Bissett Insider

Bissett Associate Professor, Paul Varella accepts an Adjunct Professorship in Holland

Bissett School of Business is pleased to announce that our own Associate Professor, Paul Varella, has joined the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at the Utrecht University as an Adjunct (Visiting) Professor. This institutional linkage will facilitate joint academic initiatives in research and education.

The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is the scientific institute for sustainability research and teaching of Utrecht University. They contribute to the transition to a sustainable society through scientific excellence in a multi-disciplinary environment. Their work is rooted in multi-disciplinary teams of four research groups: Energy and Resources, Environmental Governance, Environmental Sciences and Innovation Studies.

The formal connection will allow Paul to develop collaborative research initiatives and also supervise graduate students in their Masters and PhD programs. A program of interest for Bissett and MRU alumni is the Masters in Sustainable Business and Innovation;  offering the potential for connectivity to both the Institute for Environmental Sustainability  and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Paul extends his deepest appreciation for the Department’s, Bissett’s and MRU’s sabbatical support and IES funding, which has allowed this one-of-a-kind experience for his academic work.

Congratulations Paul and good luck at Utrecht!

David Finch works with several co-authors to expand the Designing YOU brand to include career guides

In 2017, Ray DePaul and David Finch co-authored Designing YOU for our Bissett students. This book, complimentary for all faculty and students, challenges them to apply the principles of product design to their lives. Over the past year, David has had the opportunity to work with a wide range of MRU authors in developing an entire series of Designing YOU Career Guides to support students’ work down very specific career paths. These guides explore some of the crucial questions facing anyone exploring their future:

  • What are the different careers options?
  • What does it take to be a professional in a specific area?
  • What’s the future of different professions and what does this mean to our students?
  • How have other professionals got to where they are today?
  • And the inevitable… how much money can they make doing different jobs?

Since September, David has co-authored six career guides with MRU faculty, with three more on the way:

  • Broadcast Media YOU* with  Brad Clark
  • Computing YOU with Michael Uzoka and Janet Miller
  • English Major YOU with Bill Bunn
  • Journalism YOU with Janice Paskey
  • Marketing YOU with Sharon McIntyre and Ray DePaul
  • Psychology YOU* with Evelyn Field and Janet Miller
  • Public Relations YOU* with Jane McNichol
  • Sport & Recreation YOU with David Legg and Julie Booke
  • Supply Chain Management YOU with Brian Fleming

*To be released by June 1.

All eBooks in the Designing YOU series are in the Creative Commons and available complimentary to students and educators at https://www.designingyou.org/

In the next step, David and Ray are collaborating with their colleagues and students in broadcast media studies to develop a series of pilot Designing YOU podcasts profiling MRU alumni from a range of fields.

If you’re interested in enquiring about the process to develop a Designing YOU Career Guide for your discipline, please contact David at dfinch@mtroyal.ca

Congratulations to David, Ray and all of their  co-authors. We look forward to hearing and learning more about Designing You!

Bissett students win 2018 CFA Society Winnipeg Ethics Challenge!

Bissett School of Business would like to congratulate the winning team of the 2018 CFA Society Winnipeg Ethics Challenge: Dylan Assen, Tiffany Doyle, Harrison Kozak, Andy McAuley, Graham Perry and Faculty Adviser, Catherine Roy Heaton.

Winners, 2018 CFA Winnipeg Ethics Challenge, Mount Royal

Our Bissett team competed against six other universities that are members of the CFA Institute University affiliation program and/or embed financial ethics into their curriculum. Those institutions include the  University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg.

“The teams had four weeks to analyze and evaluate a case which presented several ethical dilemmas and then identify the violations of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.”  Students presented their findings, gave recommendations and were grilled by a panel of industry professionals.  Bissett Chair and faculty adviser of the team, Catherine Roy Heaton,  indicated the students excelled through their preparation and work ethics, teamwork, strong presentation skills, comprehension of the Code and Standards and the ability to apply their learned acumen to “real world applications” is what made them the stand out team.

The team will be representing Bissett at Nationals in Vancouver this coming May, competing against the top teams from across Canada. Bissett School of Business  wishes the students a successful showing in Vancouver and would like to extend our thanks to Cathy for her continued dedication and mentor-ship to the CFA Ethics team!

 

In case you missed it: our Bissett professors continue to provide commentary to a variety of media outlets

Patti Derbyshire –  MEC drops brands from Vista Outdoors

Uthpala Tennakoon – Dating and the workplace

Mohammed El Hazzouri – Dealership threatens to sue over bad review 

Mohammed El Hazzourri – Saks Fifth Avenue opens in Chinook 

Melanie Peacock – Cenovus Layoffs 

Melanie Peacock – Should employers have the right to discipline – or fire- employees for their social media posts?    

Donna Lazdowski – Calgary Merchants forced to be innovative in battling online retailers