Brief introduction:

The competitiveness of Hong Kong as an international financial hub hinges on maintaining high standards of corporate governance for its listed companies. Therefore, it is important to promote best practices in corporate governance for local and Mainland companies listed in Hong Kong. The series of academic research conducted by the Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy of the Hong Kong Baptist University has had a significant impact on the corporate governance practices of regulators, policy makers, and business sectors in Hong Kong and Mainland China. This work is mainly reflected in the Hong Kong Corporate Governance and ESG Excellence Awards (co-organised with the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies), and the Corporate Governance Scorecard project (co-organised with the Hong Kong Institute of Directors). It has led to concrete improvements in the corporate governance practices of a number of publicly listed companies, and it has helped raise the standards of best practices and educational activities advocated by professional associations.

About the Speaker:

Professor Aristotelis Stouraitis is Professor of Finance and Head of the Department of Finance and Decision Sciences and Director of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy at Hong Kong Baptist University. He was previously with City University of Hong Kong during 2000-2010.

He holds Bachelor’s degrees in economics, accounting and finance from the American College of Greece, MSc in management from INSEAD (France), and PhD in finance from Imperial College London (United Kingdom).

His research interests are in corporate finance, with emphasis on corporate restructuring and corporate governance. His research has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Review of Finance, and other international academic journals. He has made presentations in conferences organized by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Harvard Business School, the European Finance Association, the Asian Finance Association, and in more than 30 other international academic conferences worldwide. His research or commentary has been quoted in media outlets in North and South America, Europe, and Hong Kong, including Bloomberg, The Economist magazine, and the leading German financial daily newspaper, Handelsblatt.

Brief introduction:

The Department of Management of Lingnan University has conducted a body of research on the effectiveness of people-oriented leadership practices. Through sustained engagement and communication with a range of companies, the Department has developed practical solutions based on research findings, enabling companies to transform their management philosophy and practices, and achieve greater competitiveness. Key companies which benefited from the Department's research include retailers, which experienced sales growth and improved organisational development; high-technology start-ups which benefited from improved internal structures and communication and co-ordination, as well as knowledge sharing and integration and product innovation; and manufacturers, which experienced improvements in productivity and cost control.

About the Speaker:

Professor Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management of Lingnan University. She received her Ph.D. from City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include creativity and innovation at the individual and team levels, leadership, and prosocial and proactive perspectives. Professor Chen has published in internationally leading journals in the academic fields of organizational behavior, human resource management, and management education such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, and Academy of Management Learning & Education. She also has sustained research and consultancy collaboration with many companies of different sizes, including large, listed companies and SMEs, from a variety of industries.