Telfer School professors presented their recent findings at the European Accounting Association Congress in Paris this week. Study topics included climate change disclosure and firm performance, corporate risk tolerance in the mining industry, and stock-price synchronicity in offshore firms. The conference program included research contributions by professors Kaouthar Lajili, Walid Ben Amar, Tiemei (Sarah) Li, Philip Mcilkenny, Sarah Ben Amor and Sylvain Durocher.

Sylvain Durocher examined the adoption timing decisions of private firms in relation to the new set of accounting standards for private enterprises published in 2009 in Canada, drawing on the theory of planned behaviour. The study was coauthored by Anne Fortin of Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Professor Durocher also presented, with Claire-France Picard of Laval University, “Meticulous Professionals to Superheroes of the Business World: A Historical Portrait Of a Cultural Change In The Field Of Accountancy,” a study co-authored with Yves Gendron of Laval.

Walid Ben Amar and Philip Mcilkenny discusssed the link between board of directors’ effectiveness and voluntary reporting of climate change related risks in a sample of Canadian firms. Their study highlights the importance of the board of directors’ role in enhancing the transparency of climate change disclosures.

Research by Kaouthar Lajili and Sarah Ben Amor focused on developing a corporate risk tolerance level using the Canadian gold mining industry as an example. They analyzed the risk sources, risk exposure, and risk management strategies disclosed by Canadian listed gold mining firms between 2006 and 2008.

Tiemei (Sarah) Li of the Telfer School and Jeong-Bon Kim, City University of Hong Kong investigated the extent to which firm-specific information is capitalized into stock prices in offshore firms and non-offshore firms.

Why study the commercial and financial decisions of the past? “Quite simply, adding historical context to students’ exploration of management helps them better understand the challenges of business leaders today,” says Professor Cheryl McWatters of the Telfer School of Management.

Students of business history appreciate that the business problems of the present day did not begin in the 21st century. Performance incentives, for example, are not a recent invention. Since the early days of marine trade, in order to be trusted with cargos of goods, traders, their officers, and crews had contracts setting out, amongst other things, their salary and “incentives” based on what and where they could sell; all of which was built into the deal, explains Dr. McWatters, who researches commercial and financial history as the Father Edgar Thivierge Chair in Business History (cross-appointed to the Department of History). “The problems and the decision processes seen in earlier eras of commerce — why did people invest, why did they not invest, how did they evaluate risk — were not so different from those evident today.”

Over the winter term recently ended, MBA students in Dr. McWatters’s electives on the history of business had an opportunity to discover that for themselves. They explored the emergence of capitalism, and in particular the role of entrepreneurs, government, financiers, and market players. In a second course, they examined the origins and development of business in Canada with a focus on the contextual factors that have shaped the economy and environment. The students came to appreciate that earlier business practices, trade networks, and credit networks that made commerce happen were often highly sophisticated.

Ethical questions

“The class enabled me to not only enhance my knowledge of business, but develop a number of transferable skills—critical thinking skills, research skills, and writing skills,” says Susana Lee, a student in the joint MBA/JD program.” Having the opportunity to debate the ethics of business decisions in the past in light of their societal impacts was also particularly valuable, she added. “Professor McWatters encouraged us to continuously question and re-examine some of our assumptions about the past.”

Dr. McWatters’s history courses are complimentary with other courses in the MBA curriculum designed to encourage students to examine the ethical issues buried in case problems, says MBA Program Director Michael Miles. They provide “tremendous context to explain why we struggle with some of the things we struggle with today.” He visited Dr. McWatters’s classes on a couple of occasions and came away “very impressed” with the high calibre of student presentations and “lively and informed discussions.” “The students recognized that knowing how business practices developed and being able to assess and debate their implications, good or bad, is tremendously valuable in a global business context.”

Dr. McWatters encourages her students to see how business people in the past made decisions based on the information that was in front of them. “That’s a different approach than telling people, ‘if you don’t know history, you will repeat the same mistakes.’ We may not think that they made the right decision, but they did make choices, and we can try to reconstruct and assess their reasoning.”

By assessing and synthesizing the evidence in this way, the students strengthen their ability to make informed judgments about strategic choices and their consequences, Dr. McWatters says. “All this helps them deal more effectively with the changing organisational environment that they will face as business leaders.”

Dr. McWatters recently co-authored, with Yannick Lemarchand, “Credit and Debt” (2013), part of the series Oxford Bibliographies in Atlantic History. Read more about Cheryl McWatters’ research.

Professor Frank Tough delivered the May 2013 Father Edgar Thivierge Speaker Series Lecture to a packed audience of students and professors from the University of Ottawa — the Telfer School of Management, the Department of History, the School of Political Studies, and the Faculty of Law — and guests from the Federal Government. Professor of Native Studies and adjunct professor with the Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta, Professor Tough provided a fascinating historical perspective on the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark ruling in Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013. Tough discussed how the historical background can be examined to assess the “honour of the Crown” in reconciling the assertion of Canadian sovereignty/the settlement of the prairie west with Métis entitlements. The lecture was followed by a lively question-and-answer session with the audience.

Professor Cheryl S. McWatters is the Father Edgar Thivierge Chair in Business History at the Telfer School of Management (cross-appointment to the Department of History, Faculty of Arts). The Father Edgar Thivierge Speaker Series provides an opportunity to learn about the historic contexts that shape Canada’s economy and society. The first speaker in the series was the Right Honourable Paul Martin, who in April 2012 spoke to students in Dr. McWatters’s MBA course, The Global Context of Business: Merchants, Traders, Capitalists and Profit Seekers.

Telfer School professors were awarded 2 years of research funding to study executive presence and the impact of non-verbal behaviour of men and women leaders. This project will contribute towards a better understanding of an elusive leadership trait and provide important insights for executive development.

“We propose that leadership presence is largely non-verbal and tacit in nature; capable of influencing others without a leader’s conscious intention,” says lead investigator Silvia Bonaccio. “We will examine the perceived psychological and associated physical, behaviour and interpersonal dimensions of executive presence to produce a new model of leadership influence.”

The project — “Executive Presence: In Search of an Elusive Leadership Trait” — brings together a team with varied and complementary research strengths in the areas of organizational behaviour and human resources. Joining professor Bonaccio are colleagues Magda Donia, Laurent Lapierre and Sharon O’Sullivan with new Telfer faculty François Chiocchio and Jane O’Reilly. Northwestern University professor Alice Eagly will also contribute as an international collaborator. The Telfer School of Management will contribute $20,000 to the project under the research clusters program.

The researchers explain that while leadership presence is discussed in the popular press as having a powerful and observable quality, the concept is difficult to pin down — and no empirically-driven definition exists. This research will help fill that gap through empirical studies conducted in different contexts to develop the construct of leadership presence. The connection to existing leadership constructs (e.g., charismatic leadership) and indicators of leadership effectiveness (e.g., follower loyalty) will be considered. The researchers will also explore whether—and in what way—the elements of executive presence differ between genders, and whether executive presence is perceived similarly by a leader’s subordinates and superiors.

“Leadership presence has not been studied empirically in this way before, and we think the results of our study may have important implications for leadership development, executive education, succession planning, and coaching and mentoring,” says Dr. Bonaccio.