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SCMP Reporter

According to an old Chinese saying, a master who teaches everything he knows to his disciples is no longer a master.

Christine Wong, director of learning and development at Hong Kong Disneyland, did not want to be that type of master.

'There is a reluctance for leaders in Hong Kong to train up their subordinates, but I think that good leaders should transmit as much of their knowledge as possible to their subordinates,' Ms Wong said.

'So I continue studying - not just for the knowledge and the qualifications, but to set a good example.'

With a bachelor of business administration from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and an executive MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ms Wong decided to pursue a doctor of business administration (DBA) after joining Disney.

'I had always wanted to get a doctorate, but after I completed my EMBA I kept coming up with excuses. I was either too busy or I had to travel. I kept putting it off. It took me seven years until I finally made the move,' she said.

Her frequent trips around the region convinced Ms Wong that further studies were necessary. 'You can't help but be impressed when you go to Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul or Dubai and see how well the people there are performing,' she said.

'There is so much talent in the region. When you go back to a market you visited a few months earlier you realise how much they have improved while you were away.'

Ms Wong likened the region's talent to a sponge. 'They can absorb so much. It made me realise that I had to equip myself to remain competitive in this competitive part of the world. Also, I wanted to be a role model for others.'

PolyU's DBA consists of eight doctoral subjects - three of them compulsory and five electives - and a thesis and two residential workshops. Compulsory subjects include business research analysis and design, qualitative research and consultancy and statistical analysis for management research.

There are 14 electives to choose from. The thesis is an independent research project that allows participants to integrate and apply what they have learned in the taught portion of the programme, requiring the critical and rigorous examination of a business or management issue. Attendance in the two residential workshops is compulsory. The first takes place at the beginning of the programme; the second, after the taught subjects have been completed.

'I had a very interesting subject to research,' Ms Wong said. 'It took me 3? years to complete because I had to take a year off to dedicate more time to Disneyland's opening.'

Ms Wong said that she benefited from the programmes in several concrete and abstract ways. In addition to the qualification and a chance to advance her career, she obtained a sense of self-actualisation and the pride that comes from having created new knowledge.

'Two external examiners ensure that your work is new - that it has never been done before. You have to use sophisticated methods to verify your data. You might have an interesting hypothesis, but it might not be true,' she said.



A master who is keen to pass on all that she has learned