AmCham Magazine: Face to Face with the Dean
Prof. Kalok Chan, Dean of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School, says in an interview with biz.hk that he is excited to return to his alma mater to continue CUHK Business School’s legacy as one of the best business schools in the world.
In an interview with biz.hk, journal of The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hong Kong, Prof. Kalok Chan expresses his feeling of returning to The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), his alma mater, to take up the role of Dean of the CUHK Business School, after having completed his undergraduate studies here 28 years ago. He also shares his views on the recent turbulence in the China stock market as well as how local students can stay competitive in the increasingly globalized business world.
Dean Chan says that “CUHK and its Business School really have a lot of interesting developments and quite a lot of potential. It is a platform where I can do something good for the university and the community using some of the experience that I have acquired before and bringing it back to the Business School.”
Actually this isn’t the first time that CUHK has offered Prof. Chan a job. The University approached him just as he finished his PhD in the United States. However, he chose to stay in the United States then to do research, as he believed it had a better research environment than Hong Kong. The Dean states that “[in the past], I didn’t think that there were too many research opportunities or even a focus on research. But of course now it is very different,” adding that “the business schools in Hong Kong have done a lot of good [work] and are comparable to some of the schools in the US or Europe.” He goes on to point out that many of his colleagues are already doing various research projects on China’s economy, financial market, governance and more, and expressed an interest in researching the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect once he is more settled in as the Dean.
Commenting on the recent stock market crash in China, Dean Chan explains that “[the stock market crash] reveals that obviously the size of the market had grown, but in terms of the infrastructure, it is really behind. The kind of the ad hoc policies and remedies are not touching the real issues which sometimes make the matter worse. This is certainly quite a lesson to learn.” He adds that “you can find [Hong Kong] also made a huge mistake [in 1987]. So I think that maybe the mistake is no smaller than the kind of mistakes that the Mainland regulators have made. You just have to learn. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes you have to learn it the hard way. Now they just got the hard way.”
According to Dean Chan, the increasing connectivity applies to the Business School as it prepares students for the increasing globalization of business. Besides providing students with a firm foundation of knowledge, the Business School is working hard to instill each student with the necessary communication skills and, more importantly, a global mindset.
CUHK has opened a new campus in Shenzhen last year, which the Dean sees as another avenue of opportunities for its students. Dean Chan mentions that “if Hong Kong can take advantage of the development of the Southern part of China like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, it would be good [for the development of local talents]. There are a lot of the big companies and lot of the new startups and technology companies there.”
Hong Kong is turning out more university graduates than ever before, and with more and more foreign talents coming to Hong Kong, the local students have to step up to compete with them both at home and abroad.
The Dean believes that “in the 21st century, companies and businesses are looking for some kind of a quick return. So they really expect their staff to be able to basically be up and running on the first day.” If there is one thing that can help students keep up with their competitors, he believes it is the student’s attitude, and adds that “it is about whether they are persistent and resilient, if they are willing to do what it takes to persevere. This can determine whether they’ll be able to succeed in business school and their career.”… Read More (PDF)
The interview article has been featured in the cover story published in both the print and online editions of the July/August 2015 issue of biz.hk. Please click the images below to view the print coverage.
Source: biz.hk, journal of AmCham HK
Date published: 17 August, 2015
Photo: Silver Image and AmCham HK