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The concept of leadership is always a big one in the nonprofit sector, and the facts of a looming retirement binge, as well as changes in the landscape, make the development of top-notch managers more important.

In his book “Simply Managing” Henry Mintzberg writes about efforts to help in the development of management in a variety of setting. He offers a look at the ideas that lie behind these efforts. 

When Facebook announced its astounding $19bn takeover of 55-employee WhatsApp, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and other tech startup hubs around the world were shocked.

... For managers, there are three important takeaways. First, focus on surprises — large and small — for the information it can reveal about what we are doing. The great management scholar Henry Mintzberg once said that managers should only pay attention to the unexpected. Imagine how much free time would open up if we really followed that advice?

Don't go talking "real world" with Henry Mintzberg. It's a silly term that drives him mad, especially when management skills are at stake. 

"The word 'real world' is a red flag for me," says Mintzberg, McGill University's John Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies. "Real world is out there. You don't simulate a real world. We don't play business in our classroom."

MBA programs are now a dime a dozen. B-schools are expanding at a dizzying rate and doubling their enrolments by packing their classrooms full of more and more students. This has prompted worries about a gradual dilution in the quality of the student body as well as meaningful networking opportunities. "An MBA is still valued, but a lot of people have it," says Jay Mintz, a second-year MBA student at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management in Montreal.

Along Highway 401 and over the Ontario border, Tyler Maxey and some of his MBA classmates at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management in Montreal are also learning by doing. Their modus operandi: investing other people's money. Since 2008, students have been running a registered fund management firm called Desautels Capital Management that has about $3 million in assets.

Mattel has made a friendly takeover offer for Montreal-based toy maker Mega Brands Inc., which has the world’s No. 2 line of construction sets after Lego. Desautels Executive in Residence Melissa Sonberg comments on the takeover.  

Watch full interview: Global Montreal, February 28, 2014 

Avec son BAA en marketing de l’Université Concordia, Ève Laurier (EMBA'11) a rapidement gravi les échelons, jusqu’à devenir vice-présidente aux relations stratégiques pour le cabinet Richter. Ce qui ne l’a pas empêchée de compléter son EMBA à HEC Montréal en 2012 et de donner naissance tout récemment à son premier enfant. Elle aurait pu profiter de ses acquis pour se reposer un peu, mais non : la voici qui vient de se lancer à son compte !

Lisa Cohen, Assistant professor, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Canada, reveals the difficulty women encounter in being hired for higher level roles. 

When Mary Barra became the first female chief executive of General Motors, we celebrated a woman reaching the height of her profession. 

Read full article: Payroll Professional

A growing number of people are interested in investing in companies that perform well environmentally as well as economically. Unfortunately, measuring environmental performance is not as straightforward as calculating a simple financial return on investment. Developing a yardstick for environmental performance is inherently fraught, forcing evaluators to reduce all of the complex dimensions of sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, biodiversity impacts and other factors into a single value.