The New Hybrid, the New Elite

In today's rapidly changing global environment, business and law collaborations and interconnected issues are on the rise. The new generation of professionals needs to have ever more in-depth and integrative knowledge beyond the scope of any single traditional discipline.

Business and law are two disciplines that are highly related to each other. The cross-disciplinary understanding of business and legal frameworks, constraints and opportunities are beneficial to both business and legal professionals.

To meet this need, CUHK Business School and Faculty of Law have joined hands to offer the new Bachelor of Business Administration (Integrated BBA Programme) and Juris Doctor Double Degree Programme (BBA-JD). It is an elite programme that provides students with a well-structured inter-disciplinary educational setting with parallel concentrations on business and legal studies. The Programme can make important contributions to the field by combining the strengths of the two Faculties to allow its students to acquire essential knowledge and practical skills in the two complimentary disciplines.

Dr. Anthony Law, BBA-JD Programme Co-Director from the CUHK Business School, said, ‘Applicants are expected to have a broad horizon and be eager to learn both business and law. They should demonstrate good presentation and analytical skills as well as a desire to contribute to society. Admission scholarships are offered to qualified candidates on the basis of their outstanding academic or non-academic performances.’

Prof. Jyh-An Lee, a member of BBA-JD Programme Management Team and LLB Programme Director from the Faculty of Law, said, ‘Our BBA-JD Programme is the most valuable investment in many different aspects. We are looking for candidates who aspire to become business leaders with legal expertise or excel in a legal career focusing on complicated business issues.’

The BBA-JD students will take a number of undergraduate law courses in the first three years of study. They will acquire the essential legal concepts commensurate with their study phases. The students then focus on professional legal studies from the fourth year, which will be challenging to the intellectually rigorous.

The CUHK Business School and the Faculty of Law both have first-class teaching and learning facilities, student development teams and powerful online resources to support and maximize the students’ learning experience. This programme benefits from the pooling of over 140 and 45 faculty members from Business and Law, respectively. Academic advisors from the two Faculties offer an integrated student advising service to the BBA-JD students by providing guidance and advice on academic development and pastoral care throughout their course of study.

The BBA-JD, being one of the first of its kind in Asia, is an articulated undergraduate/ postgraduate double degree programme combining business and law. The students will obtain the two degrees in five years, as opposed to the usual six years if the two programmes are attempted separately.

Dr. Law said, ‘The Programme also provides flexibility for students to choose to graduate with a BBA, or a BBA with a minor in law in four years, allowing them to tailor their study options based on their interests, strengths and needs.

To the BBA-JD students who receive full-tuition admission scholarships from CUHK for their first four years of study, CUHK Business School may offer a top-up full-tuition scholarship for their fifth year of study.’

Beyond academic training, the BBA-JD students enjoy ample opportunities for various out-of-class learning experience such as internship, exchange, mentorship and entrepreneurship offered by the CUHK Business School, the Faculty of Law, the University and the Colleges.

To broaden their career options upon graduation, the BBA-JD students are allowed to specialize in their particular areas of interest as well as getting the requisite breadth of business education. They can freely choose from nine concentration areas under the Integrated BBA Programme:

• Business Analytics
• Business Economics
• Finance
• Entrepreneurship
• Management of International Business
• Human Resource Management
• Marketing
• Big Data and Quantitative Marketing
• General Business

The BBA-JD equips its graduates with a diverse and versatile skillset in both business and law with a view to pursuing careers in a variety of sectors. It prepares them to adapt to the rapidly evolving environment in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the global market. The training in both programmes offers them wide-ranging job and advancement opportunities in diverse fields such as commerce and finance, regulatory services, global consulting, government, community service, law enforcement, the academia, public administration, education and the media.

Graduates who aspire to practice as Hong Kong barristers or solicitors may further their studies in the PCLL programme, which they may begin after completing their JD degrees.

Professor Lee further remarked, ‘Compared with their counterparts in the normal undergraduate class, the BBA-JD students have the opportunity to study with graduate law students. The JD classes include students from a wide range of different backgrounds, which can enhance the discussion of legal issues, stimulate thoughts and build a network valuable to their future careers.’

The BBA-JD students will pay the University’s undergraduate tuition fee for the first four years of study. The year(s) of study beyond the four-year undergraduate curriculum is offered on a self-financing basis.

Published: Summer 2017
Last Updated: Summer 2019