What's Happening

With the term just started, the School is already bustling with news and activities. From faculty awards and promotions to high level seminars and forums, it is going to be an exciting year ahead. For more details, read on

Breakfast With Nobel Laureate Professor Robert C. Merton

The Saw Centre for Financial Studies is privileged to host Professor Robert C. Merton, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, from Harvard Business School over a breakfast lecture on 12 January 2008 at the NUS University Hall. Prof Merton is also the recipient of Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1997.

In addition to another conference, Prof Merton took time off to speak to the NUS Business School community on his observations on the science of finance in the practice of finance.

Over the years, financial science and research have contributed significantly on the global financial system. In his lecture, Prof Merton described the trade-off of two classic economic propositions - the pursuit of comparative advantage and efficient risk diversification, at the level of the individual, industry and country, and how modern financial analysis and tools mitigate that trade-off. He also provided insights on the current crisis in the US and UK financial markets, and the use of annuity in retirement planning.

The 150 faculty members, students and alumni from the Business School who attended the talk certainly had some food for thought for that day!

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In Recognition Of Great Talent – Outstanding Researcher and Educator Awards 2007

We extend our congratulations to the following faculty for their outstanding achievements:

Outstanding Researcher Awards
Department Level
Asst Prof Michael Zyphur (Management & Organisation)
Asst Prof Wu Yaozhong (Decision Sciences)

Faculty Level
Asst Prof Melvyn Sim Soon Suan (Decision Sciences)

Outstanding Educator Awards
Department Level
Dr Jo Seung – Gyu (Business Policy)
Assoc Prof Sheila Wang (Decision Sciences)
Dr Yeo Wee Yong (Finance & Accounting)
Assoc Prof Trichy Krishnan (Marketing)
Dr Jayanth Narayanan (Management & Organisation)

Faculty Level
Dr Cheng Peng Sim (Marketing)
Assoc Prof Audrey Chia (Management & Organisation)
Dr Winston Kwok (Finance & Accounting)

The following candidates are also nominated for University-level awards:

Outstanding Researcher Award
Dr Sun Jie (Decision Sciences)

Annual Teaching Excellence Awards
Dr Cheng Peng Sim (Marketing)
Assoc Prof Audrey Chia (Management & Organisation)
Dr Chng Chee Kiong (Finance & Accounting)
Assoc Prof Hum Sin Hoon (Decision Sciences)


Outstanding Educator Award
Assoc Prof Sum Chee Chuong (Decision Sciences)

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A Warm Welcome For Visiting Professors

The Department of Marketing is proud to host Prof Naufel Vilcassim from 21 January to 14 March. Prof Vilcassim has a PhD from Cornell University and his research interests include marketing and competitive strategy, structural modelling and marketing policy analysis: pricing and price promotions, panel data analysis. We also welcomed Assoc Prof Remus Ilies who was with the Department of Management & Organisation from 31 January to 6 February. A/P Ilies received his doctorate from the University of Florida and earned a Master in Business Administration degree from Iowa State University. He conducts research on topics such as employee satisfaction, affect, work-family balance, health and well-being, leadership and group processes, and motivation and self-regulation.

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Congratulations To Assoc Prof Anand Srinivasan & Assoc Prof Lan Luh Luh

Assoc Prof Anand Srinivasan

Heartiest wishes go out to Assoc Prof Anand Srinivasan, who has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. This promotion recognises his achievements in research and teaching, and his service contributions to the school.

Assoc Prof Lan Luh Luh

Assoc Prof Lan Luh Luh has also been promoted to Associate Professor. With her service to the School in so many areas and substantial achievements in research and teaching, this is indeed a well-deserved recognition.

Congratulations once again to the both of them!

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Senior Leadership Breakfast Forum: Bridging Academia And Industry

Our speakers at the forum: (L-R) Ms Lee-Chew Tan, Prof Edison Liu, Prof James Ang, Mr Colin Low and Prof Will Mitchell.

How do businesses build and benefit from collaborations and alliances with customers, suppliers and strategic partners?  More importantly how do industries link up with the academia and vice-versa to form mutually rewarding relationships?

The inaugural breakfast forum, organised by the Decision Sciences Department, focused on the theme of collaboration and alliances, and provided a platform for experts from academia and industry to share their opinions and insights on the challenges, inhibitors and success factors for the emerging collaborative economy.

The forum was held on 30 January at Shangri-La Hotel. More than 70 alumni and students gathered, networked and mingled over breakfast before the forum started at 9.30am.

Assoc Prof Mark Goh, a supply chain specialist and Director of Industry Research at The Logistics-Institute Asia Pacific (TLI-AP) opened the forum with a presentation titled “Managing Procurements in Asia”.

Thereafter, a distinguished panel comprising Prof Will Mitchell, J Rex Fuqua Professor of International Management, Duke University, Mr Colin Low, President of General Electric – Singapore, Philippines and Cambodia, Prof Edison Liu, Executive Director of Genome Institute of Singapore and Special Advisor to President, NUS and Ms Lee-Chew Tan, Managing Director of Hewlett Packard (SE Asia) addressed the challenges involved in bridging academia and industry partnerships. Prof James Ang, Head of Decision Sciences, facilitated the panel discussion.

The panel pointed out that it was imperative for universities to move from the stage of knowledge transmission to knowledge creation and this creates the need to bridge academia and industry in order to generate knowledge in a positive manner.

Mr Low emphasised the importance of a collaborative economy and he cited GE’s desalination plant as an example of successful industry-academia collaboration.

Another type of collaboration between industry and academia mentioned by Ms Tan was the recruitment of university graduates and the training of undergraduates through internship programs to meet HP’s needs. Ms Tan also described how research and innovation are carried out at HP labs with the help of university researchers.

The Q & A session was lively, with a variety of questions from the floor. The insightful and stimulating panel discussion ended the forum on a high note. It was definitely a refreshing and informative morning for everyone.

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Distinguished Speaker's Series Talk – Ms Olivia Lum

Ms Olivia Lum shares her insight with some of the participants.

If anyone was feeling down, rejected or discouraged, hearing how Olivia Lum overcame many difficulties might just lift his spirits. Organised by the MBA Office, Ms Lum spoke at the Distinguished Speaker’s Series on 30 January 2008 at the Hon Sui Sen Memorial Auditorium, where she shared candidly about her challenges and lessons in starting Hyflux (founded as Hydrochem (S) Pte Ltd ) and growing it through the decades.

Having given up a well-paying job to start her business in the late 1980s, Ms Lum faced much difficulty convincing customers to buy from her, in addition to attracting talented personnel to work together. The much needed initial financial investments and expertise came from friends and ex-lecturers who also believed in Ms Lum’s passion for water treatment.

Ms Lum put the audience at ease with stories of how she stayed up late into the nights, struggling to cope with the challenges of growing a company, as well as coping with technological improvements such as the e-mail.

Her enthusiasm rubbed off on the audience, who gave her a continuous follow of questions on how she led Hyflux to succeed in the competitive industry of water treatment. Ms Lum emphasized on a “never say die” attitude to keep trying repeatedly, and to have the right kind of people with the right talents and attitudes to grow the company.

Her leadership and vision transformed Hyflux from a fledgling company to one of Asia’s largest water and fluid treatment companies specialising in membrane technologies, with operations namely in Singapore, China, the Middle East & North Africa and India.

When asked what she did when she was feeling down, she simply replied, “I just went to sleep. Because I know tomorrow will be a better day.” This optimism has indeed helped her succeed in the business world.

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MBA Fair at The Grand Hyatt

The NUS MBA Fair Singapore was the sixth fair by the NUS MBA Marketing and Admissions team. In 2007, five NUS MBA Fairs were organised and well-received across Asia including countries like Shanghai, Manila, Seoul and Mumbai. The NUS MBA Fair on 26 January was no exception either, attracting a large turnout of about 400 individuals who were keen to pursue their Masters.

One of the event’s highlights was the launch of The NUS MBA Double Degrees with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where Prof Nitin Pangarkar (NUS Business School) and Prof Eduardo Araral (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) shared the opportunities and diverse learning avenues that prospective students can experience.

“The NUS MBA Double Degree programme is designed to nurture and develop leaders who will lead people and manage operations in organisations in the public and private sectors. Combining the strengths of both NUS Business School and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, this new double degree programme - the first of its kind in the region - aims to attract the region's outstanding executives; particularly those intending to pursue careers in government and its enterprises,” says Prof Nitin Pangarkar, Academic Director of The NUS MBA.

Staff and students working hand-in-hand at the MBA Fair.

Public lecturers on various topics were another attraction. They included ‘Strategy in Asia’ by Interim Dean Prof Kulwant Singh and ‘Moving the Market: The Role of Financial Information’ by Prof Ho Yew Kee, Vice Dean for Finance and Human Resources. Prof Eduardo Araral, Assoc Prof of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy also delivered a presentation on ‘Public Policy and the Rise of Asia’ for those who would like to learn more on how to better use public policy as a tool in making Asia as the next centre of the world.

To learn more about the NUS MBA events, Log on to mba.nus.edu/events

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It's Back To School - MBA/Exchange Student Orientation

Students arrived in anticipation for the day's programme to begin.

There were certainly no ‘back-to-school’ blues as the 100-odd part-time MBA and exchange students streamed excitedly onto campus on 8 January. The MBA Orientation kick started the beginning of their first semester here in NUS Business School. During the half day on-campus session, the MBA Programs Office organised various activities for the freshmen to familiarise with the course curriculum, school’s facilities and amenities. Prof Kulwant Singh, Interim Dean of NUS Business School, was also present. He welcomed the group and encouraged the freshmen to network and to share their campus experience with potential students. This will not only open more opportunities for their careers but also deepen their commitment to the School. Not all was talk and no play. The orientation ended with a city tour where students get to visit local tourist attractions such as Malay Heritage Centre, Little India, China Town and Bumboat Ride along Singapore River.  

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Chinese MBA Students On Corporate Visit

Over 20 MBA students, led by Ms Catherine Ng, MBA Career Services Manager, were in Shanghai and Beijing for a cross-cultural business visit to local corporations on 12 December 2007.

During the one week tour, they visited a dozen of multinational companies, including Intel, IBM, Lenovo, Google, CICC and DBS Bank, where they networked with the respective HR people and gained helpful advice on their future career development. Mei Jingwen, a first year MBA student, was very excited about this trip,”I had a valuable dialogue with them, which I think would help me tremendously with my internship application or job hunting in the future,” she said.

Between shuttling from company to company, our students also met with NUS alumni Beijing and Shanghai for dinner. Here the seniors shared their experiences and offered pearls of wisdom to the younger ones who would soon join the workforce. The bonding among the alumni was evident as they encouraged the visiting students to be part of the alumni association upon graduation.

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NUS South China Alumni’s Visit To Song Shanhu Industrial Park

On 15 December 2007, 10 NUS alumni from Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhouhai drove to Song Shanhu Industrial Park of Dongguan, where they were welcomed by their peer Wu Weichu, Vice Director of the Park.

Mr Wu plunged into the planning and development of Song Shanhu Industrial Park upon his graduation from NUS MBA in 2002. As he began his career, he always remembered to practice every bit of what he has learned at NUS to make the Park as beautiful and ecology-friendly as possible. “I had the opportunity to acquire practical management knowledge during my study in NUS. My working experience here tells me it is very applicable and fits quitewell with what I do,” he said.

Enjoying the peaceful environs of Song Shanhu Lake.

The visiting alumni spent the day sightseeing around the Park under Mr Wu’s guidance. Looking over the crystalline Song Shanhu Lake and the industrial zone from the top of a mountain, the whole Park struck them as a perfect combination of serenity and modernisation. Alumni Zeng Yuanming commented,” This is the perfect place to enjoy your morning run while soaking in the first rays of dawn.” The idyllic landscape was also something that the alumni didn’t expect of a place like Dongguan. “We are very surprised that Dongguan has already put environmental issues on their agenda and preserved such a peaceful wonderland in the midst of modernisation."

There was also a visual treat for the visitors as they sat in the state-of-art Yulan Theatre, enjoying a splendid music drama named ‘Jin Sha’. It was a fruitful trip, and one that’s enriched by the ties of the NUS family.

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Distinguished Alumni Business Leaders Forum

‘Sustainable Development: What roles can Singapore play in the region and the world’ was the thought of the day at The Distinguished Alumni Business Leaders Forum on 22 January 2008. Many students, alumni, faculty and business fraternity came to hear some of the industry experts and their views on this issue.

The afternoon got off to an exciting start with a keynote address from Dr Kenny Tang, founder and CEO of Oxbridge Climate Capital. With his vast experience and invaluable knowledge, the man known as 'Asia's Al Gore' kept the entire audience glued to his speech that covered topics including the important need for alternative sources of energy and the lucrative business opportunity that exists within this space. His comments on the "War on Global Warming" got everyone thinking about this issue where one could see many opportunities amidst a daunting challenge that needed to be addressed.

A panel discussion, moderated by NUS MBA alumnus Mr Patrick Chan, Director of Industry Development and Young Business Leaders Forum Secretariat of Singapore Business Federation, was held after Dr Tang’s address.

In addition to Dr Tang, other speakers on the panel included:
• Mr Oh Wee Khoon, Managing Director, Sobono Energy Pte Ltd
• Mr Viswa Sadasivan, CEO, Strategic Moves Pte Ltd
• Mr CK Chang, Director of Asia Pacific Petroleum Associates and Senior Technical & Strategy Advisor of San Technology Global

Mr Chan started the ball rolling by introducing the challenges ahead of Singapore with respect to sustainable development, followed by an overview of what lies ahead for Singapore from all panellists. With that done, the floor was thrown open for discussions whereby the audience eagerly participated in the Q&A session.

It was certainly a thought-provoking afternoon that shed light on a topic that is relevant in today's business environment.

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