The First Session of Academic Forum of Excellence 2024 of the Business School successfully Organized

On March 7, 2024, at noon, the Business School held its first session of Academic Forum of Excellence 2024 at Lecture Hall A28 in the MBA Education Center, situated at the Xueyuan South Road Campus of the Central University of Finance and Economics. The lecture featured Professor Dai Hongyan from the Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics as the guest speaker. More than twenty people, including faculty, doctoral students and master students, participated in this event.

The conference was chaired by Professor Liu Xiaoyuan, Deputy Dean of the Business School. Prior to the lecture, Professor Liu Xiaoyuan provided a detailed introduction to Professor Dai Hongyan's resume. Professor Dai Hongyan is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics, and also serves as a professor/mentor for the MBA program. He was a visiting scholar at Duke University in the United States. He holds a master's degree from Tsinghua University and a doctoral degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include data-driven optimization decisions, the Internet of Things, and human-machine interaction. He has published over 40 papers, including in top international and domestic journals such as Management Science, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Management Science in China, and Journal of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. He has also directed multiple national and provincial/ministerial key research projects, such as the NSFC’s Major Research Plan Cultivation Project and the NSFC’s General Program Projects. He has been awarded multiple scientific research prizes, including the first prize for outstanding papers from the China Society of Logistics, the third prize for scientific and technological advancements from Zhejiang Province, and the second prize for scientific and technological achievements from the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. He has offered data-driven operational management solutions to several renowned domestic and international companies, including JD Daojia, Edianyun, State Grid, and Hong Kong Esquel Group. He was also awarded the second prize for the “Management Science Practice Award” at the Global Chinese Scholars Conference on Management Science and Engineering.

The topic of Professor Dai Hongyan's lecture was "Identity Disclosure and Anthropomorphism in Voice Chatbot Design: A Field Experiment." With the impetus of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), voice chatbots are gaining popularity in various business settings. This lecture focuses on two design features of voice chatbots: identity disclosure and anthropomorphism. It explores how to effectively and appropriately use voice chatbots and assesses their impact on corporate operational performance. A field experiment was conducted in partnership with a large truck-sharing platform, where 11,000 truck drivers were randomly assigned to receive outbound calls from a voice chatbot. The research revealed that disclosing the chatbot's identity at the start of the conversation negatively affected operational performance, leading to a reduced response rate. Nevertheless, by enhancing the anthropomorphism of the voice chatbot (i.e., adding insert words and filler words), the response rate, conversation duration, and willingness to accept orders were significantly improved. This study offers valuable insights for effectively implementing voice chatbots in business settings.

After the sharing session, the teachers and students who participated in the meeting engaged in an active discussion and in-depth exchange on topics such as research models, data acquisition and analysis, experimental design, and the submission and publication of high-level papers, based on the theme of Professor Dai's lecture.

The “Academic Forum of Excellence” is an academic exchange platform established by the Business School to fulfill its mission of "contributing new knowledge to management.” It focuses on cutting-edge theoretical issues and organizational development challenges in the discipline of business administration and Chinese enterprise management practices. By aggregating cutting-edge thoughts and innovative viewpoints from both domestic and international sources, it seeks to explore Chinese solutions for the social and economic development of China.