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University of Hong Kong: Bridging East and West

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University of Hong Kong: Bridging East and West 316-068 JANUARY 11, 2016 WILLIAM C. KIRBY JOYCELYN W. EBY University of Hong Kong: Bridging East and West With our fabulous students, our fabulous staff, and our wonderful facilities, we have great opportunities in the world. What we must not do is squander those by worrying about firefighting or short-term considerations. — Peter Mathieson, Presidenta of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Peter Mathieson stared in disbelief at reports that the latest focal point of student discussion at HKU was not the recent shift from a three- to four-year curriculum, nor the Occupy Central movement that had taken up much of his students’ energy during fall 2014. Rather, it was his own recent consumption of a Subway sandwich as he sat alone on a campus bench. Mathieson sighed as he read the many comments guessing the subtext and implications of his lonely, public lunch (in truth, nothing more than a quick, impromptu meal). Attention of key stakeholders at HKU too often failed to focus on the most pressing business at hand. Less than two years into his tenure as President, Mathieson already recognized that uniting the many interests at HKU to focus on a substantive, long-term agenda would be his greatest challenge. For much of its institutional history, HKU was the only university in Hong Kong. Although HKU now competed against seven other higher education institutions in Hong Kong for government funding and support, many at HKU remained stuck in monopolistic mindset of the mid-20th century. HKU needed a strategy to ensure its continued leadership in higher education in Hong Kong in a sector increasingly crowded with high quality institutions. Historically, HKU's unique value proposition included not just its monopoly on higher education in Hong Kong, but also its role as a bridge between an inaccessible Mainland China and the rest of the world. As Mainland Chinese universities gained a global presence, the need for HKU's role as a connector was also under threat. Mathieson knew that HKU could still play an important part in a Following British custom, the top administrative position at HKU was that of the Vice-Chancellor (VC), with the Chief Executive (formerly the Governor) serving as the Chancellor. In order to clarify administrative roles for a global audience, Mathieson instituted a change in nomenclature, after which his title became “President and Vice Chancellor,” or, more commonly, simply “President.” Pro-Vice-Chancellors (PVCs) were more commonly referred to as Vice Presidents. This case uses the titles “President” and “Vice-President” in reference to the 2015 HKU leadership, while previous generations of administrators are referred to as “Vice-Chancellor” and “Pro-Vice-Chancellor”, the titles in use during their tenure. Professor William C. Kirby and Research Associate Joycelyn W. Eby prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. Funding for the development of this case was provided by Harvard Business School and not by the company. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright © 2015 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. 316-068 University of Hong Kong: Bridging East and West China's relationship to the world, but saw that the dynamics of HKU's involvement would have to change given China's renewed global presence and, particularly, the growing influence of its well- funded top-tier universities. Mathieson needed to break through institutional complacency and unite the oft-divided students, faculty, and administration behind a plan that would allow HKU to thrive in a landscape in which it competed not only with other institutions in Hong Kong, but also with the increasingly strong key universities in China, and with leading institutions around the world. Would HKU be able to maintain its position as a top institution linking East and West in an increasingly connected and complex global society? An Imperial Project: the History of HKU Early Supporters What England has done for India and Egypt in mitigation of famine...what she has done in arresting germ- borne disease (plague, malaria, cholera, and small-pox) by medical science, she can help China to do for herself; and she can mitigate her poverty by teaching her how to develop her unrivalled mineral and agricultural resources. And by doing so she will strengthen the bonds of friendship both now and hereafter, and reap a material reward in the development of the future....It is better to help than to stand by as an apathetic spectator. — Frederick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong1 From its inception, HKU was an institution with many goals. It was intended to link Great Britain with Mainland China, provide high-quality, local educational opportunities for the young men of the British colonies in Southeast Asia, and strengthen key capacities of Hong Kong citizens. Its greatest early champion, Fredrick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong from 1907 to 1912, envisioned HKU as a key establishment in and accomplishment of the British Empire.2 A long-time diplomat, Lugard did not have extensive experience in the field of education, but nonetheless believed in the economic and moral merit of establishing a local university. The sense of competition among imperial powers was also an impetus for the founding of HKU. Already by 1905, newspapers warned that British influence in China was being surpassed by Japan, particularly in terms of education.3 The British eyed with envy the progress made by Americans, particularly American missionaries, in developing higher education in Mainland China. The German plans to develop a research university in Kiaochow (Qingdao) in 1908 further encouraged the British to develop an institution of their own. Indeed, it was the news of the founding of the German school that led Hormusjee Nowrojee Mody, a prominent Parsee merchant who became one of the most prominent donors to HKU, to ask Governor Lugard and his wife, "...why cannot we get ahead of them?"4 Vocal about the important role the university could play in empire building, Lugard was still unable to gather significant financial support from the British government. Most of the early funding for the University came from the private sector, although the government maintained a high level of involvement in administrative decisions. Mody was an early supporter, sponsoring the construction of HKU’s iconic Main Building, with donations ultimately valued at HK$365,000 (approximately £36,500).5 More early support was received in May 1909, when the John Swire group announced the 2 University of Hong Kong: Bridging East and West 316-068 donation of £40,000 to the university endowment.6b Each of these major donors may have had ulterior motives: Mody, having made some of his fortune in the opium trade, perhaps sought to create a more proper legacy, while the Swire group, fraught with difficulties after a scandal and boycott in Canton, may have wanted to rehabilitate its corporate image.7 Whatever their motivation, these gifts initiated enough fundraising from individuals in Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas Chinese communities in Australia, Malaya, and French Saigon8 as well as the governments in Beijing and Guangdong—after their fears of a new university as a revolutionary hotbed were assuaged—to build the skeleton of a university just before the end of Lugard’s tenure as Governor of Hong Kong in 1912. A University, Launched! The first university to be founded in Hong Kong, HKU was preceded by a number of technical and ecclesiastical colleges. One, the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, founded in 1887, became HKU’s School of Medicine. When the university opened its doors to its first cohort of 75 students in the autumn of 1912,9 it offered courses at its School of Medicine as well as its School of Engineering, joined by the School of the Arts in 1913. The University Ordinance of 1911 established HKU's tripartite governance structure of Court (for government and societal oversight), Council (for administrative matters), and Senate (for academic matters). While responsibilities and power of the three groups shifted over time and the Court grew increasingly ceremonial, the basic structure remained almost unchanged into the 21st century. The Ordinance also laid out a non-discrimination policy, stating, “No distinction of race or nationality shall be permitted, and no test of religious belief or profession shall be imposed, in order to entitle any person to be admitted as a member, professor, reader, lecturer, teacher, or student of the University or to hold office therein or to graduate thereof or to hold any advantage or privilege thereof.”10 Initially, this ethos was applied much more readily to students than to faculty. Founders of HKU felt that having well-qualified, British lecturers was necessary to bolster the fledgling institution's reputation.11 This preferential policy was challenged by some of the university administration in 1919 when HKU sought to fill the newly-created Chair of Pathology, and was torn between a Senate- supported British candidate and the Council-supported Dr. Wang Chung Yik, a graduate of the Hong Kong College of Medicine and Edinburgh University. The withdrawal of the Senate-supported candidate led to the appointment of Dr. Wang, HKU’s first ethnic Chinese academic.12 During its first decade, the university struggled to remain financially solvent. By 1919, the Colonial Government finally agreed to help pull HKU out of debt, but only with the expansion of government oversight of the university.
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