Media Matters – SFU Business in the News – Feb. 26

How SFU Business fared in the news for the week of February 26, 2009

The Financial Post section of National Post featured the Executive MBA, “a program first offered in Canada by Simon Fraser University—as Sue Anne Linde explains on this page.”The page (the front page of FP Executive) carried a story by Linde, a graduate of the EMBA program and director of marketing and communications in SFU Business. “These days, the EMBA is an opportunity for upwardly mobile employees to signal their interest in assuming greater responsibilities, and to distinguish themselves by earning a respected credential that delivers an immediate return on investment to their organizations.”Financial Post also announced that its MBA Annual (which will be in most editions of National Post on March 3 and also at financialpost.com/magazine) will profile “a trio from Simon Fraser University who launched their own wealth-management firm.”

CTV reported on its national investigation of the accuracy of weight scales in stores. CTV found that in Nova Scotia, government inspection records show inaccurate scales benefit the retailer more than nine out of 10 times, SFU marketing prof LindsayMeredith told CTV: “Look, the law of probability says it should be half the time for you, half the time for me. If you get a 90-per-cent error in your favour, that’s not probability any more. I think somebody’s up to something.”CTV not only featured Meredith in the stories; it also used his on-air quote in a series of “teaser” ads promoting the news program.

Meredith was also in a Canwest News Service story about efforts by Wal-Mart Canada and Kraft Foods to come up with new “friendlier” logos and branding (e.g. ‘Walmart’ rather than ‘Wal-Mart’, with a shining-sun graphic) in hopes of attracting recession-depressed customers. Said Meredith: “Consumers have their hands stuffed in their pockets and they aren’t going to spend. If you can make them feel better by providing an aura to your logo that’s more uplifting, it could work to your advantage.” We saw the story in eight papers from Port Alberni to Montreal.

The Toronto Star looked at MBA offerings in Canada, and noted. “The MBA in management of technology/biotechnology at Simon Fraser University has seen a 100-per-cent increase in applications, says associate dean Ed Bukszar, explaining the program is designed for professionals currently in technical or scientific roles who want to enter managerial positions. The Vancouver-based school is also seeing an increase in applications for the financial risk-management specialization.”

SFU also let media know that business prof Ian McCarthy has earned a Fulbright New Century Scholar (NCS) appointment. He holds a Canada Research Chair in management of technology and operations management at SFU and heads the university’s new Business Centre for Research in Biotechnology Management.