to the classroom examples of familiar household names. I challenged my students to come up with solutions to real, closer-to-life scenarios and situations. As such, students’ interest in the subjects shot up to another level,” says Prof. Lau. Today, he continues to use case studies to help students develop essential business skills like critical thinking and problem solving, sharing that, “If you can’t frame your problem correctly, you’re solving the wrong problem.” HKUST’s emphasis on quality teaching continues to benefit students, as learning environments have become even more engaging and supportive. “I would say the business education at HKUST is a holistic one. The combination of hard skills and soft skills has set me up for my career in the supply chain software profession,” says Matthew, Prof. Lau’s third son. The university’s direction is one that Prof. Lau wholeheartedly endorses. He sees huge potential for the SBM to contribute to future innovation, believing that start-ups would need more than science and technology, and business knowledge and management know-how would pave their road to success. Seeing the potential of the Greater Bay Area, how technology and R&D innovations will boom in this part of the world, and how HKUST and the newly established HKUST (Guangzhou) campus can play a larger role in the development of the region, Prof. Lau feels that even after 20 years and a Long Service Award, he always has more to look forward to. When he started at HKUST in 2001, Prof. Lau remembers teaching in a more traditional, formulaic way, but during his time, he has helped to shape some positive evolutions in his department and the School of Business and Management (SBM). For example, while teaching case studies of traditional North American models would be easy, the storylines and challenges facing those businesses are not easily understood by students living outside the US, which made localization a priority in his classes. “Case studies are very useful tools in business schools, but we are here in Hong Kong, and so I found it important to localize our cases so that our students would get a better understanding. I brought 31
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