McGill University will award an honorary degree to Donald William Lewtas (BCom’75), a McGill alumnus, at the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management convocation this spring.
Lewtas will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.), in recognition of his leadership in global finance and his support for hands-on education at the faculty.
Desautels has one of the country’s top MBA programs, and its students come from all over the world. But nearly half of this year’s cohort are Quebec residents. “This allows us to offer an experience tailored to the Quebec market, all while keeping the program’s international perspective,” says Prof. Demetrios Vakratsas, the program’s academic director.
Starting a new job can be nerve-wracking, but having someone to lean on can help make it a little easier. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z employees leave their job within the first year, but a recent US study found that when new hires join an organization as a group, employee retention is better. While Gen Z is unlikely to stay in their jobs as long as previous generations, this could be a strategy to hang around longer than they currently do. “It's a good way for them to bond with each other, and with the organizations,” says Prof.
Generative AI has generated a whole lot of buzz--but not as many use cases. Many businesses don’t yet know how to use the technology to make their operations more efficient. Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization Karl Moore recommends starting small. “Betin with specific, well-defined use-cases where data is readily available to map the current state of the process and the future state of technology,” he writes in Forbes.com.
Ever since Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement, stock markets have been volatile. The tariffs impact thousands of companies, and with the exact scale and scope of tariffs changing almost daily, the extent to which they will be affected is uncertain. “It makes it difficult for companies to investments,” Prof. Sebastien Betermier told TVA Nouvelles. “And as long as they don’t know what will happen over the long term, it will remain difficult.”
Casual dining chains such as Applebee’s and TGI Friday’s were once ubiquitous in the United States. However, the middle-class restaurant is fading fast. TGI Friday’s has filed for bankruptcy, while Applebee’s has shuttered dozens of locations. Rising costs have contributed to the struggles of these chains, but their generic branding fails to resonate in an era where authenticity matters. Millennials, in particular, demand authenticity, according to Associate Professor Daphne Demetry. “I can’t think of anything more inauthentic than TGI Fridays,” Demetry says.
Gin is a classic British spirit, but dozens of Quebec distillers have taken to making it their own, embracing James Bond’s favourite drink. The SAQ, however, is not doing Quebec’s gin distillers many favours. Even though the provincial alcohol sales monopoly has sometimes promoted local producers, it removed more than 50 Quebec-made gin products from their stores to make shelf space. It stunts the growth of the province’s home-grown spirits industry, which saw sales rise by 75% between 2019 and 2022.
Among the many changes to U.S. trade policy announced during the early days of the second Trump administration was the intention to eliminate the de minimis exemption on shipments to the United States. This exemption allows shipments valued at less than $800 to cross the border duty-free, presenting challenges for businesses that rely on smaller shipments. However, the real focus of this change isn't on small retailers but rather on large Chinese e-commerce companies, such as Shein, that sell products at ultra-low prices.
When U.S. president Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariff policy in April 2020, stock markets plunged. Certain sectors were more affected than others, with large technology firms like Apple and NVIDIA among the biggest losers. “Sectors like tech that rely on international supply chains are going to be more heavily affected by tariffs,” Professor Sebastien Betermier told CBC News.
In March 2025, students in the Master of Management in Retailing (MMR) program at McGill Desautels, took part in a week-long study trip to Dubai, to explore one of the world’s most dynamic retail hubs.
The itinerary included meetings with industry leaders from Dubai Economy and Tourism, Huda Beauty, Apparel Group, Kitopi, DAMAC, Carrefour, and Majid Al Futtaim Group. Students gained firsthand insights into retail innovation, digital strategy, localization, and customer experience.
How can we prevent greenwashing from undermining real climate progress? That's the question students from across Canada tackled at the 2025 SGI Annual Grand Challenge on Sustainability, hosted by McGill’s Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI).
The McGill Desautels Faculty of Management acknowledges the vital contributions of research, teaching, service, and public engagement in inspiring future leaders. Through our annual Faculty Awards, we celebrate the exceptional achievements of our faculty members across various programs and disciplines. This year, we are proud to honour the following distinguished individuals:
Desautels Faculty Scholar Award: Ruslan Goyenko
Tesla’s stock price nosedived in the first few months of the second Trump administration, and Elon Musk’s involvement in controversial initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency’s wide-ranging cuts to the public service could have a lot to do with it. But also may not, according to Jiro E. Kondo, an Assistant Professor of Finance at McGill Desautels.
In times of great economic uncertainty, even institutional traders can be at a loss for how to manage a portfolio. At large pension funds, portfolio managers use data-driven models to assess risk and allocate assets. But even the most advanced economic models struggle to make sense of economic scenarios that change rapidly and in unpredictable ways.
