Asking AI to come up with an MBA research theme and proposal: on recruiting baby boomers in the insurance sector

Asking AI to come up with an MBA research theme and proposal: on recruiting baby boomers in the insurance sector (information from perplexity.ai)

My question 1: "Please suggest an MBA research theme, via the pragmatism lens, based on the following key words: recruiting professional baby boomers in Hong Kong to work as insurance sales agents, talent management in the Hong Kong insurance sector, customer service quality"

The reply: "A suitable overarching MBA research theme is: “Pragmatic talent strategies for recruiting professional baby boomers as insurance sales agents in Hong Kong and their impact on customer service quality.” This allows a mixed‑methods, practice-oriented study of how insurers can tap older professionals to close talent gaps while sustaining or enhancing service quality.

Core research focus

• Examine how Hong Kong insurers design and implement talent management and recruitment strategies targeted at professional baby boomers (aged roughly 60–75).
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• Investigate how employing experienced baby boomers as insurance sales agents affects customer service quality (e.g., trust, perceived professionalism, advice quality, complaint handling).
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• Use a pragmatism lens: focus on “what works” in real organisational settings, combining quantitative and qualitative evidence to generate actionable recommendations for HR and distribution leaders.

Possible research title options

• “What Works in Late‑Career Talent? A Pragmatist Study of Recruiting Professional Baby Boomers as Insurance Sales Agents in Hong Kong and Their Impact on Service Quality”

• “Bridging the Talent Gap: Pragmatic Talent Management Strategies for Engaging Professional Baby Boomers in Hong Kong’s Insurance Sales Force”
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• “From Experience to Service Excellence: A Pragmatist Inquiry into Baby Boomer Recruitment and Customer Service Quality in Hong Kong’s Insurance Sector”
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Indicative research issues (gaps)

• How can Hong Kong insurers respond to the looming talent gap from retiring baby boomers while still leveraging older professionals’ expertise in customer-facing roles.
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• To what extent current recruitment and talent management practices explicitly target older professionals versus younger entrants, despite severe competition for experienced insurance workers in Hong Kong.
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• How customers perceive service quality when served by older, professionally experienced agents compared with younger agents, especially for complex life and health products.
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Pragmatic research positioning

• Mixed methods aligned with pragmatism, for example:

  • Quantitative survey of customers on perceived service quality, trust, and satisfaction with baby boomer vs non‑boomer agents.
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  • Qualitative interviews with HR leaders, agency leaders and baby boomer agents on recruitment, onboarding, training and performance management practices.
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• Emphasis on practical outcomes: recruitment guidelines, talent value propositions, and service-quality improvement playbooks specifically tailored to older professional recruits in the Hong Kong insurance context.
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If you like this theme, the next step can be to convert it into a full proposal with specific research questions, methodology, and candidate theories (e.g., person–job fit, human capital, and service quality models such as SERVQUAL)."

My question 2: "Based on the research theme of "Pragmatic talent strategies for recruiting professional baby boomers as insurance sales agents in Hong Kong and their impact on customer service quality", please offer a part-time MBA dissertation proposal with the following information: 

1. Dissertation report title

2. 3 research issues (including research gaps) and 3 Hong Kong public media reported issues

3. 4 research objectives and 3 research questions

4. 2 primary research methods and 1 secondary research method

5. 3 talent management and employee recruitment-related academic theories (with a reference list in Harvard reference format)

6. A brief justification of the dissertation proposal in terms of academic, practical and originality value."." 

The reply: "MBA Dissertation Project Proposal (Part-Time)

1. Dissertation report title

“Pragmatic talent strategies for recruiting professional baby boomers as insurance sales agents in Hong Kong and their impact on customer service quality.”

This title foregrounds talent management, older professionals, and service quality outcomes in the Hong Kong insurance context.

2. Research issues and media‑reported issues

Research issues (including gaps)

1. Under‑utilisation of older professionals in insurance sales

   • Despite severe talent shortages in Hong Kong’s insurance sector, firms still focus heavily on younger or external talent pools rather than systematically targeting experienced baby boomers as a strategic resource.
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   • Research gap: Limited empirical work on structured recruitment, onboarding and retention strategies for professional baby boomers as frontline insurance agents in Hong Kong.

2. Unclear impact of baby boomer agents on customer service quality

   • Industry commentary highlights the value of experience and relationship skills in insurance distribution, but there is little empirical evidence on how older agents influence perceived service quality, trust and satisfaction versus younger agents.
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   • Research gap: Lack of mixed‑methods evidence linking older agents’ professional background to measurable customer service quality outcomes in Hong Kong.

3. Misalignment between talent management practices and ageing labour market realities

   • Hong Kong faces a shrinking young labour force and a rising share of older workers staying in or returning to work, yet employer practices and policies often do not fully leverage this cohort in client‑facing roles such as insurance sales.
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   • Research gap: Insufficient understanding of how talent management systems (recruitment, training, performance management) can be pragmatically adapted to optimise baby boomer participation in the insurance salesforce.

Hong Kong public media–reported issues

1. Talent shortages and recruitment boom in insurance

   • Reports describe a recruitment boom and persistent talent shortages in Hong Kong’s insurance market, with companies aggressively hiring to support growth and digital transformation.
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2. Ageing workforce and youth drain

   • Public reports show Hong Kong’s labour force shrinking, with large outflows of young workers alongside a surge in older workers (65+) remaining in employment, highlighting an ageing workforce challenge.
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3. Scramble for insurance sales talent and job‑hopping

   • Media note that insurers are competing intensely for sales and distribution roles, with job‑hopping and premium pay rises to fill vacancies, signalling structural talent gaps in the sector.
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These media issues help justify baby boomer recruitment as a timely and locally grounded focus.

3. Research objectives and research questions

Research objectives

1. To evaluate current recruitment and talent management practices for insurance sales agents in Hong Kong and the extent to which they target professional baby boomers.
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2. To assess the perceived impact of baby boomer insurance agents on customer service quality, trust and satisfaction among Hong Kong policyholders.
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3. To explore the motivations, expectations and challenges of professional baby boomers who enter or consider entering insurance sales roles in Hong Kong.
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4. To develop pragmatic, evidence‑based recommendations for Hong Kong insurers on designing and implementing talent strategies that effectively attract, develop and retain baby boomer agents while enhancing customer service quality.
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Research questions

1. How do Hong Kong insurance companies currently recruit, manage and support professional baby boomers as insurance sales agents, and where are the key gaps or barriers?
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2. In what ways do customers perceive differences in service quality, trust and satisfaction when served by baby boomer agents compared with younger agents?
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3. What pragmatic talent management practices “work best” for attracting and retaining professional baby boomers in insurance sales roles, from the perspectives of HR leaders, line managers, and baby boomer agents themselves?
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These questions align with a pragmatism lens by focusing on practical consequences and what works in context.

4. Research methods

Primary research methods (aligned with pragmatism)

1. Quantitative customer survey

   • Structured questionnaire to policyholders in Hong Kong, comparing perceived service quality, trust and satisfaction when interacting with baby boomer vs non‑boomer agents (e.g., adapted SERVQUAL and trust items).
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   • Enables statistical testing of relationships between agent demographics, customer perceptions and satisfaction.

2. Qualitative semi‑structured interviews

   • In‑depth interviews with:

     • HR and agency leaders in Hong Kong insurance firms (on recruitment, onboarding, performance management, age‑related policies).
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     • Professional baby boomer agents (on motivations, career transitions, learning, perceived challenges and enablers).
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   • Provides rich contextual insight into “what works” and why, supporting a pragmatic mixed‑methods design.

Secondary research method

3. Document and media analysis

   • Review of:

     • Hong Kong insurance manpower reports and industry surveys.
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     • Government and NGO reports on ageing workforce and labour shortages.
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     • Public media coverage on talent schemes, insurance recruitment trends and older workers’ employment.
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   • Helps frame the study in current policy and industry debates, and triangulates primary data.

5. Academic theories (talent management & recruitment)

Three suitable theories:

1. Human Capital Theory

   • Views individuals’ education, skills and experience as investments that enhance productivity and organisational value.

   • Relevant for assessing how baby boomers’ accumulated professional experience contributes to sales effectiveness and service quality in insurance.

2. Person–Job Fit / Person–Organisation Fit

   • Focuses on alignment between a person’s abilities/values and job/organisational requirements.

   • Useful for exploring how well insurance sales roles, training, and culture fit baby boomers’ skills, values and lifestyle needs.

3. Employer Branding and Psychological Contract

   • Employer branding concerns how firms position themselves to attract and retain target talent groups.

   • Psychological contract addresses mutual expectations between employer and employee, important for late‑career entrants such as baby boomers regarding flexibility, respect and development opportunities.

Harvard‑style references

• Becker, G.S. (1993) Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. 3rd edn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Kristof-Brown, A.L., Zimmerman, R.D. and Johnson, E.C. (2005) ‘Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: A meta-analysis of person–job, person–organisation, person–group, and person–supervisor fit’, Personnel Psychology, 58(2), pp. 281–342.

• Backhaus, K. and Tikoo, S. (2004) ‘Conceptualizing and researching employer branding’, Career Development International, 9(5), pp. 501–517.

These theories can be integrated into a conceptual framework linking baby boomers’ human capital and fit with employer branding and psychological contract factors, and then to customer service quality outcomes.

6. Justification of the proposal

Academic value

• Addresses under‑researched intersections of ageing workforce, talent management, and frontline insurance sales in an Asian global financial centre facing manpower shortages and demographic ageing.
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• Extends application of human capital, person–job fit and employer branding theories to late‑career professionals entering insurance sales, enriching the talent management literature with a pragmatist, mixed‑methods case from Hong Kong.
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Practical value

• Provides actionable recruitment and talent management guidelines showing how insurers can tap professional baby boomers as a complementary talent pool for sales growth and digitalising operations.
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• Offers evidence‑based insights for HR and distribution leaders on how baby boomer agents influence customer service quality and customer relationships, informing hiring, training, and performance management decisions.
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Originality value

• Pioneers a focused, Hong Kong‑specific study on professional baby boomers as insurance sales agents, integrating customer, employer and agent perspectives within a single pragmatist research design.
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• Combines labour‑market realities (youth drain and ageing workforce) with insurance sector talent shortages and customer service quality outcomes, generating context‑specific recommendations not yet widely covered in the literature.
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If helpful, a next step can be to sketch a brief conceptual framework (diagram and hypotheses/ propositions) linking the three theories to your survey and interview variables."

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.