UMT Hosts DBA Dissertation Defense Meeting (Hong Kong)

Congratulations to Dr. Billy Chu, Oral Defense passed!

Billy has successfully passed his dissertation oral defense on 19th July 2013 (Friday) and completed his DBA at UMT.

His dissertation title is: Study on the Relationships between Corporate Events and Employees Motivation: using financial firms in Hong Kong as example

Dr Billy Chu's Graduation Speech at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chiang Chen Theatre on 28th July 2013 (Sunday)
" The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

First of all, let me begin by telling you my story. 25 years ago, when I was still studying my Bachelor of Arts degree, I set-up my own company and started running my event business. Like what Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech, "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." At that time, I quickly felt in love with my work, and then I dropped out of the university after Year 1. Yes, that was what Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg did at Harvard, but I always tell my children never follow in my footsteps. It is because without university education, your future is not guaranteed and your life isn't perfect.

7 years ago, even though I have already achieved so much in my life, I picked up my school bag again. I started studying my post graduate diploma with a local university, then my Master degree with an UK university, and finally I've finished my Doctor of Business Administration degree with an US university, that is University of Management and Technology ! To maintain a work-life balance is my wish, and this is what quality distance education provider like UMT can provide. I can say, the doctoral journey wasn’t easy, but it was worth !

I would like to finish by thanking Dr Chen and Dr Frame, because without them, there would no UMT that provides flexible learning opportunities to students in HK. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Donna and my son Ernie and Oscar. Without their love and support, I would never have gotten this far. Thank you everyone and wish you all the best for your future !

Dr. Billy Chu, Founder and Executive Director of On Stage Events and Communications
2011 ISES Esprit Awards® global winner
Post Grad. Diploma, HKU
MA, Middlesex University London
DBA, UMT US

Date: 2013 July 19
Time: 9pm - 10pm
Venue: Hong Kong

UMT Dissertation Defense Committee:
J. Davidson Frame (Chair of Defense Committee) in USA
Dr. Yanping Chen (UMT President) in USA
Dr. Raymond Cheng (External Advisor) in Hong Kong
Dr. Danny Lo (DBA Faculty) in Hong Kong

UMT doctoral aspirant Mr. Billy Chu and DBA dissertation committee conduct the dissertation defense through Skype. The oral defense includes the presentation of doctoral research, literature review, identifying variables and their relationship to each other, and summarizing the finding and analyiss in scholarly research.

Among the dissertation committee were Dr. Raymond Cheng, Dr. Danny Lo, UMT President Dr. Yanping Chen and UMT Academic Dean, J. Davidson Frame. Here is the summary of the defense meeting:
“Billy received "High Pass" result in the dissertation defense. He did a fantastic job, both in his written dissertation and his oral presentation!"

A word of guidance for future DBA candidates: You will be given 20 minutes to deliver a presentation on your research effort. These days, students typically make Power Point presentations, although this is not a requirement. If you use Power Point, be careful not to include too many pages. Certainly, do not include a lot of textual commentary that you expect the audience to read. The best slides are those that contain a few bulleted items and slides that have data, charts, or other graphical material that are important to supplement your presentation. In structuring your presentation, follow a basic outline, such as:

1. Cover page of dissertation document, showing title and names of committee members
2. Table of contents of dissertation, showing different chapter headings
3. Key hypotheses and/or research questions addressed in the dissertation
4. Methodology employed in addressing hypotheses/research questions (keep it simple). Be sure to highlight areas that need to be strengthened (e.g., “In my study, the sample of managers I used was not drawn randomly, so the external validity of my findings may be limited.”)
5. Key results of research and research limitations
6. Conclusions
7. Areas for future research”

J. Davidson Frame,
PhD, PMP, PMI Fellow
Academic Dean, UMT
Director, Doctoral Program

Dissertation Committee
When students pass their comprehensive examination, they are assigned a Dissertation Committee. Similar to the Advisory Committee, this committee will comprise at least three faculty members with appropriate terminal degrees. Students may request substitutions or additions to this committee, which must be approved by the Academic Dean. Students work closely with their dissertation committee members through the remainder of their doctoral program.

Each student must nominate one member of the dissertation committee who resides in a location convenient for regular interaction in person. This individual must meet the requirements for becoming adjunct faculty at UMT and must possess a terminal degree in a relevant discipline from an appropriately accredited institution. Selection of a nominee is solely at the discretion of the UMT administration. UMT will provide compensation to the local faculty member directly: the student will not bear any additional financial burden for his/her services.

Special Topics in Research
The next major step toward the doctoral degree is for students to develop expertise in their chosen area of concentration. Students build a general reading list covering the major topics relevant to the concentration and an in-depth, specialized reading list relevant to their specific research interests.
The minimum requirement is six (6) credits for Mgt 420. Additional research may be undertaken with Mgt 498, which may be repeated. These hours count toward the total hours for dissertation research.

Dissertation Proposal
The critical work product of the Special Topics in Research component is a formal written proposal for dissertation research. This proposal must include a clear statement of the problem to be researched and a survey of the relevant literature. The proposal must specify the research methods, data collection, and data analysis techniques in detail. The methods to be employed must be appropriate, reliable, and appropriate for the measures taken.

Proposal Defense
The proposal for the dissertation research must be approved by the student’s Dissertation Committee before the student may commence work on the dissertation. The defense is an oral examination, limited to no more than three (3) hours. The student may be directed to rework portions of the proposal and repeat this examination. When approved by the committee, the student is promoted to the status of doctoral candidate and may proceed.

Dissertation Research
Students begin the final phase of their studies immediately after the successful oral defense of the proposal. Working closely with their committee, students conduct their research project and develop their dissertation, achieving the highest levels of scholarship. The dissertation must include original research that is focused either on expanding the methodological scope of the content area, developing new theories, or confirming theoretic models. Research methods that may be employed include field experiments, surveys, and case studies. The minimum requirement is nine (9) credits for Mgt 499. This course may be taken in 3 or 6 credit-hours increments and may be repeated, as necessary.

Dissertation
The dissertation is the final scholarly product of the program. This document must complete the proposed research study, presenting detailed results and analyses. The dissertation must present a careful synthesis and evaluation of the work done and the findings obtained. All claims must be warranted and limitations admitted. Suggestions for future research in the field that build on the instant research are required to demonstrate the fruitfulness of this research.

Dissertation Defense
An oral examination of the doctoral candidate will be conducted by the dissertation committee. This defense is limited to three (3) hours. The final document must be delivered to the committee at least 30 days prior to the scheduled defense. It is expected to be ready for publication in camera-ready or desktop publishing format. The candidate may be directed to rework portions of the dissertation and repeat this examination until it is approved by a majority of the dissertation committee.

Publication
After the dissertation is approved by the Dissertation Committee, the student must arrange two bound copies to be provided to the UMT library. UMT will work closely with students to gain publication of the main work in a scholarly or other journal or publication of a book, as appropriate. Students also may arrange publication at cost by UMT Press.

Assessment of Learning
Students in the doctoral program must demonstrate their ability to conduct appropriate research in the field and to interpret and apply the results of this research. Students must demonstrate their ability to evaluate, synthesize, and incorporate emerging relevant technologies and trends in theory and practice. Students must demonstrate the skills necessary to advance the body of knowledge and practice in the field.

Course-level assessments of learning are conducted by instructors following UMT’s standard guidelines. UMT expects 300-level courses to include at least one objective examination as a measure of learning of facts, terminology, and so forth. Assessments also are to include at least one, substantial written assessment. Written assessments are to present the original research of the student and to be prepared with professional care and attention to details, methods, and findings. Students must demonstrate higher cognitive abilities including, but not limited to, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. For courses with quantitative skill requirements, exercise sets are required, however, these may be integrated with objective assessments. Additional short written assignments may be used.

Additional assessments include the qualifying and comprehensive examinations, which must be passed to continue in the program and to advance to the dissertation research phase of the degree program, respectively. The final assessments are the oral defense of the written proposal and the final dissertation. The majority of the advisory/dissertation committee must approve the proposal and the dissertation for the student to be awarded the degree.