Beedie PhD Simon Pek wins prestigious Doctoral Student Paper Award

Beedie PhD students Bryan Gallagher (left) and Simon Pek were both nominated for the Best Doctoral Student Paper Award at the 56th annual Western Academy of Management Conference.

A research paper by Beedie School of Business PhD student Simon Pek has received the Best Doctoral Student Paper Award at the 56^th annual Western Academy of Management Conference.

Drawing on fieldwork on corporate sustainability-related culture change initiatives, Pek’s paper, “Championing culture change”, develops a grounded model of how internal change agents can implement and sustain culture change in their organizations. He was presented with the award at the conference, held in Kauai, Hawaii from March 11 to 14.

“The Western Academy of Management was a great setting to experience novel ideas, receive feedback on my work, and meet a lot of interesting people,” says Pek. “I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Stephanie Bertels, the PhD program office, and my colleagues at the Beedie School of Business for their continued support which contributed to my receiving this award.”

Also representing Beedie at the conference was Associate Professor David Hannah, in his role as President of the Western Academy of Management, and Associate Professor Chris Zatzick, the Conference Chair and President-elect of the Western Academy of Management.

Beedie PhD student Bryan Gallagher was also nominated for the Best Doctoral Student Paper Award for his research, “Urban entrepreneurship and Indigenous identity”. The paper identifies several key mechanisms that explain the connections between Indigenous identity and entrepreneurial practices that may form self-reinforcing cycles that either constrain or enable Indigenous identity and entrepreneurial practices.

“The 2015 Western Academy of Management Conference was a testament to Beedie’s position in the North American business research community,” says Gallagher. “Such a strong presence showcases the strength of our PhD program and research initiatives. It was a pleasure representing the Beedie School of Business with such committed and engaged colleagues.”

The Western Academy of Management Conference trains, develops and supports business case writing for research and pedagogical purposes. It is held in association with the annual meeting of the Western Casewriters Association, the Western regional association of business casewriters.

For more information on the Western Academy of Management, visit www.wamonline.org

Watch a video about Bryan Gallagher’s research on Indigenous identity and entrepreneurial practices below: