MDIIM

Throughout the last two decades, a wave of studies criticizing current curricula have swept through the field of management, leading to the discussion of widespread reforms throughout educational institutions. Specifically, many criticized the lack of “functionally integrated curricula in higher education,” one that is inclusive of social and ecological factors in business practices.

On September 19th, the Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management (MDIIM), in collaboration with The Bull & Bear and the Management Sustainability Network, held a panel reflecting on the relevance of Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s 1962 bestseller that exposed the public to the hazards of synthetic materials in the environment.

If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, as asserted in the 1992 best-selling book by American author and relationship counselor John Gray, then it might also hold true that chemists are from Saturn, engineers are from Mercury and business people are from Jupiter, so different are their respective worlds.

Despite high per-capita spending, health care in Canada consistently underperforms, according to the Commonwealth Fund, which tracks indicators for accessibility, timeliness and outcomes across a number of developed countries. The system that is straining to meet demand today will face an even higher burden in the years ahead, as the population ages. A number of Canadian business schools are looking to meet this challenge by educating future health care managers to bring new perspectives to old problems.