Two faculty members of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management (BSRM) have been named to Rethink Retail’s Top Retail Experts (TRE) list for 2024, one of the most prestigious global accolades in the Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry.
The ivory tower sits on a solid foundation, but it could use a little shaking up, writes Professor Henry Mintzberg in a University World News article co-authored with his daughter Susan Mintzberg, a doctoral candidate in social work at 鶹AV. They argue that an overemphasis on a few top journals is one of the issues of the current model. These publications are sometimes called ‘A-journals’, and, in some cases, universities are prioritizing quantity over quality.
In 2022, employees at a Trader Joe’s grocery store in Massachusetts successfully voted to unionize. However, almost two years later, the company has yet to present any contract proposals. Despite the company's initial dismissal of a $30-an-hour wage proposal, they failed to provide a counter-offer, contributing to a broader trend of extended negotiations for new unions' inaugural contracts.
Pension funds manage enormous amounts of capital, but they don’t create as much value as other players in the financial sector. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and private equity funds all play a more direct role in launching projects and creating value. But some Canadian pension funds have taken control of the value-creation process with investments in real estate, natural resources, infrastructure, and private credit, writes Associate Professor Sebastien Betermier in Wealth Professional.
Bachir Sentissi (MBA’98) wants to make it easier to access the Internet of Things (IoT). After completing his MBA, Sentissi worked with Canadian National Railway, and became interested in how organizations collect and process information. His work with CN served as a springboard to return to Morocco to work with the Tanger Med Port Authority, and in 2011, he launched a startup called Oritech, which uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to trace shipments in supply chains. Then, in 2021, Sentissi co-founded another company called Teraflow.
Last year was one of economic uncertainty – and a challenging year for many small businesses. Despite this, small business owners demonstrated remarkable resilience, ingenuity and leadership, and looked for ways to turn obstacles into new opportunities, writes Don Ludlow (MBA’01) in CanadianSME Business Magazine.
Last year, after months of hard work and 'brandstorming', two 鶹AV Desautels teams took the podium at the 31st annual L'Oréal Brandstorm competition, competing against top teams from across Canada! Madison Laxer and her fellow Master of Management in Retailing (MMR) teammates, Aditi Bali and Supreet Kaur, took third place. Madison reflects on her experience participating in the case competition and how it even led to an internship.
This winter, the sustainability efforts of 13 University offices were recognized by the rigorous Sustainable Workplace Certification program hosted by the 鶹AV Office of Sustainability, with nearly half coming from 鶹AV Desautels. The Academic Affairs Office earned a Gold-level certification, while the Dean’s Office and Infrastructure Team earned Silver, and the EMBA 鶹AV-HEC program, Human Resources Team, PhD in Management Office, and Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship were recognized with Bronze awards.
Buy now, pay later technology offers loans to consumers to pay for purchases in instalments over time. A soft credit check verifies eligibility, and can extend credit to users who might not otherwise have access to credit products. These loans claim to improve the financial inclusion of lower-income young people, but should be approached with caution, writes Vivek Astvansh in The Conversation.
Christmas is just around the corner, and even with inflation slowing down, gift prices are higher than ever. Canada’s Consumer Price Index is at an all-time high of nearly 160 points, Associate Professor Vivek Astvansh tells CTV News Montreal. “Consumers are feeling the pinch, and while they want to buy stuff, they are resisting purchases,” says Astvansh. Holiday spending will still be higher than it was last year, but not because people are actually buying more gifts. “The prices of everything have gone up.
When you think of a shopping centre Santa Claus, a specific body type comes to mind: a bearded, rosy-cheeked, older, white man. In fact, many work in fields where their bodies are intentionally governed by organizational systems intent on shaping them into an idealized image of a worker, argues Assistant Professor of Strategy and Organization Rohini Jalan. While all bodies are encouraged to undergo body work to conform, this affects different body types disproportionately.
Funding for universities is not a zero-sum game, writes John Cleghorn Professor of Management Henry Mintzberg in a LaPresse op-ed. And the Quebec government’s plan to increase tuition for out-of-province students risks undermining the very source of funding it hopes to leverage. If students at anglophone universities are charged higher fees, and that money is used to fund francophone universities, it will discourage many out-of-province students from coming to Quebec in the first place.
Tipping has gotten out of control in Canada. Not only are restaurants’ automated payment systems prompting patrons for tips of up to 30%, there are even some tip prompts at self-serve kiosks. More than half of Canadians say they’d prefer a no-tip, service-included model that ensures higher base wages for employees. For now, shoppers should be reminded that tipping is discretionary, says Associate Professor Vivek Astvansh in an article for The Conversation.
Family-controlled businesses demonstrate exceptional long-term performance. Since 2005, such businesses have significantly outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite. Family-controlled businesses earned an annualized return of 8.3%, compared to 7% for their publicly-traded counterparts, according to the National Bank of Canada’s Family Advantage 2023-24 Report.
Navigating decision-making complexities is no easy feat, but Henry Mintzberg, John Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at 鶹AV, and Frances Westley, J.W. McConnell Chair in social innovation at the University of Waterloo, have crafted insightful methods to ease this process.