Latest News
- Category: Appointments and Honours
Congratulations to professors Craig Kuziemsky, Morad Benyoucef and Pavel Andreev who have been shortlisted for the American Medical Informatics Association’s “distinguished paper award” at its annual conference in Chicago, November 12-16. Their paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the connectivity challenges involved in the design of social information systems in healthcare. This is the second time in three years that a Telfer School paper made the list of 10 top papers at AMIA, chosen from among 400 papers presented.
From the article: “Social information systems (SISs) will play a key role in healthcare systems’ transformation into collaborative patient-centered systems that support care delivery across the entire continuum of care." Read the full article abstract
The research was undertaken by Professor Kuziemsky, who holds the University Research Chair in Healthcare Innovation, Pavel Andreev, Telfer School, Morad Benyoucef, Telfer School, Tracey O'Sullivan, University of Ottawa, and Syam Jamaly, University of Ottawa.
- Category: Telfer Announcements
The Telfer School welcomes professor Mohamed Chelli as a new professor in accounting. His teaching areas include financial accounting and his research interests include topics related to socio-environmental performance indicators. He obtained his PhD in accounting from Université Laval and Université Paris-Dauphine and he was previously a professor of accounting at Toulouse Business School in France.
Professor Chelli said governments, policy-makers, stakeholders, and companies are keeping close watch on the development of socio-environmental performance indicators. CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, has operated for the past 15 years, while more recently the Financial Stability Board (FSB), chaired by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, created the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Chelli noted. Led by Michael Bloomberg, the task force is working on developing more effective climate-related financial disclosures for use by companies; the group’s members include the head of sustainable investing at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. In a separate step, France last year introduced mandatory climate change-related reporting for institutional investors, a move which ESG Magazine called “one of the world’s most comprehensive shifts to public sustainable finance data.”
Professor Chelli noted: “There are many efforts underway to improve and standardize climate change and environmental disclosures, and my particular focus is on the legitimization practices of socio-environmental performance measurement bodies that oversee corporations. My work also provides analysis of the way the measurements produced exercise a certain pressure both over the corporations under scrutiny and the stakeholders.”
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The University’s Co-operative Education Programs and the Entrepreneurship Hub have teamed up with RBC Royal Bank to launch an innovative CO-OP program designed to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Read the complete article in the Gazette »
- Category: Appointments and Honours
Congratulations to Ivy Lynn Bourgeault on becoming a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). Fellows elected to the academy are recognized by their peers nationally and internationally for their contributions to the promotion of health science. They demonstrate leadership, creativity, distinctive competencies and a commitment to advance academic health science. Professor Bourgeault and 35 other Canadian researchers were welcomed as CAHS Fellows at the induction ceremony in Montreal on September 15, 2016.
Ivy Lynn Bourgeault is a Professor at the Telfer School of Management and is the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Chair in Gender, Work and Health Human Resources. She has been a consultant to various provincial Ministries of Health in Canada, to Health Canada and to the World Health Organization. Her recent research focuses on the migration of health professionals and their integration into the Canadian healthcare system.
Professor Bourgeault is the Scientific Director of the Ontario Population Health Improvement Research Network and the Ontario Health Human Resource Research Network, both housed at the University of Ottawa with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. Professor Bourgeault also leads the Canadian Health Human Resources Network (CHHRN) with funding from Health Canada and the CIHR.
The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS)
CAHS provides timely, informed and unbiased assessments of urgent issues affecting the health of Canadians. These assessments, which are based on evidence reviews and leading expert opinion, provide conclusions and recommendations in the name of CAHS. More about CAHS
- Category: Latest News
Barbara Orser was the keynote speaker at Startup Canada’s Canadian Entrepreneurship Institute, which took place on September 1, 2016. The event, titled “Unlocking Feminine Capital: Canada and the World”, explored how public policy can be better leveraged to support women entrepreneurs in Canada. Barbara Orser currently co-chairs a grassroots committee, comprising 18 leaders from women’s enterprise centres, networks and SME support organizations. The mandate of the Ontario Women’s Enterprise Committee is to improve business support infrastructure for Ontario women entrepreneurs.
Full Professor/Deloitte Professor at the Telfer School of Management, Dr. Orser is the Canadian representative on a team of 13 international scholars examining SME policy associated with women’s enterprise. Collaborative entrepreneurship studies in development focus on financial literacy, technology literacy and the efficacy of public procurement policies. Professor Orser is the author, with Professor Catherine Elliott, of Feminine Capital (Stanford University Press, 2015).
- Category: Latest News
Why do good people do bad things?
This is the question posed by Robert Prentice at a recent conference where he talked about Behavioural Ethics. The interesting point is that some studies have shown that business education increases rather than decreases unethical behaviour. Why might this be?
Behavioural ethics suggests that even the most well-meaning people can behave unethically in certain situations. This happens, according to Prentice, because of a few cognitive biases that include the following:
- Over-confidence bias - “I always behave ethically”;
- Conformity bias -“Everyone else is doing it”; and
- Respect for authority - “The boss says I have to”.
Business education might encourage unethical behaviour if the emphasis is placed on profitability above all. In other words, the MBA program might stimulate some of the biases mentioned above. Most MBA programs nowadays focus on a balance of results: people, profit and planet. In addition, many have introduced courses on ethics. The Telfer 2009 MBA grads went one step further to create an MBA Oath that outlines a set of values for how our MBAs will conduct themselves in the workplace.
All Telfer MBA grads sign off on the Oath prior to graduation, and many years later, Telfer MBA alumni can recall the ceremony that surrounds the signing and the commitment they made to ethical conduct. Harley Finkelstein, a member of the 2009 graduating class and a key proponent of the Oath points out that “other such Oaths were created in a number of American universities after the 2008 financial meltdown, but we wanted to create an Oath that would reflect Canadian values”. The focus is on “doing good” of course, but also on realizing that good people can do bad things if they are put in situations in which the ethical aspects are perhaps nebulous. Attaching one’s signature to a set of values instills a framework for making ethical decisions when faced with ambiguous situations.
MBA Director Greg Richards notes: “With the rapid changes in organizations these days, the proliferation of data, Internet of Things, and continual global connectivity, most of us now work in pretty fast-moving, complex environments. Sometimes, it’s not easy to maintain a focus on values in these situations. I think talking about ethics and values regularly and providing a framework, such as the MBA Oath, to help people focus their decision-making is a useful approach.”
Daina Mazutis, author of a number of papers on Ethical Decision Making and Endowed Professor of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School of Management adds: “Many research studies have shown that making a public commitment to an issue can have a profound effect on individual behaviour. On top of anticipating, practicing and scripting responses in advance to the ethical dilemmas future managers are bound to face in the work place, the MBA Oath can serve as a sort of trip-wire that augments the moral intensity of the situation at the time a decision has to be made, especially if a visible reminder of the Oath is kept nearby.”
For more information on ethics in business, take a look at some of Professor Mazutis’s work in the Journal of Business Ethics or in Academy of Management Learning & Education.
Robert Prince and his colleagues at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin have created a series of videos and other educational resources at Ethics Unwrapped.
- Category: Latest News
The Executive Committee of the University of Ottawa’s Board of Governors has approved the renewal of François Julien’s mandate as Dean of the Telfer School of Management. Dean Julien’s new mandate will be for a period of five (5) years and will begin July 1, 2016.
“On behalf of the University, I wish to congratulate François and express my appreciation for his leadership and commitment to the Telfer School of Management” said Allan Rock, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ottawa.
François Julien has been a professor at the Telfer School of Management for over twenty five years. He was the Associate Dean (Programs) and Vice Dean of the Telfer School of Management from 2005 to 2010. Over his tenure, he oversaw the creation of the School's first two research-based programs, the M.Sc. in Management and the M.Sc. in Health Systems, led the curriculum revision of all programs offered by the School, and contributed significantly to the quality of the student experience through initiatives such as the creation of the Personal and Leadership Development Program. François Julien was named Acting Dean of the Telfer School on July 1, 2010 and named Dean of the Telfer School on January 1, 2011.
- Category: Latest News
In the spring of 2016, the Telfer School launched a video competition. With the intention of building a promotional video that would feature key aspects of our undergraduate program, we thought who better to unveil what we have to offer than our very own students?
Created by Sharanya Tharmarajan and Conor O’Doherty, both of whom are in their third year of Accounting in the BCom program, the winning video showcases our connection to our brand, to our student experience, and to our target audience. It also demonstrates the hard work and dedication of our students and is a prime example of what defines our student body at the Telfer School.
How does Telfer connect you to what matters? Let us show you.
The Student Services Centre
The Student Services Centre
- Category: Latest News
Jonathan Calof, professor of International Business and Strategy at the Telfer School of Management, has been appointed as Leading Research Fellow of the Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics and Knowledge (ISSEK) at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. This is a continuation of his involvement with HSE which started with his appointment on their International Advisory Board.
Ranked as one of Russia’s top universities, the Higher School of Economics is a leader in Russian education and one of the top economics and social sciences universities in eastern Europe and Eurasia.
Professor Calof was also named Extraordinary Professor at the North-West University in South Africa, in their School of Business and Governance, to work on an African research program in competitive intelligence.
North-West University is one of South Africa's biggest universities, with three campuses in two provinces. It upholds the promotion of multilingualism as a core practice, with key innovations in place to meet the needs of its diverse student body.
More information about North-West University
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Given the recent surge in entrepreneurial activity on the University of Ottawa campus, it is appropriate to recognize and celebrate the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
In the fall of 2015 and early 2016, we conducted the 2nd annual search for the Top 5 Start-ups on the uOttawa campus. This is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
The Top 5 uOttawa start-ups, in no particular order, are:
Helix (Powered by MicroMetrics)
- Cofounders: Andre Richards, CTO (Honours Bachelor of Science 2011, uOttawa) and Artem Abramov, CEO.
- MicroMetrics is a software company with a focus on customer experience innovation. Working together with TripAdvisor, they’ve developed Helix – a robust guest experience management platform that empowers hotel staff to conduct real-time service recovery. Since its introduction, Helix has helped brands like Starwood and IHG deliver memorable guest experiences, improve occupancy rates and outperform their competitive sets at premier properties across North America.
GymTrack
- Cofounders: Lee Silverstone, CEO and Pablo Srugo, COO.
- Gymtrack is a platform that brings personal training to all exercisers through their gym and impacts the $80BN gym industry. Gymtrack provides gyms with virtual coaching that automatically tracks everything in an exerciser’s workout, from weight lifting to cardio and helps gyms reduce churn.
Go Give-Back
- Cofounders: Lemuel Barango, (Bachelor of Science 2015, uOttawa) and Liora Raitblat (Telfer BCom 2015, uOttawa).
- Go Give-Back (GGB) is providing a solution for charitable causes by offering a mobile donation platform that accepts donations, catering to the “in-the-moment” factor. GGB will include detailed demographics for the organization with “on the go” analytics used to retain and engage donors.
TruReach:
- Founder: Jeff Perron, MBA (Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate, uOttawa), Clinical Lead: Dr. Joti Samra, PhD, C. Psych.
- TruReach provides instant access to scientifically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It eliminates the stigma associated with mental illness and helps people get better, faster. TruReach cuts costs associated with the management of mental illness and their analytics give organizations data to prove it.
Spectrafy
- Cofounders: Richard Beal, CEO and Viktar Tatsiankou (B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, uOttawa).
- Spectrafy has reinvented the way we measure sunlight and the atmosphere. Spectrafy’s solution, the SolarSIM, combines simple hardware and breakthrough software to slash the cost of measuring sunlight and the atmosphere by over an order of magnitude.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A working committee of the 4 leaders on campus who run the various entrepreneurship activities select possible candidates from the start-ups they see in their programs. In addition, a public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by the committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of five “Top Start-ups” is selected. From the Top 5, selected start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience. The exact number of start-ups who are invited to go to Silicon Valley will be a function of available funding.
Photo: Liora Raitblat, Go Give-Back cofounder, at Startup Weekend 2015 (Feb 27 - March 1)
- Category: Latest News
Part-time Professor Paula Sauveur has recently published a new book entitled Ethics and Professional Deontology: Laws and Regulations in Engineering (Thomson Reuters).
Ethics and deontology are the heart of the concerns of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario. Their public protection mandate forces them to require a behavior that meets the highest ethical standards and codes of deontology applicable to the practice of engineering by their members.
This book is intended primarily for engineers who wish to know the ethical requirements and other standards that affect and govern their professional activities. It also aims at helping students in their admission process to Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and/or the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario. It lists the official, bilingual versions of laws and regulations in strengths in Quebec, Ontario and Canada pertaining to ethics and professional conduct in the practice of the profession of engineers. The laws and regulations are presented intuitively in a format easy to navigate.
Paula Sauveur, C.Med, LL.M-ADR, LL.M, J.D., LL.B., MBA, MEng, BSc, is a lawyer, mediator and arbitrator with a bi-juridical legal education (civil law and common law). She teaches the course Engineering Law at University of Ottawa where she is a part time professor at the Faculty of Law (Civil Law Section, Common Law Section), Faculty of Engineering and at Telfer School of Management. She is also a PhD candidate in Law at the Law Faculty of Université de Montréal as well a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at the Computer Vision and Systems Laboratory of Laval University.
- Category: Telfer Announcements
The University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management has received EQUIS re-accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). The Telfer School remains one of only two business school in Canada to achieve the triple crown of business school accreditations. There are only 73 schools worldwide, as of September 2015, that have obtained this prestigious recognition.
The Telfer School of Management was initially awarded the accreditation in November 2009 and it was renewed in December 2015 for a period of 5 years.
“As Dean of the Telfer School of Management, I am delighted and proud that our School has been conferred the EQUIS accreditation label for a further period of five years. This is a remarkable achievement which confirms that our triple-accredited School meets the highest international standards of excellence,” said François Julien, Dean of the Telfer School. “I am grateful to EFMD for the advice and guidance they have provided since we were first accredited in 2009 and which allowed us to develop and improve.”
“We owe this success to the outstanding work of our professors, the dedication of our academic leaders and administrative personnel as well as the quality of our students and the commitment of our alumni and members of the community at large who have supported the School on its path towards continuous improvement and excellence,” he adds. “Congratulations and thank you to all for this accomplishment!”
EQUIS is the leading international system of quality assessment, improvement and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. EQUIS is managed and run by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and its fundamental objective, linked to the mission of the EFMD, is to raise the standard of management education worldwide.
Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS must demonstrate not only high general quality in all dimensions of their activities, but also a high degree of internationalisation. With companies recruiting worldwide, with students choosing to get their education outside their home countries, and with Schools building alliances across borders and continents, there is a rapidly growing need for them to be able to identify those institutions in other countries that deliver high quality education in international management.
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
While the media are considered to play an influential role in business, very little research has been done on the relationship between firm-specific media coverage and corporate decision making. The Telfer School’s Shantanu Dutta is helping to change that with a new study on how business reporting shapes firms’ merger and acquisition decisions.
“Our preliminary evidence suggests that the media do influence deal outcomes, independently of the market’s response to a given M&A play,” notes Dutta, an associate professor of finance at the Telfer School. “In particular, the press has something of a ‘corporate governance’ role, one that has not been explored much empirically.”
Dutta and his team seek to understand better how reporting in reputable newspapers might affect the probability of making a deal – and the degree to which negative coverage has a restraining effect. But they are also looking into the impact of coverage on other strategic decisions in M&A, “such as the acquiring firm’s payment method, and the impact on future acquisitions.”
The 2008-2009 global financial crisis sparked interest among finance researchers in the role of the press. After the financial crisis, traditional measures of firm performance no longer appeared adequate. In response, some finance researchers began to examine how verbal information contained in media reports provides information over and above the traditional performance measures.
The findings from the study will encourage a better understanding about the linkages between media coverage and M&A decision making processes among investors and managers, says Dutta.
“We recognize that business reporting is not the only factor that influences major corporate decisions, but it certainly has the potential to play a significant role in shaping managers' and investors' perceptions.”
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Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please