How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending November 27, 2009.
Beedie School of Business News
The Learning Strategies Group (LSG) is developing a strategic partnership with the Executive Foundation Lund (EFL) in Sweden. Just as LSG is responsible for SFU Business’ Executive Education portfolio of programs and services, EFL manages Executive Education at Lund University’s School of Economics and Management.
“We see many similarities in our client structure and there are a number of Swedish companies operating in your region”, says Pia Sander, Managing Director for EFL. “SFU Business is a leader in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, which is of particular interest to us, as well as their experiences in China.” For LSG and SFU Business the partnership will mean access to leading edge thinking around innovation and entrepreneurship, where Lund is at the forefront internationally.
Kristina Henriksson, Director at LSG, sees many advantages with international collaborations of this kind… “Not only are we able to leverage each others’ specialist expertise for the benefit of our School’s clients and students, but it also helps us stay creative to help address global business issues, by exposing us to a different outlook and management perspectives.”
The Learning Strategies Group (LSG) is developing a strategic partnership with the Executive Foundation Lund (EFL) in Sweden. Just as LSG is responsible for SFU Business’ Executive Education portfolio of programs and services, EFL manages Executive Education at Lund University’s School of Economics and Management.
“We see many similarities in our client structure and there are a number of Swedish companies operating in your region”, says Pia Sander, Managing Director for EFL. “SFU Business is a leader in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, which is of particular interest to us, as well as their experiences in China.” For LSG and SFU Business the partnership will mean access to leading edge thinking around innovation and entrepreneurship, where Lund is at the forefront internationally.
Kristina Henriksson, Director at LSG, sees many advantages with international collaborations of this kind… “Not only are we able to leverage each others’ specialist expertise for the benefit of our School’s clients and students, but it also helps us stay creative to help address global business issues, by exposing us to a different outlook and management perspectives.”
How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending November 20, 2009.
SFU Business has become one of the first university business schools in Canada to appoint a sustainability entrepreneur-in-residence.
Boyd Cohen, a former SFU Business assistant professor and green entrepreneur, has returned as an adjunct professor to take up the new appointment.
SFU News – November 19, 2009
Canada’s first leadership program to place senior executive officers at meetings on aboriginal reserves and get First Nations chiefs into executive suites kicked off earlier this month.
The Leadership Exchange program, created by SFU’s Learning Strategies Group (LSG) in partnership with the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business (ICAB), is the first to pair aboriginal and non-aboriginal business leaders so that they can experience each other’s work and cultural environments. The goal: to develop deeper business relationships based on mutual respect and understanding….
Vancouver’s physical location on the Pacific Rim leads us to look both east and west; our location in time means we are moving away from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one. It’s a period of rapid change in the business world, a period that requires new thinking from sophisticated and innovative managers. SFU’s Faculty of Business Administration is poised to develop these managers while solidifying its position as a conduit between east and west…(download Pdf – Feature Story DS November 09)
How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending November 13, 2009.
The Learning Strategies Group, in partnership with the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business (ICAB), launched the pilot of a unique exchange program that provides Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal senior leaders with the opportunity to learn about each other’s workplaces, social environments, and decision-making processes to help facilitate better business relationships.
We are excited to be working with ICAB on this innovative pilot project, it’s a first in Canada and it provides us with a unique opportunity to design and facilitate a safe experience through which Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal senior leaders can experience each other’s work and cultural environments to develop important insights into how their roles, responsibilities, motivations and values influence decision-making processes.
Participants in the pilot cohort are:
- Chief Kim Baird, Tsawwassen First Nation
- Ian Anderson, President, Kinder Morgan Canada
- Chief Willie Charlie, Chehalis First Nation
- Donald McInnes, Vice-Chairman and CEO, Plutonic Power Corporation
- Chief Harold Aljam, Coldwater Indian Band
- Graeme Barrit, President, Coast Hotels and Resorts
For more information about the Leadership Exchange, contact:
Kristina Henriksson, Executive Director, Learning Strategies Group – kristina_henriksson@sfu.ca – 778.782.5255
The economic slump offers business leaders a chance to more effectively reward talented employees by emphasizing nonfinancial motivators rather than bonuses. A recent McKinsey survey indicates that executives find some nonmonetary rewards motivate employees better than cash bonuses do. In particular, the survey identified that a chance to lead projects and participate in leadership and learning opportunities as top motivators and a powerful ways of inspiring employees to make a strong contribution at a challenging time. Such opportunities also develop the employees leadership capabilities, with long-term benefits for the organization. One HR director in the basic-materials industry explained that involvement in special projects “makes people feel like they’re part of the answer – and part of the company’s future.” A leading company from the beverages industry, for example, selected 30 high-potential managers to participate in a leadership program that created a series of projects designed and led by the participants. “Now is the time to swim upstream and invest in our high potentials,” said the HR director, when launching the program this year.
The survey concluded that while monetary rewards certainly have an important role to play, business leaders would do well to consider the lessons of the crisis and think broadly about the best ways to engage and inspire employees. A talent strategy that emphasizes the frequent use of the right nonfinancial motivators would benefit most companies in bleak times and fair. By acting now, they could exit the downturn stronger than they entered it.
How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending November 6, 2009.