Words from Programme Director
Master of Science in Business Analytics
The Master of Science in Business Analytics programme at the HKU Business School offers a comprehensive curriculum that aims to help students develop both hard and soft skills related to business analytics throughout the programme. Our students will learn the knowledge and skills of understanding data, transforming data into information and converting information into executable actions. There is currently an unprecedented industry demand for business analytics professionals, and the school offers an extensive range of elective options to allow students to proceed in many specific focus areas. The programme boasts a real world business analytics project - The Capstone Project - with reputable corporations in the region, in which students apply newly-learned analytics knowledge and skills to a real-life business problem facing our project sponsors.
Welcome to the Master of Science in Business Analytics Programme at HKU Business School. Below are the 4 most frequently asked questions by our applicants and we have them answered by Prof. Wang for you to catch a glimpse of the MSc(BA) Programme.
Our Faculty
Curriculum Structure
The curriculum is structured as follows:
- Information analytics to understand the basis of data
- General analytics to transform data into information
- Operations analytics to convert information into executable actions
- Capstone Course to tie the above three areas together through real world business projects
You will gain an in-depth knowledge of tools such as R and Python for applying data science and analytics to a business context.
The Programme offers two streams: 1) Artificial Intelligence (AI), 2) Management Consulting (MC). Students may choose to concentrate in one of the two streams according to their interests and career aspirations. Students may also choose to graduate without concentration provided that they complete the four fundamental core courses, the capstone course and five electives.
We recruit students from diverse backgrounds each year to enrich the learning experience at our programme. To make sure everyone has a similar foundation to tackle the studies ahead, the Boot Camp covers basic knowledge in mathematical techniques, programming, databases and statistics that are related to business analytics.
The Boot Camp consists 36 hours of teaching and will be held prior to the commencement of the 1st module:
- Consulting Fundamentals 1 & 2 (6 hours)
- Database – 3 hours
- Mathematics – 6 hours
- Programming – 15 hours
- Statistics – 6 hours
Those without a pure quantitative background can build up essential competencies through the Boot Camp whilst others can take the opportunity to refresh their relevant skills.
Course Exemption
Course exemption of up to two required courses may be granted, except for the capstone course, if candidates:
1. Can provide evidence, such as transcript and course syllabus, that a course is equivalent in content to another course taken elsewhere for which a satisfactory grade has been obtained.
No credits will be given for the exempted course and candidates shall be required to take an approved alternative course of the same credit value.
Applications for course exemption are subject to the approval of the Master of Science in Business Analytics Programme Director and committees concerned.
Industry Seminar Series
With the help of our close ties to the industry, the MSc(BA) programme is proud to launch the Business Analytics Industry Seminar Series, which aim to make the programme more industry and career oriented.
Please stay tuned to our website and social media, as we’ll share recaps on the seminars.
Master of Science in Business Analytics Industry Seminar Series
Business Analytics & Optimization in Real Applications (Speaker: Ms. Miao He, BCG Gamma)
In this talk, Ms. He shared her perspectives on how business analytics and optimization (BAO) can be applied, broadly and deeply, to solve real life problems in various industries. Proper application of BAO means more than selecting a model and In this talk, Mr. Wei shared his perspective on how Location-based Services (LBS), especially automobile-related services, can be delivered on a map app via different use cases. When users search for different destination locations (i.e., Point of Interest) on map, they are actually looking for certain services and/or products. Using data analytics, map service providers can enable third-party service providers to directly deliver integrated service packages, e.g. gas station service, EV charging business, and medicine delivery (a COVID-19 triggered business). Mr. Wei elaborated on how these business opportunities are identified via business analytics and how related business solutions are developed.
Ms. Miao He, BCG Gamma
Speaker’s Profile
Ms. He obtained Master’s Degree in Management Science and Engineering, and Bacherlor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Tsinghua University. She has 10+ years of experience in applying analytics and optimization to solve cross-industry problems. She is now a lead data scientist in BCG GAMMA. Prior to joining GAMMA, she served as Sr. Research Manager with IBM – Research, China to deliver analytics-enabled industry solutions to clients; she also worked at DiDi to conduct carpooling analytics and at a environment-protecting startup to oversee the R&D of geospatial analytics products.
Location-based Services on Mobile Apps and Related Business Analytics Applications (Speaker: Mr. Zhexian William Wei, GaoDe Map,Alibaba)
In this talk, Ms. He shared her perspectives on how business analytics and optimization (BAO) can be applied, broadly and deeply, to solve real life problems in various industries. Proper application of BAO means more than selecting a model and “import tensorflow.” Besides models and algorithms, problem understanding, data quality, visual design, human-computer synergy, business communication, and business process change management are all essential components to ensure a successful application. She also shared her observations and reflection on career choices and paths for students majoring in the BAO domain.
Mr. Zhexian William Wei, GaoDe Map,Alibaba
Mr. Zhexian William Wei has 10+ years of business experience along the pan-automotive and mobility industry value chain. He is currently the Head of Auto-related Service at Gaode (AMAP) business group at Alibaba, where he is leading the automotive-related services business integration into a map-LBS environment and its fast expansions. Business analytics and optimization play a pivotal role in his work.
Prior to Alibaba, Mr. Wei has served diversified management roles at Mercedes-Benz China, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Didi Chuxing, all of which are market-leaders and industry standard setters in their corresponding vertical areas.
Mr. Wei obtained his bachelor’s degree of Law from the Law School at China University of Political Science and Law.
Taking control of Property Technology data (Speaker: Ms. Bronwyn Nichol, Savills)
It is well acknowledged that data is the new oil, and that every piece of data is useful to someone. In the world of Property Technology (‘PropTech’), there is now a higher demand to connect and access data at all levels. Having access to the right data in a fast, reliable manner, in a format that makes sense to the reader is increasing, and what makes PropTech especially interesting is that has the potential to connect data from a diverse set of inputs: end consumers, highly regulated financial institutes, and independent companies specialising in property. Technology has moved the industry forward somewhat over the decades, but it is only recently that business models are making major leaps forward thanks to data technology, and industry segments are becoming virtually connected for mutual benefits. The session looked at concepts such as Big Data, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Sharing Economy, Automated Valuation Modules and more in the context of PropTech. T
Ms. Bronwyn Nichol, Savills
Speaker’s Profile
Ms. Bronwyn Nichol is an IT Management professional with over 15 years’ experience and a graduate of the Global Asia EMBA Programme.
Bronwyn’s current area of focus is Property Technology, #PropTech, working at Savills PLC. Her passion is process improvement and efficiency gains using technology that see results at the bottom line. Bronwyn is the Business Relationship Manager for IT and has the role of programme manager in Asia Pacific for the two largest IT product implementations in the Agency and Valuations business, supported by an IT strategy partnered with the business. This includes specialist CRM tech for the Commercial and Investment Business, and bespoke Valuation software including an Automated Valuation Module (AVM).
Previously, Bronwyn worked with a Nordic startup developing IOT devices, and had a career at Royal Dutch Shell in The Netherlands for 10 years in the Downstream and Global Functions tech teams. During her delivery for Shell Retail, she led the digital transformation that connected fuelling sites to the new centralized SAP ERP for 11 countries in Europe, as part of the largest SAP global rollout at the time.
Bronwyn obtained a Bachelor of Science in South Africa, with a major in Computer Science and minor in Applied Mathematics, and more recently completed the Global EMBA programme at The University of Hong Kong, London Business School and Columbia University in New York. She has various industry certificates including Project Management Professional and Business Analysis, and received 8 Shell Vice President Awards for outstanding work. Bronwyn is currently one of the founding members of the London Business School Women in Business, Asia Chapter, and has lived in Hong Kong for over 7 years.
How Business Intelligence is Applied in Hong Kongs Leading F&B Chain and Shopping Mall to boost ROl (Speaker: Mr. Ravel Lai, Hysan)
BI is more than an IT tool or a fancy dashboard, it is a holistic approach to help stakeholders make better decisions. In this rapidly changing retail landscape, it is even more pressing to adopt business intelligence to contribute on all levels of decision making. Ravel Lai, General Manager of Business Technology at Hysan Development, where he leads the team to optimize a set of tools and structures not only to support business operations but also designed to drive business growth, even in tough times like COVID-19 which has impacted the mall business where he has figured out a way to help tenants recover with immediate cash flow. He also shared his earlier experience in launching a loyalty app for a leading F&B chain and what actions he tookto achieve incremental sales, especially the tricks to master message targeting.
Mr. Ravel Lai, Hysan
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Ravel Lai is an IT and digital veteran with over 30 years of experience in retail and consumer products, including consumer electronics, food & beverage, FMCG, fashion house and shopping mall. Appointed as General Manager of Business Technology in Jan 2020, Ravel is in charge of leading Hysan’s technology strategy and the development of new business streams.
Ravel leads the Business Technology team to implant various technologies in Hysan such as 5G, RPA, AR/VR/MR, AI Data Analysis, Machine Learning, Ecommerce and Marketing Technology.
Prior to joining Hysan, Ravel was the Chief Digital Officer / Chief Information Officer of DCH which drove digital ambitions by blending IT & Digital elements throughout all business units, primarily focusing on Customer relationship management, Marketing effectiveness, Supply chain optimization and Enterprise risk management. These involve reshaping corporate culture to be innovative and collaborative among 17,000 staff across 12 Asian economies.
In between 2013 and 2018, Ravel was the Regional IT and Digital Director at a leading restaurant group in Asia – Pizza Hut & KFC. His digital initiatives has landed awards and accolades from industry partners, especially in digital & social media marketing and digital transformation. Mr. Lai was named China’s Top CIO in 2016 and one of Top 50 Innovative Retail Leaders in Hong Kong in 2017.
Applied Service lnnovation in Data Manufacturing (Speaker: Mr. Clarence Cheung, HSBC)
In the first part of the talk, Clarence shared some of the service innovation he applied across his experiences , and how lessons learned from his days working with Accenture and his family business helped him offer a differentiated way of delivering business process outsourcing. In garment manufacturing, a tailor who provides custom fit shirts can only make one short at a time, over many days. To mass manufacture shirts, factory workers are grouped together in a “line”, and each factory worker focuses on an individual step of the process, and quality is maintained through rigorous quality control processes. Data Exchange applies the lessons learned from manufacturing to office work, and help companies who needs massive amounts of data collected or processed (e.g., drawing bounding boxes across millions of images for training driverless cars, or extracting text from shipping labels) performed at the most efficient and cost effective at high quality. In the second part of the talk, he also shared his car
Mr. Clarence Cheung, HSBC
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Clarence Cheung is currently the Asia Pacific Regional Head of Analytics for Commercial Bank at HSBC, where he leads a team to use data and analytics to generate revenue, manage risks, and improve efficiency. He has 15 years of experience working with data and analytics across multiple organizations.
Prior to joining the bank, Clarence has worked as a management consultant with Accenture and Ernst and Young, served as a Director of his family’s business in fashion distribution and manufacturing, and founded / invested in three startup companies in business process outsourcing, fashion distribution, and B2C coffee delivery. He has working experience in the US, China, Italy, and Bangladesh. Clarence graduated with a Masters in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Masters in Knowledge Management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
One of his startups, Data Exchange Limited, aims to reinvent business process outsourcing by applying manufacturing practices to office work. Founded in 2011, Data Exchanged started with 6 employees off an apartment building in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and now has 5 offices and over 1000 workers. Data Exchange’s customers include Baidu, Tencent, Microsoft, and TNT.
Let's Drive Global Digital Retail Transformation Together - Challenges and lnnovaion for Future (Speaker: Mr. James Peng, Dmall)
The retail business has been in existence for thousands of years. The supermarket concept started from 1930s and was brought to HK in 1940s. In this presentation, Mr. Peng elaborated on the nature of retail (particularly in FMCG and food), challenges as why it falls so much behind than other industries, and the key to innovation for future. Furthermore, discussion on how a data-driven mindset can revolutionize the retail industry.
Mr. James Peng, Dmall
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Peng joined Dmall in June 2015. He is responsible for Dmall’s mobile commerce and business intelligence division. Under his leadership, Dmall’s omnichannel mobile commerce has grown from ¥2.5 billion (CNY) in 2016 to ¥26.5 billion CNY in 2019, and the number of registered users has grown from 3 million in 2015 to over 80 million in 2019.
Prior to joining Dmall, he led assembly line automation in Flextronics, the second largest contract manufacturing in the world, and setup a factory with robotic cells in Mexico for Nike to manufacture shoes. He also has extensive experience in leading engineering teams globally, including US, Canada, India, and China. He joined two Silicon Valley hi-tech startups that went IPO successfully in 2000s.
He specializes in data science, software development, finance, and project management. James holds Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, and MBA from University of Southern California.
Data Science Practice in the Complex Business World (Speaker: Mr. Liang Xie, Tencent)
In this talk, Dr. Xie shared his experience and thoughts on real world application of data science with examples ranging from simple statistical analysis to building complicated production pipeline of analytical platform. Specifically, Dr. Xie covered three important parts of data science practice in China: 1. Building a data science culture; 2. Building a top-notch data science team with limited supply of talents; 3. Application of data science methodologies & building data science platform to uncover new business opportunities. In addition, he also shared first-hand observations and perspectives on career development for students majoring in Business Analytics, Statistics, Economics, and related areas.
Mr. Liang Xie, Tencent
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Xie obtained a doctor’s degree in Economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. He has 15 years of industrial experience in leveraging data science to solve multibillion-dollar business problems with a wide range of applications, such as mortgage, energy, cloud computing, and online Ads. He is now AGM of TKD data platform at Tencent. Prior to joining Tencent, he was Sr. Director Data Scientist at DiDi Chuxing. Before that, he worked at Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Travelers Indemnity, NRG Energy, and Bank of America.
Business Analytics in Internet Companies (Speaker: Ms. Ada Li, Lalamove)
In this talk, Ms. Li will share her perspectives on how business analytics (BA) is applied within internet companies, esp. start-ups. Topics would be around growth in this hot topic. Appliation of BA in internet start-ups evolved along with the company development. It was about qualitative industry insights for new business opportunity, data-driven solution for business improvement, and is now operation research and optimizaiton for marketplace. As BA plays a comprehensive role in start-ups, it is gradually becoming an operation-oriented strategy group, which consists talents from both business and analytics background. Additonally, Ms. Li will also share her observations and reflection on career choices and paths for students majoring in BA.
Ms. Ada Li, Lalamove
Speaker’s Profile
Ms. Li obtained Master Degree in Business Management and Financial Eigneering from Boston College, and Bacherlor Degree from Fudan University. She has 10+ years of experience across different industries like consulting, asset management and internet companies. She is now the BA leader in Lalamove. Prior to joining LLM, she served as the head of pricing strategy for Didi on various dynamic pricing strategy and products. and was a quantatitive analyst for State Street performing ETF portfolio analysis.
Driving Tangible Business Value with Analytics and Applied Al in the Insurance Industry (Speaker: Mr. Alex Hung, Manulife)
A lot of companies started their journey on developing capabilities in the Analytics and AI areas. In the insurance industry, Analytics and AI is disrupting the entire insurance value chain, including facilitating the underwriting decision by analysing new sources of data, automating claims processing and decisions and providing better customer services to the policy holders. In this seminar, Mr Hung shared his perspective on how different data analytics techniques, including up-sell/ cross-sell propensity model, claims fraud model, exploratory data analysis, social network analysis, analytical dashboard, real-time performance dashboard, have been applied in the real-life applications. In addition, he will also shared his stories and views on developing a career in business analytics.
Mr. Alex Hung, Manulife
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Alex Hung is a professional practitioner in Big Data Analytics, Applied AI / Machine Learning, Customer Digital Transformation and Omni-Channel CRM. He has 15+ years of experience in the AI, analytics and data management in various functions including marketing, operation and risk in the financial services industry. He is currently a Senior Director of Data Analytics at Manulife and a Lecturer responsible for delivering Big Data & Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics and FinTech courses in local universities.
Alex has expertise in leading large-scale customer transformation programme leveraging data analytics and applied AI techniques. He has been delivering high-value data driven transformation initiatives transforming marketing operations, customer service, customer experience management, contact center and sales operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
He received his MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a BSc in Computer Science from the City University of Hong Kong.
Key Things You Need To Do To Understand A Business (Speaker: Mr. Wanli Chen, ByteDance)
In this talk, William shared his experience on how to understand an unfamiliar business with five critical steps: 1. Figure out GMV Funnel; 2. Locate Key drivers of Business Growth; 3. Identify AARRR Model of Demand Side; 4. Identify Pricing and Operation Strategy of Supply side; and 5. Design a Growth Strategy. In addition, he also shared his first-hand experience in Operations, Data science, and as Product Manager in internet business.
Mr. Wanli Chen, ByteDance
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Wanli Chen has 13 years of industry experience with a strong focus on Growth, Strategy and Operations. He is now the Senior Operations Lead of ByteDance. Prior to this role, he has had wide-ranging experience as a business analyst, product manager, and data warehouse engineer. Before ByteDance, he served at Alibaba, Didichuxing, eBay and HP. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Tongji University.
Deploying Artificial Intelligence in Business: Principles and Practices(Speaker: Mr. Dijun Luo, Tencent)
In this talk, Dr. Luo will introduce the general methodologies of artificial intelligence (AI) and share his experiences in deploying AI solutions in real businesses. More specifically, the talk will cover the following parts. 1) The recent development of AI technologies and the related principles, 2) General and important applications of AI in the real world, and 3) Dr. Luo’s personal experiences of deploying AI systems in businesses in his career, especially in modern agriculture. The purpose of the talk is to help the audience understand AI technologies in a deep and fast way, as well as understand how to employ AI technologies more efficiently and to bring more values to businesses.
Mr. Dijun Luo, Tencent
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Dijun Luo is a principal researcher at Tencent AI Lab and the head of AI+agriculture research group. Prior to that, he received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Arlington and has been working for Microsoft Research Asia and IBM T.J. Research Center. Before joining Tencent, Dr. Luo has helped two startup companies in the United States go public on NASDAQ and NYSE as the main data scientist. Dr. Luo has published more than 30 research papers in machine learning and artificial intelligence, and also actively serves as reviewer and program committee member for top journals and conferences in related areas.
Data Science Career Opportunities and Market Trends(Speaker: Dr Francis Lau, PhD, CFA, FRM, Director of Research and Consulting, TransUnion)
In this talk, Dr Lau shared with the audience the latest market trends and development of the Big Data Analytics market. More importantly, Dr Lau outlined the career opportunities for data talents in the digital era. Market trends indicate that data talents continue to be stars in the job market the next few years. Data skills and domain knowledge are crucial to those who would like to pursue a career in the field of data science. Dr Lau also shared tips with the audience to jump start a data science career.
Dr Francis Lau, PhD, CFA, FRM, Director of Research and Consulting, TransUnion
Speaker’s Profile
Dr. Lau is a seasoned practitioner, an entrepreneur, and a professional trainer in data science. He has over 18 years’ experiences in data analytics, empirical research, regulatory compliance, and risk management gained from analytics vendors and multinational banks. Dr Lau is a subject matter expert in applying data analytics to support business strategy formulation and decision making. In addition to industry experiences, Dr Lau is also passionate in education. He specializes in developing and delivering academic and executive education programs for corporations, professional associations and universities.
Becoming the vital few with alternative data-driven investing (Speaker: Dr. Yifan Zhang, JD Technology)
In this talk, Dr Lau shared with the audience the latest market trends and development of the Big Data Analytics market. More importantly, Dr Lau outlined the career opportunities for data talents in the digital era. Market trends indicate that data talents continue to be stars in the job market the next few years. Data skills and domain knowledge are crucial to those who would like to pursue a career in the field of data science. Dr Lau also shared tips with the audience to jump start a data science career.
Dr. Yifan Zhang, JD Technology
Speaker’s Profile
Dr. Yifan Zhang is the head of the Investment Data Research department at JD Technology and has over 10 years of work experience in the field of quant investing, big data and artificial intelligence. Prior to his current role, he has worked as chief data scientist in Noah Holdings, Nasdaq and Investment Regulator of Canada. Many of his insightful work have been covered by major financial news media such as Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg and the Economist.
Top Challenges in Enterprise Digital Transformation (and How to Tackle Them) (Speaker: Yi Shan, Stalagnate Capital)
The world has gone digital, and there’s no going back. In order to survive and thrive, everyone needs to think about how to adapt to this trend. Digital Transformation (DX) is an idea that modern digital technologies like data analytics, AI and IoT may dramatically change the way to run business and significantly improve customer experience, operation efficiency and effectiveness. DX sounds promising but in reality it often presents various challenges to business, especially traditional enterprises. In this talk, I will identify these top challenges, analyze the causes behind them, and propose practical solutions to tackle them.
Yi Shan, Stalagnate Capital
Speaker’s Profile
Mr. Yi Shan is a partner with Stalagnate Capital and focuses on early-stage investment in Digital Transformation. He has 20-year industrial experience in Data Mining/AI and published papers in SIGIR, ACL, IEEE, etc. Previously he worked as Chief Data Officer/Scientist for a public online recruiting company, led the Data/AI product development and enterprise-wide Digital Transformation. Before that, he worked on the area of Internet search and advertising and played the roles of CTO or VP of Engineering for Omini-Dimension Inc., WPP ITOP Networks and Wukong Search. He graduated from Tsinghua University and University of Arizona with Bachelor and Master degrees in MIS. He is a member of CCF Data Science Committee.
MSc(BA) Industry Seminar Alumni Series 2021 - Asset Management (Speaker: Mr Jeremy Chen, Mr Oliver Jia, Mr Zhuoran Li)
Mr Jeremy Chen
Analyst – China Client Business, BlackRock
MSc(BA) Class of 2018
Mr Oliver Jia
Quantitative Trader, Crypto.com
MSc(BA) Class of 2018
Mr Zhuoran Li
Quantitative Analyst, Ovata Capital
MSc(BA) Class of 2018
MSc(BA) Industry Seminar Alumni Series 2021 - Banking (Speaker: Ms Amy Han, Mr Oscar Tong)
Ms Amy Han
Equity Research Analyst, BOCI
MSc(BA) Class of 2020
Mr Oscar Tong
Data Scientist, HSBC
MSc(BA) Class of 2019
Class Profile
Previous Employers
- Agricultural Bank of China
- American International Group
- Bank of China
- Bank of East Asia
- Boston Consulting Group
- ByteDance
- China Everbright Bank
- China Post
- CITIC Securities
- Frost & Sullivan
- GF Securities
- Haitong Securities
- Hang Seng Bank Limited
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Huatai Securities
- Huawei
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
- Ipsos China
- State Power Investment Corporation Group
