Asking AI to produce a dissertation proposal based on a few key words: on AI-enabled digital era

Asking AI to produce a dissertation proposal based on a few key words (information from perplexity.ai): on AI-enabled digital era

My question 1: "Please suggest an MBA dissertation research theme, via the pragmatism lens, based on the following key words: sustainable competitive advantage, AI-driven digital era in Hong Kong, leadership capability in the Hong Kong financial service sector."

The reply: "A pragmatism-based MBA dissertation theme integrating sustainable competitive advantage, the AI-driven digital era in Hong Kong, and leadership capability in the financial services sector could explore how Hong Kong financial leaders pragmatically leverage AI to build enduring competitive edges amid digital disruption.

Proposed Theme

"Pragmatic Leadership for AI-Enabled Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Hong Kong's Financial Services Sector." This theme adopts pragmatism's focus on practical, experiential outcomes—testing what "works" through mixed methods—to address how leaders cultivate capabilities like adaptive AI integration and strategic foresight, yielding measurable firm advantages such as enhanced efficiency, client retention, and innovation in a digital landscape.

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Business Issues

Hong Kong financial firms face intense digital competition from fintech disruptors, requiring AI adoption for operational resilience yet risking commoditization without unique leadership-driven differentiation. Leadership gaps hinder translating AI tools into sustainable advantages, as generic tech deployment fails to address sector-specific regulatory and client trust challenges in Hong Kong's international finance hub. Firms undervalue pragmatic, context-tested leadership capabilities, leading to uneven AI maturity and lost market positioning against global players.

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Research Objectives

Identify key leadership capabilities enabling AI-driven sustainable competitive advantage in Hong Kong financial services. Evaluate pragmatic strategies for AI integration that deliver practical outcomes like cost savings and revenue growth. Develop actionable recommendations for leaders to foster enduring firm advantages through experiential AI leadership.

Research Questions

What leadership capabilities most effectively drive sustainable competitive advantage via AI in Hong Kong's financial sector? How do pragmatic approaches—blending mixed data sources—reveal AI's real-world impact on competitive positioning? What barriers prevent financial leaders from achieving AI-enabled advantages, and how can they be overcome?

Suggested Methods

Primary quantitative: Surveys of 150+ Hong Kong financial executives on AI leadership practices and perceived advantages (using scales from resource-based view theory). Primary qualitative: Interviews with 20 senior leaders for experiential insights on pragmatic AI deployment. Secondary: Analysis of HKMA reports and firm financials (2023-2025) for triangulating competitive outcomes."

My question 2: "Using the proposed research theme of ""Pragmatic Leadership for AI-Enabled Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Hong Kong's Financial Services Sector.", please offer an MBA dissertation proposal with the following information:

1. Dissertation project title

2. 3 research issues

3. 3 Hong Kong public media-reported issues

4. 3 research objectives"

The reply: "Dissertation Project Title

Pragmatic Leadership for AI-Enabled Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Hong Kong's Financial Services Sector.

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This title captures pragmatism's emphasis on practical, outcome-tested strategies, focusing on how leadership capabilities drive enduring AI advantages in Hong Kong's finance hub amid digital transformation.

Research Issues

Hong Kong financial leaders struggle to translate AI adoption into sustainable competitive edges, often due to siloed tech implementations that overlook adaptive, experiential leadership. Pragmatic integration of AI faces barriers like regulatory uncertainty and talent shortages, hindering firms' ability to differentiate from global fintech rivals. Leadership capabilities remain underdeveloped for the AI-driven era, with overreliance on technical tools rather than context-specific, mixed-method strategies that deliver measurable outcomes.

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Hong Kong Public Media-Reported Issues

Recent media highlights HSBC's AI pilots for fraud detection, yet reports note leadership hesitancy in scaling due to data privacy concerns under HKMA guidelines. SCMP articles from 2025 detail how Standard Chartered lags fintechs like WeLab in AI personalization, attributing gaps to rigid hierarchies unfit for agile digital competition. Ming Pao coverage in late 2025 exposed cyber incidents at local banks, underscoring leadership failures in building AI-resilient defenses for competitive trust.

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Research Objectives

Identify pragmatic leadership capabilities that enable AI-driven sustainable advantages, such as efficiency gains and market share growth in Hong Kong finance. Assess real-world barriers to AI integration through mixed-methods evaluation of financial firms' outcomes. Provide actionable frameworks for leaders to cultivate experiential AI strategies fostering long-term competitiveness."

My question 3: "Also suggest 3 research questions, 2 primary research methods, 1 secondary research method, 3 academic management theories (with references in Harvard reference format), comments on the academic, practical and originality values of the study."

The reply: "Research questions, methods, theories, and value comments build directly on the proposed MBA dissertation theme of pragmatic leadership for AI-enabled sustainable competitive advantage in Hong Kong's financial services sector.

Research Questions

How do pragmatic leadership capabilities facilitate AI integration for sustainable competitive advantage in Hong Kong financial firms? What contextual barriers impede leaders from achieving practical AI-driven outcomes, and how can they be pragmatically addressed? To what extent do experiential leadership strategies correlate with measurable competitive edges like revenue growth or client retention in the sector?

Primary Methods

Quantitative surveys of 150+ Hong Kong financial executives using Likert scales to measure leadership capabilities and AI impact on firm performance, analyzed via regression in Excel pivot tables. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 20 senior leaders to capture pragmatic, real-world experiences of AI deployment and competitive outcomes.

Secondary Method

Thematic analysis of HKMA annual reports (2023-2025) and financial statements from key banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered to triangulate leadership-AI links with performance data.

Management Theories

Dynamic Capabilities View (Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997) 'Dynamic capabilities and strategic management', Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), pp. 509-533) explains how leaders sense, seize, and reconfigure AI resources for enduring advantages. Resource-Based View (Barney, J. (1991) 'Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage', Journal of Management, 17(1), pp. 99-120) frames AI-leadership bundles as valuable, rare assets in Hong Kong finance. Upper Echelons Theory (Hambrick, D. C. and Mason, P. A. (1984) 'Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers', Academy of Management Review, 9(2), pp. 193-206) links executives' pragmatic cognition to AI strategy success.

Study Values

Academic Value: Advances pragmatism in management by integrating mixed methods to test AI-leadership dynamics, bridging gaps in Hong Kong-specific literature on digital-era capabilities. Practical Value: Delivers frameworks for financial leaders to pragmatically deploy AI, enhancing competitiveness amid HKMA regulations and fintech rivalry. Originality Value: Pioneers a localized pragmatism lens on AI leadership in Hong Kong finance, using timely 2025-2026 data for novel, contextually grounded insights unavailable in prior studies."

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