics as a salient category and

they move their funds in and out of the category,

causing stocks within the category to move together.

Their finding is consistent with anecdotal evidence.

From a practitioner perspective, fund managers often

explicitly state that their selection of stocks is based

on the stocks’ dividend status in their fund prospectus.

Examples of such funds include: (a) Fidelity Equity

Dividend Income Fund, whose investment strategy is to

invest “primarily in income-producing equity securities

that pay current dividends and show potential for

capital appreciation”; and (b) T. Rowe Price Dividend

Growth Fund, which describes itself as a “fund seeking

dividend income and long-term capital growth through

investments in dividend-paying stocks.”

Using dividend initiations by firms trading on the NYSE/

AMEX and NASDAQ from 1981 to 2012, the authors find

strong evidence linking return comovement to clientele

dividends. The sensitivity (or beta) of stock returns to

the portfolio of dividend-paying stocks increases from

0.16 to 0.38 (a difference of 0.22) for firms that initiate

dividends. Their beta with respect to the portfolio of

non-dividend payers decreases from 0.30 to 0.22 (a

difference of -0.08).

Beyond comovement in stock returns, the authors

analyse turnover comovement for dividend initiators

relative to a matched control sample. They find that

dividend initiators register an increase in turnover

comovement with dividend-paying stocks from 0.47

to 0.56 after initiations. There is also a simultaneous

decrease in comovement with non-dividend paying

stocks from 0.56 to 0.44. This new evidence of

comovement in trading activities strongly supports the

investor clientele/trading habitat view. In addition, the

authors find that mutual funds historically preferring

high (low) dividends tilt their portfolio holdings towards

(away from) the dividend initiators. More importantly,

mutual funds with a preference for dividend stocks

receive greater inflows when the premium for dividends

is higher.

Overall, the evidence supports the proposition

that the trading of pro-dividend (dividend-averse)

clienteles induces an extra factor for dividend payers

(non-payers) beyond those associated with changes

in common factors.

Allaudeen Hameed, National University of SingaporeJing Xie, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Behavioural Bias, Dividends, and Asset Pricing

16 | Research

Perspectives

Brownian motion, born from exploring the microscopic

physical phenomenon, is now becoming a powerful

analytical tool, as vigorously demonstrated in the

authors’ recently published research. Their research

provides an effective tool for analysing and controlling

complex management and engineering systems, which

are often large-scale, dynamic and stochastic in nature.

In the study, such complex service systems are often

formulated as so-called stochastic processing networks.

For example, the core component of a car-sharing

mobile platform, the dispatching control, is modeled

as a network consisting of several parallel servers, in

which an arriving booking request is dispatched to

one of the available drivers. Other examples include

the management of hospital resources, Internet

bandwidth sharing, and scheduling of semiconductor

manufacturing, in which there are many service/

production resources that are shared among the job

classes requiring the services. In these systems, it is

a perpetual challenge to evaluate the performance and

even to develop an optimal resource control.

Research in recent years has demonstrated the

effectiveness of applying the so-called fluid and

diffusion scalings to the network, and examining the

corresponding limiting regime. Using this approach, the

original system (discrete, random, and hard to analyse

directly) is replaced by a deterministic fluid model and

a continuous Brownian model that can be evaluated.

Then, through mathematical techniques, the results

for later models are transformed back into the original

system of interest. Traditionally, this approach is applied

heuristically, and thus a major concern is, “is it safe to

apply the results generated by such an approach?”

In their paper, the authors give a firm answer, “yes.”

They fill the gap by developing a creative framework

for solving a kind of “interchange of limits” problem. A

profound implication is that the stationary performance

of the fluid and Brownian model (the “clone” system)

approximate the original discrete system of interest.

Consequently, the fluid and Brownian approach is

rigorously justified. The authors comment that, “for

many years, researchers and practitioners have

developed precious toolkits for understanding and

managing complex service systems via the fluid and

Brownian approach heuristically, and now they can

deploy such tools with the peace of mind.”

In the era of big data, businesses are faced with an

increasingly competitive environment, with shorter

product life cycles, more demanding and fragmented

customer sectors, and more diversified and dynamic

supply channels. Pervasive use of structured financial

instruments on one hand suits various financial

purposes, and on the other hand induces more

uncertainty and risk at the heart of the economic

system. Companies are competing with analytics to

tap into these complexities. This research represents

a stride in developing tools for managing large-scale

dynamic stochastic systems and supporting innovative

business models.

Hengqing Ye, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityDavid D. Yao, Columbia University

Managing Large-scale Dynamic Stochastic SystemsBased on:

Justifying Diffusion Approximations for Multiclass Queueing Networks under A Moment ConditionAnnals of Applied Probability, 28(6), 3652-3697 (2018)

Diffusion Limit of Fair Resource Control — Stationarity and Interchange of LimitsMathematics of Operations Research, 41(4), 1161-1207 (2016)

Research | 17

All employees experience anxiety at work at one point

or another. Some experience it during certain stress-

provoking situations, such as during job interviews or

meetings with important clients. Others experience

it chronically, even during a mundane work day.

Surprisingly, there has been very little research on

how workplace anxiety affects employee productivity.

The little research that exists suggests that anxiety is

something that should be avoided, even driven out of

the workplace. Although this is informative, it does not

adequately capture another perspective of anxiety – as

a force that can drive our best work.

In this paper, the authors developed a framework

outlining the triggers of workplace anxiety, and how

workplace anxiety can both enhance and undermine

employee performance. It also specifies the conditions

under which workplace anxiety is likely to lead to

debilitative and facilitative consequences.

Employee characteristics such as gender, age, health,

and job tenure are likely to trigger workplace anxiety, as

are characteristics of the environment such as demands

from the workplace, the task and the company one

works for. Characteristics of the job, such as the type

of job, and the amount of control one has over how to

do one’s work, are also contributing factors.

For employees who experience anxiety during specific

situations (situational workplace anxiety), it is likely to

prompt debilitating thoughts that distract them from

focusing on their work tasks. This in turn affects task

performance. For employees who tend to experience

high general levels of workplace anxiety (dispositional

workplace anxiety), experiencing anxiety at work

is likely to drain them of their personal resources

over the long run, manifesting in burnout symptoms

such as emotional exhaustion, which in turn affects

employee performance. On the bright side, employees

who experience workplace anxiety can enhance their

performance to the extent to which they engage in

self-regulatory processing behaviours that refocus their

attention on their tasks through self-monitoring of their

emotions and behaviours.

Importantly, employees can manage their feelings

of workplace anxiety and guide them towards the

facilitative path. Employees with high levels of

motivation in their work are more likely to invest

resources in self-regulatory processing behaviours,

such as attending to work goals, which strengthens

their capacity for carrying out work tasks. Employees

who have the technical know-how or have adequate

tools to carry out their job tasks are also more adept

at maintaining self-regulatory processing behaviours

that guide anxiety towards enhancing performance.

Finally, employees who have high levels of emotional

intelligence are able to recognize when they are feeling

anxious and are able to manage their anxiety so that

their emotions do not take control of their ability to

carry out work tasks.

This is the first study to theorize the bright side of

workplace anxiety and suggest that employees need

not fear their anxiety so long as they have knowledge

of how to harness it into something that can work for

them. An employee taking control of his or her feelings

of anxiety at work can make anxiety work for, not

against, him/her.

Bonnie Hayden Cheng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Julie M. McCarthy, University of Toronto Scarborough

How Workplace Anxiety Can Help and Hurt Employee Performance Based on:

Understanding the Dark and Bright Sides of Anxiety: A Theory of Workplace AnxietyJournal of Applied Psychology,103(5), 537-560 (2018)

18 | Research

When managing a global supply chain, one critical

challenge encountered by multinational enterprises

(MNEs) is the extension of corporate social responsibility

(CSR) practices to suppliers in emerging countries. In

this study, the authors use a multi-method approach to

explore 1) the nature of suppliers’ CSR heterogeneity

based on the various components of CSR in emerging

countries, and 2) the choices of MNEs for extending CSR

to different types of suppliers in dynamic environments.

They begin with a survey of Chinese original equipment

manufacturers (OEMs) servicing MNEs to examine how

these suppliers vary in CSR implementation based on

cluster analysis results. To understand the choices

made by MNE buyers for extending CSR to their

OEM suppliers, the authors conduct an agent-based

simulation study considering the dynamics of a system

Multinational Enterprise Buyers’ Choices for Extending Corporate Social Responsibility Practices to Suppliers in Emerging Countries: A Multi-method StudyJournal of Operations Management, forthcoming

Xun Tong, University of Groningen, the Netherlands (Faculty PhD graduate)

Kee-hung Lai, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityQinghua Zhu, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversitySenlin Zhao, Shanghai Maritime University

Jianghang Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityT.C.E. Cheng,

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

with multiple agents (i.e., MNE buyers, OEM suppliers,

and the government). The cluster analysis results

show that CSR practices implemented by Chinese

OEMs differ significantly from one another and can be

classified into three clusters (i.e., Leader, Follower, and

Laggard). The simulation results provide insights into

how the adaption costs (e.g., upgrade cost and cost

saved by downgrading) and punitive (inspection with

possible penalties) and supportive (subsidies) tactics

adopted by the government affect the choices made by

MNE buyers for extending CSR practices to suppliers in

emerging countries. Moreover, the authors demonstrate

when supportive tactics are more effective than punitive

tactics under varying conditions and extend the model

to investigate the consequences of switching between

these two types of tactics in a sequential simulation.

Research | 19

Li Shuping The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Increased Non-family Ownershipin Family-owned Firms:How Does it Affect CEOTurnover-performance Sensitivity? Strategic Management Journal, 39(13), 3434-3457 (2018)

Corporate control in many economies, including

emerging markets, has gradually transitioned from a

family-dominated structure to one with substantial

non-family ownership. How does the increase of non-

family ownership influence the monitoring effectiveness

in family-owned firms? To address this question, this

study assesses the impact of non-family ownership

on CEO turnover-performance sensitivity and its

boundary conditions among 717 family-owned firms

in Taiwan from 1997 to 2011. The findings show that

CEO turnover-performance sensitivity increases with

non-family ownership, especially in firms with weak

governance conditions. The study highlights the

key role of non-family owners for the best corporate

governance design.

20 | Research

Many of us have had a bad workplace interaction with

a boss – for example, being yelled at or sworn at in

front of others, receiving no credit for work that required

serious effort or extra hours, or being humiliated for a

past mistake. But have you thought how your boss

might have felt after mistreating you? Did you notice a

change in his or her behavior? It is common to assume

that the boss would simply pretend that nothing

happened or would even quietly blame the employee

for the outburst. However, in a set of studies published

in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the authors found

that this is not necessarily true — some leaders actually

feel bad and try to make amends.

Cleansing My Abuse:A Reparative Response Model of Perpetrating Abusive Supervisor BehaviorJournal of Applied Psychology, 103(9), 1039-1056 (2018)

Zhenyu Liao, Washington University in St. LouisKai Chi Yam, National University of SingaporeRussell E. Johnson, Michigan State University

Liu Wu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityZhaoli Song, National University of Singapore

Drawing from the literature on moral cleansing and

moral courage, the authors posit that supervisors who

engage in abusive behavior may paradoxically engage

in more positive leadership behaviors subsequently

as a result of feeling guilty. In addition, leader moral

courage strengthens these effects by 1) amplifying the

intensity of experienced guilt after perpetrating abusive

supervisor behaviors, and 2) increasing the likelihood to

perform reparative actions after experiencing feelings

of guilt. Their research contributes to the theoretical

understanding of leaders’ responses toward their own

abusive supervisor behavior and provides insights into

how and when destructive leadership behaviors may,

paradoxically, trigger more constructive behaviors.

Research | 21

Challenging voice, defined as verbal expressions

of opinions, ideas, or concerns to constructively

change and modify current operations, is believed

to improve organizational or unit functioning. It

remains undetermined in the literature, however,

whether employees engaging in such voice behavior

tend to receive favorable or unfavorable responses

from managers.

Drawing from social persuasion theory, the

authors theorize that managers tend to give more

positive evaluations to employees who engage in a

moderate frequency of promotive/prohibitive voice

than those who either rarely speak up or speak up

very frequently. Collecting survey data from three

Nonlinear Consequences of Promotive and Prohibitive Voice for Managers’ Responses: The Roles of Voice Frequency and LMXJournal of Applied Psychology, 103(10), 1101-1120 (2018)

Xu Huang, Hong Kong Baptist UniversityErica Xu, Hong Kong Baptist University

Lei Huang, Auburn University Liu Wu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

different samples, they found a consistent pattern—

when the relationship quality between leaders and

members was low, there was an inverted U-shape

relationship between prohibitive voice (i.e., pointing

out problems with current practices and inhibiting

wrongdoings to improve organizational functioning)

and leader’s positive evaluation. However, the

frequency of promotive voice was not related to

leader’s positive evaluation, irrespective of levels of

LMX.

The findings suggest that a moderate frequency of

prohibitive voice can project a positive image to

managers, even when the voicing employees are

not members of the managers’ ingroup.

22 | Research

For 2018-2019, a total of 22 projects with Faculty

members as principal investigators have secured

General Research Fund (GRF) grants of HK$9,519,546

in aggregate from the Research Grants Council (RGC)

of Hong Kong. Among these projects, 12 belong to

the School of Accounting and Finance (AF), seven

belong to the Department of Logistics and Maritime

Studies (LMS), and three belong to the Department of

Management and Marketing (MM).

For the same year, two Faculty member projects

obtained funding from the Early Career Scheme (ECS),

totalling HK$897,186. One project is from AF and the

other is from MM.

Faculty Secures OverHK$10 million of RGC Funding


Project title Principal investigator

Executive Disclosure on Twitter Dr Huang Wenli

Fast and Slow Markets, Fast and Slow Investors: How Investors React to Speed Bump Dr Park Seongkyu

Tackling Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Conflict Minerals Disclosure Regulation

Professor Ng Tee Yong

How Likely is it for Realized Performance to Beat Performance Targets in Compensation Contracts? The Roles of Economic Factors and Corporate Governance

Dr Zhang Yong

“Scoops” in the Media: Capital Market Effects of the Use of Anonymous Sources Dr Yang Shuo

Determinations of Cross-sectional International Stock Returns: Covariances or Characteristics

Professor Wei Kuo-chiang

Do Institutional Investors Affect Corporate IT Investment and IT Performance? Dr Cheng Zhuo (June)

Understanding the Informational Content of Option Implied Volatility Dr Li Gang

Forecasting the Growth of Revenues and Expenses Professor Ohlson James A.

Internal Connections of CEOs and Corporate Tax Avoidance Dr Ge Rui

Corporate Bond Market Attention to Strategic Timing of Bad Earnings News Dr Li Qin

Are Partisan Media Also Biased with Respect to Earnings News? Any Price Effect? Professor Cheng Cheng-shing Agnes

GRF projects

Research | 23

Research

Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies


Shore Power Deployment Plan: Making at-Berth Emission Reduction Effective Dr Wang Shuaian

Reliable Transport Schedules: Not Worth the Effort? Dr Czerny Achim

Customer Heterogeneity, Service Differentiation and Operational Policy Design of the On-demand Platforms in the Sharing Economy

Dr Wang Yulan

Managing Supply Uncertainty for Multi-component Assembly Systems Dr Xiao Guang

Reward-based Crowdfunding in the Presence of Potential Competitor’s Imitation Dr Guo Xiaomeng

Strategic Operations Management in Bicycle-sharing Industry Dr Xu Wenxin

Joint Inventory and Markdown Management for Perishable Products with Censored Demand Data

Professor Guo Pengfei

Department of Management and Marketing


Interviewer Authentic Behavior: Conceptualization and Examination of Its Impact on Recruitment Outcomes

Dr Kim Kawon

The Impact of Product Glossiness on Consumer Judgments Professor Jiang Yuwei

Worrying the Day Away: A Model of How Daily Workplace Anxiety Enhances Employee Productivity

Dr Cheng Bonnie Hayden



Bank Audits and Mortgage Fraud Dr Yang Nan

Department of Management and Marketing


Receiving Help Threatens My Social Status: An Episodic Examination of Help Type and Interpersonal Justice during Helping on Recipients’ Social Status and Downstream Consequences

Dr Lin Jia

ECS Projects

24 | Research

Research

KUBS WorldwideBusiness Research Rankings


PolyU’s position in KUBS WorldwideBusiness Research Rankings (by Academic area)

Operations Management & Management Science

The recently released 2018 KUBS Worldwide Business Research Rankings™, compiled by the Korea University

Business School (KUBS), show that PolyU’s Operations Management & Management Science comes first in the

world during the five-year period 2014 to 2018 and has maintained this position since the 2010 to 2014 period.

The KUBS rankings have its basis on a selection of 86 distinguished business journals in major academic disciplines.

According to the 2018 rankings for all academic areas, PolyU ranks 17th in the world (18th in 2017) and 2nd in

Hong Kong.

PolyU’s Operations Management & Management Science Ranks First in the World

According to the newly released ShanghaiRanking’s

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2018,

the subject of Management at PolyU ranks 10th in the

world and the first in Hong Kong.

GRAS 2018 lists over 4,000 universities by 54 subjects

across Natural Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences,

Medical Sciences, and Social Sciences. It measures

each institution’s research productivity, research quality,

international collaboration, and academic recognition.

PolyU’s Management Subject Ranks 10th in the World

17

18

20

2018

2017

2016

2014-2018 2013-2017 2012-2016 2011-2015 2010-20141

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Harvard University

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

University of Pennsylvania

National University of Singapore

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Pennsylvania State University – University Park

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Arizona State University

University of Toronto


ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking ofAcademic Subjects 2018 – Management

Faculty

Faculty | 25

Learning to(Un)learn byStaying F.O.C.U.S.E.D.

Transforming Internship for Transformative Learning and Reciprocal Knowledge Transfer between University and Workplace is a project

supported by the Funding Scheme for Teaching and

Learning Related Proposals 2016-2019 hosted by the

University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong

and led by Dr Robert Wright in the Department of

Management and Marketing. The funding scheme

has four themes. This project focuses on the theme of

Innovation, aiming to help both students and teachers

bring knowledge and practice closer together. During

an interview between the Associate Dean for External

Relations and Development Professor Haitian Lu (Lu)

and Dr Wright (Wright), the latter updated us on the

progress of his project.

Lu: You were recently awarded HK$9.7m funding

based on a pedagogical framework you invented eight

years ago. What is your FOCUSED framework trying

to achieve?

Wright: I originally came up with the idea of “staying

FOCUSED” back in 2009 because I found our students

were having difficulties learning how to learn. It is

a framework grounded in an extensive survey of our

entire business school and countless focus groups

and interviews with practitioners on what is needed

to take learning to the next level. We have also tested

the validity of this framework using various scientific

methodologies over the past eight years. What started

off as a simple teaching tool to help my students

learn better, faster, and more than they are used to, is

now being used by some organizations at the senior

management level, helping them open up alternatives

to unsolved problems, issues, and challenges. The

framework is not magic; nor is it perfect (what is?). Yet it

has been proven time and time again to be particularly

useful in helping students and managers open their

minds to “otherness”: other forms of reasoning, other

forms of logics, other forms of explanations, and other

ways of knowing.

Through this UGC-funded project, we are using

this framework to help groom the next generation

of thought-leaders for a complicated world. It is a

structured and measurable framework that guides and

stimulates (rather than shapes) our thinking, feeling

and acting. Counterintuitively, what appears to be just

a pedagogical innovation is also a very useful tool for

research and discovery; so even top scholars are using

it to advance our stock of knowledge.

Lu: In December last year, our University’s Council

approved the next six-year strategy to help steer us to

new heights. In terms of our strategy for teaching and

learning, how does your project align with the direction

of where we are going?

Faculty

26 | Faculty

Wright: This is an important question. I was fortunate

enough to be appointed by our Dean to sit on one of the

five working groups, helping to craft our next six-year

strategy for teaching and learning under the Deputy

President and Associate Vice President for Learning and

Teaching. At the University level, we have conducted

various town-hall meetings and have solicited input

from colleagues and students. This was indeed a very

iterative and generative process and I continue to be

inspired by the amazing talent we have in our PolyU

community. A core outcome of our strategizing was

the concept of “learning to (un)learn.” Through this, an

important element will be to cultivate the importance

of reflection in our students (and staff). Our FOCUSED

project advocates the importance of getting our

students to think more deeply about what it is they are

doing (and not doing) throughout the course of their

studies and during internship placements. Through

a process called “Reflective Practice” (originating at

MIT), the FOCUSED framework provides a systematic

and generative way to develop peripheral vision about

being more aware of one’s own experience, and taking

a step back to reflect/reflex on how to do things better.

Lu: What impact have you had so far with your

FOCUSED framework within PolyU, in Hong Kong,

and internationally?

Wright: Thanks to the support of our colleagues

and senior management, we are really excited that

more and more staff and students across six tertiary

institutions in Hong Kong are trying out the framework

in their teaching, learning, and research supervision.

So far, we have colleagues in a range of disciplines

using it, or are about to use it: business, law, hotel

and tourism management, design, textile and clothing,

nursing, optometry, medicine, engineering… We have

also successfully introduced it to the Said Business

School at Oxford University, Judge Business School

at Cambridge University, CASS Business School,

Harvard Business School, Harvard School of Dental

Medicine, MIT, Northeastern University, and NYU Stern

School of Business.

In moving the FOCUSED project forward, we are setting

up a data-capturing real-time application grounded in

students’ progressive reflective practice (given complex

unsolved problems, issues, and challenges). Not only

will this platform help users improve their performance

but it will also serve as a powerful database to publish

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research

for educators. We are investing heavily in developing a

Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) and comprehensive

pre-placement training building on the Harvard

Business School’s FIELD Method.

Lu: Thank you for your sharing. We look forward to

continually innovating teaching and learning.

Faculty | 27

Dr Gang Hu, from the School of Accounting and Finance

(AF), and his team developed a teaching case and won

a Nominated Case Award in the 2017 Global Contest

for The Best China-focused Cases. His team members

were Dr Winslet T Y Chan from the Department of

Management and Marketing, AF PhD student Miss

Diana Huang Jingjing, and AF undergraduates Miss

Angel Wu Anqi, Mr Richardo Sun Mengwei, and Miss

Chiara Liu Chenhan. Their case was entitled “Wolf

Warrior 2: The Marketing and Stock Market Stories”.

Wolf Warrior 2 is an action movie that set China’s all-

time box office record in 2017. By examining its product

and promotion strategies, this case highlights the role

of social media in marketing, the factors influencing

consumer behaviour, and the marketing strategy of

the movie industry. Given that the success of the

movie is also reflected in the stock market, this case

provides an example of computing abnormal returns

and conducting event studies in financial markets. In

addition, it provides a context for discussing various

issues related to the Efficient Market Hypothesis

(EMH) versus behavioural finance. It also touches on

interesting issues related to insider trading by company

top management.

Faculty Team Wins Nominated Case Award in Global Contest for The Best China-focused Cases

The Global Contest for The Best China-focused Cases,

hosted by China Europe International Business School

(CEIBS) Case Center, is aimed at promoting global

research on China-specific management issues. The

2017 contest attracted 232 entries, out of which eight

were nominated to compete for the best case award.

Each nominated case received a prize of RMB50,000.

Dr Flora Gu, from the Department of Management and

Marketing, is one of the best reviewers for the Journal

of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) in 2018.

JAMS is an official publication of the Academy

of Marketing Science devoted to the study and

improvement of marketing. It serves as a vital

link between scholarly research and practice by

publishing research-based articles in the substantive

domain of marketing.

Dr Flora Gu Wins JAMS BestReviewer Award

(From left) Wu Anqi, Sun Mengwei, Dr Gang Hu, Dr Winslet T Y Chan, Liu Chenhan

Dr Flora Gu

Faculty

28 | Faculty

The Doctor of Management (DMgt) programme,

offered on the Chinese mainland, has its origins in the

PolyU DBA. This collaboration between the School of

Business at the Renmin University of China (RUC) and

the Faculty is the only State-approved and Ministry of

Education-recognized joint programme of its kind.

On 5 May 2018, PolyU and RUC management and

academics, DMgt students and graduates attended

a celebratory dinner in Beijing that marked the 15th

anniversary of RUC-PolyU collaboration and the

inauguration of the DMgt Alumni Circle.

DMgt Alumni Circle Inauguration Marks 15th Anniversary of RUC-PolyU Collaboration

Dr Wing Lam, of the Department of Management

and Marketing, was presented with the Best Paper

Award at the 2018 ISERD–International Conference on

Economics, Management, and Social Study. Her paper,

entitled “A Dual Process Model of Taking Charge”, is co-

authored by Dr Kan Ouyang of the Shanghai University

of Finance and Economics.

ISERD is short for the International Society for

Engineering Research and Development. The

conference was held on 4 to 5 May 2018 in Kraków,

Poland.

Dr Wing Lam Wins Best Paper Award at ISERD−International Conference on Economics, Management, and Social Study

Dr Wing Lam (left)

Faculty | 29

Grace Chae BoyounAssistant Professor Department of Management and Marketing

PhD in Marketing (The University of British Columbia)MSc in Marketing and BBA (Seoul National University)

Research Interests: Consumer Behaviour, Consumer Socialization and Motivation, Sensory Marketing

Feifei HuangAssistant Professor Department of Management and Marketing

PhD in Marketing (Chinese University of Hong Kong) MSc in Marketing (Dalian University of Technology) BBA (Shandong University of Finance and Economics)

Research Interests: Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Communications, Emotions and Feelings

Welcome Aboard

Katherine Feng Yue Assistant Professor Department of Management and Marketing

PhD in Information Systems (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) MSc in Information Systems and Bachelor in Statistics (Fudan University)

Research Interests: Social Network Analysis, Online Marketing, IT Innovation and Implementation, Big Data and Business Analytics, Machine Learning

Michael Mei Xiaowei Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Management and Marketing

PhD in Information Systems and Operations Management (University of Florida) Master in Computer Science and Engineering (University of Texas at Arlington) Bachelor in Software Engineering (Jilin University)

Research Interests: Big Data and Business Analytics, Data Mining, Social Network Analysis, Economics of Information Systems, Mechanism Design in Information Systems

Xiaomi Technology Senior Director (Finance) Mr Liu

Wei visited the Faculty’s FinTech Centre on 19 July

2018. He was accompanied by AMTD Group Chairman

and President Mr Calvin Choi and received by PolyU

President Professor Timothy W. Tong. The three

parties had a brief discussion about the potential for

cooperation and collaboration.

AMTD FinTech Centre of PolyU Faculty of Business

(FinTech Centre), established in April 2018 with the

support of the AMTD Group and the AMTD Foundation,

is the first university-industry collaboration of its

kind in Hong Kong. Its primary objective is to foster

innovation and the development of financial technology

(FinTech) in Hong Kong through research and analysis,

encouraging start-ups, training and consultancy, and

bringing together expertise from Hong Kong, mainland

China, and elsewhere.

Xiaomi Representative Visits FinTech Centre

(From left) Professor Wilson Tong (FinTech Centre Director), Professor Timothy W. Tong, Mr Liu Wei, and Mr Calvin Choi

Faculty

30 | Faculty

Six Faculty members from the School of Accounting

and Finance (AF) and the Department of Logistics

and Maritime Studies (LMS) won Faculty Awards and

Prizes for Outstanding Performance and Achievement

in 2017-2018.

In 2017-2018, three Faculty members were awarded

Faculty Fellowship for contributing to research and

raising the reputation of PolyU and the Faculty.

Faculty Awards and Prizes for Outstanding Performance and Achievement

Faculty Fellowship

Research and Scholarly ActivitiesProfessor Jeffrey Ng (AF)

Research and Scholarly ActivitiesDr Amanda Wang (LMS) Dr Zhou Xu (LMS)

ServicesDr Jimmy Jin (AF)

ServicesDr Achim Czerny (LMS)

TeachingDr Gang Hu (AF)

Professor Pengfei GuoDepartment of Logistics and

Maritime Studies

Dr Sarah WanDepartment of Logistics and

Maritime Studies

Dr Shuaian (Hans) WangDepartment of Logistics and

Maritime Studies

Faculty Award

Faculty Prize

Faculty | 31

Four students from the School of Accounting and Finance (AF)

teamed up to win the second runner-up in the HSBC/HKU Hong Kong

Business Case Competition 2018. They were Mr Wu Yao studying for

the BBA (Hons) in Accountancy, and Miss Yang Yiqi, Miss Li Haoru,

and Mr Cheung Tsz Yeung, studying for the BBA (Hons) in Accounting

and Finance.

This annual competition is open to full-time undergraduates. On 1 June

2018, the AF team competed with other teams of four from eight local

institutions. There were two rounds, each one analysing a business

case, presenting a solution, and responding to queries.

Accounting and Finance Team is Second Runner-up in HSBC/HKU Hong Kong Business Case Competition

Academic Promotion

(From left) Wu Yao, Yang Yiqi, Li Haoru and Cheung Tsz Yeung

Professor Haitian Lu School of Accounting and Finance

Current rank: Professor

Dr Bonnie ChengDepartment of Management and Marketing

Current rank: Associate Professor

Dr Peter Lee Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies

Current rank: Associate Professor

Professor Yuwei Jiang Department of Management and Marketing

Current rank: Professor

Students

32 | Students

Faculty

Five students from the Department of Logistics and

Maritime Studies (LMS) teamed up with entrants from

other institutions and carried off major awards from the

2018 Hong Kong Logistics Case Competition.

Miss Vivian Zhou Jinyi, reading for the BBA (Hons)

in International Shipping and Transport Logistics

(IST), was member of the Champion team. Miss Fung

Hiu Ching, doing a Higher Diploma in International

Transport Logistics (HD-ITL), and Mr Tang Ho

Yan, doing a BBA (Hons) in Global Supply Chain

Management (GSC), were among the first runners-

up. Mr Wang Tianyi (IST) and Miss Hui Yan Yi (HD-ITL)

were among the second runners-up.

The competition, organized by the Hong Kong Logistics

Association, was open to post-secondary students.

It consisted of problem identification, company visits,

and team presentations. The final contest was held on

4 March 2018.

LMS Students Win Hong Kong Logistics Case Competition

Accounting and Finance Undergraduates Receive Certificate of Merit in Business Case Competition

Zhou Jinyi (second from left) of the champion team

Fung Hiu Ching (second from left) and Tang Ho Yan (third from left) of the first runner-up team

Wang Tianyi (third from left) and Hui Yan Yi (fourth from left) of the second runner-up team

Two teams of students from the School of Accounting

and Finance took part in the Cross-Straits, Hong Kong

and Macao Accounting and Business Case Competition

2018, and were presented with the certificate of merit

during the final held in Hong Kong on 9 June. All of

them were year two or year three students studying for

the BBA (Hons) degree. One team was made up of Miss

Wang Shuhan, Miss Chen Shuyu, Miss Gu Yinglin, and

Miss Cui Xinyue. The other team comprised Miss Chau

Tsz Wai, Miss Yung Hoi Sze, Miss Au Ka Wing, Miss

Cheung Kam Shan, and Miss Tse Ki Ki.

The competition, organized by the China Commercial

Accounting Institute (CCAI) and the China Chamber of

International Commerce (CCOIC) Commercial Chamber

of Commerce, was open to students in accounting,

finance and related majors.(Front row from left) Wang Shuhan, Chen Shuyu, Gu Yinglin,and Cui Xinyue(Back row from left) Chau Tsz Wai, Yung Hoi Sze, Au Ka Wing, Cheung Kam Shan, and Tse Ki Ki Students | 33

Miss Jessica Chuen Sui Ting, reading for the BBA

(Hons) in International Shipping and Transport

Logistics, won the CILTHK Kerry Logistics Scholarship

2017-2018 at the degree level.

The scholarship is a collaboration between The

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong

Kong (CILTHK) and Kerry Logistics. It supports full-

time students taking Bachelor’s and Master’s degree

programmes in logistics. During the final round of

recipient selection, Sui Ting delivered a presentation

on Automation in Logistics in which she highlighted

application of knowledge and her observations during

a cargo centre visit arranged by the scholarship offeror.

Accounting and Finance Team is Third Runner-up in TIHK Tax Debate Competition

Miss Chuen Sui Ting Wins CILTHK Kerry Logistics Scholarship

Four undergraduate students from the School of

Accounting and Finance teamed up to enter the

TIHK Tax Debate Competition 2018, and earned third

runner-up in the final. The students were Mr Choi

Chun Ming (Accounting and Finance), Mr Lee Cheung

Hing (Accountancy), Mr Au Ling Kei (Accounting and

Finance), and Mr Chan Tsz Chiu (Accountancy).

This annual competition, hosted by The Taxation

Institute of Hong Kong (TIHK), is open to

undergraduates in accounting and finance or business

with taxation as a core course. It promotes the tax

profession and encourages students to express their

views on tax topics. This year’s final was held in late

May 2018.

Chuen Sui Ting

(From left) Choi Chun Ming, Lee Cheung Hing, Au Ling Kei

Students

34 | Students

Mr Ken Choi Chun Ming, from the School of

Accounting and Finance, was the winner of the Best

Local Community Service Award in the 20th Young

Leaders Development Programme hosted by AIA

Foundation in 2017-2018.

This year, the six-month training programme for 14

outstanding students from local universities was aimed

at helping them develop leadership and a sense of

social responsibility. It included guest lectures, career

workshops, an adventure and leadership camp, and

voluntary service for the elderly and children with

special needs.

Mr Li Xiyuan Awarded Human Capital Management Society Scholarship

Mr Choi Chun Ming Wins Best Local Community Service Award in AIA Foundation Young Leaders Development Programme

Mr Sunny Li Xiyuan, reading for the BBA (Hons) in

Management, was the second runner-up in the 2017-

2018 competition for the Human Capital Management

Society scholarship. Nominated by the Faculty’s

Department of Management and Marketing to

compete with entrants from other local institutions, he

wrote an essay on “How HR enables an organization

to adapt in an era of disruption” for the first round

of assessment. He then made an oral presentation

during the final on 21 April 2018.

The Human Capital Management Society, established

under The Hong Kong Management Association,

promotes good practices and fair employment

relations in addition to nurturing professionals in

human capital management.

Choi Chun Ming (first from left in back row)

Li Xiyuan (right)

Students | 35

In 2017-2018, four student-athletes from the

Faculty’s undergraduate programmes were named

Most Valuable Players of The University Sports

Federation of Hong Kong, China (USFHK), and five

were named Most Valuable Players of PolyU teams.

They were students of the BBA (Hons) programme

from the School of Accounting and Finance (AF),

the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies

(LMS), and the Department of Management and

Marketing (MM).

The nine winners received the awards during the

annual sport prizes presentation of the USFHK on 22

April 2018 and the annual sport prizes presentation of

PolyU on 24 April 2018.

Nine Undergraduates Recognized at Annual Sport Prizes Presentations

Most Valuable Player of USFHK

Most Valuable Player of PolyU Team

Vincent Chau Kwan Lam (LMS) Tennis (M)

Lam Wing Lun (MM) Tennis (M)

Li Tsz Kwan (LMS) Basketball (W)

Ng Wing Kei (AF) Table Tennis (W)

Tsai Choi Kwan (LMS) Basketball (M)

Wong Kin Sing (AF) Table Tennis (M)

Cheung Wa Sin (MM) Basketball (W)

Law Shiu Chung (AF) Fencing (M)

Li Ka Chun (AF) Karatedo (M)

36 | Students

Students

Past Events

Professor Zhi-Long Chen, from the University of Maryland, delivering a public lecture entitled “Operations Research Improves Productivity and Resource Utilization in Steel Production and Delivery” (August 2018)

Summer Programme organized by the Faculty for secondary school students (July 2018)

Faculty Workshop, entitled “Mastering the Six Cultural Dimensions for Success”, run by Fulbright Scholar Dr Elizabeth A. Tuleja from the University of Notre Dame (May 2018)

Professor Hsing Kenneth Cheng, from the University of Florida, delivering a public lecture entitled “The Debate on Net Neutrality: A Policy Perspective” (August 2018)

International Transportation Economics Association Annual School and Conference hosted by the Faculty’s Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies (June 2018)

Professor Haitian Lu making a presentation on State Capitalism vs. Private Enterprise during the Don X CEO luncheon hosted by the Faculty (May 2018)

Professor Mary E. Barth from Stanford University at MIT Asia Conference in Accounting co-organized by the Faculty’s School of Accounting and Finance (July 2018)

Professor C. Nathan DeWall, from the University of Kentucky, delivering a public lecture entitled “The Pain of Rejection: Breaking and Restoring Social Bonds” (May 2018)

Professor the Hon Bob Carr, from the University of Technology Sydney, delivering a public lecture themed “Australia-China Relations and the Belt and Road Initiative” (April 2018)

Past Events | 37

Chief EditorProfessor Edwin Cheng

EditorsProfessor Haitian Lu

Dr Anthony Pang

Dr Feng Tian

Dr Xin Xu

Faculty of Business

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