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Admission for 2021/2022

29 May 2017

CityU MBA R-trip 2017 in Cambodia - From on-the-spot learning to life lessons

CityU MBA R-trip 2017 in Cambodia
CityU MBA R-trip 2017 in Cambodia

More than 25 CityU MBA participants completed a fruitful journey in Cambodia, one of the fast-emerging countries along the “Silk Road Economic Belt” routes, for the 9-day MBA Consultancy Residential Trip (R-trip) from 21 to 29 May 2017. Working as consultancy teams, the participants provided strategic recommendations to the host organisation, Hanbo Enterprises Limited (Hanbo) in the areas of Supply Chain and Info Management, International Business Development, Cross-cultural Marketing, and e-Commerce under the guidance of four MBA supervisors, Prof. Kevin Chiang, Dr. Vikas Kakkar, Dr. Christina Sue-Chan, and Dr. Alex Wang.

Pre-trip preparations for the real-life managerial project
Great works come from preparations and perseverance. Before the trip, participants have examined thoroughly the company information by conducting researches, meetings with the management team of Hanbo and visiting its Product Development Centre located at Futian, Shenzhen. After a thorough study of the information collected from different channels, the participants presented their research focus and initial findings to the MBA supervisors for better planning on the field study during the 9-day trip.

Explore new business opportunities in Far East Region under OBOR
The chance to explore emerging markets in Far East Region along the OBOR Routes was particularly invaluable to our participants, who are delighted to have gained such fruitful experience in Cambodia. During the stays in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, they met with Hanbo's management to further understand its three key businesses in Cambodia: Garment, Food and Beverage and Property. By visiting Hanbo’s local partner garment factory, NUK Cafés, its beverage stores and the property next to Phnom Penh Airport, the participants gained knowledge on the Cambodian markets from economic, social and cultural perspectives through interactions with the locals. They also attended a talk by a popular makeup artist KOL and a local property agency on the digital marketing phenomena and the property market trend in Cambodia respectively.

Experience CSR through community service
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been an important focus of the international business community through recent years. We were grateful to have a chance in visiting Vailsborv Primary School, a local school in a remote area supported by the Better Schools Foundation of Hanbo. The visit strengthened the participants’ understanding of the values of CSR and the innovative mindsets of Hanbo on the ecosystems among local partners.

From on-the-spot learning to life lessons
The R-trip not only provided the participants a great learning-by-doing environment but also invaluable lessons in personal growth. The participants required to apply the knowledge and skills acquired from lectures in a new and ambiguous situation outside of Hong Kong. Under the time constraints and the pressure from the project, participants have deepened their managerial problem-solving skills and advanced communication tactics by breaking through their own limitations.

A fruitful ending of the journey
The R-trip concluded with a final presentation, after many days of hard work, where participants presented their strategic recommendations to the management and board members of Hanbo on the last day of their stay in Cambodia. The management of Hanbo was delighted with the findings and recommendations from the participants. They also gave much constructive feedback to each team so that participants could continue to work on their final reports after returning to Hong Kong. We would like to extend our gratitude to Hanbo for being the host company and the supervisors for their great guidance throughout the journey.