Visiting Italian fashion students from the Università Bocconi were given a guided tour of iconic Canadian retailer Holt Renfrew

Business students from Italy spent July in Vancouver as part of a unique collaboration between SFU’s Beedie School of Business and the Università Bocconi – and were given a crash course in Canadian culture as part of their visit.

The visiting students from Bocconi, located in the fashion capital of Italy, Milan, and regarded as Italy’s top business and economics school, were paired with SFU students from the “Business 492: Management of Fashion Companies,” class as they learned about the global fashion industry.

To mark Canada Day the visiting students attended a seminar on Canadian culture, chaired by Sam Thiara, Associate Director, Undergraduate Alumni Engagement at the Beedie School of Business. A trio of guest speakers from varied backgrounds were on hand to share with the students what being Canadian means to them. Keep reading…

Tags: Beverley O’Neil, Bocconi, Bocconi Campus Abroad, Dutil, Holt Renfrew, international business, international education, international exchange, Lululemon, Management of Fashion Companies, Rebecca Rytir, Riaz Meghji, Sam Thiara, Terry McEvoy, Universita Bocconi

The winning team, Blue Motion Tech. From left to right: Kartik Manghnani, Rachelle Hay, Ashley Burgess and Lindsay McIvor.

Students from the MBA program at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business last week demonstrated their social entrepreneurship business plans at the Opportunity Fest Fair.

The exhibition, held in the atrium of the Harbour Centre towers on Wednesday, 18 July, was part of Beedie Professor Eric Gedajlovic’s MBA Entrepreneurship class. Students were split into groups and tasked with creating their own business plans before presenting to a panel of judges consisting of members of the local business community.

The judges were armed with so-called “Beedie Bucks” – hypothetical dollars which they could allocate to the teams with the best ideas. After much deliberation, the top three teams were presented with specially-made gold, silver and bronze beedie medals.

The winning team, Blue Motion Tech, comprised of students Rachelle Hay, Ashley Burgess, Lindsay McIvor and Kartik Manghnani presented the “Healthy Handle” – a motion activated door handle which allows the public to exit the washroom without touching anything, whereby reducing the risk of communicable disease being passed on by people who fail to wash their hands.  Keep reading…

Tags: business plan, entrepreneurship, Eric Gedajlovic, Harbour Centre, hygiene, innovation, local business community, MBA, Opportunity Fest, social entrepreneurship, volunteerism

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University and Certified Management Accountants of British Columbia have come together to deliver the SFU CMA/MBA Combined Program – an innovative and unique program that combines the strategic leadership core of CMA and the results-focused curriculum of the SFU MBA. The curriculum will allow qualified applicants to expedite and reduce the cost of working towards their CMA designation upon completion of their MBA. The highly-regarded designation is held by only 40,000 individuals across Canada and around the world.

In addition to the full-time MBA program, students and recent graduates from SFU’s Executive MBA and Management of Technology MBA programs are also eligible for the CMA/MBA combined venture. Completing the program allows qualified students and alumni to leverage their university successes and work experience and obtain advanced standing with the CMA.

“Partnering with the Beedie School of Business to offer the CMA/MBA is the natural evolution of our long-standing relationship with Simon Fraser University,” said Vinetta Peek, CMA (Hon.), CMA, President and CEO of Certified Management Accountants of British Columbia. “Together, we are able to expand access to the CMA designation as well as meet marketplace expectations for strategic management professionals who are prepared to succeed in a globally competitive environment.”  Keep reading…

Tags: accounting, Certified Management Accountants, CMA, CMA/MBA, Colleen Collins, combined program, EMBA, MBA, MOT MBA, partnership, strategic management professionals

Ian McCarthy, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Technology & Operations Management at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, has been named on Business Insider’s prestigious list “54 Smart Thinkers Everyone Should Follow on Twitter”.

The Business Insider website provides commentary and analysis on the top business news stories from around the web. The list identifies the most influential thought leaders in the world currently active on Twitter who are respected in their fields and have developed a following for their insightful commentary on the platform.

In being selected for the list McCarthy joins esteemed names such as Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, editor-in-chief of the Huffington post, Arianna Huffington and renowned physician and public speaker Deepak Chopra.

“It is a tremendous honor being named on this list alongside such prominent figures,” says McCarthy. “I started tweeting and blogging while writing an award-winning research paper with colleagues. The paper focused on understanding and exploiting the functionalities of different social media, and it has since proven to be an effective launching pad for my social media presence.”  Keep reading…

Tags: Arianna Huffington, Beedie School of Business, Business Insider, commentary, Daniel Shapiro, Deepak Chopra, Duke University, Everton FC, Harvard Business School, Ian McCarthy, innovation, management education, New York University, operations, Research, Richard Branson, social media, technology, Twitter

The inaugural Beedie Olympics that took place on July 7 at the Burnaby Campus of Simon Fraser University represented a first-ever student engagement initiative aimed to strengthen the Beedie community through the power of sport, as well as to raise money for the international humanitarian organization Right to Play.

Keep reading…

Tags: Beedie Olympics, Certified Management Accountants, charity, CMA, London Summer Games, Olympics, Right to Play, Scotiabank, SFSS, Simon Fraser Student Society, sports, Stephanie Wong, Summer Olympics, Thrifty Foods

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University has launched Ideas@Beedie, a digital magazine showcasing the business school’s academic research, industry impact and engagement with the community.

The magazine is available as both an app for Apple’s iPad, as well as in digital magazine format on the Beedie School of Business website.

The theme of the inaugural summer issue is social media – a growing area of focus for business researchers. Beedie professors have garnered numerous awards for social media research in recent months, and the school is home to a number of faculty and students who are using social media to engage with academics, businesses and the wider community.

Future issues of Ideas@Beedie will delve into themes such as international business, sustainability, entrepreneurship and business technology.

“Our goal is to highlight the breadth and depth of our business ideas to our readers,” said Daniel Shapiro, Dean of SFU’s Beedie School of Business. “With Ideas@Beedie, we hope to convey some of this scholarly activity in ways that are both relevant and insightful.”

Among the research topics explored in the first issue of the magazine are the advent of so-called mutated advertising in the Web 2.0 environment; the engagement of consumers using social media tools; and the growing usage of sustainability-geared apps for smartphone devices. The publication also explores management lessons to be learned from Vancouver’s infamous Stanley Cup rioting in 2011.

The e-magazine also features extensive profiles of Ryan Beedie and Joe Segal, both of whom have played extraordinary roles in the growth of the Beedie School of Business.

The launch of Ideas@Beedie comes on top of an extraordinary 18 month period for the Beedie School of Business. In February of 2011, the school received a record-setting $22 million gift from alumnus Ryan Beedie and his father Keith. Since then, it has launched a number of ambitious initiatives, including the Americas MBA for Executives, with partners in Brazil, Mexico and the United States; an Executive MBA for Aboriginal Business and Leadership, the first program of its kind; Canada’s largest undergraduate student-managed investment fund; and a high-technology entrepreneurship incubator.

This past spring, the school received endorsement from two prestigious accreditation bodies: the European Foundation for Management Development (EQUIS) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

In addition, the school has vaulted into the world’s upper echelon of research business schools – placing among the top 75 for business research, and the world’s top 25 for management-specific research.

The iPad app can be downloaded at the Apple iTunes store, at http://itunes.apple.com/az/app/ideas-beedie/id532907167?mt=8

The magazine can also be viewed on the web with most browsers at: http://beedie.sfu.ca/ideas

Tags: AACSB, Apple, apps, BBA, Brazil, Daniel Shapiro, EMBA, engagement, EQUIS, Ideas@Beedie, innovation, iPad, Joe Segal, Keith Beedie, management, MBA, Mexico, Research, Ryan Beedie, smartphones, social media, sustainability, United States

Beedie School of Business alumnus Chris Velasco, pictured last year at the Daimler World Dialogue Conference in Germany

Brainstorming into the wee hours of the morning with students from across the globe helped BBA alumnus Chris Velasco achieve a prestigious silver finish in a unique international enterprise competition.

He recently took part in the Global Enterprise Experience Competition, an international business competition which develops students’ skills in managing across cultures and time zones by placing them in teams with students from other universities across the globe.

Velasco, who graduated from SFU shortly after the conclusion of the competition, was teamed with students from New Zealand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Rwanda. The team’s proposal of a Global Dialogue Network was one of five in a field of 90 teams to earn the ANZ Highly Commended Team Report Award.

“The Global Enterprise Experience Competition was a great challenge and allowed me to experience working across different time zones and cultures around the world,” said Velasco. “Through my experience working with the other students, I saw first-hand that the Beedie School of Business provides a world-class business education. Students at SFU often take for granted the education we receive here, but this competition confirmed for me how lucky we are to study at SFU.” Keep reading…

Tags: Case competition, Chris Velasco, Global Enterprise Experience Competition, social change, social responsibility

The following article was published by BC Business on July 3, 2012.

Traditional sources of revenue for charities are drying up, but putting society’s biggest issues in the hands of socially minded entrepreneurs is a tricky business.

Carmen Ruiz y Laza (left) and Shannen O'Brian.

On the cheery, yellow walls of the Downtown Eastside’s Potluck Café are the faces of several of its customers, captured in a black-and-white instant. Their complicated eyes and the deep lines in their faces tell sad stories of life on the Downtown Eastside as they preside – surprisingly hospitably – over the current clientele. In the last decade, the café has served 300,000 nutritious, free meals to the area’s residents.

Sitting in the 30-seat café between mealtimes, Heather O’Hara is absentmindedly shuffling a vase of fresh tulips around the table. A prairie import, O’Hara has been executive director of Potluck Café and Catering, the street-front operation of Potluck Café Society, a registered charity, for seven years. “We’re a bit of a backwards animal,” she says with a patient smile, explaining that the busier the café gets, the more it costs to keep it running, a financial burden that’s relieved by revenues from the catering side of the operation.

Keep reading…

Tags: BC Business, Beedie School of Business, Carolyn Egri, charities, sfu, SFU Beedie, Simon Fraser University, social entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurship

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is proud to host the SFU Nancy McKinstry Awards for Leadership in Diversity at the Segal Graduate School on September 19, 2012. The awards recognize those who have shown exemplary leadership in advancing the cause of diversity in business. This event sells out quickly, so be sure to purchase your tickets as soon as possible.

A corporate award will be presented to an organization that exemplifies the values of diversity in the workplace and a graduate student scholarship is given to an SFU Beedie School of Business graduate student who has been a leader in promoting opportunities for women.

This year’s keynote speaker for this breakfast event is Fiona Macfarlane, Managing Partner of Ernst & Young, Vancouver and Western Canada.

The SFU Nancy McKinstry Awards for Leadership in Diversity were established in 2009 to honour Dr. Nancy McKinstry for her contributions to Simon Fraser University as Chair of the Board of Governors. Dr. McKinstry is a management consultant, a founding member of the Minerva Foundation for BC Women and has served on many corporate and non-profit boards in recent years. In recognition of her industry and community contributions, Dr. McKinstry has received many awards including: the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and an honorary Doctorate from Simon Fraser University.

Location: Segal Graduate School of Business, 500 Granville Street, Vancouver
Registration and Reception: 7:00am
Breakfast & Award Presentation: 7:20am
Dress: Business attire
Cost: $75 per person; $750 per table of 10

INFORMATION
778.782.5313 or events@sfu.ca

Register at www.sfu.ca/invite/mckinstry by September 12, 2012.

The Nancy McKinstry Graduate Scholarship for Leadership is supported by the Nancy McKinstry Endowment. Click to support this scholarship.

About Fiona Macfarlane

Fiona Macfarlane is the Managing Partner of Ernst & Young, Vancouver and Western Canada. In recognition of her leadership on diversity and inclusiveness, Fiona is also Ernst & Young’s Chief Inclusiveness Officer. Prior to becoming Manager Partner, Ms. Macfarlane served as Americas Chief Operating Officer, Tax. Fiona joined Ernst & Young’s South African firm in 1983, immigrated to Canada to join the firm’s Calgary Tax practice in 1987 and relocated to Vancouver two years later to build the firm’s Western Canadian commodity tax practice. Previously, Ms. Macfarlane trained as a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in Cape Town.

Fiona became a partner in 1991 and was appointed Managing Partner of our Canadian Tax practice in 2005 — the first woman among the Big Four firms to hold such a position. Fiona is a member of the Ernst & Young’s Executive and Operating Committees and is a Governor of the British Columbia Business Council. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Canada Forum of the International Women’s Forum. Ms. Macfarlane was previously a member of the cabinet of Pathways to Education™, an organization that helps young people in disadvantaged areas to complete their high school and post-secondary education. In 2008, Fiona won the TRIEC CBC Business Leadership Award and also received York University’s makeMORE Ontario Connections Award for Immigrants in 2010.

Special Thanks to our Event Sponsors

Tags: diversity, Ernst and Young, Fiona Macfarlane, Michael Bach, Nancy McKinstry, Nancy McKinstry awards

The following article was published by The Globe and Mail on July 12.

As a third-year commerce student at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, Marcel Glaesser spent an academic semester at the University of Mannheim last year. After completing his studies in Germany, he decided to stay longer and landed a six-month contract with BMW in Munich.

“The coolest thing is that I got to do so many things,” he recalls, citing marketing-related assignments that included preparations for the company’s annual meeting held in a stadium, complete with a display of prototype cars.

His experience typifies a growing trend among undergraduate and graduate business students to study and work abroad while earning their business degree. For Mr. Glaesser, Germany held appeal because he was born there before his family came to Canada 10 years ago. He took his classes in English at Mannheim, but had to brush up on his German to work at BMW.

His advice to other students is “go abroad, go abroad. It will set you apart.”

Keep reading…

Tags: Andrew Gemino, Barbados, Beedie School of Business, BMW, Certified General Accountants, CGA, co-op, exchange, Germany, Globe and Mail, Marcel Glaesser, Munich, sfu, Shauna Tonsaker, Simon Fraser University, study abroad, University of Mannheim, work abroad