Bissett Insider

Bissett to Play Key Role in Small Business Institutional Consortia

Partnering with Universities of Alberta, Calgary, Lethbridge, and NAIT, Bissett will play a key role in a the Small Business Steward Pilot research program. In addition to aiding in business start-up success in Alberta by making it easier for small businesses to locate and access available business support, the pilot will collect valuable information and data that can be used by academia, government and service providers to better respond to small business needs and economic trends. Please contact Professor Simon Raby for more information (sraby@mtroyal.ca).

Mohammed El Hazzouri, Associate Professor, has study published in International Journal of Research in Marketing

Bissett School of Business would like to congratulate our own, Mohammed El Hazzourri for his most recent publication in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, entitled Ethnic minority consumers’ reactions to advertisements featuring members of other minority groups.

Identifying a “largely overlooked” area of research , Mohammed and his fellow researchers wanted to study how ethnic minorities respond to advertisements featuring other ethnic minority groups.

Mohammed’s research has recently been featured in media outlets such as The Conversation and the National Post.

Bissett Research on Small Business Growth a Big Hit!

Professor Simon Raby, a new member of faculty in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship, recently launched the findings of an 18-month study on the growth of Alberta’s Small and Medium-Enterprises. In the past four week alone, the report entitled “What Drives SME Growth? Introducing the Leader’s Growth Mindset” has been read online over 1,000 times and has been downloaded 300 times from academia.edu, ranking Raby in the top 1% of academics for impact on this global platform. A short (6 minute) animated video is now available. You can find this video and report here: www.mtroyal.ca/businessgrowth.

Congratulations Simon, we look forward to future updates.

 

 

 

Linking North and South: A Place based project to share the art, culture and geography of the North

Bissett’s Victoria Calvert alongside Mount Royal University Geology professor, Lynn Moorman, hope to share and educate Mount Royal students about art, culture and geography of the Canadian north.

Lynn co-led an expedition throughout the Northwest Passage and used her extensive relationships within the Innu community to organize buying opportunities from many isolated Innu communities.

The unique sculptures represent the rich cultural heritage and the habitat of the Innu communities. This art work will become part of the MRU teaching collection and will also be displayed for the first time at an art exhibit in the Interactive Centre this coming March (2018).

Calvert and Moorman, are in the process of making the exhibit,  and other resources available to a variety of  faculties  with the hope they develope and utilize modules within their own curricula.  One possible such inclusion may be the  Bissett Marketing department under the direction of David Finch, who is  looking to develop a project in the 2018 Marketing capstone course to develop a distributing system/strategy for the Innu Artists.

For more information regarding the possible opportunities, please contact Victoria Calvert.

Bissett Stock Market Challenge: the 13th Annual ATB Investment Challenge is up and running!

The 13th Annual ATB Investor Services Investment Challenge, otherwise known as the Bissett Stock Market Competition, is up and running. This year has seen a record number of participants, with 96 students involved. Students in teams of three, have until March 30, 2018 to maximize their returns in a real-time simulation. The members of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams win cash prizes and a luncheon with members of ATB Investor Services. The 1st place team is also immortalized on the Stock Market Competition trophy. The competition is grateful to ATB for their support of this competition. For more details, contact Jim Fischer.

Bissett Awarded Project by Key UK Small Business Think Tank

Professor Simon Raby, along with colleagues Chad Saunders (Haskayne School of Business) and Geoff Gregson (JR Shaw School of Business) have been awarded funding and access to the U.K.’s Longitudinal Small Business Survey by the U.K.’s Enterprise Research Centre. The project will analyze longitudinal data on impact of small business support on firm performance. Please contact Professor Simon Raby for more information (sraby@mtroyal.ca).

Bissett Associate Professor, Jim Fischer has paper accepted at the 33rd International Academic Conference in Vienna, Austria

Bissett would like to congratulate Jim Fischer for having his  paper accepted at the 33rd International Academic Conference in Vienna, Austria,  sponsored by the International Institute for Social and Economic Sciences. Jim presented his paper “Is Consumption Tax Regressive? A Libertarian Perspective”, the third in a series of papers examining consumption tax as an alternative to income tax. His paper was published in conference proceedings.

Congratulations Jim!

Bissett student Ryan Wenger finding his niche

To the average observer the skills of a barista and that of a heavy duty mechanic may seem mutually exclusive skill-sets,  but for Bissett student Ryan Wenger the combination of the two has led to a successful business venture. When the Bissett building was looking for a coffee kiosk, Ryan quickly jumped in and married his hobby of refurbishing coffee equipment with his love of coffee and desire to have his own coffee shop;  the Barrow and Espresso venture was born.

Finding an unused small space under the stairs in the Bissett building, Ryan carved out a niche…physically and business-wise with the first location of The Barrow and Espresso. The under-used space has been transformed into a vibrant area, where students and faculty meet while enjoying Ryan’s specialty coffees and upscale pastries.  Ryan has been able to apply his learned business acumen to the running of his business including employee management, inventory purchasing and marketing.

Recognizing a winning formula of turning small under-used space and creating a welcoming and vibrant coffee shop, Ryan is expanding his business.  He was selected to open up a second location in the Riddell Library and Learning Centre. A third location in the Marda Loop area is also in the works.

The aromatic scent of coffee as you enter the Bissett building, the artfully displayed pastries, the chattering of the customers gathered under the stairwell,  and student employees warmly serving the Barrow customers have brought a new energy to the Bissett building that goes far beyond a good cup of coffee. It has been trans-formative for not only Ryan but for all of those who work and attend classes in the Bisset building. As  a faculty we are not only proud of Ryan and his accomplishments… but grateful! We wish him continued success.

Ryan and his business venture have been recognized by the LaunchPad program here at MRU, winning a $5000.00 bursary in 2017 and most recently he was named regional EO Entrepreneur of the year at the  Global Student Entrepreneurship  Awards. Winning another $5000.00. Ryan will be attending the Fair Trade Field School in Guatamela next semester to learn about the coffee bean business from local farmers.