Beedie School of Business

Beedie School of Business News

A team of students from the full-time MBA program at the Beedie School of Business was the big winner at the recent Vancouver for Acumen Fund Case Challenge. The winning team consisted of SFU MBA students Pragya Grewal, Shahneel Pirzada and Arjun Maruthi, whose presentation focused on Vision Springs, a company which provides low-cost, high-quality reading glasses to low-income communities in India. The competition required teams to submit responses to a case based on a […]

Beedie School of Business News

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is launching a new social venture accelerator program, the SFU Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator (SEA), designed specifically for entrepreneurial students with social impact ideas or an interest in helping teams launch social ventures. Sponsored by Vancity, the SEA will help students move ideas from concept to reality, and aims to develop entrepreneurs that will help address tomorrow’s social, environmental, and economic challenges. Designed for students looking to […]

Beedie School of Business News

MBA students from SFU’s Beedie School of Business made up two of the four teams who placed at the recent Haskayne 24 Hour Case Competition. This year’s competition was held at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary from March 8-11 and featured 16 teams from MBA programs at universities from across the nation. The two SFU teams finished second and fourth, taking home prizes of $3,000 and $1,000 respectively. The Haskayne 24 Hour […]

Beedie School of Business News

A company formed by two graduates of the Beedie School of Business Management of Technology MBA program has been awarded a contract to deliver a pilot water recovery unit to NASA. Saltworks Technologies will develop the unit to test the water recovery systems and processes at NASA Ames Research Center, with the intent for future use on board the International Space Station. Saltworks won the contract after a recent public tender for solutions held by […]

Beedie School of Business News

A new mobile phone platform being co-created by Simon Fraser MBA alumna Bella Hwang has been recognized as an emerging company in the 2012 Ready to Rocket list. The Ready to Rocket list is a unique business recognition list that profiles British Columbia technology companies with the greatest potential for revenue growth. Hwang’s company, Texts 4 Health, helps health organizations use their resources more efficiently via mobile phone technology to provide better care for patients. […]

Beedie School of Business News

The following article was published by the Globe and Mail on March 13, 2012 as part of their 2012 Report on Business Education. BY GORDON PITTS, GLOBE AND MAIL As a scholar of corporate strategy, Dan Shapiro likes nothing better than to dive into an intriguing case study of an organization in the throes of fast, complex growth. But what happens when that case is the institution he runs, the Beedie School of Business at […]

Beedie School of Business News

Dr. Carolyn Egri, a professor of management and organization studies at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, has been announced as the recipient of the David L. Bradford Outstanding Educator Award for 2012 from the Organizational Behaviour Teaching Society for Management Educators (OBTS). The award, named after David L. Bradford, the founder of OBTS, recognizes an individual or group demonstrating lifetime achievement with a focus on teaching and learning excellence, who impacts […]

Beedie School of Business News

Students from Simon Fraser University recently showed the Vancouver community what they “dared to do” to create social, environmental and economic impact throughout the Lower Mainland – and picked up some awards along the way. Members of the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter from SFU, along with 16 other universities from as far as Manitoba, attended the 2012 ACE Western Regional Exposition at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The two-day event focused on the impact […]

Beedie School of Business News

Contact: Andrey Pavlov, 778.782.5835; 778.782.7922; apavlov@sfu.ca Derek Moscato, 778.782.5038; drmoscat@sfu.ca The graduate finance degree at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business has a new designation – Master of Science in Finance. The change reflects the evolution of SFU’s popular graduate finance program, which attracts students from around the world. Two years ago, faculty members and industry professionals redesigned what was then the Master of Financial Risk Management program – expanding the offering of core quantitative courses. In addition, […]

Beedie School of Business News

The future of the the Chilean mining sector and its implications for the economies of Chile, Latin America and beyond were the focus of a special forum hosted on March 2 at the Beedie School of Business.

The event featured Dr. Hernan Eduardo de Solminihac Tampier, Minister of Mining for Chile, whose presentation zeroed in on the “Challenges and Opportunities in the Chilean Mining Industry.”

Beedie School of Business News

The Human Resources Students’ Association (HRSA) at Simon Fraser University is to host its first annual professional networking night, Spring Soirée 2012, on March 21. Held at the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel in downtown Vancouver from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, Spring Soirée provides an opportunity for Beedie School of Business students in the HR field to network with experienced HR professionals. With support from title sponsors HSBC and Angus One, the Spring Soirée will be attended by […]

Beedie School of Business News

Stephanie Wong, an undergraduate student in the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, has been selected as SFU’s first recipient of the HSBC Women in Business Leadership Award. Wong was selected for the honour based on her outstanding academic achievement and record of student leadership. At Simon Fraser University, she has parlayed her passion for the progression of professional women into establishing SFU’s Young Women in Business (YWiB) chapter. Additionally, she founded programs […]

Beedie School of Business News

Two undergraduate students from the Beedie School of Business have won the opportunity to represent Canada at the prestigious KPMG International Case Competition (KICC). Christian Jeffery and Juan Pablo Leal won the local and national stages of the Ace the Case competition and will now go on to compete at the KICC with the rest of their team in Hong Kong this April. According to the official KPMG announcement: “KICC will provide Christian Jeffery and […]

Beedie School of Business News

By Martin van den Hemel – Richmond Review Age: 20. High School: R.A. McMath. When Aamir Sheriff helped lead an initiative to open his mosque’s doors to the public, he didn’t think the efforts would be so successful. But some 300 people from all parts of the community, and many faiths, participated in Journey into Islam, which served to clear up people’s misconceptions about the Muslim faith. In fact, the event was so successful, organizers are […]

Beedie School of Business News

A new mobile phone platform co-created by a Simon Fraser University MBA alumna is helping health organizations use their resources more efficiently. Texts 4 Health can also help health care professionals provide better care. Patients respond to automated text messages that are automatically categorized by the software and analytics platform, increasing efficiency in hospitals and clinics and allowing for greater patient load. The technology recently won first place at SFU Venture Connection’s inaugural Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize competition.

Beedie School of Business News

by Joanne Leung A team of undergraduate students from Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business has been selected to participate in the 2012 Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Case Competition, one of the most high-profile competitions of its kind globally, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from February 27 through March 2. Beedie alumnus Matthew Martell will be coaching BBA students Amar Klino, Andrew McKinlay, Clare Lei, and May Yu for the world’s leading undergraduate case competition. […]

Beedie School of Business News

The following was submitted by the SFU chapter of Young Women in Business Last year, the SFU chapter of Young Women in Business (YWiB) had the pleasure of hosting its first annual International Women’s Day Conference. The sold-out event was a truly inspirational day, featuring amazing speakers, a great panel session and plenty of new connections and friendships. YWiB SFU will once again be hosting their signature event, but this year everything is bigger and better! Following this […]

Beedie School of Business News

Submitted by Winnie Jung The BASS Banquet is the Beedie School of Business’ signature networking event, which showcases the brightest students of the BBA program to the Vancouver business community. Consisting of a networking reception and a sit-down dinner, the banquet is an evening of fine dining, inspiring leadership, and stimulating conversation. Taking place on March 14 at the Four Season Hotel, the 11th annual BASS Banquet aims to celebrate the community within the Beedie School of Business by inviting […]

Beedie School of Business News

Dr. Carolyn Egri, a professor of management and organization studies at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, has been named as the school’s inaugural William J.A. Rowe EMBA Alumni Professor. The goal of the new Professorship is to promote excellence in research and teaching. Egri has taught in the EMBA program for over two decades, and is a past winner of SFU’s TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest teaching honour […]

Beedie School of Business News

by Joanne Leung Some of the world’s most prestigious business schools met in Vancouver for CaseIT 2012, an annual international undergraduate case competition with a strong MIS focus designed to find the best and brightest in strategic IT case analysis. Hosted annually by Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, CaseIT is an entirely student-organized event in which 16 university teams compete in a 24-hour case deliberation. The winners of this year’s CaseIT competition were: […]

Beedie School of Business News

The Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is pleased to announce that its graduate finance degree has a new designation: MSc Finance.

The change reflects the evolution of Simon Fraser University’s popular graduate finance program, which attracts students from around the world. Two years ago, faculty members and industry professionals redesigned what was then the Master of Financial Risk Management program – expanding the offering of core quantitative courses. In addition, the new MSc designation better reflects the two fields of specialization, risk management and investment management.

Beedie School of Business News

Curtis Jones, who is in his final year at the Beedie School of Business, is also a longtime member of North Shore Search and Rescue, a volunteer-run search and rescue team operating in Vancouver and surrounding areas.

Beedie School of Business News

New research from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University is shedding light on how businesses generally can learn more about themselves through observing family firms. Defined by Entrepreneur Magazine as business entities “that are owned or managed by more than one member of the same family”, family businesses significantly represent roughly half of all private Canadian businesses.

Published in the Journal of Management, the article is entitled The Adolescence of Family Firm Research: Taking Stock and Planning for the Future. The research was authored by Beedie strategy professor Eric Gedajlovic, along with colleagues Michael Carney (Concordia University), James J. Chrisman (Mississippi State University and University of Alberta School of Business) and Franz W. Kellermanns (University of Tennessee and Otto Beisheim School of Management).

Beedie School of Business News

Last September, the Simon Fraser University and BC business communities were saddened to learn of the passing of Ross McLeod, a longtime SFU supporter.

McLeod was chairman and chief executive officer of Richmond-based Great Canadian Gaming Corp., operators of River Rock Casino, Boulevard Casino, Hastings Park and about 20 other casino and hospitality venues in Canada and Washington state. The company is the largestgaming and entertainment operator in Western Canada.

Under McLeaod’s leadership in 2005, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation donated $1 million to support the creation of Simon Fraser University’s Segal Graduate School of Business.

Beedie School of Business News

Dianne Cyr, a professor of management information systems at the Beedie School of Business, along with Southern Utah University information systems prof. Dezhi Wu, have been recognized by the Association for Information Systems (AIS) for their leadership role in garnering a globally coveted technology awards.

Cyr and Wu played prominent roles in helping the AIS special interest group on human-computer interaction (SIG HCI) earn the coveted AIS Technology Challenge award at the recent International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) in Shanghai.

Beedie School of Business News

by Joanne Leung Both students and alumni from SFU’s Beedie School of Business have been selected to compete on February 11 for $5000 in cash prizes at the upcoming Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize Competition, which will take place at the Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver. The start-up competition is organized by SFU Venture Connection, recognizing excellence in business development among early-stage clients participating in the VentureSpark program. Of the seven finalists—the […]

Beedie School of Business News

The following was originally published in the Burnaby Now newspaper on January 27, 2012. BY JANAYA FULLER-EVANS, BURNABY NOW The Eastman Kodak company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last week, but the company says the Burnaby division will not be affected. “The Chapter 11 filing directly impacted only our U.S. operations and subsidiaries,” Christopher Veronda, Kodak’s manager of corporate communications, wrote in an email to the NOW. The Kodak Graphic Communications Group, located at 4225 […]

Beedie School of Business News

So what makes a star shine even brighter in the world of pro sports? It’s a combination of not only personal performances and team records, but also includes the markets that athletes play in and the star calibre of the athletes they compete with.

The study, “Investigating the evolution of star status in professional team sports,” describes the rise and fall of celebrated athletes using data from the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1987 to 2008. Published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, it was authored by professors Yupin Yang of the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and Mengze Shi from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Beedie School of Business News

Surrey, B.C. (January 12, 2012) – Simon Fraser University is launching entrepreneurship@SFU, a new high-tech entrepreneurship initiative, thanks to a $210,000 donation from Dr. Ken Spencer and a matching contribution of $210,000 from the Province of British Columbia through the B.C. Innovation Council (BCIC). The new Ken Spencer Entrepreneur Incubator, a component of the entrepreneurship@SFU initiative in partnership with BCIC, is a competitive academic pathway for third- and fourth-year business and applied sciences students that […]

EQUIS

Solving complex problems with public entrepreneurship and technology. Join us for a thought-provoking evening at the Beedie School of Business when the CMA Centre for Strategic Change hosts Professor Anita McGahan as she shares her experience and perspective on the delivery of healthcare in South Sudan. Dr. McGahan will describe how innovative technologies are implemented to improve the health of impoverished communities and demonstrate that even in some of the most remote corners on the […]

Beedie School of Business News

WILL Brazil become a new source of inspiration for Western business schools? For the past fifteen years, they have mainly looked east. New business schools grew up in such fast-growing countries as China and Singapore, leading to a stream of student and faculty exchanges between Western and Eastern campuses.

But a growing number of business schools are now looking south, with Brazil attracting most interest. The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business recently introduced a Brazilian residency as part of its Global Executive MBA (GEMBA). Students will go to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro where they will spend two weeks attending classes, visiting local firms and learning about the region’s business environment. And Canada’s Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University has joined forces with São Paulo’s FIA Business School, Mexico City’s ITAM and Nashville’s Vanderbilt University to develop what officials call an “Executive MBA programme for the Americas”.

Beedie School of Business News

Ian McCarthy, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Technology & Operations Management at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, has been selected to the “50 Business Professors You Should Follow on Twitter” list recently assembled by OnlineMBA, a media outlet focused on business education in North America and internationally. The Twitter list acknowledges business academics who have taken advantage of social media to exchange ideas with students and colleagues, disseminate research and ideas, engage with industry, […]

EQUIS

As a director, your primary objective with the board is to create and protect value for the organization. This is accomplished by guiding strategy, monitoring financials, and overseeing the management of human resources and risk. In the process of fulfilling this role, however, directors are continually challenged by information gaps, time squeezes, and the social dynamics that can be encountered in the boardroom. The ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program has been specifically designed to help directors […]

Beedie School of Business News

It has been an extraordinary year for the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University – and the accomplishments of the school at SFU Surrey have helped to drive that success. As 2011 draws to a close, Beedie is celebrating such student accomplishments as SFU Student of the Year, the Surrey Green City Award, and selection to one of Canada’s most prestigious leadership programs for entrepreneurs.

Beedie School of Business News

Students in SFU’s Full-Time MBA program at the Beedie School of Business have garnered real-world marketing lessons that have taken them from social agencies in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to a hospice society in Pitt Meadows to a seniors wellness centre in North Vancouver. In the process of helping these groups raise awareness or operating funds, they have enjoyed early-stage support from the likes of celebrated author Margaret Atwood and Vancouver hockey star Roberto Luongo.

The community interactions are part of the marketing class Business 702, taught by SFU marketing professor Leyland Pitt. Within the class, students are challenged to strategically design a social media marketing program for not-for-profit organizations in Metro Vancouver.

By working outside of the classroom with social agencies and community groups, the students have been able to broaden their perspective around business and society – and further integrate social entrepreneurship and sustainability into their marketing coursework.

Beedie School of Business News

Alumni from the Beedie School of Business at SFU have made a big impact on the recently-published Business in Vancouver Forty under 40 list for 2011. According to the British Columbia business publication, the winners represent a wide array of businesses, “but they all have one focus: an unstoppable desire to be the best in their field.”

Beedie graduates who made this year’s prestigious list include Robin Dhir (BBA), Benjamin Sparrow (Management of Technology MBA), Diane Stirling (BBA), and Joshua Zoshi (Management of Technology MBA).

Beedie School of Business News

With its booming economy, investment in national infrastructure and hosting of future global events like the Summer Olympics and World Cup, Brazil is poised to enjoy healthy growth in tourism in the years ahead.

Tourism boosters in that country and other emerging economies are likely to view associated entrepreneurship as a means to promoting inclusive economic growth, especially in underdeveloped regions. However, a new study from the Beedie School of Business shows that associated growth doesn’t always result in across-the-board gains for tourist destinations. In some cases, the commercial activity associated with tourism could actually backfire on some communities.

Slated for publication in the Journal of Management Studies, the research is entitled “Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid: A Recipe for Inclusive Growth or Social Exclusion?” The article was authored by profs. Jeremy Hall and Stelvia Matos from SFU’s Beedie School, along with Lorn Sheehan (Dalhousie University) and Bruno Silvestre (University of Winnipeg).

Beedie School of Business News

Simon Fraser University student Jessica Fan is in elite company as a member of “The Next 36.” The prestigious entrepreneurial leadership program seeks out the country’s most promising undergraduate top young entrepreneurs and challenges them to create their own ventures. A fourth-year student majoring jointly in business and interactive arts and technology at SFU Surrey, Fan will spend much of the next year working with cohorts at Queens University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto – […]

Beedie School of Business News

Jeremy Hall, a Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business professor, is leading the social science research component in a new project dedicated to significantly reducing forest pests in Canada, and ultimately globally. Hall leads one of several research teams involved in Genomics-Based Forest Health Diagnostics and Monitoring, a new $4.2 million project funded by Genome British Columbia and Genome Canada. Stelvia Matos, an adjunct professor, and Vernon Bachor, a sessional lecturer, in SFU’s Beedie School of […]

Beedie School of Business News

Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business has launched the Beedie Endowment Asset Management (BEAM) fund. With a value of $5 million, it’s the largest undergraduate-student managed investment fund in Canada. The BEAM fund is second in size overall after SFU’s $10.8 million Student Investment Advisory Service, which is managed by SFU graduate business students. Students participating in BEAM will be allowed to manage $5 million of the Beedie School’s endowment fund, created in 2011 […]

Beedie School of Business News

On November 22, 2011, Wideman Education Foundation (WEF) hosted their third annual Project Management Career Speaker Event to high school students at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus. Among the speakers was Rich Brodowski, Project Manager with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. He described his PM experience that involved providing governance to Bell Canada’s Olympic Program, ONE that involved, voice, data, logistics and business functions for the winter games. Joan Vincent, President of the Wideman Education Foundation, […]

Beedie School of Business News

Beedie School of Business BusOne students at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus will spread some Christmas cheer for the United Way on Friday, Dec. 2. The students, all in their first year of study, are putting their business creativity to the test to raise money, doing everything from photos with Santa to a “Rent-a-Biz-Kid” opportunity, during the special United Way event on the Mezzanine from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. Among other ideas, shoppers can purchase prize-popping […]

Beedie School of Business News

5 projects by SFU students—all social ventures aimed at creating positive change—were chosen from 10 finalists to win Ashoka Canada’s Be a Changemaker Challenge Nov. 23. In October, SFU, UBC and Ashoka also ran a boot camp to train students how to build and fund sustainable ventures.

The contestants were eligible for up to $1,000 each in seed funding to launch their social ventures, in addition to incubation support through Ashoka Canada and Ashoka’s Youth Venture. Most of the entrants were from SFU Beedie School of Business lecturer Shawn Smith’s BUS 492 class in social entrepreneurship and innovation, which teaches the fundamentals of creating socially impactful ventures while coaching students through the process. “More than just community engagement I think it is entirely critical to instill a sense of responsibility, and possibility, in our emerging leaders,” says Smith.

Beedie School of Business News

Last week, when Cervenko was invited by a friend to a private “Cocktails with the Canucks” function in downtown Vancouver, she hastily grabbed her playoff towel on her way out the door not knowing what to expect of the event.

In the back of her mind, she had big plans for the white space on the towel. A Simon Fraser University MBA student, Cervenko needed some star power for a social media project.

The assignment: partner with a local non-profit and create a social media strategy with the objective of raising financial support or awareness for this organization. Cervenko and her group chose The Dugout — a drop-in centre on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that hosts one of the longest-running Alcoholics Anonymous programs in Vancouver.

“The reason I thought about The Dugout was because in the 1970s and ’80s it would stay open late so that their clients could have a warm and safe place to watch the Canucks games,” says Cervenko. “But because of a lack of funding they don’t have the resources to stay open late anymore.”

Beedie School of Business News

SFU’s Beedie School of Business hosted “A Candid Conversation with Walmart Canada about Sustainability” on Monday, November 21 at the Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver. The event was co-sponsored by SFU Beedie’s CMA Centre for Strategic Change and Performance Measurement and SFU Beedie’s NetImpact Chapter. A diverse and engaged audience — consisting of SFU MBAs and BBAs, plus students, faculty and industry professionals from across the Lower Mainland — joined the Beedie School to learn more […]

Beedie School of Business News

The founder of a burgeoning online instant gift card company is Simon Fraser University’s newest Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Matias Marquez, an undergraduate student in the Beedie School of Business, took the honour at the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) annual competition held on Nov. 19. His company, Buyatab.com, Canada’s leading digital gift card processor is a “software-as-a-service” digital gift card processing technology that becomes embedded onto its customers’ websites. According to Marquez, thousands of merchant locations across […]

Beedie School of Business News

Vancouver Startup Weekend, sponsored by the Beedie School of Business and hosted at the Segal Graduate School in downtown Vancouver, brought together entrepreneurs from across the region to develop their business ideas from early-stage conceptualization to real-world viability. A panel of local entrepreneurs and investors awarded first place to “My Best Helper” at the Vancouver Startup Weekend. “My Best Helper” is a web-based service that matches caregivers with people who need their services.  Nannies, babysitters, […]

Beedie School of Business News

That was the case for the Beedie School. A team of five SFU computer science and business students created Beedie’s app as a 13-week project for an interdisciplinary course, “Foundations of Innovation” in 2010.

Jan Kietzmann, who teaches the course, planned to make iPhone app design a general focus for the course. But he says it was a “natural progression” to shift the focus to creating a Beedie School app. The team was guided in the project by Kietzmann; Moscato; Dan Shapiro, the dean; and Andrew Gemino, associate dean of undergraduate programs and associate professor of management information systems. After the course ended, Moscato continued to work with the students to perfect the app before its release five months later in spring 2011.

“Although the project was introduced to the students from ‘up top,’ the students really loved the idea and took it upon themselves to identify where and how an app could help improve their lives as students,” says Kietzmann.

The students decided that the Beedie School app should be an information hub. They wanted it to integrate the school’s Twitter and Facebook feeds with links to announcements about current research from school faculty and graduate students, says Justin Lee, a member of the student team.

Beedie School of Business News

(Vancouver) November 11, 2011 – Ashoka Canada, in partnership with the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, will find the top student changemakers at the end of this month. The two schools co-launched the Be A Changemaker Challenge, powered by Starbucks, to find the best student-led social initiatives coming out of Vancouver. The components of the Challenge are a bootcamp, which took place at SFU on Oct. 1st and a venture pitch selection […]

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 […]