Beedie School of Business News

Watch UBC and SFU students pitch their social ventures to win up to $1,000 in seed funding!

We invite you to The Be a Changemaker Challenge Selection Panel to watch the top teams of SFU and UBC students pitch their ideas for creating their own social ventures. The Selection Panel will bring together six business and social entrepreneurs who will select the winners. Panelists include: James Tansey (ISIS, Sauder School of Business, UBC), Tom Lawrence (Beedie School of Business, SFU), John Nicola (Nicola Wealth Management & Ashoka Support Network Member), Shannon Vanderwoerd (Starbucks Canada), Elisha Muskat (Ashoka Canada) and an Ashoka Fellow (TBD).

Please join us alongside business and social venture leaders from around B.C. to hear the newest ideas from the next generation of changemakers!

Event details:

Be a Changemaker Challenge Selection Panel

UBC Robson Square, Theatre (C300), 800 Robson Street

6-8 p.m. – Selection Panel
8-9 p.m. – Drinks, appetizers, networking & announcement of winning teams

Be a Changemaker Challenge – Overview

This exciting opportunity is brought to you by Ashoka Canada and Ashoka’s Youth Venture, hosted by the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University (SFU) & University of British Columbia (UBC) and powered by Starbucks, with the vision to enhance the social entrepreneurship experiences of all students.

This challenge consists of:

• University-wide call to action across the SFU & UBC campuses for students to create, launch and sustain social ventures.
• Full day bootcamp for nearly 100 SFU and UBC students October 1st
• Action plan development by students with resources such as, a user-driven online learning platform, staff support, and mentorship.
• Selection of up to 10 teams for the seed funding of $1,000 at the Be a Changemaker Challenge Panel November 23rd
• Ongoing post-launch support and fellowship for students’ social ventures as well as changemaker skills development and leadership with a global movement of 100,000+ Changemakers in the Youth Venture network

Follow and contribute to the conversation on Twitter #CMChallenge.

Tags: Beedie, business, changemaker, entrepreneurship, leaders, networking, sfu, social entrepreneurship, social venture, students, UBC

BY JANAYA FULLER-EVANS, BURNABY NOW

Ads on Naps co-founders Jag Manhas and Phil Chow entered the Dragon’s Den voluntarily, and survived.

Manhas, a British Columbia Institute of Technology student and Chow, a Simon Fraser University alumnus, took part in a mini Dragon’s Den at SFU’s Surrey campus on Sept. 9.

The advertising company sells high-definition ad space on napkins, which are supplied free of charge to businesses in Canada.

The Ads on Naps team went up against another team – presenting a social networking venture called Caregaroo – and met with Jim Treliving and Bruce Croxon from CBC’s Dragon’s Den.

Treliving is the owner of Boston Pizza International and Croxon is the founder of Lavalife and Vida Spas.

The Caregaroo team presented the winning business pitch, but Treliving and Croxon were interested in the Ads on Naps concept, according to the founders.

“Both Phil and I started talking to Jim and Bruce,” Manhas says in a phone interview on Oct. 21. “Hopefully we’re going to get a deal done with Jim on the side, and we’ve been invited to the show in Toronto.

They’re working on getting their napkins in every Mr. Lube in Canada, according to Manhas, and possibly every Boston Pizza across Canada, as well.

The company also prints QR codes – scanable bar codes – on the napkins, with micro-websites attached to the codes. The codes can be accessed using a barcode scanner application on a smart phone.

“It’s not just a print ad, it’s a digital ad that goes right to your phone with a micro-site,” Manhas explains. “You can view video, galleries, get directions, click to call, play a game, or enter a contest.”

The company plans to supply the napkins to bars, restaurants, cafes, stadiums, airlines and other businesses free of charge, he says. The company hopes to have its napkins picked up by franchises, he adds.

Ads on Naps currently has a campaign for Open Road Autogroup for the Scion IQ.

The company uses Facebook and Twitter to engage with prospective clients and promote its campaigns, including a Scion IQ contest, Canucks ticket giveaways and gift card giveaways, Manhas says.

“Facebook’s starting to blow up pretty nicely,” he says. The company’s Facebook page had 161 likes as of Oct. 24.

The company is also holding a one-day event at a Blenz in Surrey in November, Manhas adds.

“We’re still pretty fresh,” he says of the company, adding that once the company completes its market research, it’ll take off.

Manhas and Chow, who attended Alpha Secondary together, have been working on the concept for a year and a half, Chow says.

Chow works full-time, while Manhas attends SFU, so the pair has worked on it on the side as much as possible, along with a team of helpers.

They’ve also put in some money, as well, Manhas says, so they hope to see a return.

“In other places around the world it’s really, really successful,” Manhas says, noting that no one is doing it in Vancouver as of yet.

The pair hopes to get the company’s napkins in businesses across the country.

“When the time comes to expand across Canada, we’ll look at investors,” he says. “Right now we’ve used our own personal savings to really get going.”

The mini-Dragon’s Den was put on by the Beedie School of Business, in partnership with Venture Connection and Coast Capital Savings. Venture Connection provides support and advice to student ventures at SFU.

Manhas and Chow have received support from Venture Connection, Manhas says, and are open to being contacted by entrepreneurs to give back that support to new ventures, as well.

For more information on Ads on Naps, go www.adsonnaps.com. The company is also on Twitter @adsonnaps, and has an AdsOnNaps page on Facebook.

Read more: http://www.burnabynow.com/Burnaby+advertising+company+meets+with+Dragon/5708378/story.html#ixzz1e0pK9dy8

Tags: ad space, Ads on Naps, advertising, Beedie, Coast Capital Savings, digital ad, Dragon's Den, entrepreneurship, Facebook, Phil Chow, print ad, QR, School of Business, sfu, social media, Surrey, Twitter, Venture Conenction

CBDC issues call to action to replace retiring directors with diverse candidates

TORONTO , Nov. 16, 2011 /CNW/ – Some disconcerting findings on the lack of diversity in the boardrooms of Canada’s largest corporations were released today in the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s Second Annual Report Card, produced in partnership with the Beedie School of Business.

While 73 per cent of corporate board members feel their boards are diverse, the reality is that women are significantly less likely than men to serve on corporate boards. In fact, most board members oppose the development and adoption of a formal diversity policy.

Pamela Jeffery, Founder of the Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC), says it is time for Canada’s board directors to speed up the pace of change. “Directors whose boards have re-defined diversity believe they make better board decisions as a result of this diversity,” Jeffery explains. “That’s because important, diverse perspectives on customers, international markets and stakeholders that were once missing are now being represented. This helps avoid groupthink and leads to better discussion and an improved ability for directors to carry out their director responsibilities and increase shareholder value.”

The Second Annual Report Card examines the representation of women on the boards of Canada’s Top 100 charities and Canada’s 500 largest corporations as measured by assets in five sectors: utilities; finance and insurance; retail trade; manufacturing; and mining, quarrying, oil and gas. The Founding and Corporate Members of the CBDC, 46 leading Canadian organizations, initiated the project to encourage greater diversity within the boardrooms of the country.

“Organizations with diverse boards are often better at innovation and decision making, which can enhance their competitiveness,” says Anne Golden, President and CEO, The Conference Board of Canada, a sponsor of the Second Annual Report Card.

Based on the results, the CBDC has issued a call to action to ensure Corporate Canada reflects the diversity of the broader Canadian population. “It will take courage and enlightened leadership to change the composition of Canada’s boards,” Jeffery says. “With the large number of directors retiring over the next five years, now is the time for action.”

The Council calls on boards to replace at least one of every three retiring directors with a director of a diverse background, and Nominating/Governance Committees to consider three board-ready diverse candidates for each open seat.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Women hold the greatest percentage of corporate board seats (1 in 5) in the utilities; finance and insurance; and retail trade sectors.  Discouragingly, only 9.7 per cent of women, or 1 in 10, hold board seats in the manufacturing sector. Only 1 in 15 board seats (or 6.6 per cent) in mining, oil and gas sectors are held by women.
• An overwhelming majority of male and female board members say board diversity is an important issue. Still, 59 per cent of corporate board members continue to oppose the development or adoption of a formal diversity policy.
• Charity board members tend to value diversity more than corporate board members (61 per cent versus 47 per cent) with women representing 40 per cent of board seats at Canada’s largest 100 charities. Still, 48 per cent of charity board members do not support a formal diversity policy.
• The CBDC’s first-ever review of age and language skills reveals 73 per cent of board members learned English as their first language. Board members bring a significant number of years of experience to their boards: 42 per cent are 60-years-old or older.
• Two thirds of Top 500 corporate board members have international business experience with a significantly larger portion of males (61 per cent of males versus 41 per cent of females) with international experience.

“Studies have consistently shown that a diverse team – which includes both visible differences such as gender and ethnicity, as well invisible difference, such as diversity of thought and education – can have significant impact on both the top and bottom lines of an organization.  Having a diverse board is just as important as having a diverse staff.  In fact, it’s the key to success,” says Michael Bach, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at KPMG LLP, a sponsor of the Second Annual Report Card.

The Report Card presents the findings of a survey of nearly 400 directors in Canada’s largest corporations and top charities. The research was conducted in partnership with KPMG, The Conference Board of Canada and The Beedie School of Business.

The CBDC will undertake its next corporate director survey of Canada’s Top 500 organizations in the spring of 2012 and report on the progress made in the 24 months since the Council’s first Report Card which reported on Canada’s Top 500 organizations in 2010.

The 2011 Annual Report Card is available at: www.boarddiversity.ca

Survey Methodology

The Conference Board of Canada undertook the survey on behalf of The Canadian Board Diversity Council. The survey was distributed in July 2011 to 1,733 Charity Board Chairs and Directors and 2,444 Corporate Board Chairs and Directors. An individual serving as a director of two boards received two surveys. The survey was completed by 218 charity board members and 164 Top 500 corporate board members, for a total of 382 people. No individual companies or board members were identified. Results of the survey are accurate within +/-4.92 per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level.

About the Canadian Board Diversity Council

The Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC) is the leading Canadian organization advancing diversity on Canada’s boards. The Council’s vision is to improve the diversity of Canada’s corporate boards by increasing the representation of women, visible minorities, Aboriginal Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBT community over the next five years.

For further information:

Pamela Jeffery
Founder
Canadian Board Diversity Council
(416) 361-1475 ext. 224
pjeffery@boarddiversity.ca

Brent Dowdall
Manager, Communications
The Conference Board of Canada
(613) 526-3090 ext. 448
dowdall@conferenceboard.ca

Michael Bach
National Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
KPMG LLP (Canada)
NATIONAL Public Relations
(416) 777-3734
mbach@kpmg.ca

Daniela Minicucci
Associate
NATIONAL Public Relations
(416) 848-1462
dminicucci@national.ca

Tags: 500 largest corporations, Anne Golden, Beedie, boardrooms, Canadian Board Diversity Council, CBDC, corporate, diversity, KPMG, Pamela Jeffery, School of Business, sfu, The Conference Board of Canada, top 100 charities

The following was originally published on Invoke’s blog and authored by Justine Yu.

Ashish Gurung teaches an undergraduate social media course at SFU Beedie School of Business. He is also involved with a bunch of other stuff ‚ some startups, some consulting and lots of non-profits. Find him@ashishgurung and http://www.ashishgurung.ca

Tell us a bit about the social media course you created. What motivated you to create an entire course about social media at SFU’s Beedie School of Business?

Jan Kietzmann, a SFU professor, had the idea to bring social media to the business school. We noticed students were entering the work force with little or no formal education in social media. So, we paired up to teach this course. This is the first course dedicated to social media at the SFU Beedie School of Business. It just makes sense — students need to be educated about social media, especially from a business-driven context. It’s a natural and needed extension to our undergraduate program. Plus our class reached the waiting list within a few days of registration.

Why do you think it’s important for students to learn about and familiarize themselves with social media?

It’s important for our students to not only learn about current trends in social media, but to understand social media as a whole – from learning about behavioural economics, to virality and building communities. We’re bringing the gap between the classroom and industry. We’re skyping in awesome startups like Summify and Launchrock, and the students get a chance to meet leaders from Invoke, HootSuite and EA. It’s a great balance between theory and practical applications. Students will be leaving our class with a greater understanding of social media and its impact on both society and businesses.

Why do you think it’s important to incorporate social media in universities and lecture halls?

I think it’s very important to incorporate social media in our classrooms. I know many instructors who still don’t believe in the power of social media and refuse to integrate it in their classrooms. It’s how the students communicate with each other — it’s how they hear the news. There’s a high probability that students are browsing Facebook while in class. It’s important to now use these tools to enhance the learning experience.

Invoke: Where do you see the future of social media in the classroom?

Our class uses a Facebook group and Twitter chat (#bus495) to communicate with each other and it’s awesome. Students are posting articles, comments and having discussions everyday on our Facebook group and Twitter chat. I’m surprised by how much the students have embraced it — they’re communicating with each other, getting to know each other and are having intelligent conversations over these channels. As the instructors, we’re using Facebook to post online notes, presentations and class updates. I’m hoping to see more classrooms embrace social media. The goal is to create a culture in the classroom where students are learning from each other and from the instructors. I believe we’ll start to see educators adopt web apps that encourage a social learning environment.

What are your top five industry sites that you check out on a regular basis?

Hacker News,  Summify, 
Hootsuite , Social Media Examiner and TechCrunch.

Read more at Invoke’s blog: http://www.invokemedia.com/blog/

Tags: Ashish Gurung, Beedie, BUS495, business, communication, education, Facebook, hootsuite, invoke, practical skills, sfu, social learning, social media, Twitter, undergraduate

INDORE, INDIA– The Beedie School of Business at SFU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the India Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore). The agreement will allow the two institutions to explore additional research programs and exchanges and pursue consulting and project opportunities.

Collectively, the India Institutes of Management are the premier business schools in India, and IIM Indore has been ranked #4 in the country. Established in 1996, the Institute was chosen to be set up in Indore to give an impetus to management education in central India and has since been a pioneer in the field of management education, interfacing with the industry and government sectors.

Faculty at IIM and SFU currently collaborate in areas such as sustainable supply networks, market segmentation via remanufactured products and profitability of co-operatives in emerging markets. According to Daniel Shapiro, Dean of the Beedie School, the MOU will cover the exchange of students and faculty, and facilitate joint research between IIM Indore and Beedie.

The Beedie School of Business at SFU is represented in India by Shapiro and Professor Sudheer Gupta, the Director of Beedie’s Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies. Shapiro and Gupta are accompanying SFU President Andrew Petter and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark on a trade mission to South Asia from Nov. 8-18.

They are attending meetings in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chandigarh aimed at strengthening relationships with new and existing academic and industry partners.

Photo: SFU President Andrew Petter and Beedie School of Business Dean Daniel Shapiro (centre) connect with SFU students Fahad Yasin (right) and Dulce Antonelli Nunez (left) while in India.

“SFU has deep connections to India,” said Petter. “As Canada’s most engaged research university, we have actively sought guidance and expertise within our local South Asian community to help build a strong, scholarly bridge to India. We will reinforce our international network of academic and industry partners through important new collaborative research projects, co-op programs and field schools, and staff and student exchange initiatives.”

Currently six per cent of SFU’s international students are from India, and SFU students have completed 24 co-op work terms in India in the past year alone.

For more information about the India Institute of Management Indore, visit: http://www.iimidr.ac.in/iimi/

Tags: Andrew Petter, Christy Clark, Daniel Shapiro, IIM, India, India Institute of Management Indore, Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies, Sudheer Gupta

London, Ottawa, and Vancouver, November 15, 2011—A growing number of municipal governments across the country are aiming to become beacons of sustainability in their communities, but many are struggling to lead by example. A free new report released today, Embedding Sustainability into the Culture of Municipal Government, promises to help municipal change agents advance sustainability in their organizations and become role models for others in the community.

Developed as a collaboration between the Network for Business Sustainability (NBS), The Natural Step Canada, and Dr. Stephanie Bertels from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, the report is the result of a comprehensive review of municipal sustainability practices from across Canada. Based on leading research, the guide provides practical guidance for municipal practitioners and organizations to support a culture of sustainability in municipal governments.

Available for download and distribution for free, municipal change agents are encouraged to study this new resource, share it widely with their colleagues, and incorporate it into their municipal sustainability planning. Embedding Sustainability into the Culture of Municipal Government is available at www.thenaturalstep.org/canada/toolkits#municipalgovernment.

This new guide builds on a cutting-edge corporate-focused report published by NBS in 2010, which presented a portfolio of practices gleaned from a systematic review of the entire body of research on sustainability and organizational culture. In order to tailor this work for the municipal sector, The Natural Step Canada—in collaboration with Dr. Bertels and municipal leaders from coast to coast—updated this work for the municipal context and teased out municipal examples of the various practices.

“Municipal governments committed to sustainability now have a practical tool to help them integrate sustainability in their culture and make a deep shift toward sustainability in their organization,” said Kelly Hawke Baxter, Executive Director of The Natural Step Canada. “We’re excited to support this growing movement for change.”

The Natural Step Canada has also planned a series of 1-day, interactive workshops across Canada to introduce municipal practitioners to this important new resource. Participants will learn how to apply the tools outlined in the report to help their municipal government embed sustainability into their culture and move their organization toward sustainability. The workshop is currently being offered in Vaughan on November 17 and Vancouver on December 7.

The report was generously funded by HB Lanarc (A Member of the Golder Group of Companies), ISL Engineering and Land Services, and Enerkem. Municipalities that participated in the research included: the City of Calgary, the City of Charlottetown, the City of Fredericton, the City of Ottawa, the City of Pickering, the City of Vaughan, the District of North Vancouver, Halifax Regional Municipality, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Strathcona County, and the Town of Canmore.

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About Network for Business Sustainability

Network for Business Sustainability (NBS) is a powerful and growing network of international academic experts and business leaders. NBS produces free executive tools and reports based on the best academic research, and brings academic and industry leaders together to spark new ideas about sustainable business practice. Equipped with credible, comprehensive insights, business leaders can confidently make informed decisions about their sustainability programs. Learn more: http://nbs.net.

About The Natural Step Canada

The Natural Step Canada is a dynamic non-profit organization with over a decade of experience helping organizations and individuals understand and make meaningful progress toward sustainability. The organization envisions a sustainable world in which individuals, communities, and businesses thrive within nature’s limits. They strive to inspire, educate, and connect Canadian leaders to accelerate the transformation toward a sustainable world. Through award-winning learning programs and a unique suite of advisory, coaching, training, and process facilitation services, The Natural Step Canada translates the fundamentals of sustainability into practical steps businesses and communities can take to achieve lasting change. Learn more: www.thenaturalstep.org/canada.

About the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is a Canadian leader in research and industry impact in the areas of sustainability, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility. The school’s longstanding commitment to sustainability is underscored by being a signatory to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Management Education, a member of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, and consistently included in Corporate Knights Magazine’s annual ranking of top business schools. The school’s prolific research environment—including its sustainability focus—has helped it emerge as one of the top 25 business schools in the world for management research, according to a University of Texas-Dallas ranking. Learn more: www.beedie.sfu.ca.

For further information and media enquiries, please contact:

Josh Snider
Manager, Communications
The Natural Step Canada
613.748.3001 x230
jsnider(at)naturalstep.ca

Tags: Beedie, business, change agents, globally responsible, leaders, Leadership, municipal, sfu, Stephanie Bertels, sustainability, The Natural Step

Interested in learning more about the Beedie School’s newly-launched Business Technology Management Certificate? Beedie School of Business Professor Dianne Cyr, along with professors Jan Kietzmann and Nilesh Saraf, will be on hand at the MISA Mixer on November 16 to discuss the BTM Certificate. The event is also a great opportunity for Management Information Systems (MIS) undergraduate students and young professionals to mingle and build relationships with leading companies.

The MISA Mixer brings forth an opportunity for undergraduate Management Information Systems students at SFU and young industry professionals to mingle and build relationships.This event is especially targeted at companies from IT, Energy, and Consulting industries, as well as companies that are interested in hiring Management Information Systems students. During this casual evening, current students will be given the opportunity to gain multiple perspectives from different sources regarding the movement of the IT industry. The relationships that are built during this event will be beneficial as the students can be drawn upon again in the future for employment and internship opportunities. MISA Mixer promises a lively and entertaining atmosphere. Keep reading…

Tags: event, management information systems, mixer

In the wake of the announcement from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that he will be stepping down from his post, recent Beedie School of Business research points to his exploits as having a major impact on the image and reputation of his country.

As national brands go, it has historically been hard to beat that of Italy’s. The country is renowned for its rich cultural life, one that attracts tourists, investors and migrants from around the world every year. However, the recent research shows that this coveted national brand may be in decline because of the actions of its most prominent politician – a lesson that other countries should take heed of.

The study from Beedie PhD marketing student Kirk Plangger shows how a country’s brand — which government marketers pour millions of dollars into annually — can be negatively impacted by the actions of its national politicians.

The study was published in the August issue of Journal of Public Affairs.

Plangger examined the freefall of Italy’s national brand in the past five years in the context of the exploits of longstanding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the political cartoons that have skewered him in the wake of a number of political scandals that have beset his time in office.

According to the study, “a national-branding strategy is grounded in the vision of political leaders, especially the head of government or state. As the Italian case has shown, the political and even social actions of government leaders can have significant effects on the perceived national brand equity.”

Plangger authored the study with Alessandro Bigi (Lulea University of Technology, Sweden), Michelle Bonera (Universita degli studi di Brescia, Italy) and Colin Campbell (Monash University, Australia). He notes that the cartoons examined were a reflection of a much-broader response to his troubles in political office. “They are evidence of international sentiment against him,” said Plangger.

“There has been so much negative press around him, so we wanted to look at what this might be doing to Italy’s brand,” said Plangger. “We felt that his impact on Italy’s national brand was significant.”

The researchers note that Italy had the world’s top-rated brand in 2005, as ranked by the annual Country Brand Index that is published by FutureBrand. The nation has since dropped out of the Top 10 countries, to number 12.

“Political leaders attract more media attention than business, export brands, or tourism, because of the immediate implications of what they say or do,” notes the study. “Therefore, political leaders expose their countries to global audiences and promote travel or investment in their respective nation.”

More: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pa.403/full

Tags: branding, Colin Campbell, government, Italy, Kirk Plangger, Marketing, politics, Silvio Berlusconi

The management journal Business Horizons and Elsevier have awarded Beedie School of Business researchers Jan Kietzmann, Kristopher Hermkens, Ian McCarthy, and Bruno Silvestre with the Best Article Award for 2011 for their paper, “Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media.”

“The article is an excellent exemplar of the best of Business Horizons in that it addresses an important and timely topic while offering practical lessons for managers,” said the journal in a special announcement. “It also reinforces our commitment to be one of the leading publications for social media research and practitioner usage.”

Business Horizons also noted that the paper has been widely cited in industry and academic circles. It appears on a list of articles recommended by the US Department of Health for health care professionals to understand emerging health communication issues, and is listed as a key reading by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) policy paper on social media and its impact on employers and trade unions. The paper is also currently listed among the Top 10 of ScienceDirect’s hottest 25 articles published in its portfolio of business management and accounting journals.

The research, published in the journal’s spring edition, argues that for managers to effectively use and respond to social media they need to understand the different functionalities behind different social media platforms.

The Beedie School authors present a framework and recommendations for how firms should develop strategies for monitoring, understanding and responding to different social media activities — on the premise that different social media arenas correspond with different organizational functions — from employee recruitment to customer service to public relations.

“The social media ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and many managers struggle to understand the implications, both opportunities and threats, posed by this ecosystem, and as a result they are feeling the pressure,” said Ian McCarthy, Beedie School of Business Professor and Canada Research Chair in Technology & Operations Management. “There is an abundance of evidence indicating that it can significantly impact a firm’s reputation, sales and even survival.”

The research concludes that by carefully analyzing the layers of the social media ecosystem, firms can understand how these activities vary in terms of their function and impact — and act accordingly.

“Differences do matter in social media, which is why you need to set your priorities,” said Jan Kietzmann, Assistant Professor at the Beedie School. “That’s why it is important for companies to understand and where necessary develop these social media platforms.”

Tags: awards, Bruno Silvestre, Business Horizons, Facebook, Flickr, Ian McCarthy, Jan Kietzmann, ScienceDirect, social media, Twitter, US Department of Health, YouTube

Submitted by Ahp-cii-uk, a Beedie School of Business-supported initiative

The Nuu-chah-nulth community of Tseshaht is the first aboriginal community to pursue funding under a system developed by the Aviva Insurance Company that involves online voting to select finalists for community grants.

Tseshaht has proposed a project to build an ocean-going canoe and a canoe shed, thereby reviving important traditions within the community (carving, paddling, visiting its traditional territories, interchanges with other coastal communities) and engaging its young people. Although Tseshaht was a whaling community in the past, for the last generation or so, Tseshaht has not had a canoe that is seaworthy enough to take on the ocean. This is an opportunity to renew that tradition.

Tseshaht is involved in this project because for the last three years, it has been one of the communities involved in Ahp-cii-uk, which means “going the right way” in Nuu-chah-nulth. Ahp-cii-uk is a unique partnership of First Nations, businesses, the federal and provincial government, and has been designed and managed by Mark Selman at the Beedie School of Business.

It is an attempt to find new ways to build relationships and support First Nations in making the changes they think will make them stronger and better places to raise their children. Ahp-cii-uk has worked with first nations communities to build trails, develop cultural tourism, engage young people in apprenticeship and job readiness programs, establish artists markets, road safety programs, build playgrounds and improve the transparency of their planning and governance processes.

More importantly, Ahp-cii-uk has built a sense of hope, trust, and mutual respect in communities and between partners.

The Tseshaht First Nation grassroots community is asking for your support and vote for this important “Going Home” Canoe and Canoe Shed Project. To vote for the project:

1. Click on the following link: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf11193
2. click on “Vote Now” button
3. Register to vote by entering your name and email address. Create a password.
4. Receive a confirmation to your email, click on the link
5. Sign in with your email address and password
6. Click on the “vote now” button again.
7. You have a maximum of 15 votes but only one vote per day.
8. Voting for round 2 closes on 9 November 2011.
9. Vote now and help the community of Tseshaht make it through to the semi-finals.

For more information:

Lerato Chondoma
Ahp-cii-uk Community Liaison
778.862.8982

Mark Selman
Beedie School of Business
778.782.5070

Tags: Aboriginal, Ahp-cii-uk, First Nations, Mark Selman, Nuu-chah-nulth, Tseshaht