Moderator: Mila Lazarova

Jing Li
Chinese Firms’ Globalization
I will discuss my past and current research on Chinese firms’ globalization. In particular, I will focus on how the emergence of state-owned multinational enterprises presents opportunities to enrich strategy and international business research.

Eric Werker
Political Economy and the Business Environment in Emerging Markets
Some countries provide a predictable, friendly environment for foreign and domestic investment while others seem to spend more effort on putting up barriers and red tape. In a research agenda that is based on a political economy framework of business-government relations, I have been trying to understand how private sector interests can influence the business environment and what ramifications that has for investment, growth, institutional development, and structural transformation. My current project focuses on diversification in resource-abundant economies.

Natalie Zhao
HR Challenges in Cross Border Investment
I will discuss the HR challenges that companies face from emerging markets encounter in international business, including causes and consequences of these challenges, and potential solutions.

Rosalie Tung
Human Resource Management Challenges and Opportunities in Emerging Markets
My brief presentation will identify some of the salient issues that merit research attention pertaining to the challenges and opportunities for firms, whether domestic or international, that operate in emerging markets.

Dave Thomas
Cross Cultural Interactions in Emerging Markets, or Anywhere Really!
Organisations doing business in emerging markets increasingly face a knowledge based competitive environment. Concurrently their workforces are increasingly culturally diverse. As a result, the human aspect of management becomes paramount for success. This means employees must be skilled at navigating cultural differences in management behaviour and managers must be able to assess this ability among employees. The construct that describes this ability is “cultural intelligence.” In this presentation, I briefly update the current status of my 15 years of studying this concept.

Moderator: Carolyn Egri

Chang Hoon Oh
Risk Management, Business Continuity and Corporate Social Responsibility
Global business environments have been very challenging to businesses. In particular, businesses face new types of risks that can be defined as NOSTEP (natural, organizational, social, technological, environmental, and political) risks. These NOSTEP risks affect business continuity and corporate social responsibility. Research projects in NOSTEP risks will be discussed.

Robert Adamson
Failure to Create a Multilateral Environmental Management Regime
Supply chains today are more global, complex, dispersed, and interdependent than at any other time in history. As supply chains cross cultures, geographies, and regulatory regimes, there is a growing concern among stakeholders on how to balance profitability objectives with social and environmental impact. This talk summarizes salient issues in managing responsible supply chains and provides an overview of my current research agenda addressing some of these issues.

June Francis and Kristina Henriksson
Corporate Community Investments – Connecting the Local to Global in Market-Based Solutions
Social investments by companies in extractives are often aimed at increasing/supporting community economic development, either directly linked to employment, or indirectly through supporting initiatives including local entrepreneurial and productive projects. Often these enterprises do not achieve their goals due to either failure to connect to global markets, lack of integration into the supply-chain or poor integration with the business and policy ecosystem or local development planning. This study examines these issues within the context of extractives in Peru and contributes missing empirical research to theorize success determinants and guide these investment decisions.

Moderator: Judy Zaichkowsky

Rekha Krishnan
Social Support Ties Among Strategic Actors? How Participation in Interaction Rituals Contextualizes Relationships Among Nascent Entrepreneurs
Nascent entrepreneurs are often shown to outcompete each other in their quest for a common pool of valuable resources. Yet, entrepreneurs do look to each other for social support. In an ethnographic study of tie formation process among nascent entrepreneurs in a leading Silicon Valley Accelerator, we sought to understand what processes facilitate (impede) entrepreneurs’ transition from a group of competing actors to a community of peers. Entrepreneurs’ inclination engage in social support ties with each other was shaped by interaction rituals in the social events that facilitated their initial and repeated encounters outside the open workspace. The social events where entrepreneurs encountered each other, which we refer to as contextualizing events, became contexts where the meaning of their relationship was generated and reinforced over time. Over time, whereas contextualizing events characterized by bonding rituals generated mutual identification, frequent interactions at work and social support from peers, those characterized by tournament rituals generated mutual indifference and an inclination to avoid ties at the workspace. Once entrepreneurs were caught in a negative spiral of tie avoidance, it was hard re-contextualize their relationships. Overall, we show how the ordering of social events can set actors into path dependent ties by contextualizing their relationships.

Pek-Hooi Soh
Learning from Venture Setbacks, Who Give Up and When: Evidence from Entrepreneurs in China
This research aims to re-examine the wisdom of entrepreneurial learning and question whether and how entrepreneurs learn from venture setbacks they experience throughout the process of venture creation. Venture setbacks represent discontinuous learning episodes, understanding what motivate the entrepreneurs and their ventures to commit to learning will shed new light on the complex relationship between the role of entrepreneurs and venture creation.

Rick Colbourne
Indigenous Peoples, Entrepreneurship and Hybrid Venture Creation
Indigenous entrepreneurship and hybrid venture creation represents a significant opportunity for Indigenous peoples to build vibrant Indigenous-led economies that support sustainable economic development and well-being. It is a means by which they can assert their rights to design, develop and maintain Indigenous-centric political, economic and social systems and institutions. In order to develop an integrated and comprehensive understanding of the intersection between Indigenous entrepreneurship and hybrid ventures, my research examines Indigenous entrepreneurship, Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems and the underlying global trends that influence the design, structure and mission of Indigenous hybrid ventures.

Moderator: Elsie Christopher

Ali Dastmalchian
The Beedie School of Business has been actively working to further “Internationalize” its many programs, projects and administrative operations. Through consultation, discussion and research, the School is making clear progress in a number of key areas. This short talk will provide an overview or “snapshot” of where we are currently in our efforts, as well as provide some comparisons to other similar Internationally orientated Business Schools.

Kirk Hill
The external development of International Programs and Initiatives presents some unique and exciting opportunities for both Faculty and Students at Beedie. An example of this is the Asia Case Research Centre (ACRC) housed at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Business and Economics.

Maria Szymczak

• Graduate programs and internationalization
• Integrating international content and experiential learning with aspects of course and program content
• Applied research projects and the international context

Rebecca Rytir

• Student Engagement and Undergraduate International Programs
• Partnerships, Collaborations and New Student Programs
• Internationalization and the Student Experience

Moderator: Jing Li

Eva Busza
Dr. Eva Busza is Vice-President (Research and Programs) at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Prior to joining the foundation, she was Director of Policy and Strategic Planning for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Previous appointments also include Team Leader for Asia Pacific in the United Nation’s Development Programme’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery and Senior Advisor at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

Her research expertise and policy experience covers a wide range of issues tied to trade, investment, innovation, sustainable development, and international security. Her work and perspectives have been cited across key media outlets including the Globe and Mail, Embassy, iPolitics, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Sun, The Province, The Vancouver Sun, Business in Vancouver, The Asian Pacific Post, the BBC, PBS, CBC, CTV, and BNN. Eva holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia. She has been a research fellow at Columbia University, George Washington University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University.

The Asia Pacific Foundation (APF) is a key partner of the Jack Austin Centre. Dr. Busza will briefly discuss the work of the APF and also talk about past, current and future collaboration opportunities.

Iris Jin, Senior Program Manager, Trade, Investment, Innovation and Canada China Relations
Erin Williams, Program Manager, Skills and Competencies
Yushu Zhu, Program Manager, Surveys and Polling
Justin Elavathil, Program Manager, Trade, Investment, and Innovation.

Wrap Up Discussion with Danny Shapiro
An open forum for Faculty, Staff and Key Partners to discuss future possibilities and ideas related to the following: research, short terms grants, visiting scholars, attracting more PhD students, educational programs, external and internal events and ongoing projects.