As the previous vision and mission statements had been in place for a decade, we have recently revisited and updated them to better reflect our aspirations and ambitions.

Our new vision and mission statements are:

We believe that the new vision and mission statements capture our aspirations for the future and better reflect the work that we are already doing. By making our goals more explicit, we hope to inspire even greater engagement and collaboration.

Positive Impact Delivered in the Last Three Years

In the last three years, we have worked hard to ensure that we deliver a positive impact for all our stakeholders: for the School itself and its staff and students, for the business community, and for wider society. Let’s look back at these impacts from the perspective of teaching and learning, research, and knowledge transfer and service to the community.

Teaching and Learning

New programmes developed
We have been working hard to develop new programmes that meet the needs of today's business world. Over the past three years, three new master’s programmes have been developed:

• The MSc in Accounting and Finance Analytics is a conversion programme designed for graduates to develop a broad understanding of accounting and finance, and the applications of technology to these disciplines.

• The MSc in Global Business and Decision Analysis is designed to provide students with both solid training in strategic thinking and scientific decision-making, and a comprehensive understanding of how operating across borders impacts various aspects of business.

• The MSc in ESG and Sustainability is the first of its kind master-level programme in Hong Kong designed to equip future leaders with the knowledge, tools, and networks to make a sustainable impact on the way business is done, and capture new opportunities from sustainability.

Programme revamps
We have also been busy revamping our programmes to ensure that syllabuses are up to date and reflect the latest developments in business thinking.

• Retitled: Two programmes have been retitled. The BBA (Hons) in Global Supply Chain Management is now the BBA (Hons) in Supply Chain Management and Analytics, while the BBA (Hons) in Financial Services is now the BBA (Hons) in Digital Finance and Investment.

• Expanded: The two-year top-up BBA (Hons) in Aviation Management and Logistics has been expanded and is now the four-year full-time BBA (Hons) in Aviation Management and Finance.

• Enhanced: We have enhanced undergraduate programme curricula to include elements of artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, data analytics or entrepreneurship.

Dual degree programmes

FB departments are currently developing dual degree programmes with universities in Brunei, Canada, the Chinese Mainland, and Denmark. These programmes are designed to provide students with an immersive learning experience that will provide the opportunity to study at two different universities, gaining exposure to different cultures, business practices, and academic approaches.

The high demand for such enhanced programmes can be seen in the healthy trend in application numbers. Applications to taught postgraduate programmes increased 17.7% year-on-year between the 2019/20 and the 2023/24 admissions exercises. The dual degree programmes have also ensured that our undergraduate programmes remain a preferred choice for secondary school graduates.

Case teaching

Case studies play a vital role in business education as they enable students to solve complex business problems that managers face in real-life scenarios in a classroom setting. To recognise this importance, the Faculty of Business Case Consortium (FBCC) has been set up to promote business education by developing high-quality business case studies and technical briefs on the latest business issues and state-of-the-art management practices. The FBCC also develops cases focusing on business issues related to major initiatives and strategic plans of the Hong Kong SAR government and the central government of China, in particular the Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road developments.

In the past two years, the quality of FBCC’s case studies has been recognised in the Global Contest for the Best China-focused Cases case writing competition hosted by the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). After winning second prize in 2021, FBCC won the coveted first prize in 2022. The winning case series were:

• King’s Flair International: A Big Future in the Nanofiber Opportunity? (A/B) (2022)
• Li and Fung: Stay Public or Go Private (A) and (B) (2021)

The case series Li and Fung: Stay Public or Go Private (A) and (B) and Luckin: From Brewing Coffee to Brewing Fraud are now available on Harvard Case Library.

Achievements recognised by the wider community

• Asia Pacific region winner of the 2021 WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award
  PBS was the Asia Pacific region winner of the 2021 WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award. This award recognises rising business schools in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions that demonstrate innovation and research excellence. The award also aims to increase the visibility of impact-focused research and the institutions that conduct it.

• Best Logistics Educational Course Provider in 2021 and 2022
  PBS was again recognised as Best Logistics Educational Course Provider at the 2022 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain (AFLAS) Awards on 7 September 2022. The Faculty won the same award in 2021. The AFLAS awards, hosted by Asia Cargo News, honour leading service providers such as air and shipping lines, airports, and seaports. They also honour logistics providers, including third-party logistics, and professionals in associated industries for their leadership, consistent service quality, innovation, customer relationship management, and reliability.

Research

Research funds obtained

PBS has been awarded a total grant of over $42M from the General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) for 79 projects in the 2020/21 to 2022/23 exercises.

Faculty members rank among the world’s top 2% of scientists by citation

Nine members of PBS are among the world’s top 2% of scientists in their main disciplines for career-long citation impact (Ioannidis, 2022). Eight of the nine – in the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies (LMS), Department of Management and Marketing (MM), and School of Accounting and Finance (AF) – have been listed among the world’s top 2% for three consecutive years. The study, which tracks millions of scientists worldwide, has identified about 195,600 scientists as the global top 2%, of whom 201 are PolyU academics.

The database contains career-long data updated to the end of the citation year 2021. The latest dataset is based on the 1 September 2022 snapshot from Scopus.

Source: Ioannidis, J.P.A. (2022) September 2022 data-update for “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators”. Mendeley Data, V4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17632/btchxktzyw.4.

UTD rankings

PBS has been steadily publishing more articles in the 24 leading business journals tracked by the University of Texas at Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management in its UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings. In the 2018-2022 rankings, PBS advanced to 52nd place. The 24 highly recognised journals cover multiple business disciplines, including accounting, finance, management, marketing, production and operations management, and information systems.

Placement of PhD graduates

PBS has nurtured many young scholars in multiple business disciplines over the years. Our scholars are now working in the top universities and leading organisations around the globe:

Knowledge Transfer and Service to Community

PBS is actively working to forge closer links between the business community and academia through a series of knowledge transfer forums, conferences, and seminars. These events provide opportunities for prominent business leaders from both the local and global communities to share their knowledge and insights on industry trends and developments.

PBS members are also actively serving the community as:

• Journal editors/ad hoc reviewers, e.g., Management and Organization Review, International Review of Finance, Accounting & Finance, Management Science, and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics
• External examiners for other universities
• Panel members, e.g., NSFC, Research Grants Council (RGC) and RGC Joint Research Scheme (JRC)
• Committee members of professional bodies/NGOs.