Beedie School of Business News

New marketing research from SFU professor Leyland Pitt, focused on the relationship between luxury wine branding and social media, has been awarded the Outstanding Paper prize for 2012 by the Emerald Literati Network.

The article, entitled “Luxury wine brand visibility in social media:  An exploratory study” and published in International Journal of Wine Business Research, garnered the top billing as part of the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2012.

Pitt, a professor of marketing at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, co-authored the paper with Mignon Reynecke, a PhD student at the Lulea University of Technology in Sweden, and Pierre Berthon of Bentley University in Boston. The article was chosen following consultation amongst the journal’s editorial team, made up of eminent academics and industry leaders. According to Emerald Group Publishing, it was selected as “one of the most impressive pieces of work the team has seen throughout 2011.”

In the paper, Pitt and his colleagues set out to address the visibility of luxury wine brands in the social media environment, in particular the Bordeaux first growth brands. They explained that the Bordeaux wines were used because, given their retail price, reputation and rarity, they “epitomize not only luxury wine brands, but also luxury brands in general… they are the kinds of brands that legends are made of.”

They gathered social media data on the five Bordeaux first growths from the website How Sociable, comparing overall visibility scores and  visibilities in 32 different forms of social media. Ultimately, they focused on the brands’ visibility and intersection with “the most important and most relevant social media” such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning and Digg.

Perhaps surprisingly, they found that that some of the luxury brands considered did not, at the time the data were gathered, have a clearly defined social media strategy.

That lack of focus in the social media environment may not last for long, however. According to the researchers, there are opportunities moving forward for luxury wine brand managers to use social media as a tool in their marketing strategies. They note that some threats may exist to these brands should they take a laissez faire approach to social media, particularly given the rise of social media’s influence and credibility among consumers.

“Social media are now as influential, if not more so than, conventional media,” they said. “This has a massive impact on brands.”

To this end, luxury marketers in the wine space will need to give serious consideration to every social media tool at their disposal.

“Astute wine brand managers will define the social media that they care most about,” say the researchers. “Brands can take directions in social media that would have been unlikely if not impossible just five years ago. Brand managers will not fully be able to control the destinies of these brands, but at least they should still be part of, and ideally, direct the conversations that occur around their brands.”

In addition to the Outstanding Paper Award, the article was also selected as the best paper of the year in International Journal of Wine Business Research.

Further information about the research can be viewed at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1912147

For more information about the Emerald Literati Network’s Awards for Excellence, visit www.emeraldinsight.com/literati

Tags: Bentley University, Bordeaux, branding, Digg, Emerald Group Publishing, Emerald Literati Network, Facebook, How Sociable, International Journal of Wine Business Research, Leyland Pitt, LinkedIn, Literati Network Awards for Excellence, Lulea University of Technology, luxury marketing, Marketing, Mignon Reynecki, Ning, Pierre Berthon, social media, Twitter, wine, wine research, YouTube

A Beedie School Teaching and Learning Group Event

Would you like to learn more about interactive polling and ways to use classroom response systems to engage with your students and to informally assess their learning? Are you curious about Poll Everywhere and how colleagues at Beedie have been experimenting with it over the last year?

Shauna Jones, Andrew Gemino and David Rubeli will be co-hosting a session on May 24 (from 2:30-4:30pm) to explore best practices from the first phase of the Poll Everywhere pilot project in the B.BA program. The session will review the goals and outcomes of the pilot project, introduce the basics of interactive polling pedagogy and Poll Everywhere, and feature discussion and dialogue amongst Beedie faculty who have been experimenting with Poll Everywhere over the last year. David will present an analysis of some quality assurance data that he and Andrew Gemino collected in BUS 201 last fall. Andrew Gemino will present some proposed options for expanding the Poll Everywhere pilot project in 2012/13 and solicit feedback from the group to inform his decision-making on how best to move forward.

For more information and to pre-register for this session please contact shaunaj@sfu.ca.

For a brief look at how interactive polling is already being used in Beedie:

A pair of students at Simon Fraser University has cooked up an idea that may help more immigrant women land jobs – and give profile to their cultural cuisine.

Fusion Kitchen’s goal is to develop the transferable skill sets, work experience and self-confidence of recent female immigrants through teaching ethnic cooking classes focused on dishes from their culture.

Chantelle Buffie and Sonam Swarup, both actively involved with Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Simon Fraser, decided to start their own social venture and hosted a pilot project for Fusion Kitchen in December featuring a Fijian teacher. Keep reading…

Tags: Chantelle Buffie, entrepreneurship, Fusion Kitchen, SIFE, Sonam Swarup

VANCOUVER– A ranking of international business schools has rated the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University as among the best in the world for business and management research.

The measure, published by the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), a leading repository of business academic papers, shows that based on article downloads by institution, Beedie ranks 54th in the world out of more than 1000 business schools included in the survey.

According to Beedie School of Business Dean Daniel Shapiro, the school’s ranking can be attributed to the Beedie faculty’s prolific output, which focuses on key strategic areas such as innovation and technology, sustainability, international business and capital markets.

“This ranking is yet another measure that highlights the significant impact of our research,” said Shapiro. “It is a testament to both the breadth and depth of our faculty’s research output that we are able to rate so highly.”

SSRN was established in 1994 by Michael Jensen, a financial economist at Harvard Business School. In a 2008 New York Times profile, SSRN was held up for being “increasingly influential” in academic circles. According to the article, “With a precision common to the digital age, its rankings of downloads can be sliced and diced in many ways with only a click: most downloads over all or most downloads in the last 12 months, either by article, by author or by institution.”

The rankings can be viewed online at: http://hq.ssrn.com/rankings (free registration required)

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Tags: capital markets, Daniel Shapiro, entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School, innovation, international business, Michael Jensen, MIS, New York Times, social entrepreneurship, Social Science Research Network, SSRN, sustainability, technology

Submitted by Salina Siu, National Director of Communications, AIESEC Canada

VANCOUVER– Students around the world will be putting business theories into practice during AIESEC’s Global Public Relations Conference held on April 23 to 26, 2012. The international conference will be hosted in eight different countries, with AIESEC SFU being the host for North America. The event takes place in downtown Vancouver at SFU’s Segal Graduate School, sponsored by the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University.

The international conference is an opportunity for students to gain a greater understanding of branding issues facing global organizations such as AIESEC, a student organization present in over 110 countries with its headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The four-day event will involve different student perspectives as they discuss long-term brand management strategies for AIESEC.

Vancouver will be welcoming delegates who are traveling from Toronto, Saskatchewan and Seattle, while others across the continent will be attending virtually. These delegates will be working online with seven other hubs around the world to develop long-term communication plans for different AIESEC regions, including Cambodia, Germany, Kenya and Brazil.

“Organizing the North American hub allows AIESEC SFU to represent SFU Beedie in a global discussion with the knowledge we have gained through our education,” says third-year marketing undergraduate student, Tamara Hombrebueno. “This event is an opportunity to engage with student leaders around the world and the outcome will impact students on an international level.”

AIESEC is the world’s largest student run organization, engaging student leaders through global internships and global community development opportunities. By focusing on youth leadership development, AIESEC offers the chance for students to participate in meaningful experiences abroad in a global learning environment. For more information on AIESEC, visit www.aiesec.ca.

Contact:
Salina Siu
National Director of Communications, AIESEC Canada
salina.siu@aiesec.net

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is hosting some of the world’s foremost experts in the areas of entrepreneurship and social capital at the Segal Graduate School in downtown Vancouver this week at a special academic conference.

Entitled Social Capital and Entrepreneurship: Catalyst or Retardant?, the two-day event takes place on April 20 and 21, bringing together outstanding international and Canadian scholars. They will workshop a series of interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed manuscripts on the relationship between various form of social capital and entrepreneurial activity in commercial, social and cultural contexts.

Social capital represents the value that is embedded in relationships among people and networks. “This is a topic that is of interest to practitioners and scholars in the fields of entrepreneurship, organizational theory, and many of the social sciences,” said Beedie School of Business Professor and event chair Eric Gedajlovic. “This week’s conference highlights the impact the Beedie School has made in this area in terms of both research publication but also collaboration with other business schools globally.”

Topics covered will include access to financial resources in entrepreneurial settings, entrepreneurial and alliance networks, and social capital in the context of start-ups as well as institutional development.

Working papers to be presented have been selected through a highly competitive review process by reviewers and editors of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (ET&P), one of the leading academic journals in the field of entrepreneurship.

The Beedie School of Business acknowledges the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for their funding in support of this conference.

Contact:
Prof. Eric Gedajlovic
eric_gedajlovic@sfu.ca

Tags: entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Eric Gedajlovic, Segal Graduate School, social capital

A hot tub water care system, an employee wellness solution for companies and a sustainable recycling initiative aimed at helping Vancouver achieve its goal of zero waste for 2020 were the big winners at a Beedie School of Business social entrepreneurship competition.

Opportunity Fest 2012 gave SFU business undergrads the opportunity to showcase their class-produced ventures to judges from industry, academia and the wider business community. Held at SFU’s Surrey campus on April 11, the event featured three venture categories: commercial, social and sustainable, with the winners of each category awarded $1000.

In the commercial category the winning venture was “Team CMS”, who impressed judges with their Easy Care Water Solutions unit. Their electronic hand-held device simultaneously measures for all required levels to maintain water chemistry balance in hot tubs at a far cheaper price than similar units.

The social category was won by Team “Smart Fit”, who designed a wristband which measures heart rate and sleeping patterns and utilizes Bluetooth to update an online support and tracking platform. The technology allows employers to view benefits more reliably than traditional office wellness programs.

The sustainable category saw Team “Second Chance” take the top prize for their supplies material donation system. Through their system, the team collected over 30 broken or forgotten umbrellas and 50 rice bags from SFU students, restaurants and other businesses in the lower mainland. They then used these materials to create environmentally-friendly, handmade backpacks. Keep reading…

Tags: entrepreneurship, Eric Gedajlovic, Opportunity Fest, SFU Surrey, social entrepreneurship, social venture, sustainability

The following article was published by BC Business Magazine on April 2, 2012 as part of their MBA guide.

BY KRISTEN HILDERMAN, BC BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Craig Ryomoto, Director, Online Customer Acquisition | HootSuite Media, Inc.

@craigryomoto
hootsuite.com

Where did you get your MBA?
SFU Beedie School of Business

What year did you graduate?
2010

Why did you want to get your MBA?
I chose to pursue an MBA because I was looking for a career transition to another industry, and to gain the skills to move into a senior management position.

What do you think clinched your position when applying to your MBA program?
I believe it was both my post-secondary education and my work experience. My background in the science of mathematics paired well with my desire to pursue a career in business. It gave me broader perspective and worked in my favour since much of the MBA program is numbers-driven. Prior to applying for my MBA I also ensured that I had at least 3 years experience in a key decision-making role so I could sufficiently leverage the classroom lessons.

What did you learn from doing your MBA that has most helped you in your career?
Soft skills such as time management, work ethic, problem solving, acting as a team player and building self-confidence have proved invaluable to advancing my career post-MBA. Hard skills can be learnt through courseware, but the MBA’s rigorous program forced me to improve on all the soft skills that are essential to succeed in the workforce. Keep reading…

Tags: BC Business, Craig Ryomoto, hootsuite, MBA

The following article was submitted by Beedie School of Business graduate Esther Chang:

As you learn in any introduction to economics course, life has a lot of tradeoffs. So if your goals are to travel around the world to get a deeper appreciation of life and culture, you will most likely have to trade off a lot time from developing your career.

By participating in an international internship with AIESEC, however, you can make the most of both options. You get the opportunity to experience a foreign (and sometimes very exotic) country in conjunction with professional development.

I graduated from the Beedie School of Business in September 2011 and concentrated in HR and Marketing. As soon as I finished, I travelled to Bogota, Colombia between September 2011 and February 2012 – this proved to be one of the best experiences of my life.

While in Bogota, I worked in an organization that provides English language solutions for corporations, most of which are in the oil and gas industry. My role in this company was two-fold. As a fluent English speaker, I often taught advanced English to managers and employees working at the Colombian head offices, and assisted in editing and proofreading presentations and reports (BUS360 goes a long way!). The end readers of most of these reports were investors or board of directors from Canada or the United States, so the business communication and presentation skills that I gained after years of class presentations and report-writing at the Beedie School of Business were invaluable. Keep reading…

Tags: AIESEC, BBA, BBA alum, Esther Chang, HR, international education, Marketing

The following article was published by BC Business Magazine on April 2, 2012 as part of their MBA guide.

BY KRISTEN HILDERMAN, BC BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Mike Underell, Account Manager | 6S Marketing

@mikeunderell
6smarketing.com

Where did you get your MBA?
SFU Beedie School of Business

What year did you graduate?
2009

Why did you want to get your MBA?
To better prepare myself for more demanding job roles and/or higher responsibility.

What do you think clinched your position when applying to your MBA program?
I would bet on my essay, which focused on being a good, all around person, more than just grades and experience.

What did you learn from doing your MBA that has most helped you in your career?
It taught me to approach problems in a different, more structured way as well as build confidence in myself regarding my abilities.

What was your first job after you graduated?
Social media coordinator for Electronic Arts on their franchise “Need for Speed” (one of their largest).

Tell me a bit about your job now.
I’m an account manager for the digital marketing agency 6S Marketing. I handle a portfolio of 12-15 clients and I help them with all kinds of different Internet marketing services (SEO, CPC, social media, email, analytics). It’s perfect because at EA I was having a hard time expanding beyond social media and here I get to use more of my skills. Oh, and it’s a really fun environment.

Is your current career what you had envisioned when you started your MBA?
Yes, this is exactly what I saw myself doing after my MBA. I couldn’t be happier and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

See the full article at www.bcbusinessonline.ca/careers-and-employment/what-does-bc-mba-look

Tags: MBA, Mike Underell, social media