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Graduate students thrive at the Telfer School of Management: Alexander Chung wins the John Duncan and Deb Cross Award

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Student Alexander, Professor Jaana, and Dean Julien

Alexander Chung takes the spotlight as the 2019 recipient of the John Duncan and Deb Cross Award, for publishing in the International Journal of Information Management, a highly ranked peer-reviewed journal in his field. He was the lead author on an article entitled “Where the Shoe Pinches: Realizing Dominant Problems as an Organizational Social Media Business Profile Evolves”. Congratulations to Alex for his ceaseless dedication to his doctoral studies. We reached out to Alex to see if he could share his very positive publication experience with us. Here is what he had to say:

What was the motivation behind this study?

Student AlexanderThe paper implements a model that I previously developed to identify problems that can arise as an organization’s social media presence evolves. We contacted organizations in the Canadian business community and asked them to identify problems they have experienced with social media use and rate the severity of each problem experienced. The results will help managers gain a better understanding of what to expect in the future and potentially plan for problems that may arise later on.

Based on your publication experience, is there any advice you would offer other students?

My advice for other students wanting to publish or who are going through the publication process is to:

  • Find the right journal. It’s important to find one that supports your research and where the article will be read. The primary goal of publishing is to disseminate your work to others in the research community so that they can build on it.
  • Have other people read your work before submitting and be open to feedback.
  • Be patient because the process can take several months to years. We went through two rounds of revisions that lasted close to a year, but it’s important to stay motivated and to believe in your research. In the end, it was worth it!

How did you benefit from the John Duncan and Deb Cross Award?

The publication has greatly enhanced my experience as a Ph.D. student. Thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Pavel Andreev for supporting and guiding me through this process. Thank you, Mr. Duncan and Mrs. Cross, for encouraging us to publish early on in our degrees. The experience has been invaluable for me and has led to opportunities to review for other journals and conferences as well.

Contrary to popular belief that the publishing process is complex, frustrating and emotionally demanding, in Alexander's case it went really well. He truly enjoyed the publication experience and was recognized for his hard work and perseverance, not only with a new manuscript, but also a distinctive award.

The John Duncan and Deb Cross Award recognizes the quality and impact of a student’s publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Learn more about graduate scholarships.