by Christine Hearn
Photograpy by Greg Ehlers

Looking ahead to the knowledge economy

Vancouver’s physical location on the Pacific Rim leads us to look both east and west; our location in time means we are moving away from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based one. It’s a period of rapid change in the business world, a period that requires new thinking from sophisticated and innovative managers. SFU’s Faculty of Business Administration is poised to develop these managers while solidifying its position as a conduit between east and west.

“We’ve settled on a vision that links us with the growth of the Greater Vancouver region, so we see ourselves as a centre for the development of future managers of the knowledge economy, of the people who will create business that will drive Vancouver forward in the future, but who will also work as part of the Pacific Gateway,” explains Daniel Shapiro, who was appointed dean in spring 2009.

“It’s a very exciting moment because we’re seeing a lot of dramatic changes both globally and locally. They include a shift in economic power toward the Asia Pacific, the increased importance of knowledge and innovation as sources of competitive advantage, a major shift toward technologies favouring alternative energy sources and conservation, and a serious rethinking regarding the social responsibilities of business,” he continues.

Shapiro plans to position the business school so it is at the centre of these changes. “We have set up research centres that reflect that vision, and we are making sure all our programs are consistent with that vision,” he adds. There are already six research centres that investigate new knowledge and information related directly to today’s business practices. They are the CMA Centre for Strategic Change and Performance Measurement, the Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Management, the Global Asset and Wealth Management Centre, the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy, the Centre for Workplace Health and Safety, and the newest, announced this October, the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies. Several more centres are in the works.

Shapiro, an economist and business professor, says there are three main external factors influencing how business people must change and manage in the future.

First, the increased importance of knowledge and technology means our economic future depends on our ability to bring new knowledge-based products on stream. Second, globalization has created an interdependent world, accompanied by a shift in economic and political power toward the emerging economies of China, Russia, Brazil, and India. Third, environmental and social changes are adding layers of complexity to what once were bottom-line-only situations.

Faculty members are at the forefront of research in this challenging new environment, making SFU Faculty of Business Administration one of the leading research business schools in the world. Current research by the faculty include work on social innovation (Dr. Tom Lawrence and PhD student Lisa Papania); the commercialization of new products and entrepreneurial network structure and configuration in the knowledge economy (Drs. Ian McCarthy, Fulbright scholar, and Elicia Maine); project management optimization in IT (Drs. Blaize Reich and Andrew Gemino); managing talent in global and cross-cultural environments (Drs. Rosalie Tung, David C. Thomas, and Mila Lazarova); scandal, misconduct, and trust repair in business (Drs. Mark Wexler, Andrew von Nordenflycht, and Rekha Krishnan); corporate social responsibility (Drs. Carolyn Egri, Rick Iverson, John Peloza, and Stephanie Bertels); subprime lending and market efficiency (Drs. Andrey Pavlov, Dennis Chung, and Karel Hrazdil); extending brand loyalty and the interaction between corporations and consumers (Drs. Leyland Pitt and Michael Parent); and innovation and entrepreneurship in developing nations and international joint ventures (Drs. Jeremy Hall and Jing Li).

PhD candidate Kirsten Pankratz was awarded a three-year Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada graduate scholarship by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for her research on work-life balance in professional service firms; PhD candidate Stacey Fitzsimmons won the Paul Tai Yip Ng Memorial Endowment award for best student paper; PhD candidate Jose Mora won the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement scholarship awarded by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters for his research on modelling group consumption in television audiences.

Undergraduates winning awards include Milan Tesovic, co-founder of MetroLeap Media Inc., who is the B.C. 2009 student entrepreneur provincial champion and the national student entrepreneur competition champion; Tim Coleman, Helen Lu, and Jessica Wang who won first prize at the prestigious L’Oréal EStrat International finals in Paris; and third-year commerce students Andy Leung and Raymond Zhang , who won the second annual western chartered accountant case competition.

Alumni are showing leadership in many areas as well. Graduates recognized include Zabeen Hirji, named one of Canada’s Top 100 Women by the Women’s Executive Network; Executive MBA grad Aimee Chan, president and CEO of Norsat International Inc. recognized as BC Business entrepreneur of the year; and Management of Technology MBA grads Ben Sparrow and Joshua Zoshi, winners of the New Ventures BC technology business idea competition for an innovative solar process to desalinate seawater.

The business school was recently accredited by both the AACSB and EQUIS, the leading accreditation bodies in management education worldwide. Double accreditation places SFU Faculty of Business in the top one percent of business schools in the world. aq

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