HKUST Annual Report 2017-18

24 Research Highlights SIMPLIFYING COMPLEX INVENTORY SYSTEMS Research by Prof. Rachel ZHANG and Prof. ZHANG Jiheng (both Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics) is tackling inventory problems with higher dimensional state spaces. Such challenges arise when it is necessary to track a series of events to make optimal decisions regarding inventory. Using the fresh angle of asymptotic behavior, preliminary results have suggested that the approach may lead to simpler management procedures for highly complex inventory systems than current heuristic policies. PRIVACY, PERSONAL INFORMATION AND ONLINE PEER DISCLOSURE Prof. HUI Kai-Lung, Prof. XU Hong, and former PhD student CAO Zike (Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management) tackled the novel privacy problem of peer disclosure of sensitive personal information in online social communities. The researchers used a stylized economic model to show that regulation of peer disclosure was necessary. However, they also found regulation that uniformly controls the disclosure of sensitive and non-sensitive information will not serve the triple objectives of reducing privacy harm, increasing social welfare, and increasing information contribution. They then derived a necessary condition for solutions that could fulfill these three objectives. The work has been published in Information Systems Research. MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE AND TOLERANCE OF DIVERSITY Earlier research has shown that multicultural exposure can lead to better intercultural understanding and more positive attitude toward diversity. However, the metacognitive conditions that facilitate this positive effect have yet to be understood. Prof. Melody CHAO (Management) and her coauthors revealed that multicultural experiences would lead to more positive attitudes toward different others only when individuals felt that they had sufficient mental resources. Individuals who felt mentally exhausted became more closed-minded and less tolerant toward diversity, regardless of their multicultural experiences. The study is in press in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.