To tie in with the adoption of technology in society and the business sector, the Department of Business Administration will collaborate with other departments, offering technology and digital related courses for BA undergraduate students to select. The department is also planning to provide IT workshops for students.

In an interview with Shue Yan Newsletter, Dr. Monica LAW, Head of the Department of Business Administration, mentioned that the business environment and business model had been changed due to the development of technology and the COVID-19 epidemic. How to apply technology in doing business has become one of the main features of the curricula of the four bachelor’s degree programmes of the department. Therefore, the Department will enhance the linking with the new laboratory regarding big data in the university and virtual reality (VR), striving for opportunities for students to study how to apply these technologies. Furthermore, in this semester, the Bachelor of Arts in Media Design and Immersive Technology (BA-MDIT) programme, the new course from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, was launched. Meanwhile, new courses related to big data will also be launched in the next summer. The Department will discuss with the related departments to arrange suitable elective subjects for students in the Department of Business Administration.

Dr. LAW thought that this kind of cross-curricular cooperation can produce synergy and bring benefits to students. For instance, for students in the digital marketing programme, studying digital media courses can not only enhance students’ ability, but also promote the development of critical thinking and creativity.

The Department of Business Administration currently offers 4 undergraduate programmes, including the Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) programme (BBA), Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Corporate Governance and Risk Management (BBA CGRM), Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Digital Marketing (BBA DM) and Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) in Human Resources Management – Applied Psychology (BBA HRMAP).

According to Dr. LAW, in order to enhance students’ IT ability, the department will hold non-credit bearing IT workshops. The content will involve VR, big data, programming, artificial intelligence and robot application etc.

Talking about programme development, Dr. LAW mentioned that the Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) programme (BBA) currently has 5 concentrations: Financial Services & Planning, i-Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Human Resource Management, and Corporate Governance. The establishment of the 5 concentrations is unique, compared to similar programmes offered by other local institutions. If students are interested and there is no time clash, they can even choose two concentrations.

For the corporate governance and risk management programme (BBA CGRM), Dr. LAW mentioned that the programme has been exempted 4 modules from The Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute (formerly known as The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries). Graduate students, who register as “student” members of the Institute and completed the required examinations provided by the institution, or finished a master’s degree programme recognized by it, can apply to be the “graduate” members.

The Department of Business Administration will offer a new minor programme for students from other departments, namely Entrepreneurship. Dr. LAW said: “The aims of this new minor programme are to foster students’ entrepreneurial spirit, train them to think with an entrepreneurial mindset, identify business opportunities and have a better understanding of the roles of entrepreneurship in business and society. It also seeks to provide a choice of options that will meet the needs of students majoring in different disciplines who are seeking to acquire entrepreneurial skills that are relevant to their graduation goals.”

Source50th Anniversary Special Issue