A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series – Prof Leng Mingming: Cooperative Game Theory has practical application to our daily lives
The fourth session of the A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series for the 2025/26 academic year, organised by the School of Graduate Studies of Lingnan University, was held on 22 January 2026 at the Leung Fong Oi Wan Art Gallery. The seminar featured a thought-provoking talk titled “Multi-Player Allocations in the Presence of Diminishing Marginal Contributions: Cooperative Game Analysis and Applications in Management Science”, delivered by Prof Leng Mingming, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Chair Professor of Operations and Risk Management. The seminar attracted around 70 faculty members and students from various disciplines, sparking active engagement and discussion.
As a leading scholar in operations management and cooperative game theory, Prof Leng holds a PhD in Management Science/System from DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, Canada. His research brings together rigorous theoretical foundations with practical applications, focusing on cooperative game theory, supply chain operations, and allocation problems in complex multi-player environments. He has published extensively in top international journals, including Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, IISE Transactions, Naval Research Logistics. Complementing his academic achievements, Prof Leng also brings valuable real-world insights from his five years of industry experience.
In the seminar, Prof Leng introduced the concept of almost diminishing marginal contributions (ADMC) and explained how this property can be applied to model and analyse multi-player allocation problems. He highlighted how cooperative game analysis can address fairness and efficiency in management science, bridging theory with practice through illustrative applications such as a code-sharing game, a group-buying game, and a scheduling profit game. These examples demonstrated how abstract game-theoretic insights can inform decision-making in management science and operations contexts, reinforcing the seminar series’ emphasis on research that is both methodologically robust and practically meaningful.
During the Q&A session, when asked about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on his research, Prof Leng said that AI is becoming increasingly integrated into management science. He remarked, “AI reshapes business and education. We can use this technology to predict value and create a scheme. Research is how we distinguish scholars in the business area, so we are exploring how to use AI in our theory to achieve better results.” He added that collaboration with data science will further enhance research outcomes in business studies.
Isaac Oware, a student in the Master of Social Sciences in Comparative Social Policy (International) programme, said the seminar was highly informative. As a fund manager for a group of teachers in Ghana, he shared that Prof Leng’s discussion on cooperative game theory inspired him with new ideas for fair profit distribution. “This theory gave me insights into how profits can be shared to ensure nobody is disadvantaged,” he said.
The A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series invites senior university management and leading scholars to share their research journeys and perspectives. It initiates in-depth exchanges among doctoral students, early-career researchers, and academics on how to conduct the best research.
The fourth session of the A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series, delivered by Prof Leng Mingming, attracts around 70 faculty members and students.
Prof Leng Mingming introduces the concept of almost diminishing marginal contributions (ADMC) during the seminar, highlighting that cooperative game theory can also be applied to everyday life.
Isaac Oware, a student of the Master of Social Sciences in Comparative Social Policy (International) programme, shares that the seminar series organised by the School of Graduate Studies is inspiring for students, and he plans to join upcoming sessions to gain insights into the academic research of scholars from different disciplines.
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