Latest News
- Category: Business Analytics and Performance
Big-data analytics investments don’t necessarily mean big impact. Two of our researchers from Telfer are exploring how to get more value from big data.
Telfer Professors Ajax Persaud and Sandra Schillo want to know if small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) are ready to take advantage of the deluge of data at their disposal, in new research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Mastery of big-data insights was supposed to enable SMEs to punch above their weight. By acquiring the right deep data and analytical skills, SMEs will be well in their way to making better decisions in the new digital landscape. That at least, was the chant small-business leaders were hearing for years. But with more than half of big data projects failing to achieve their objectives, what are Canadian SMEs to do?
“A lot SMEs are proceeding with caution on big-data analytics (BDA), and you can hardly blame them,” professor Schillo contends. The path to achieving value from BDA initiatives is far from clear. “It’s a big concern right now because Canada needs these organizations to stay current on BDA in order to remain globally competitive.”
Professor Persaud observes that “BDA is fast becoming a major focus for corporate executives with the main concern being how to extract maximum value from big data. It will transform corporate governance and decision-making” The transformation is so rapid that Canada’s Big Data Consortium has predicted a massive shortage of employees with the right mix of big data skills. “In a few short years, the ability to store, capture, process, analyze this information became of strategic importance to firms,” explained Persaud. “Every firm today wonders, how can I use it to my advantage?”
But he adds that BDA is still a gamble for most small businesses, even for companies with an appetite to chase big-data insights and resources to put behind the effort. “Capturing and mining the data does not automatically lead to value or better decisions – the right people with the right skills are needed to generate valuable insights and management needs to act strategically to harness the value of the insights.”
With their research, the Telfer researchers will use quantitative and qualitative methods to gauge the readiness of SMEs to leverage big data. Where most of the research in this area focuses on the technologies of big data, professors Persaud and Schillo are interested in BDA management processes, strategies and resources. Along the way, they’ll also contribute towards the development of frameworks, scales and indicators which, again, would illuminate the managerial aspect of big data. They expect to generate practical insights for Canadian SMEs, the academic management field, and the entrepreneurship public-policy community.
The researchers say that, as with any initiative designed to prepare SMEs to exploit big data for competitive advantage, their study will venture into uncertain terrain. But this much appears certain: given SMEs role in the economy, and considering the promise of big data, now is the time to help them unlock the value of big data. “One side, there’s a lot of euphoria about how SMEs might benefit from BDA, and on the other, there are those who say that only a wait-and-see approach will avoid business losses,” says professor Schillo. “But neither extreme is probably very realistic,” professor Persaud adds. “Our hope with this research is to make it a lot more realistic.”
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
This page is for the 2018 Entrepreneurship Foundry Course. For information on the upcoming session, visit this year's page.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community resources to help you grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course will act as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture; you will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business.
- Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
- At the end of the course you will be interviewed to measure the progress
- Mandatory 3 slide check-ins on a bi-weekly basis; will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this winter on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students. Student teams are eligible and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. The deadline to submit applications is December 12, 2017.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
- Category: Telfer Announcements
To view the official grand opening reception click here!
You can find photos from the evening on our Flickr page. Feel free to download and share with your friends!
After 25 years at the World Exchange Plaza, our dynamic and expanding Centre for Executive Leadership (CEL) has now moved to a brand new, world-class executive learning facility at 99 Bank Street.
The new CEL facilities overlook the renovated atrium and feature bright and spacious classrooms. In addition, participants and instructors will also be able to utilize several boardrooms as well as networking areas.
The CEL is home to Telfer’s growing executive leadership programs:
The Executive MBA, which was recently ranked #1 in the Tier One Global Executive MBA Ranking by CEO Magazine, accelerates value in three distinct ways: business leadership, organizational impact and value to community. A Global, Practical and Relevant program, anchored by the Signature Series of Six Business Consulting Projects, is for professionals focusing on international market and leadership experience to excel in today’s global economy.
Our Master of Business in Complex Project Leadership, which was launched in 2016, is a specialized program designed to equip participants with advanced skills and confidence to be an effective leader and deliver successful program outcomes. Broad areas of learning can be applied to fields such as complex capital procurement projects, program development, business transformation, information technology initiatives and R&D commercialization.
Our vast array of Executive Leadership Programs—developed with our accomplished faculty members, Telfer executives-in-residence, expert industry practitioners and global thought leaders from partner institutions—enable emerging leaders to gain advanced knowledge and skills they can apply immediately and directly to their own practice of leadership.
- Category: Health Systems Management
A first-of-its-kind Canada-wide survey of seniors’ health technology-related behavior.
Project title
IT Innovation and the Elderly: Technology Acceptance and Use in the Community
Researcher
Mirou Jaana, Telfer School
Grant supporting this research
SSHRC Insight
Period
2017-2020
Professor Mirou Jaana has launched a new study, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which will provide national data on seniors’ attitudes and behaviors towards health information technology solutions.
Telemonitoring (aka telehomecare) technologies have been around for decades, but little is known empirically about the factors that lead to the acceptance and use of these solutions by seniors. Professor Mirou Jaana says having a better understanding of these factors would assist healthcare providers and policy-makers to develop guidelines that support the integration and optimal use of these solutions for the greatest benefit of patients.
In the first part of her study, she and her colleagues are conducting a Canada-wide survey of seniors that assesses their technology-related attitudes and behaviors. The survey will consider a variety of general e-health applications, as well as specific home-based technologies, that have gained increased attention in recent years, such as smart watches. In the second part of the study, professor Jaana and her team will investigate the factors that affect the acceptance and use of telemonitoring technologies by seniors.
While the features and convenience of these technologies continue to evolve, their basic telemonitoring functions actually haven’t changed all that much, says professor Jaana. “Their essential purpose is to connect a healthcare provider or case manager to a patient who lives in the community (e.g., at home or in a retirement home), and requires close attention and monitoring.” As an example, a patient being monitored for a heart failure condition may use telemonitoring to transmit information such as a change in her or his weight. The nurse could potentially consult with the patient’s physician, and adjust his/her medications accordingly. This early detection of deterioration in a patient’s condition presents important benefits by preventing risky complications and avoiding unnecessary time-consuming hospital visits. This is especially relevant in the case of elderly patients.
Professor Jaana’s new study, focusing on technology acceptance factors, will build on the findings of her previous research which revealed that telemonitoring had significant positive impacts on senior patients’ self-care skills and it benefited them in relation to their chronic disease management. “By focusing on acceptance factors related to these technologies, our research is uncovering potential barriers/facilitators that may enable more effective use of telemonitoring among senior patients with unstable conditions.’’ Identifying in their health status, which they often would not notice on their own, supports timely intervention before complications arise requiring a hospital visit.
“The field of telemonitoring is maturing, but what’s still missing is the empirical insight into how these technologies should be incorporated as part of care guidelines,” professor Jaana contends. “With the continuously growing population of elderly living in the community, it is our responsibility to understand their needs, and leverage existing tools and technologies, like telehomecare applications, to support them in the community.”
- Category: Latest News
When it comes to sustainable development, small and medium-sized enterprises innovate in many subtle ways, says Martine Spence. (Photo: Andrea Campbell / University of Ottawa)
Be it for food, fashion or services, today’s consumers are leaning more and more toward products that are organic, locally produced, reusable and responsibly sourced. Sustainable development is no longer an abstract concept; it has infiltrated every area of daily life.
Is this just another fad or a genuine awakening? In any case, companies can’t ignore it, notes Martine Spence, a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management.
For the past 10 years, Spence has studied the structure and analyzed the social engagement and sustainable-development practices of small and medium-sized entreprises (SMEs). “These companies contribute heavily to national economies, and they create the majority of jobs out there, so their impact on the environment and on society in general is significant,” she explains. “I grew up in the south of France, where there were many small entrepreneurs. When I studied business, large corporations seemed too abstract to me, and too political. But SMEs are led by individuals who have a true passion for their craft, and that’s always intrigued me.”
So how do SMEs implement sustainable-development practices? What prompts them to do so, and what obstacles must they overcome? Martine Spence examines their behaviour on three fronts: respect for the environment, respect for individuals and respect for the community.
“We observed that the level of involvement depends on the entrepreneur’s own conviction. Those who lend importance to these issues in their private lives are the ones who take their business’s social and environmental responsibility to the highest level,” she says.
In fact, SMEs readily adopt green practices, from shutting down computers at night and installing energy-saving thermostats to choosing active transportation and opting for energy-efficient technologies. “SMEs are particularly innovative and flexible; they don’t have shareholders and can quickly adjust their strategy,” says Spence.
She points out that investing doesn’t frighten them either, and that when SMEs buy in, they innovate a lot because they know it will lead to a good return. She adds that for most of these entrepreneurs, making money isn’t the primary goal; it’s more a question of being part of the community and of pursuing their passion.
What is the situation in other countries? Are the same challenges at play? As a member of the Observatoire international du développement durable en PME (Université de Montpellier) in France, Spence also studies the internationalization of SMEs, and she recently compared those in Canada, in Cameroon and in Tunisia. She found that “sustainable development isn’t yet ingrained in the mindset of the South, even if some Tunisian entrepreneurs see in it an opportunity, as it can help them do business with European nations.”
That said, SMEs are nonetheless engaged in their communities, remarks Spence, with some donating a sheep to the community at Eid, for instance, because social engagement is an intrinsic part of their lives, mostly driven by religion.
In the era of globalization, Spence’s findings show that the widespread adoption of sustainable development will be achieved only if sociocultural contexts are considered, and that inspiration for that ideal can come from everywhere—from the North and the South.
by Marine Corniou
- Category: Latest News
Apply today to participate in a 10-minute Thesis Competition organized by the Sprott School of Business, the Telfer School of Management, and the Université de Québec en Outaouais’s Département des sciences administratives! On September 29 at Sprott, you’ll have the opportunity to square off against your business-school peers for $6,000 in cash prizes.
To apply, write a one-page submission with your supervisor. Three submissions will be chosen by each institution to advance to the 10-minute Thesis Competition on September 29.
If your proposal does not make the shortlist, you are invited to use it to contribute to a poster session to be held just prior to the thesis competition.
Why a 10-minute Thesis Competition?
By this point in your academic career, you’re probably well acquainted with the traditional academic presentation structure: research problem, theoretical framework, methodology, results, and conclusions – in that order. That you would want to adhere to that structure for most presentations doesn’t surprise us. We get it. It’s a big part of your academic training.
But there’s another important skill for young researchers to have: communicating the impact and significance of their work right up front, and in plain language. So with the Telfer-Sprott-UQO 10-minute Thesis Competition, we’re asking presenters to abandon the traditional academic presentation structure. Instead, find an alternative way to present your project in a way that a lay person would understand. Explain what’s innovative about your project and the potential impact of the research. Tell a story. Look for creative ways to explain how and why your research matters.
Rules
Eligible students/programs
- PhD in Management - Sprott School
- Doctorat en administration, D.B.A. - gestion de projet, UQO
- Information Systems (IS) / Information Technology Management (ITM) students active in the Doctorat en sciences et technologies de l'information, UQO
- PhD in Management - Telfer School of Management
- PhD in Electronic Business Technologies, or EBT - Telfer School
- M.Sc. in Management, M.Sc. in Health Systems, M.Sc. in EBT - Telfer School
Students who presented at the May 2016 Telfer-Sprott-UQO forum are also eligible, provided they apply with a new submission/proposal.
How to apply
Prepare a one-page submission with your supervisor. Include the content that would typically be included in an academic-type presentation, but in a different format – one that highlights what’s innovative about your project and its potential impact. We’re looking for creative ways of explaining how and why the research matters.
Thesis competition - highlights
- Each institution will select 3 students for the presentation competition.
- Each presentation should be no more than 10 minutes in length.
- Presenters will be evaluated on their ability to convey the significance of their research with clarity and impact
- $6,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. 1st prize – $3,000; 2nd prize – $2,000$; 3rd prize – $1,000
Key dates
July 31 - Student submit their notice of intent to participate
August 18 - Due date for one-page submissions, jointly prepared by the student and his/her supervisor
Early September – Telfer School, Sprott School and UQO have each chosen their three presenters
September 29 – 10-minute Thesis Competition and poster session at the Sprott School of Business
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Class of 2018 are writing about their experiences on their Innovation and Entrepreneurship Consulting Project in Silicon Valley in a series of blogs.
Monday is about Finding the Right Problem to Solve
Written by Joanne Gardner, Team Procyon
Tuesday is about Making It Happen
Vlog by Darren Fleming, Team Kentaurus
Wednesday is about translating the value from technology, risk and employees into success
- Category: Latest News
(clockwise from left): Carolyn Montague of Perfocus Management Inc.; professors Jonathan Calof and Stephane Tywoniak; Jake Jacobson of Babcock Canada Inc.; James Maloney, MP; Joe Armstrong of CAE; and Yasmin Ratansi, MP.
The Telfer School of Management continues to shape the future management of mega projects with forward-looking research and thought leadership. The latest example: an eye-opening panel discussion on complex project leadership, organized by the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy and featuring professor Stephane Tywoniak as the keynote presenter.
With a cross-section of attendees from government, companies and industry associations present, Tywoniak said there is a global consensus about the need to reset traditional approaches to contracting for mega-projects and major procurements, as they have become ever-more-complex challenges for governments at home and abroad. He went on to present a report on a series of roundtables on complex project management with some 300 government and business leaders in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.
Tywoniak’s talk set the table for a wide-ranging panel discussion involving MPs as well as executives from CAE, Babcock Canada Inc. and Perfocus Management Inc.
Held in the parliamentary precinct on May 18, this event was part of the Pearson Centre's Economy for Tomorrow Series, which is chaired by another professor at the Telfer School, Jonathan Calof, and by Yasmin Ratansi, M.P., the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
For more information: http://www.thepearsoncentre.ca/platform/managing-mega-projects-may18/
More about Complex Project Leadership at the Telfer School of Management
- Category: Latest News
Professor Samir Saadi will represent the Telfer School on a team of top researchers examining merger-and-acquisition (M&A) practices at a Joint Israeli-Canadian Research Workshop. Interdisciplinary and inter-university, this workshop will focus on the necessary elements for the success of M&As in Canada and Israel at a moment when both nations are looking to derive more value from these and other forms of corporate reorganization. It will be funded by the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Professor Saadi, an Associate Professor of Finance, brings a background in research on M&A activities in the high-tech industry and on the role of CEO power on M&As. With this project, his expertise will contribute to a better understanding of the potential barriers to successful transactions within the Canadian and Israeli contexts. This initiative comes at a time when firms from both countries frequently find themselves as targets, and therefore, improving the outcomes associated with these deals has consequences for business productivity, for employees, and for the potential adoption of new technologies or expertise
- Category: Latest News
In an effort to help streamline the drive of entrepreneurial students, the Telfer School of Management in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering and Arts, has recently meshed entrepreneurship projects with course credits. The Entrepreneurship Foundry Course is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community start-up resources to help students grow their business venture in a “for-credit” 13-week long course.
“The course, essentially an incubator with a course credit attached to it, offers immense opportunities to students who are looking to move their businesses along and benefit from both external and University resources,” stated Stephen Daze, Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence. “Twice throughout the semester, participants even pitch their business to external judges for prize money.”
Students apply to be accepted into the program and their ventures are interviewed to evaluate where start-ups are at with their ventures and what they can accomplish over the course of the semester. At the end of the course, they make a final pitch and report on their progress to highlight their accomplishments throughout the semester. Mandatory check-ins on a bi-weekly basis allow students to develop their pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, external mentors and peers.
Microbright, for instance, is a start-up that uses microbes naturally found in the environment to remove toxic metals from water that comes from mining activities. “The entrepreneurship foundry helped me understand how to succeed with a start up from a business perspective. It provided me with tools and mentorship I would not have had access to otherwise,” indicated Daniel Grégoire, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Science and one of the founders of Microbright.”
Eephorea, on the other hand, aims to cater to the entertainment industry by producing and promoting live entertainment experiences. “If people are going to be at an event for several hours, there might as well be some engaging activities for them to enjoy in addition to the headliner attractions. Simple activities like food sampling, acrobatic dancers, photo props and intriguing visual displays can really enhance a guest’s experience and make the event more memorable,” said Zachary Princi, a student at the Telfer School of Management. “The entrepreneurship foundry course allowed me to put more time into my business without taking me away from completing my studies.”
For more information on the program and to find out how to participate in the winter of 2018, please contact Stephen Daze.
- Category: Latest News
On March 13th, Professor Greg Richards spoke at the conference, “Smart cities: Imagining the future National Capital Region,” held at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Key figures from the academic, public and private sectors exchanged their views on the future of the National Capital Region at this unique event organized by LAC in collaboration with the University of Ottawa and Ottawa 2017, and in partnership with Invest Ottawa and the City of Gatineau.
Professor Richards took part in the opening panel discussion on the smart economy (“Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, and Citizens’ Participation”). He commented that the National Capital Region, with its strong concentration of knowledge workers, high level of urbanization, and robust technology sector, was well-positioned to develop as a smart city and seize new opportunities to make life better for its citizens. Richards was joined on this panel by John Smit, Manager, Policy Development and Urban Design at the City of Ottawa; Martin Lajeunesse, City Councillor with the City of Gatineau; and Eme Onohua, Vice-President of Global Government Affairs, Xerox Canada.
- Category: Rising Stars
On March 3-4, 2017, the Telfer School of Management, in partnership with Export Development Canada and Deloitte, hosted the second annual Diversity and Inclusion MBA Case Competition.
During this case competition, teams examined emerging challenges and proposed solutions pertaining to the frequently overlooked issues of diversity and inclusion in organizations. This innovative competition gives future leaders a better appreciation of the opportunities for businesses to change and grow because of the Canadian workforce’s diverse nature.
“Diversity and Inclusion is a survival issue for organizations that needs to be owned by the CEO and no longer a check box exercise for HR,” stated Kate Morican, Partner Human Capital, Deloitte Canada. “At Deloitte, we focus on developing leaders who practice inclusive behaviors each and every day to help our clients and our people excel. We are delighted to support this important initiative, in partnership with Export Development Canada and the University of Ottawa.”
The Telfer School of Management’s delegation proved their skills in leadership by winning the case competition. The winning team included Matt Chesser, Vikas Kumar, Abhijit Doiphode, and Taro Abarbanel-Ueumura. Here are the overall results from the competition:
- 1st Place - Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
- 2nd Place - Schulich School of Business, York University
- 3rd Place - John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
- Honourable Mention 1 - HEC Montreal, Universite de Montreal
- Honourable Mention 2 - Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta
“To harness the benefits of a diverse workforce, we are working to create a culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all employees”, says Robert Fosco, Vice President, Talent, Learning and Culture, EDC. “Sponsoring this competition for the second time provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate to future business leaders that diversity as well as inclusion are critical for the competitiveness of Canadian companies.”
“Beyond being the right thing to do, the business case for having a diverse and inclusive workforce is extremely compelling and backed by a growing body of research,” stated Matt Chesser, who was part of the winning delegation at the competition. “Reading recent research on inclusivity and sitting in on workshops by EDC and Deloitte - two leaders in diversity and inclusion - was fascinating. The fact that we won was just a pleasant surprise to end a great two days. We were fortunate to have a team with a diverse set of experiences that we could draw on for the case."
We thank all the schools for sending excellent representatives for this competition.
Written by Alexis Cawadias-McGeadie, assistant, Student Experience and Events
- Category: Latest News
The uOttawa Top 5 Start-ups initiative recognizes and celebrates the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
Already in its 3rd year, this annual search for the top 5 start-ups on campus 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 alphabetical order, are:
Kegshoe
- Cofounders: Torin Regier, CFO (Telfer BCom 2017), Mike Eagar, CMO (former student, uOttawa), and Adrian Pawliszko, CTO (Civil Engineering student, uOttawa).
- Kegshoe Inc. is a software company for the beer industry that provides user-friendly, cloud-based solutions to manage the
complex business of running a brewery. With features like keg tracking and a brewery-specific
CRM, Kegshoe Inc. is helping breweries solve their biggest and most expensive problems.
Spiderwort
- Cofounders: Dr. Charles M. Cuerrier, CEO (Postdoctoral fellow, uOttawa), Dr. Andrew E. Pelling, CTO (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, uOttawa) and Daniel J. Modulevsky, CBO (PhD candidate, Biology, uOttawa).
- Spiderwort has developed innovative biomaterials for medical research, reconstructive surgery and regenerative medicine. Spiderwort’s strategy relies on the use of cellulose scaffolds for the regeneration and repair of damaged or diseased tissues.
Spivo Inc.
- Cofounders: Andre Bellerive, CEO (BASc 2014 and currently completing a Master’s program in Engineering at uOttawa) and
Marc Bjerring, COO (BASc in Mechanical Engineering, 2014, uOttawa). - Spivo Inc. designs, manufactures and sells creative camera
accessories which capture life’s memories like never before. Their flagship product, the Spivo Stick is a patent pending rotating camera mount, which allows adventure seekers and travellers to instantly switch the view of their cameras. Videos created using the Spivo Stick are fun, creative, and feature built in scene transitions which create incredible, engaging footage.
Welbi
- Cofounders: Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, CEO (Telfer BCom 2016), Felipe Izquierdo, COO (Telfer BCom 2016) and Nicholas Petryna, CTO, (former uOttawa Software Engineering student).
- Welbi is an application that helps families take care of an older loved one. It uses Fitbit smartwatches to analyze sleep, activity, and heart rate patterns and then notifies you about changes in their habits. Our main objective is to provide families the visibility and information they need to support their loved one’s health and happiness at home.
YouCollab
- Founder: Shaun Maclellan, CEO (former student, uOttawa).
- YouCollab is a unique platform that provides frictionless communication and collaborations between YouTube creators. YouCollab connects users based on location, audience size and keywords.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by a campus entrepreneurship 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. These Top 5 start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience in May 2017, a trip which coincides with the annual Telfer Executive MBA trip to the Valley.
“Travelling to the Valley opens up a world of connections and possibilities that you can only find there” said Lee Silverstone, cofounder GymTrack and Top 5 Recipient 2016. “The opportunity to be there with the University of Ottawa and their network was incredible experience and one that I highly recommend start-up founders take advantage of.”
- Category: Latest News
Ottawa stands poised to develop into an important player in healthcare innovation. And it can get closer to the goal by connecting the region’s clinical innovators to business acumen, and thereby drive better patient care.
That message was a key theme highlighted by Wojtek Michalowski, Vice-Dean of Research and professor of health informatics at the Telfer School of Management, in his presentation at the “I3” – Industry, Issues and Insights – lunchtime event at the Château Laurier on February 7.
Organized by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and the Ottawa Business Journal with support from the Telfer School, the event featured a keynote presentation by Ontario chief health innovation strategist William Charnetski, who spoke about efforts by his office to champion the province as a leading centre for new and innovative health technology.
Professor Michalowski took the podium first, and commented that with its large talent pool in healthcare, abundant resources and strong high-tech ecosystem, Ottawa has strong potential to become a national leader in healthcare innovation, provided that other elements are also in place.
One of those elements, he said, is the need for an intrapraneurial mindset. “Innovation in healthcare is like a start-up that is being developed inside the organization or the system. Thus, people who lead it must have knowledge about intrapreneurship, or how to be an entrepreneur on the inside. This means knowing what are the forces that will drive innovation, what are the forces that will kill it, what kind of skills does it require, what are the best practices and processes to follow.”
Another important element, Michalowski said, is greater coordination among healthcare practitioners and health systems researchers. He gave as an example the Telfer Health Transformation Exchange (THTEX), a meeting point for dialogue and learning for healthcare innovators and management and engineering faculties.
“I really believe that Ottawa is in a unique position, with the right size in terms of human capital and scope and a really innovative and talented workforce. There is a lot of enthusiasm on the part of multiple players to innovate, but there is not always coordination, and our hope with the THTEX is to contribute to that coordination.”
An interview with Michalowski following the event was live streamed on the Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page. You can watch the interview here: https://www.facebook.com/ottawachamberofcommerce/
- Category: Latest News
Professor Ivy Lynn Bourgeault of the Telfer School of Management, holder of the CIHR Chair in Gender, Work and Health Human Resources, has won the 2016-2017 Award for Excellence in Research from the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO).
Policy-relevant and impactful research
Her research fosters a better understanding of the sociology of health professions. Her work has a particular focus on the impact of gender on work and the types of tasks assigned to different health professionals. Related to this, she also examines the need to modernize healthcare “scopes of practice” to support new models of care.
She studies the mobility of healthcare workers and the issue of regional workforce planning. Her studies in this area provide insight into the migration of health professionals to and from different countries, including Canada.
She also established a strong reputation for her research on women's health services. Her studies have delved into the healthcare provided to women in rural and remote locations; regional differences in maternity care systems; and the role of midwifery in the provision of primary maternity care.
Professor Bourgeault is an internationally recognized leader and champion in these areas and particularly in health human resources. Her innovative studies put Canada at the forefront of this relatively new field that has developed rapidly in response to critical health workforce challenges.
Leadership in health policy research
Professor Bourgeault has had considerable success working at the research – policy – practice interface. She has been a consultant to various provincial Ministries of Health, Health Canada, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization. She also brings exemplary leadership to influential communities of practice such as the Ontario Health Human Resource Research Network and the Pan Canadian Health Human Resources Network.
Professor Bourgeault is a sought-after mentor and educator. She has supervised a large number of graduate and postdoctoral students and also mentored a number of younger colleagues, demonstrating a strong commitment to creating the next generation of academic health policy and health systems leaders.
- Category: Telfer Announcements
Samia Chreim has been named the Ian Telfer Professor in Health Organization Studies. Her research provides new insights into the dynamics of organizational change, integration across organizations, and collaboration among professionals. Professor Chreim recently sat down to discuss the evolution of healthcare organizations and noted that transformation will increasingly require coalitions of professionals, with complementary skills and resources.
What sets healthcare organizations apart from other types of organizations?
SC: The healthcare system is currently under a lot of pressure to perform better. Healthcare professionals are frequently asked to adjust or modify the way they work in order to provide better care to patients. But healthcare professionals need to meet different professional goals; they have different roles, cultures and interests. Conflicts are inevitable.
Suppose a health authority grants one group responsibility for a particular procedure, and it was previously the sole responsibility of another group. Any side that perceives a loss of autonomy or authority is likely to strongly resist the change.
But other kinds of changes may encounter opposition simply because they disrupt the normal and accepted way of performing a given task. Take the example of incident reporting for patient safety. If the primary care unit in a hospital has implemented an effective incident reporting system, the hospital might wish to have another unit, for example the mental-health team, adopt that system. However, differences in the culture and professional practices may be incompatible with the new reporting system and prevent its adoption by the mental-health team.
What can managers do to ensure that the required change can be implemented?
SC: One of my studies concerned a collaboration across healthcare organizations in a primary care context. The study showed that to be successful in implementing the change, managers needed to build a winning coalition of professionals and staff who have complementary skills and resources. But to build such a coalition, time needs to be invested in finding common ground across professionals and staff, in putting together trust between professionals and staff involved, and in building the credibility of the change process.
Therefore, there needs to be somebody whose job is to manage the change process. That approach is ultimately going to bring more success than asking busy healthcare practitioners to take on additional change-management tasks. When you don’t have a person that owns and manages the change process, you are likely to see a dilution of change focus and a loss of momentum.
What type of management style or approach should be encouraged, given the need for professionals and staff to coalesce around significant change?
SC: The research provides evidence about the benefits of having a small number of individuals (e.g., managers, professionals) with complementary competencies and resources in bringing important organizational changes to fruition. But this approach might create a lack of clarity. There might be ambiguity about who is responsible for what, which can lead to duplication of efforts or to one or more tasks falling through the cracks. I have also studied situations in which intractable conflicts developed among the members of a management group, and the teams working under them deteriorated as a result.
The risks of these scenarios are at the heart of a big debate about how leadership should be organized. In particular, when and how to share or distribute leadership. Shared leadership happens at different levels, for example, within teams, organizations, and inter-organizational collaborations. Change-management processes, such as the need for integration between healthcare teams, sometimes point to the need for shared leadership. On the other hand, for the reasons I mentioned, shared leadership isn’t necessarily a panacea. Without doubt, understanding when and how leadership can be shared, and what type of collective leadership is appropriate in different change-management settings, will continue to be a hot topic for any healthcare organization for the foreseeable future.
- Category: Rising Stars
If you happen to walk by the Desmarais building during the weekend of January 28-29, you’ll be surprised to find 400 motivated students from all over Eastern Canada. These students, hailing from 11 different universities, will be meeting at the Telfer School of Management for a case competition called Financial Open (OF).
This type of competition gives students the opportunity to work together to solve case competitions in a three-hour timeframe, and then present recommendations to a panel of expert judges. For the Financial Open, students will present finance and accounting cases. This year, the theme of #OF2017 is “From Coast to Coast” – participants will explore the history and values of Canada and celebrate its 150th anniversary of confederation!
Top row, from left to right: Samuel Soucy (VP Logistics), Joshua Ayer (VP Communications), Philippe Moore (Director of Logistics), Kevin Saumure (VP Sponsorship) and Ryan Rahman (VP Finance). Middle row: Katarina Mrkela (VP Academic - Finance) and Kassandra Tannouri (Director of Logistics). Front row: Miranda Taing (VP Marketing), Kim Angèle Vallières (President), Andrée-Anne Martel (VP Academic - Accounting) and Sarah Morin (Director of Translations).
The Telfer School of Management and the University of Ottawa would like to extend a warm welcome to all Financial Open participants. We look forward to welcoming you on campus on January 28 for what will surely be an unforgettable weekend. Hosting the Financial Open is a great addition to the many events we are holding in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Telfer naming gift!
- Category: Latest News
From January 6 to 8, 2017, nearly 130 students represented the Telfer School of Management at two of Canada's biggest inter-university competitions. The teams participated in academic, sporting and social events.
The first competition, Jeux du commerce (JDC), gathered 13 universities at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, as the bilingual competition celebrated its 29th year.
The second competition took place back home in Ottawa, where more Telfer students competed at Carleton University for Jeux du commerce Central (JDCC), an annual event hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students that brings together 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes.
Congratulations to students for winning the following in academic, sporting and social events:
Team Awards
- JDC 3rd Place overall, Academic Cup
- JDC Recognition Award : Liane Brière
1st Place Trophies
- JDC Marketing Case: Amy Lam, Brenda Lam and Roma Stepanchenko
(Coach: Professor David Large) - JDC Surprise Case: Caroline Robertson, Sarai Castrejon and Kassandra Tannouri
- JDC Sport - Volleyball: Mira Azzi, Michele Ancrum, Mathieu Brunet, Curtis Lu, Adam Wang, Marisha Sesto, Dylan Kostka, Jordan Earls and Yvan Ntivumbara
(Coaches: Fadi Azzi and Emily Ryan) - JDCC International Business: Paxton Mayer, Mussie Hailu and Mila Giray
(Coaches: Professor Tyler Chamberlin, Jesse Dunn and Richard Laberge) - JDCC Delegation MVP: Mila Giray
3rd Place Trophies
- JDC Entrepreneurial Innovation Case: Emily Potvin, Chelsea Parker and Tarek Mansour
(Coach: Professor Stephen Daze) - JDC Project Management Case: Paul Eom, Eric Thomson and Sharanya Tharmarajan
(Coach: Aghilas Chebini) - JDC Finance Case: Rabbi Kazi, Scott Beiersdorfer, Margaret Omodu
(Coach: Professor Michael Reynolds) - JDCC Accounting Case: Nikita Gupta, Julie-Anne Given and Meaghan McMahon (Coaches: Professor Sylvain Durocher and Professor Sheldon Weatherstone)
Written by Amy Lam, VP Academic of the JDC Delegation
- Category: Latest News
The University of Ottawa is pleased to invite students and faculty who have created startup ventures to participate in a competition that will result in up to five companies being selected for an exclusive trip to Silicon Valley in the spring of 2017. Each selected startup will receive $4,000 (CAD) in financial support for the trip.
- Category: Rising Stars
Before sharing my experience, I’d like to extend my sincerest thank you to the Telfer School of Management for sending me to the One Young World conference this past September. It was an opportunity to hear the first hand experiences of individuals from around the world who through adversity and oppression continue to fight for awareness and change in their respective humanitarian causes. While it was comforting to watch the likes of CEOs, actresses, philanthropic figures, current and former prime ministers talk about how they help enable progress, the true change makers were the young men and women, victims turned entrepreneurs when faced with injustices. A special focus was towards refugees as a result of war and climate change. Climate change poses a very real threat to our globe, but an urgent threat to coastal communities quickly decaying to rising sea levels. Peace and security (extremism), the environment (saving it with technology), human rights (LGBT), global business, health (suicide and depression), and education (unemployment) were the six key topics covered.
All to say, we are so blessed to be living in Canada, in the capital city of this great country. And while there are others that devote their lives to tackle issues in their communities, it is our responsibility as leaders of the world that we are in part, doing the same. Ethically investing, starting socially conscious businesses, giving back to the community in any meaningful way. These are the things that will determine whether our generation leaves this world for better or for worse.
A resounding quote I’d like to share is one by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the opening ceremonies on Parliament Hill:
"I do not think you are the leaders of tomorrow — I know you are already leaders today. Your generation is politically engaged, educated, innovative, inclusive and progressive. You need to harness that potential to make the world a better place … Please remember, what you say, and the choices you make, have the power to change the world" - Justin Trudeau
Tahir Shahzada, External Affairs
- Category: Rising Stars
When it comes to climate justice, we might not be able to see the effects of climate change in our city, but there are certainly millions around the world who are experiencing first-hand the repercussions of our actions as we continue to act irresponsibly. Let's think about what actions we are taking and the conditions that others are living in because of climate change...because at the end of the day we are all "one world". The 4 days I spent at the OYW Summit were both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I've was surrounded by the most influential leaders from 196 countries to talk and learn about world issues, from gender inequality to climate change.One of the Queen's University Young Leaders at the summit said something that I wanted to share: "Don't wait for permission to become a leader. Sometimes you might question yourself and ask 'am I really the best person to do this?'”. And well, the truth is, you might be the only person to do this". So here's the thing, you don't need a world summit in order to sit at the table. Don't wait for permission to challenge the status quo...Thinking of sustainable change is not only the good thing to do, but it is also your responsibility.
Hearing the stories of other delegates was the most humbling experience, so I encourage you to step outside of what you're used to by learning and asking tough questions TOGETHER. I, or anyone else, can't fight these issues alone. We do, indeed, need each other. A huge thanks to Telfer and uOttawa for giving me the opportunity to represent Canada at the One Young World summit. #OYW
Kloe Desrosiers, Telfer School of Management and Enactus uOttawa
- Category: Rising Stars
The One Young World is not only an intellectual feast but also a compelling call for social action.
In today’s digital age, it is very easy for us to stay connected with the rest of the world through the screen of our laptop, thus giving us a feeling that we are very aware of what’s going on around the globe. However, we might not be mindful of the fact that what we see in the media and on the internet is often tailored to our interest and might offer us a relatively narrow view of the world around us.
At the One Young World Summit, I was able to meet in person with some of the most exceptional young leaders from some 196 different countries who gave eye-opening speeches about their progressive initiatives throughout the field of education, human rights, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and peacemaking. However, I also learned some frightening challenges that the world is facing. It is appalling how some 2.5 billion people do not have access to proper eye treatment, how 1 out of 3 people do not have access to adequate sanitation and how nearly half of the world's population live on less than $2.50 a day.
This conference showed me the great social achievements that are being done elsewhere in the world, and the work that is still ahead of us. Although the world is facing some challenging issues, the inspiring accomplishments of the speakers and the delegates make me believe that there is still hope in humanity.
Call for action: As Canadians, we are the most privileged, either by education or by wealth; therefore it is our responsibility to make the world a better place. So take a second to close your eyes and to think about the hardest time of your life and, who do you wish would have been there to help you. Be that person.
Jia Li, Telfer School of Management
- 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: Rising Stars
When the purpose of the Laurie Strano Memorial MHA Scholarship was decided, it certainly had someone like Carolyne Mondoux in mind. As the second recipient of the scholarship, Carolyne embodies leadership, community involvement and excellence in athletics.
Her career path – which began with an undergraduate degree in biology and continued with jobs in retail, public service and finance – led her to discover a passion for nutrition and administration. To further mesh her skills in management and health care, after finishing a degree in Nutrition from uOttawa, Carolyne decided to pursue a Master of Health Administration (MHA).
Carolyne’s commitment to health extends beyond her day job. A mother of two young girls, she enjoys going on outdoor activities such as mountain and road cycling, running and cross-country skiing. Her private practice, Fine Balance Nutrition, focuses on gastro-intestinal health, lipid management and sports nutrition for new athletes. But beyond that, Carolyne is the co-leader of a not-for-profit group which aims to bring together local RDs and welcomes new graduates through networking events and professional development opportunities. What’s more, she also volunteers for the fundraising committee at her daughter’s school. As a registered member of the College of Dietitians of Ontario, Carolyne also volunteers as a local “Nutrition Month” media representatives for Dietitians of Canada.
“Receiving a scholarship in memory of Laurie Strano is a great honour. In my eyes, this scholarship acts as a thank you for my contributions and the ones of past and future MHA students. It also serves as a reminder that these commitments are recognized, and highlights the importance of community involvement.”
What matters to Carolyn is nutrition, health promotion, disease prevention and working with children. As an enthusiastic and motivated individual, she hopes to work as a leader for a dynamic, health-focused organization which embraces creativity, strives for innovation and cares about its community.
For more information about the Laurie Strano Memorial MHA Scholarship, please contact Roxanne Chénier, Development Officer, at (613) 562-5800, ext. 4760 or
- Category: Student Announcements
MISA, or the Management Information Systems Association, kicked off its year with MISA Connects, held on October 18, 2016, at The Albion Rooms. MISA Connects was the first of two semi-annual networking events that promote the study and growth of information systems in every business sector. In a more intimate setting, students were given the opportunity to connect with Telfer faculty who teach MISA-specific courses and business professionals who believe in the value of data and analytics.
MISA would like to thank everyone who made MISA Connects a successful event. We will continue to advocate for the importance of information systems and analytics in a business setting.
- Category: Rising Stars
The 6th Telfer Trading Competition (TTC) was held on Saturday, October 1, 2016 and continued to build on its legacy as one of the most anticipated competitions and events of the year. The competition consists of about 100 students from 1st to 4th year who are looking to take part in friendly, faced-paced trading competition which helps enhance their student experience. It’s also an opportunity for like-minded individuals to meet each other and compete in a simulated environment designed to mimic real-life trading scenarios. For the second year, students from Telfer’s Financial Theory class (ADM2352) were encouraged to participate in order to apply the theory they learn in class and earn some additional bonus grades. The TTC is organized and hosted by the school’s Financial Research and Learning Lab, which is a state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility with leading industry standard software and databases such as Bloomberg, S&P Capital IQ and WRDS.
The competition consists of two parts, an ice-breaking Social Outcry competition and computer based case simulations which uses the order-driven Rotman Interactive Trader (RIT) platform. The Social Outcry tries to mimic olden day trading pits where individuals are required to buy and sell shares of the Telfer 500 Index (a simulated market) that is driven by news items appearing at various intervals. Just like actual markets, news is interpreted differently by the 100 traders who make the experience a fun, loud and fierce environment.
After students have had a chance to meet each other during the Social Outcry in the Camille Villeneuve Room, they move down to the Financial Research and Learning Lab in order to compete on 5 different cases exploring different financial theories: Liability Trading (2), Options, ETF Arbitrage, and Equity Valuation. Students competing at the TTC get access the cases 2 weeks in advance and have the opportunity to create their strategies for each case. Many students build complex financial models and macros which completely automates their decision making. During the competition, each case is run 3 rounds in order to reward consistency of strategy over speculation. The tension in the room can be cut with a knife as students focus on generating consistent profits and avoiding losses. Since all traders in the room affect liquidity in the rounds, at many times the room bursts in uproar from a potential manipulation by a competitor. This generally causes a sudden market spike, which only enhances the dynamic environment and feel of a trading floor.
After a full-day of competing (noon to 6:00 p.m.), students made their way back to the Camille Villeneuve Room for a well-deserved dinner while the results are tabulated. Cash prizes are awarded not only to the top 3 finishers, but also for each of the 5 cases and Social Outcry.
The TTC is also the method used to select the team for the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition, which is an annual invite-only competition held in Toronto each February. The RITC is the world’s largest trading competition and includes 50 teams from the best schools around the world (Columbia, Princeton, Queens, Western etc.). The parameters of the RITC is similar to that of the TTC and as such those that perform well at the TTC make good candidates. Those that finish in the top 12th get invited to apply to the Telfer RITC team in hopes of representing Telfer on the international stage.
The 6th Telfer Trading Competition was again a huge success, and continued to build its reputation as one of the school’s best and toughest competitions. Events like these help give students of all years a chance to dive deeper into applying theory into practice, learning new skills, and understanding the financial industry a bit better. A big thank you to the Financial Research and Learning Lab, its lab assistants and volunteers for organizing and running this event, as well as the Telfer Marketing Department and Capital Markets Society (CMS) for sponsoring it. As we close out this iteration of the TTC, we look forward to a successful showing at the Rotman International Trading Competition as well as continuing to grow the TTC.
Overall Rankings:
- Dmitry Shorikov
- Roma Stepanchenko
- Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
- Danika Fu
- William Tu
- Evan Friend
Case Winner:
Social Outcry: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Liability Trading 3: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Liability Trading 4: William Tu & Beau Keppler
Options: William Tu, Dmitri Shorikov & Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
ETF Arbitrage: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Equity Valuation: Aleksa Milosevic
- Category: Latest News
This page is for the 2017 Entrepreneurship Foundry Course. For information on the upcoming session, visit this year's page.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community start-up resources to help you start and/or grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course will act as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture; you will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business. .
- Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
- At the end of the course you will be interviewed to measure the progress
- Mandatory 3 slide check-ins on a bi-weekly basis; will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this winter on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students. Student teams are eligible and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. The deadline to submit applications is December 12, 2016.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer Executive MBA will be hosting more than 35 candidates from the Sun yat-Sen University Executive MBA program from Guangzhou, P.R. China., during the week of October 2 – 7, 2016. This will be the third and final stop for these senior executives as a component of the Program's “Overseas Business Trip”. Prior to Ottawa, the group attended executive development programs at Columbia and Yale University.
One of the Telfer Executive MBA’s key objectives is to provide an impactful contribution to our business community through its executive leadership and competency development platform along with growing a global network that serves its business community.
This academic exchange program is an extension of a close relationship between our two programs. The first in 2014 was the direct result of the Telfer Executive MBA’s International Business Consulting Trip to Guangzhou, P.R China in April of that year. Since then the partnership has grown to include Summer Business Consulting Projects, known as the G9 [Guangzhou 9]. Working in teams of three, nine selected Telfer Executive MBA candidates complete a smaller scaled International Business Consulting Project for Chinese organizations throughout the summer months between their first and second year. This experience includes a one-week trip in Guangzhou to present their findings and meet with key stakeholders. The G9 was piloted in 2015 and the Class of 2017 recently closed off another successful year of the projects.
The activities during their stay will provide excellent opportunities to promote the University of Ottawa and the City of Ottawa, to many senior-level executives from China. It will also provide opportunities for engagement and insights from our community leaders through company visits, in-class sessions with distinguished professors, and several networking opportunities with Telfer Executive MBA alumni and leaders in the business community. It is important to note that more than 2000 of Sun yat-Sen’s alumni are in leadership roles of large and medium-sized enterprises in China.
With a focus on promoting local entrepreneurs and Canadian organizations, the Telfer Executive MBA has arranged for the Chinese visitors to enjoy the culinary and ale delights of Millstreet Brew Pub located in the historic Thompson-Perkins Mill building. The week also includes executive briefings at Ottawa’s Kivuto Solutions Inc., and the Royal Canadian Mint; as well as enjoying fall activities such as apple picking at Mountain Orchards and zip-lining adventures at locally owned Camp Fortune.
The visit is capped with a University of Ottawa / Sun yat-Sen Business School Delegation Dinner Reception on October 5th. The Mayor's office, in partnership with Telfer Executive MBA Program and Gowlings, will be hosting the reception with guests from the business community at the elegant Château Laurier. Special guests will include the mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson, senior officials from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and senior executives from the University of Ottawa.The academic portion of the week will be three fold; Global Competitive Intelligence; Economics for the Global Manager; and Self-Leadership and Branding.
During their scheduled leisure time, the executives will enjoy Canada’s rich history with visits to Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal, as well as Ottawa’s ByWard Market.
- Category: Rising Stars
During the weekend of September 23 to 25, Telfer School of Management students in the ADM4317 Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability course engaged in an intensive simulation called The Green Business Lab.
“The Green Business Lab is unique in that it is the only interactive, live, comprehensive business simulation that can provide students with a hands-on experience in running a business while at the same time solving the most pressing problems arising from environmental and social issues facing organizations today” said Daina Mazutis, Endowed Professor of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School. “It connects students directly to important strategic decisions that they will need to make as future business leaders.”
Working in teams, the students were immersed in running a business where each team member played a key function in the company. They had to shape the company’s strategic direction, design and build a new product and improve performance. Yet, due to mounting pressure from various stakeholders — including customers, governments and NGOs — success depended on triple-bottom-line (economic, environmental, social) metrics.
Teams made final presentations to a panel of judges who evaluated their strategy. This board of directors was composed of Robert G. White, CA, CMA, CPA, Independent Investor and Adviser (Telfer BCom 1992), Kristina Haakman, VP Finance at Brookfield Renewable Energy (Telfer BCom 2003), Salim Charabati, B.Arch. MBA, Consultant BuildGreen Solutions (Telfer EMBA 2016) and John Purkis, Senior Associate, The Natural Step.
Spherical Solutions (George Amidjinov, Kacey Cryan, Francis Desjardins, Alexis Harrison, Adam Khawas, Philippe Lafontaine and Vanessa Mangano) finished first in the “Industrialized Nations” category and “Eco-Impact Spheres” (Patrik Hashem, Andrew James Low, Olivia Le, Cassandre Pomerleau, Isabelle Trudeau and Jacob Sousa) finished first in the “Developing Nations” category. These teams developed the best overall strategy from a triple bottom line perspective.
“Speaking on behalf of the majority of participating students, the Green Business Lab is a real life, fast paced scenario involving tough decisions” said student Francis Desjardins. “This weekend simulation gave us the possibility to apply our acquired knowledge in a sometimes stressful, but always fun environment. We not only learnt multiple typical business lessons, for example the importance of profits and cash flow, but also the impacts of other bottom lines: the importance of the environment and of social awareness. I would like to thank our Green Business Lab facilitator, our professor, my class colleagues and the Telfer School of Management for this great experience.”
This in-class simulation was made possible with the support of the Telfer School’s Yersh Family Pedagogical Innovation Fund.
About the Green Business Lab simulation
The simulation tests the students’ leadership skills, knowledge of core management disciplines, as well as broader understanding of business’s responsible role in society. The Green Business Lab simulation has previously been run in well-regarded universities such as Cornell University, Georgia State University, Central Michigan University, Denver University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, University of Iowa, Wayne State University as well as major multinational organizations such as General Electric, Rio Tinto and Chrysler Financial.
- 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: Rising Stars
CEO x 1 Day is on the Hunt for Canada’s Top Students!
Stefan Sjöstrand, President of IKEA Canada, with 2016 CEO x 1 Day finalist, Maria Poonawala.
The CEO 1 x Day program, run by executive recruiting firm, Odgers Berndtson, matches Canada’s top students with CEOs from across the country. Today’s students are the leaders of tomorrow and the yearly program aims to uncover some of Canada’s most promising future talent by giving them an unforgettable real-world experience.
Launched in 2013, CEO X 1 Day has matched close to 50 third and fourth year undergraduate students from across Canada with leading Canadian CEOs from organizations like Purolator, IKEA, the CFL, Manulife Financial and Economic Development Canada. This year, we have another fantastic line-up of CEOs from organizations in the private, public and not-for profit sectors including Siemens, Campbell’s Soup, CBC/Radio-Canada, Germain Hotels, The Red Cross and the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Past CEO x 1 Day students who have taken part in the program say that they received valuable experience that equips them with the tools to start building their careers. Because the selection process has several stages, there is an opportunity for students to get feedback on their leadership and interview skills, even if they don’t make it to the final round. The different phases of the selection process include an online leadership assessment, as well as phone and in-person interviews and a half day with Odgers Berndtson recruiters.
The application process kicks off September 29th until October 28th and the actual day spent with the CEO occurs in February of 2017.
Why Should You Apply?
The program gives third and fourth-year students an opportunity to take in-class learning and apply it to a real-world situation while providing them with the tools and skills needed to start building their career.
What Are the Benefits?
There are many benefits of going through the CEO x 1 Day application process – even if you don’t reach the finals:
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2 out of 3 applicants will have the opportunity to receive a personalized leadership report from Hogan Assessments
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Semi-finalists will be considered for an interview with McKinsey & Company for a summer internship or full-time job
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Semi-finalists will spend a half day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviewing which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills
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And ultimately, the winners will spend a full day shadowing a CEO (including one-on-one time), learning about his/her background, career path, and leadership approach
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You can also see first-hand what previous winners have to say about the program
Interested in applying?
Starting September 29, 2016, third and fourth-year students can apply at ceox1day.ca until October 28, 2016.
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
2016 Robert Wood Johnson Award winners: (L to R) Anna Brown, Chang-Hung Yuan, Nico Miraftab, Katie Hollis, Sandra Racco-Cella and Olga Sawatzy
Katie Hollis, a recent MHA graduate, was named among six of Canada’s top emerging health-care professionals and awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Award. She accepted her award during a ceremony in Ottawa, as part of the Canadian College of Health Leaders and HealthCareCAN national conference, which is the largest national gathering of health system leaders in Canada.
Prior to starting the Masters in Health Administration (MHA) program at the University of Ottawa, Katie Hollis was a clinical pharmacist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario where she worked in paediatric haematology & oncology. On a daily basis, Katie witnessed the selfless dedication of healthcare providers to ensure a positive patient experience. However, her desire to gain further understanding into the complexity of healthcare delivery was fuelled by the belief that the responsibility to provide high quality, patient-centered care extends beyond that of the healthcare professional. Since completing the MHA program, Katie now works at the Queensway Carleton Hospital as the Pharmacy Manager of Clinical and Professional Practice and is responsible for ensuring safe, effective medication management practices for each patient throughout the organization. She is also actively involved with the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists occupying various roles on committees and councils at both the provincial and national levels. Recently, Katie joined the MHA Alumni Association’s Board as a member-at-large where she looks forward to giving back to the community that has inspired her throughout her studies and continues to inspire her each and every day.
Since its inception in 1956, the award has been presented to nearly 300 Canadian healthcare professionals. It is supported by Johnson & Johnson Medical Products in partnership with six leading Canadian universities, which offer a Masters’ program in healthcare administration, including: Dalhousie University, Université de Montréal, University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta and University of Toronto.
- 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
On June 9, 2016, an audience assembled to witness the University/Hospital Affiliation Agreement Signing Ceremony, signifying the renewal of a unique collaboration that recognizes and addresses the shared academic missions of its partners into one single agreement.
The agreement marks the continuation for another five years of the partnership between uOttawa’s Faculties of Medicine, Social Sciences and Health Sciences and Telfer School of Management, and the five teaching hospitals in Ottawa — Bruyère, CHEO, Montfort, Royal Ottawa, and TOH. The partner agreement covers the key areas of education, research, professionalism and the learning environment, the appointment of clinical faculty members, and joint appointments, empowering all to move as one affiliated entity to improve and innovate in health education and research.
Representatives from each partner organizations signed the University/Hospital Affiliation Agreement: Dr. Michel Laurier, Vice-President Academic and Provost, University of Ottawa; Mr. Daniel Levac, President and CEO, Bruyère Continuing Care; Dr. Hélène Perreault, Dean, University of Ottawa Faculty of Health Sciences; Dr. Lindy Samson, Chief of Staff, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario; Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, Dean, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Bernard Leduc, President and CEO, Hôpital Montfort; Dr. Marcel Mérette, Dean, University of Ottawa Faculty of Social Sciences; Mr. George Weber, President and CEO, The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group; Dr. François Julien, Dean, University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management; Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital; Mr. Allan Rock, President, University of Ottawa (left to right in the photo above).
Photo credit: Andrea Campbell
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 wrote about their experiences in Silicon Valley as a part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Consulting Trip which took place from May 14 - 20, 2016.
Anticipation Mounts as the Class of 2017 fly into San Francisco
Written by: Ashley Mascarenhas
Make Yourself Known
Written by: Adan Elsaadi and Mario Fowler
Video: Bringing a Canadian Perspective to Silicon Valley
Written by: Team Kentaurus- Michael Bell, Martin Chartrand, Kevin Jones, MJ Levesque, Glenn Moran and Derek Quesnel
Incremental Innovation vs. Invention
Written by: Team Capella – Mohamed Eldery, Daniel Feeny, Tanya Gracie, Kyle Taplay and Andrew Wright
Surviving in an Innovative Playground
Written by: Team Canopus- Amanda Bernier, Scott Johnston, Matt Lundie, Kimberley Marr, Ryan Peatt and Sukri Sharbini
Top 10 things Ottawa can learn from Silicon Valley
Written by: Amanda Dwyer, Team Sirius
Our Silicon Valley Outcome: Uniting as One Big Team
Written by: Team Arcturus - Abdul Ahmadzai, Ajay Bhandari, Isabelle Blondeau, Bernard Guité and Kurt Schweitzer
- 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: Latest News
(From left to right: Carl Burlock, Export Development Canada; HEC team, Ben Mansoura, Amandine Michaud, Niki Parassidis, Abdelghani Zniber; Michel Brazeau, Deloitte)
On March 4th and 5th 2016, the Telfer School of Management, in partnership with Export Development Canada and Deloitte, hosted the first annual Diversity and Inclusion MBA Case Competition.
The rationale for this event, which addressed a topic not often found in typical MBA case competitions, was that despite the advances being made in promoting and integrating diversity in organizations, the fear of being different is still a common occurrence. This case competition was conceived to highlight and explore current issues and potential solutions related to Diversity and Inclusion in contemporary organizations.
The MBA case competition included the following teams:
- DeGroote School of Business McMaster University
- HEC Université de Montreal
- John Molson School of Busines Concordia University
- Lazaridis School of Business & Economics Wilfrid Laurier
- Odette School of Business University of Windsor
- Ted Rogers School of Management Ryerson University
- Telfer School of Management University of Ottawa
The team from HEC Montreal took home first place (pictured). Wilfred Laurier’s Lazaridis School of Business & Economics came in second and McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business third.
“Given our global mandate, having a diverse and representative workforce is a strategic business advantage that is critical to EDC's success – now and in the future,” says Justine Hendricks, Vice President Loans Value Stream Transformation, EDC. “Sponsoring this competition provides an opportunity to demonstrate to future business leaders that diversity is critical for a trading nation like Canada, and therefore critical for its companies.”
Kate Morican, Partner, Ontario Lead for Human Capital Services and National Lead for Strategic Transformation and Change Services at Deloitte, adds: “At Deloitte, our vision is to lead by building a culture through commitment and mutual accountability. A culture where all our people feel like they belong, feel free to live and work openly and understand that inclusion is core to who we are. Our Diversity and Inclusion journey is key to achieving this vision, and developing inclusive leaders is a key component of our journey. We commend our partners, Export Development Canada and the University of Ottawa for recognizing the importance of Diversity and Inclusion and taking the steps required to create a more inclusive and diverse community within their own organizations, while taking the time to educate others on diversity and inclusion and the tangible benefits which can be realized when one adopts a diverse and inclusive culture."
Abdelghani Zniber, member of the winning team from HEC Montréal, says: “This competition deals with a subject that has been getting traction recently. A competition on diversity and inclusion is a great initiative to further raise awareness about a topic that is unfortunately not taught in schools, but that MBA students will surely have to manage during their career.” Amandine Michaud adds: “The Diversity & Inclusion case competition hosted by the Telfer School of Management is one of its kind. It focuses on a strategic aspect of management that is oft forgotten and it prepares tomorrow’s leaders to help companies to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.”
In addition to the team competition, the event included a workshop on Unconscious Bias and a keynote by Bank of Montreal Senior Vice-President Justine Fedak on the practical issues along with her personal reflections related to Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.
We thank all the schools for sending along excellent representatives for this competition.
- Category: Latest News
Co-chairs William Yeoh (Deakin University, Melbourne) and Gregory Richards (Telfer School of Management), in collaboration with Randy Messina from IBM in Chicago, host the first annual Global Watson Analytics Case competition, with 130 teams from 33 universities participating.
The global competition pits a global group of universities using IBM Watson Analytics to explore complex data sets. The top ten finalists will be selected July 1, 2016. The top two finalists will be invited to present their solutions at the IBM Insight 2016 event in Las Vegas in October 2016.
Participating Universities include:
- Brigham Yong University
- California State University
- Carleton University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Central Connecticut State University
- Covenant University
- Dakota State University
- Dalhousie University
- Deakin University
- EGADE Business School
- Fairfield University
- Federation University
- Fordham University
- Georgia State University
- Hawaii Pacific University
- Jacksonville State University
- Northwestern University
- Oklahoma State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- University at Buffalo
- Texas A&M University
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Connecticut
- University of Illinois
- University of Ljubljana
- University of Maryland
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- University of Ottawa
- University of West Florida
- University of Colorado
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Benedictine University
- Western Kentucky University
- Category: Rising Stars
This winter, the University of Ottawa's Co-operative Education Programs achieved the milestone of placing its 40,000th student.
After dropping a few hints on social media, the details of the 40,000th placement were unveiled in a ceremony at Deloitte's office in downtown Ottawa. To mark the occasion, a plaque was awarded to Robyn Smith, an accounting student at the Telfer School of Management, and Erica Newman, a recruitment specialist with Deloitte.
"I'm proud to work at Deloitte and surprised to be the 40,000th placement. If I had any advice to give to students, it would be to get involved early in their time at university. Not just to stand out from others, but to create opportunities and gain the confidence they need to approach leaders like Deloitte."
“For the CO-OP program, the 40,000th placement is a significant accomplishment. However, behind this large number are 39,999 other experiences that are just as significant,” says Gaby St-Pierre, director of CO-OP and the Career Development Centre at the University of Ottawa.
“Thanks to CO-OP, students eager to learn both theory and practice have had impressive careers all around the world. Since the program began in 1980, hundreds of employers acting as mentors have dedicated over 20 million hours to train the next generation and pass on their knowledge,” adds St-Pierre.
In short, CO-OP is partnership between the University, students and employers. It’s a real example of intergenerational communication and assistance, of knowledge management and transfer. Most of all, it’s about over 40,000 experiences that have made a difference.
Did you know?
Deloitte has partnered with the University of Ottawa for more than 30 years.
It has offered nearly 200 CO-OP placements over the past 15 years.
It has hired 10% of accounting students for winter 2016.
It offers CO-OP placements and jobs for new graduates of various programs in many Canadian cities.
The University of Ottawa CO-OP summer placement process has begun. Over 1700 of our brightest students are ready to contribute to the success of your team. Click here for more information.
This article was originally published in the uOttawa Gazette.
- Category: Latest News
On May 9, 2015 candidates from the Class of 2016 travelled to Silicon Valley as a part of Telfer Executive MBA's Innovation and Entrpreneurship Trip and Consulting Project.
Over the duration of the week, the teams of candidates will finalize their findings and will submit their final recommendations to their San Jose-based start-up client. The objective of the report is to address a business problem as well as to understand the challenges and opportunities of doing business in a highly innovative environment.
In addition, candidates will also visit several of the world's leading technology companies, attend private executive briefings with senior Silicon Valley leaders and see first-hand previews of the future technology and innovation. Technology companies on the agenda for this year include IBM, AVAYA Inc., Stanford University, Rocketspace, Google, Aruba Networks, and US Market Access Centre.
Teams will be contributing to a daily blog which will be featured on the Telfer Executive MBA webpage as well as the Ottawa Business Journal.
Anticipation for the trip
Published on Monday, May 14, 2015 by Salim Charabati, Telfer Executive MBA candidate
The return of Silicon Valley North?
Published on Tuesday, May 15, 2015 by Deepali Bhatt, Telfer Executive MBA candidate
Lessons learned on day one
Published on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 by Taylor Bildstein, Telfer Executive MBA candidate
Touring IBM and more
Published on Thursday, May 21, 2015 by Mathieu Leduc, Telfer Executive MBA candidate
Subcategories
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