Bissett Insider

Bissett Contract Instructor Kris Hans combines his passion for tech and entrepreneurship into mentoring

Bissett contract instructor, Kris Hans is an active speaker and participant in a variety of initiatives at the institutions where he teaches (UofC and MRU).  Kris participated in the Mount Royal Cyber Safety Summit again this year. Kris’s topic was  titled, “Unwanted guests. The dangers of home assistants and other internet connected devices expanding on the Internet of Things topic he debuted at  last year’s inaugural Cyber Safety Summit. (Last year’s talk was titled, Should I buy that internet connected toaster.” )

Kris is also an advisor to Startup Canada and been a Guest contributor to some of their #StartupChat sessions.  The following are sessions Kris participated in since Startup Canada invited him to get involved:

Speaking engagements keeping Bissett Assistant Professor Rachael Pettigrew busy!

In addition to being a full-time Management and Human Resources Professor, Rachael Pettigrew is often a sought out speaker and panelist; current engagements include:

Oct 2- Rachael was invited to sit on a panel for the Deloitte 360 Conference held at BMO centre in Calgary. The session title was “Beyond Optics: Building an Inclusive Culture”.

On October 10th, Rachael has been invited to be a speaker at the  5th Annual North American Women in Energy Forum held at the Fairmont Palliser.  Rachael is one of 3 presenters in a workshop on Innovation. she will be discussing Organizational Innovation, specifically the business case for building inclusive organizational specifically the business case for building inclusive organizational cultures.

On November 6th, Rachael will be the keynote speaker at the “Business Leaders Breakfast” in Edmonton at the Art Gallery of Alberta;  this event will centre around various issues facing local business leaders with respect to the hiring, integrating and retaining immigrant and refugee professionals.  Rachael’s presentation is called “Building a Welcoming Organizational Culture for Professional Newcomers.”

“Rachael’s research focus is organizational policies and culture surrounding employees’ management of work and life responsibilities, with specific focus on both gender and diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Rachael has managed several large research projects on newcomer settlement and employment sponsored by Immigration Research West and funded by IRCC.”

 

Bissett Professor, Connie Vander der Byl to lead a research study on Sustainability best practices and expectations for the energy industry

Connie Van der Byl will be leading a research study on “Sustainability reporting best practices and stakeholder expectations for the oil and gas industry” with funding from Imperial.  Two to three undergraduate student Research Assistants will be hired to conduct a literature review and a comparative analysis of corporate sustainability reports.  Connie will conduct interviews and workshops with stakeholders to assess their expectations of sustainability reports.  A report will be issued in May followed by journal article(s) and conference presentation(s).
Connie is the Academic Director for Mount Royal University’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability. this research project is a continuum of Connie’s research interests focusing on energy organizations and their strategic responses to environmental issues.
This past summer, Connie also presented the paper, “Managing the coopetition paradox in alliance formation”, (co-authored with Dr. Natalie Slawinski),  atMemorial University, at the Academy of Management, Chicago, Illinois on August 14.

Bissett Associate Professor, Catherine Roy Heaton appointed for a 3 year term to the UAC of the AcSB

The Bissett School of Business wishes to congratulate Associate Professor, Cathy Roy Heaton for her recent appointment to the User Advisory Council (UAC) of the Accounting Standards Board of Canada (AcSB).  Cathy has been appointed for a three year term.
The UAC’s purpose is to “assist the AcSB in understanding how users, including investors and investment professionals, credit granters in financial institutions, equity and credit analysts, and rating agencies, use financial information. The Council is also intended to assist the AcSB by providing advice on standard-setting priorities, and on specific agenda projects.”
The combination of Cathy’s academic background and her finance and business career have proven to make her an ideal candidate. As the only academic on the current council, Cathy is excited to bring her academia perspective to this new role.
Congratulations Cathy!

Uthpala Tennakoon has paper published in the South Asian Journal of Human Resource Management

Bissett wishes to congratulate, Associate Professor Uthpala Tennakoon  for  having her paper titled, Crossing the Work/Life Boundary with ICT: Moderating Effect of ICT Perception on the Relationship between Cross-domain ICT Use and Work/Life Conflict published in the South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management , 2018 Vol 5, Issue 2 pgs 1-23
 
Abstract 

  Information and communication technology (ICT) enables employees to seamlessly traverse work and life domains, and thus impacts employee work/life interactions. Employers today are mindful of employee work/life interactions as an important element in employee wellbeing. With ICT being an integral element of today’s workplace, the ICT implications on work/life interactions have great relevance for the employers and policymakers. Literature on ICT and work/ life interactions have focused on the Western and/or developed countries. Considering the rapid adaptation of ICTs in developing countries, it is important to understand whether the effect of ICT use on work/life interactions is universal. This study examined the impact of cross-domain ICT use on individual work/ life conflict using a sample of professionals/ managers from Sri Lanka. Next, the cognitive dissonance theory was used to examine whether individuals’ perception towards ICTs (positive or negative) has a moderating impact on the aforementioned relationship. The findings validated the literature by demonstrating that cross-domain ICT use positively relates to work/life conflict even in the Sri Lankan context. Next, the results empirically demonstrated that individuals with negative perception towards ICT tend to experience a stronger relationship between work ICT use beyond times and work-to-life conflict. The theoretical contribution together with the implications for employers, human resource practitioners and individuals are also discussed.

Associate Professor Melanie Peacock hosts workshop at HR Undefined Conference

Bissett School of business would like to congratulate Associate Professor, Melanie Peacock on her involvement with the conference HR Undefined 2018, recently held in Calgary. The HR Undefined Conference is CPHR Albera’s largest annual event.

Melanie hosted a pre-conference workshop, titled: The Human Resource Professional’s Practical Guide to Change Management.

Melanie will be attending the SHRM18 conference this coming June in Chicago. Melanie will be hosting a conference session: Learning from HR in Canada;  touted as an opportunity to “learn about the innovative practices and emerging HR trends in Canada so you can incorporate leading-edge ideas into your organization.” Melanie has also been appointed as an official conference blogger.

Congratulations Melanie and good luck in Chicago!

 

Bissett Professor Victoria Calvert retires after thirty years!

Bissett would like to acknowledge the retirement of Professor Victoria Calvert from Mount Royal University. In Victoria’s thirty years at MRU, she has taught entrepreneurship and international courses, served as initial Chair for the Entrepreneurship Applied Degree and has taught Community Service Learning (CSL) based courses since 1994, contributing over 77,000 hours to community partners. Most recently Victoria has been the CSL facilitator for MRU.

Throughout her career, Victoria has been active in research focusing on entrepreneurship for approximately 20 years.  Since 2008, Victoria has focused her research  to CSL, specifically partnership relationships, Global Service Learning and strategies to optimize impact for both student learning and community organizations. Engaged nationally and internationally, through CACSL and IARSLCE, Victoria has served as Academic Chair and Conference Chair for the national CSL conferences.

Victoria’s recognition and awards include:

Conference Chair for the National Conference for Community Service Learning (CACSL) 2016
Co-Conference Chair Canadian Council for Small Medium Enterprises (CCSBE) 2010
Distinguished Faculty Award for MRU 2012
Excellence in Teaching Award from Students Association MRU
Best in Track Academic Papers ABEAI Conferences 2008, 2009, 2011
Most Innovative Entrepreneurship Program Award from CCSBE

On behalf of all of Bissett, we thank Victoria for her years of service providing quality education to the students in our faculty, for her professionalism and dedication in furthering the development of the  the entrepreneurship program as well as contributing to the formation and continued success of the Bissett School of Business.  Please join us in congratulating  Victoria and wishing her well in her future endeavors.

Enjoy your retirement Victoria – Well deserved!

Associate Professor Abdulrahman Chikhouni to present paper at conference in Toronto

Bissett congratulates professor Abdulrahman Chikhouni on having his paper, Macro and Micro factors affecting Business Schools Networks, selected for presentation at the Administrative Science Association of Canada(ASAC) 2018 conference in Toronto, this coming May.

Paper Abstract:

This paper investigates the influence of macro and micro factors on the inter-organizational networking behavior of business schools. We are trying to explain the size and the density of the network of business schools by four factors at organizational and country levels. At the organizational level, we are studying the influence of ranking and size of the business school. At the country level, we measure the impact of culture and the R&D expenditure. The network measures are the density and size of the ego network of a business school. We studied the networks of business schools from 26 countries over a five-year (2008-2012) and found that among the four factors, a ranking is the only predictor of its networking measures.

Best of luck in Toronto, Abdul!

Bissett Professors Connie Van der Byl, Kendra Hart and Ryan Parks recognized for their research

Dr. Connie Van der Byl has co-authored a published book chapter:  Van der Byl, C.A. & Grogaard, B. (2018). Chapter 4:  Risk management and adaptation in oil and gas commodity resource markets.  In G. George &  S. Schillebeeckx (Eds) Managing Natural Resources:  Organizational Strategy, Behavior and Dynamics. Cheltenham, United Kingdom:  Edward Elgar Publishing.
Connie’s co-authored paper, Managing the coopetition tension in alliance formation” has been accepted for presentation at 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management which will be held on August 10-14, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Kendra Hart and Dr. Connie Van der Byl have had their case, “Jupiter Resources:  Strategic positioning and re-branding” accepted to the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada conference May 26 to 29, Ryerson University, Toronto.
Dr. Ryan Parks and Dr. Connie Van der Byl have recently had their case published with Ivey Case Publishing, titled: Lost Creek Angling Co.: Fishing for profits and navigating mission drift.

Bissett Professor Rachael Pettigrew a panelist at Deloitte Inclusion Event

On Tuesday,  April 17th, Bissett Assistant Professor, Rachael Pettigrew was a panelist for Deloitte’s event;  Beyond Optics: Building an Inclusive Organization.  The event was to focus on how organizations can realize the full potential of their workforce by driving inclusion growth.

The panel discussion  was moderated by Farah Huq, Director of Deloitte’s Future of Canada Centre  and lead participants  through the importance of inclusion in Canadian organizations, the effects of culture and policy, and the benefits and investments associated with it.

In addition to Rachel, featured panelists included Dave Mowat, CEO of ATB Financial; Jake Stika, co-founder of Next Gen Men;  and Liz Elliott, Executive Director of Families that Work.

“Rachael’s primary research focus is organizational policies and culture-surrounding employees’ management of work and life responsibilities, with specific focus on gender in the workplace and employee supportive policies and practices. The second research stream focuses on diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”