The Department of Marketing at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has been invited by the Steering Committee of Professional Standards for Call Centres, Ministry of Information Industry, to provide academic support in the assessment exercise and research of the best call centres in China. CityU’s marketing students will participate in this project by conducting assessment research and compiling a management report.

The China Best Call Centre Awards 2006 is the highest honour of its kind in China. As the only academic support unit for this award, the Department will send its students from the BBA (Hons) China Business Programme to work on this project from June to September this year. The students will assist in compiling a report entitled The 2006 Management Report of Operation Standards for Call Centres in China.

Professor Zhou Nan, Head of the Department, said it was an honour to be invited to participate in the assessment and research work at the national level and that the learning experience would be invaluable for students. “It is our objective to nurture professional knowledge and creative minds,” Professor Zhou said. “This project will no doubt offer an opportunity for students to apply their academic knowledge, enabling them to gain practical experience and broaden their vision.”

As a leading academic institution in the Asia Pacific region, CityU will utilize its expertise in the study of market development in China with a global perspective to assist in this assessment project.

Under the supervision of the Department’s faculty members, six students will conduct case studies for 10 major corporations including China Life Insurance (Group) Company, Haier Group and the Guangzhou branch of the China Netcom Group. They will also perform an assessment study and write up reports through in-depth interviews with experts, company information analysis and a literature review.

Kevin Kong Li-chun, a Year 2 student who has been selected to participate in the project, said he was glad to have this valuable learning opportunity. “We will visit major corporations on the mainland to better understand the operation and management procedures of call centres. It will be an important asset for our future career development on the mainland or with corporations that have close business ties with the mainland,” he said.

Professor Zhou has been invited to present awards and deliver a talk at the “China Call Center Summit 2006 cum Award Presentation Ceremony” as part of the activities for this project. Ms Bi Zili, an instructor in the Department with more than 10 years of working experience in the operation and management of call centres, has been invited as a member of the judging panel for the awards.