Desautels Faculty of Management news

Apply to be the only Canadian university student group in Summer 2014 at the MIT Global Founders Skills Accelerator! You have the chance to go to MIT with select groups of MIT students and several foreign universities.

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 

MBA students Liam Sobey, Nina Coutinho, Brigitte Crockford, Angel Bohorquez Colombo, and Anais Xia won the Company Prize at the USC Marshall Global Consulting Challenge alongside other prestigious business schools from across the world.  This global consulting challenge consists of three different presentations to three different panels on a common topic. This year's sponsor is Yahoo!. 

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 !

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. 

The McGill delegation to the Financial Open Case Competition won a podium in four of the six disciplines, placing the school third overall.

This Reading Week, a group of students from the faculties of Management, Arts, Education, and Engineering will travel to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Seoul, South Korea to experience business within rapidly emerging markets. Their journey, the sixth Hot Cities of the World Tour, will be led by Desautels Professor Karl Moore.

One of Montreal’s largest financial institutions says it has a plan to give the city’s lagging economy a boost, and it’s a plan Mayor Denis Coderre calls “inspiring.” ... “Cities are becoming more important, so I think they are going in the right direction,” said Karl Moore, a professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. “There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of it frankly is about Quebec City and its ability and desire to give power to Montreal.”

Professor Karl Moore of the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University speaks to Chris Marquis, a professor from the Harvard Business School. Read full transcript: The Globe and Mail, February 25, 2014 

The recent economic downturn, Wall Street debacle and string of ethical and moral scandal surrounding a number of prominent business leaders has led some observers to question the value and focus of vocationally oriented, pragmatic education programs such as business education and, particularly the MBA. The importance of a Liberal Education is once again gaining some attention.

Professor Karl Moore of the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University speaks to Canadian freestyle skier Jennifer Heil (BCom'13), one of Canada’s great Olympic athletes. Read full transcript: The Globe and Mail, February 18, 2014 

Milton Friedman, in his book Money Mischief, reported the well-known story of the monetary system of a small island in Micronesia. At the end of the 19th century, the inhabitants used stone wheels as a medium of exchange and as a store of wealth. The colonial government imposed "fees" on disobedient district chiefs by painting black crosses on these stone wheels, thus "confiscating" them. This induced the locals to change their ways and work harder, paving roads they were previously reluctant to pave, in order to have these marks erased and get their wealth back.

C’est connu, les plans d’affaires se déroulent rarement comme prévu. Les entrepreneurs qui s’en sortent sont capables de se réinventer. Parlez-en à la direction de Canus qui, en 2004, avait un chiffre d’affaires de 19 millions de dollars. Dix ans plus tard, il est de… 15 M$. C’est ce qui est arrivé à André Beauregard (EMBA'14), qui compte maintenant doubler ses ventes chez les détaillants américains.

Usman W. Chohan is a consultant with the World Bank Institute in the field of Social Accountability, and is pursuing an MBA at Desautels with a concentration in Strategy and Leadership. He was invited to the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council site at Fatehjang to analyze their sustainability initiatives, including their highly promising Solar-powered Irrigation Systems.

In April this year, mandatory CSR contributions will come into action as the Company Bill 2012 becomes law in India.