UG News, Feb 2008

Abstract

UG News Feb 2008 Becoming a Responsible Citizen Published by the Undergraduate Programs Office HKUST Business School The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: 2358 7533 Fax: 2358 1467 Email: bmug@ust.hk Website: www.bm.ust.hk/ug The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School 02 OVERSEAS STUDY TRIPS 03 YOUR STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES 05 COVER STORY: BECOMING A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN 07 LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS 09 PHOTO GALLERY 11 ACHIEVEMENTS 13 ALUMNI NEWS 15 SBM UG GRADUATE CLUB 1 H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 C o n t e n t To offer more internationalization opportunities for students, the School has organized several 1-credit summer/winter study trips to various interesting destinations worldwide. Participants get to learn about international business and intercultural management through educational lectures, company visits, sightseeing, weekend excursions, cultural events and social activities. Overseas Study Trips Ohio State University (Ohio, United States) January 2008 “The program is fantastic! The visit to the National City Bank was memorable because we toured an actual bank that was built in the 1800s. I had the chance to experience the real-life of American students who were friendly and enthusiastic. Learning to ski was also a very exciting and fun experience!” Cindy Deng (FINA Year 2) Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Oita, Japan) July 2007 “The friendship I established with overseas students was far more than I expected…Overall, this tour was unforgettable and offered a valuable opportunity to appreciate Japanese culture and meet young people from various countries.” Anna Chu (ACCT Year 2) The Norwegian School of Management BI (Oslo, Norway) June 2007 “The three-week trip in Scandinavia was a colorful and memorable experience. It was a wonderful way of value-adding in the summer holidays. This trip is strongly recommended to fellow HKUST students!” Stephen Chung (GBUS Year 2) Study Trips Travel Grant Award (STTGA) STTGA provides grants to students needing financial assistance for participating in Study Trips (SBMT100). Grants amount from HK$10K – 20K each. For details and eligibility, please visit www.bm.ust.hk/ug/current/ or email Ms Ivy Ngan at ivyngan@ust.hk. 2 H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 Overseas Study Trips Your Student Representatives The first meeting of the SBM UG Programs Student Representatives Committee was held on 4 December 2007 at the UG Programs Office. The Committee was established to strengthen the communication between the School and its students. Thirteen students and eight SBM representatives attended the first meeting. During the meeting, student reps expressed their concerns in various areas and provided many insightful suggestions. It was agreed that the SBM UG Office would organize more activities for students to better prepare them for their future careers. Proposed ideas include organizing more case competitions or case studies, mock interviews, workshops on communication and presentation skills. All SBM UG students are welcome to contact their student reps if they have any concerns or suggestions. The student reps attend quarterly meetings and help voice out students’ concerns to the School. 2007-2008 Student Representatives LEE Yoo Hyun ac_lyhae@stu.ust.hk Local, ACCT Year 1 SBM UG Programs Student Representative CHAN Tsz Kit ac_ctkae@stu.ust.hk Local, ACCT Year 2 SBM UG Programs Student Representative AGARWAL Prerna bm_apxaa@stu.ust.hk Local, BBA Year 1 LEE Hung Kei ec_lhkaf@stu.ust.hk Local, ECON Year 3 SBM UG Programs Student Representative AU Chun Sing bm_acsaa@stu.ust.hk Local, BBA Year 1 LAU Jennifer ac_ljxal@stu.ust.hk Local, ACCT Year 3 CHOY Tsz Ki bm_ctkag@stu.ust.hk Local, BBA Year 1 3 H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 Your Student Representatives CHAN Kin Lun Kenneth ec_ckl@stu.ust.hk Local, ECOF Year 3 LAM Pik Yee im_lpyak@stu.ust.hk Local, OM Year 2 KU Wang Hei im_kwhaa@stu.ust.hk Local, OM Year 3 MENG Yuanyuan ac_myxaa@stu.ust.hk Mainland, ACCT, Year 2 HAO Tong ec_htxaa@stu.ust.hk Mainland, ECOF Year 1 LI Xiaopeng bm_lxxai@stu.ust.hk Mainland, BBA Prep Year SBM UG Programs Student Representative SOH Wee Chean ec_swc@stu.ust.hk International, ECOF Year 1 SHEA Hong Yue qf_shy@stu.ust.hk Local, QFIN Year 1 YU Wai Yat qf_ywy@stu.ust.hk Local, QFIN Year 2 AHMAD Sabahat ahmadsabahat@gmail.com International, GBUS Year 2 SBM UG Programs Student Representative SUN Yik Ting Jacky ec_syt@stu.ust.hk Local, ECOF Year 1 SBM UG Programs Student Representative LI Tsz Ying, Eva fn_ltyaa@stu.ust.hk Local, FINA Year 2 SBM UG Programs Student Representative FUNG Kit Ming Veronica mk_fkmab@stu.ust.hk Local, MARK Year 2 SBM UG Programs Student Representative CHENG Tsun Kai gb_ctkaa@stu.ust.hk Local, GBUS Year 1 H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 4 Y o u r S t u d e n t R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s Becoming a Responsible Citizen while Earning Win-Win, an operative aphorism around the negotiation table, aptly depicts the mutually beneficial partnership between some HKUST business students, who have been given the opportunity to broaden their life experiences and at the same time earn university credits, and some charitable organizations that could leverage on students’ youth and enthusiasm in their services. In the Fall of 2007, a credit-bearing program launched by the Business School put 19 students in an undertaking with Caritas Hong Kong. Throughout the semester, the students helped to improve the social interaction skills of children with learning disabilities (dyslexia) and worked with ethnic minorities children and their families. Through the program, students recognized the importance of social responsibility in society. Working with the underprivileged not only enabled them to see the injustice of social discrimination, but also made them aware that a voluntary collective effort is needed to eradicate social ills and establish a harmonious community. The idea of social responsibility, going above and beyond legal responsibility, is what the program is trying to instill in the students. The program has inspired many students and most have expressed a range of individual benefits. Pui-Kei Ng (ECOF Year 3) said, “I realized that there are many underprivileged people who need others’ assistance. When I can offer to help, it gives me a sense of satisfaction and happiness. I also have a more positive attitude towards life now.” “There are just endless benefits you can gain, like the friendships with fellow volunteers, the mentoring from experienced social workers, the relationship with your ‘clients’, and all the soft skills like team work, organizational, communications skills that you can acquire from the voluntary project,” said Erica Yuen (ECOF Year 3). Credits H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 5 Cover Story In a separate project, 16 other students joined in raising funds for the charitable organization Po Leung Kuk. Under the One Love Project, they devised strategies to raise money among the HKUST community. After series of meetings, they decided to stage a fashion show and a charity sale. They also invited the press to cover a signing ceremony between Po Leung Kuk and the Business School before those events. For Chun-Wai Chiu (GBUS Year 1), the One Love Project made the beginning of his university life more memorable. “It gave me opportunities to collaborate with my fellow business schoolmates. Through the exchange of ideas at meetings, I not only learned more about others but also myself; I was able to discover my own abilities, strengths and talents, and this realization is essential to my personal development.” The students did have to struggle with time management, soliciting sponsorships for the charity sale, and even personal conflicts. But these also meant opportunities for self-reflection and personal growth. So-Yeung Cheung (BBA Year 1) made a positive note. “Don’t let bad emotions make you feel frustrated and depressed. Just enjoy and keep learning from the whole experience.” The encouraging student feedback will allow the Business School to continue this project into the academic year of 2008/09 with the offering of a new course, SBMT 102: Social Responsibilities Project, engaging more NGO partnerships. This credit-bearing program, representing another milestone in the School’s quest for a holistic approach to undergraduate education, will become a core part of the four-year undergraduate curriculum to be launched in 2012. H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 6 Cover Story Learn From The Experts Enhancing Communication by Filling Our Life with Drama An exciting communication skills workshop with the theme “1 Tear Drop = 10 Atomic Bombs” was conducted by the celebrated film director Mr Alfred Cheung Kin- Ting (張堅庭) on 29 September 2007. About 50 students spent a fun and educational morning with this renowned and effective coach. Mr Cheung advocated his idea in ‘drama-training’ for improving interpersonal communication in today’s knowledge-based economy. He also shared his view points on the current business world and explained why excellent presentation skills were an important quality required by employers. He revealed that the idea to “dramatize” communication was to demonstrate the elements of role play in both verbal and non-verbal communication in an appropriate manner. The key points he highlighted were articulation, facial expression and body language. During the workshop, our students also explored “drama-training” together with Mr Cheung. They were asked to express themselves freely and to see who was the most successful in catching the attention of the audience by putting forth an in-depth, multi-dimensional and heartfelt presentation. The students learnt that both establishing connection and listening were essential in communication. The students reflected that what they benefited most from the workshop was their way of thinking. They learnt to look at an issue in different perspectives so as to communicate effectively and to leave an impression, especially during interviews. H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 7 Learn From The Experts Eliminate Fear towards All Round Success October 2007 Mr Henry Law, Chief Operating Officer of Hi-Me Transformation Ltd., led students into the exploration of fear and ways to eliminate anxiety so as to improve one’s confidence. NLP in Communication and Networking November 2007 Nowadays, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is widely-used by sales professionals and coaches in executive training, relationship counseling and confidence building. It is also commonly termed as “the science of personal excellence”. Mr Simon Tang, Certified NLP Trainer and also our proud alumnus, conducted a NLP seminar for our students so as to empower them with powerful communication skills and help strengthen their personal confidence. Advisory Session for Big-4 Applications September 2007 Prof Patrick Harvey’s information session attracted a full house of business students to learn more about the preparation needed when applying for graduate jobs in Big-4 & other accounting firms. Image Building: Boy’s Grooming October 2007 Image building is one of the important parts in interview preparation. In order to assist students in this area, L’Oreal Paris conducted a free image building workshop for our male students with a focus on grooming and hairstyling for job interview preparation. Business Etiquette October 2007 Mrs Wendy Cheng, an experienced training consultant, gave a comprehensive talk on the dos and don'ts of business etiquette. A group of business students attended a workshop for intensive training on business manners catered specifically for job interview preparation. H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 8 L e a r n F r o m T h e E x p e r t s Team Building Camp Business Management Company Visit Cathay Pacific HKUST SBM UG News Feb 2008 9 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery Career Mentor Link Congregation 2007 UG Get-together ent Fair BMW Company Visit Company Visit KMB REUTERS Company Visit H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 1 0 Photo Gallery Achievements Recipients of the HK$0.78 million HSBC scholarships Wai-Nam Cheng (GBUS Year 2) and Chun-Kit Chu (FINA Year 2) are two of the lucky HKUST students who have been awarded the HSBC Overseas Scholarship for 2007-08. The total of the scholarships awarded to the two SBM students amounts to HK$0.78 million. Wai-Nam is now studying at Columbia University, U.S.A. while Chun-Kit is studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science under this scholarship scheme. SBM team is the first runner-up in the Citi International Case Competition Held on 22-25 October 2007, the fifth Citi International Case Competition, jointly organized by Citi and SBM, attracted 18 teams from around the world. SBM’s team, comprised of four fi nal year students, Darvesh Daswani (GBUS), Pao–Yau Foo (QFIN), Annie Lau (GBUS) and Kai Tan (FINA), was the fi rst runner-up in the Competition. “This was truly a fantastic platform for students from the entire world to learn from and compete with each other within strict time and resource constraints. Managing the time efficiently and allocating each individual in the team to the most appropriate task were the skills I took away from the case competition.” Kai Tan Enrichment Grant The Undergraduate Programs Office offers a series of grants to encourage students' participation in various enrichment activities that help prepare them to become future business leaders with global perspective and sense of social responsibility. To achieve this mission, the Service Learning Initiative Fund, the International Competitions Travel Grant and the trUST Fund were founded. For details and eligibility, please visit www.bm.ust.hk/ug/current or email Ms ivy Ngan at ivyngan@ust.hk. 11 H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 Achievements Champion in the E-Trade Joint University U.S. Investment Competition Spanning one-month in October 2007, this Competition consisted of teams from the seven local universities. Each team was given a starting capital of US$100,000 for strategic investment in a simulated U.S. stock market. The UST team, comprised of four final year Quantitative Finance students, Jess Chen, Simon Ho, Jeff Ng and Candy Shum, was the champion in the Competition. “I learned how to develop different strategies with the financial models and theoretical knowledge. Now I understand that market sense is very important and traders have to work under huge pressure.” Candy Shum First runner-up in the Virtual Venture Competition organized by McKinsey and Company A team of final year GBUS students, Aggie Lau, Glorious Lin and Kin–Kei Wong, was named the fi rst runner-up in the Virtual Venture Competition held both in Hong Kong and Austria. “The competition was the first truly global business-building contest ever held in the virtual world. The business plans were not only assessed by a jury, but proven by real customers, made real turnover, and were even presented to a real audience within the virtual world! It was a rewarding experience that let us deepen our understanding about the virtual world.” Aggie Lau Top 10% in the Economix Workshop The Economix workshop was an online business competition organized by Universita Bocconi in Italy in Januray 2008. Our Year-3 IS student, Varun Panjwani, was ranked in the top 10% in the competition. He was given an entry to a five-day international event in Milan with other top- 10% performers. “The competition was an ideal platform to bring together the skill sets obtained through extra-curricular activities, internships and the unique Global Business Case Studies course.” Varun Panjwani H K U S T S B M U G N e w s F e b 2 0 0 8 1 2 Achievements Alumni Gatherings To keep SBM UG alumni inter-connected, the Business School hosts a monthly gathering to give all batches of alumni a chance for a chit chat at our downtown center, the Business School Central. This Get Together Party is usually organized in the last week of every month. In the past few months, we have organized fun, informative and enjoyable gatherings such as a Wine Tasting Gathering and an Investment Seminar. For upcoming gatherings, please visit www.bm.ust.hk/ug/alumni 1 3 HKUST SBM UG News Feb 2008 Alumni News 4x5 FILM 3DCEF45G5YH789J 4x5 FILM 3DCEF45G5YH789J 4x5 FILM 3DCEF45G5YH789J Graduate Update Please keep in touch with other SBM UG graduates! Let us know what you’ve been up to since graduation. Share your whereabouts, activities, joys and experiences in the coming issue of the newsletter. Send a short paragraph (preferably under 100 words) and photos to Ms Ivy Ngan (ivyngan@ust.hk). Henry Fong BBA in Operation Management, 2006 Henry Fong lived in Hall 2 during his first semester at HKUST. He started his career as an Executive Trainee at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council on 12 June 2006. He is now facing more challenges in a one-year-old Hedge Fund that is based in Hong Kong but trades Asia-Pacific wide. Henry likes playing basketball and hiking. He has picked up golf lessons recently and will probably start a sailing course this year. He likes to meet people who share similar interests. Henry is always reachable via henry.imfsh@gmail.com. Jennifer Luk BBA in Finance and Marketing, 2003 It’s great having this opportunity to share with you all in this 1st HKUST Business School UG News. In addition, congratulations on the success of the Business School! Studying at HKUST and participating in the enrichment programs offered by the Business School have brought me wonderful experiences which have supported my career development and personal growth so far. The curriculum has upgraded my “hardcore” technical skills which are important in the business world, whereas the global exposure during my studies has helped me develop a more open mindset and enhanced my communications skills. All these contribute a lot to building up the wine business I am currently involved in. A big thanks to HKUST and everyone whom I have met during my time at U – all have brought me memorable times and paved the way to my career now. Email: jennifer@creekwines.com HKUST SBM UG News Feb 2008 1 4 Alumni News Z SBM UG Graduate Club @ HKUST! Get involved Graduates often enquire how they can help the University. There is always a need for enthusiastic graduates who are willing to donate their time and energy to support both the University and the Business School. If you have some time to spare, short or long term, and would like to get involved then please contact us. Job opportunities The HKUST Business School provides various kinds of internship opportunities for students to gain work experience or even academic credits. If you or your company would like to offer a job opportunity to a business undergraduate, please contact us. Mentor a recent graduate Playing a role as mentor to a recent graduate is an important way to help a business student to get started in his/her career. A mentor is “an experienced and trusted adviser” to a new graduate. Want to help a new graduate begin a career? Talks and discussions Students benefit from hearing the experiences of graduates in their field, as they can more easily imagine themselves in your shoes. When graduates come to campus to participate in career sharing panels, seminar talks, or presentations about their profession, these are valuable and educational opportunities for current students. Send an email to us if you are willing to come and speak on campus. We look forward to welcoming you back. * For future updates and verifi cation, please enter all data accurately. SBM UG Graduate Club @ HKUST! Registration Form Fax: (852) 2358-1467 or Email: ivyngan@ust.hk For online application, please visit www.bm.ust.hk/ug/alumni/ Title: First Name*: Surname*: Birthday*: Gender: Male Female Nationality: First Degree: Year of Graduation: Other Degree(s): Year(s) of Graduation: Your current employer: Your current position: Contact address preferred work home Address: Contact phone preferred work home mobile Contact phone: E-mail*: Other E-mail: Other information you would like to share: Personal: Professional: Some ways you can help HKUST SBM UG News Feb 2008 1 5 SBM UG Graduate Club