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Events
We love to stay in touch with our grads in Ottawa, as well as many other cities, and visit whenever we can. Our next stops are Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, beginning in Fall 2013. Be sure to stay tuned to our Alumni events to see when we are coming to your city next!

Did you attend our recent Toronto Alumni event? The photos are now up on our Flickr stream.

Business CareerManagement Centre
Have you graduated in the last two years? You still have access to our Business Career Management Centre services. Contact BCMC to find out more!

Sprott Alumni
Make sure you update your contact information with our Sprott Alumni Officer Jennifer Gray to get all the latest Alumni information and find out when we’ll be in your city next! Jennifer is also your first point of contact for anything Alumni related, so feel free to send her an email!

Steven Murphy, Associate Dean of Research and External.

Steven Murphy, Associate Dean of Research and External and Sprott alumnus, has been appointed Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, starting August 1.

“I’m very happy for Steven and very proud to see a graduate of Sprott and Carleton doing so well,” says Jerry Tomberlin, Dean of the Sprott School of Business. “It’s been a privilege to work with Steven over the years, particularly the four years he’s been Associate Dean. He will be sorely missed but we wish him the very best.”

Murphy has been a part of the Sprott School of Business for over 20 years. He first came to the school as a student where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Management Science and PhD in Management. He joined the Faculty in 2003.

Murphy is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and has served in numerous roles including Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies and, currently, Associate Dean of Research and External. During his tenure, he has helped to raise the profile and reputation of Sprott’s research, graduate programs and undergraduate teaching.

“As a proud Sprott graduate, faculty member, and member of the decanal team, Carleton University has been a large part of my life,” says Murphy. “As I embark on this next journey, it fills me with pride and a degree of satisfaction to see the upward trajectory of the Sprott School of Business. I have no doubt this momentum will continue, and the Sprott School is poised to become one of Canada’s top comprehensive business schools. I would like to thank the staff and faculty of the School, who made it a pleasure to perform my roles, and to the leadership team, headed by Dean Tomberlin, who were unwavering in their support.”

Murphy is an award-winning educator and researcher. During his time at Sprott, he has taught courses at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels in organizational behaviour, leadership, and strategic human resources management. He has also taught MBA courses in China and the Middle East. He has been recognized for his innovative teaching style and for many years, he taught an interactive seminar for PhD students on “what it means to be a teacher”.

An active researcher and presenter, Murphy is a nationally recognized expert in organizational behaviour. His work examines the role of emotions in strategic decision-making, leadership and other facets of organizational life. He has published over 110 papers, book chapters and technical reports, and serves as a reviewer for numerous publications including the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and the Journal of Business and Psychology. He is a frequent media commentator and his research and its implications have been reported in national media.

Murphy has also consulted extensively in both private and public sectors, primarily on leadership development, senior management dynamics and executive coaching with clients that include most federal government departments and private sector clients in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and San Jose.

Murphy has taught in the MBA program at the University of Ottawa, and has dealt extensively with executive education in the Master’s Program in Leadership at Lancaster University in the U.K. In 2010/11, he was a visiting academic fellow at the University of Western Australia’s Business School.

PhD in Management candidate Vinita Ambwani won second place for her thesis summary about “Untying the Ribbons: Exploring Gift-giving Motives and their Relationship to Human Values”. She took home a cash prize of $500 and advances to the provincial championships taking place at Queen’s University on April 18.

“In three minutes or less, each of the 20 grad students who participated wowed the crowd with their concise and compelling explanations of their research and how it impacts our lives,” said Wallace Clement, dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs. “This is not an easy feat considering the depth and complexity of research conducted at the graduate level.”

Tessa Innocent-Bernard from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering won first place and $1000 cash for her presentation on “Evaporation in Oil Sand Thickened Tailings: The Path to Reclamation”. Third place and $250 cash went to Brian Cosland from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who spoke about “Cleaner Air from Fire and Lasers”.

The event was co-sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Affairs and the Graduate Students’ Association.

A major Canadian study by Carleton University’s Linda Duxbury and Christopher Higgins at Western University, prepared in partnership with Desjardins Insurance, has found that an increasing number of employees are providing care for children, elderly parents or both, and that they need more support from employers and governments. One of the strengths of this report is that is provides concrete recommendations to employers who are interested in how best to address this critical issue.

“Canadians are delaying parenting and are more likely to have both younger children and older parents,’’ said Duxbury.  “Canadian companies must start addressing the needs of these employees if they want to attract and retain talent. Support for these caregivers must be considered a business imperative.”

The study examined the work-life experiences in 2011-2012 of more than 25,000 Canadians, mostly highly-educated managers and professionals at larger firms. The study included an in-depth survey of 8,000 caregivers and 111 follow-up interviews to get the most up-to-date information on this critical topic.

”Professors Duxbury and Higgins are renowned experts in this field, and the scale and scope of this study give us a much deeper understanding of what our plan members really need,” said Jean-François Chalifoux, Senior Vice-President, Group Business Insurance with Desjardins Insurance. ”It will help us develop services that take the needs of caregiving employees into account, which, in turn, will help our clients manage their healthcare costs.”

Among the study’s findings:

• Up to 35 per cent of the 25,021 employees surveyed were balancing work with caregiving and/or childcare.
• Men were increasingly involved in caregiving roles.
• Decline in family sizes means there are fewer family members to help.
• Ninety per cent of employees viewed caregiving as a family responsibility; 83 per cent chose to take on the responsibility.
• Caregivers were coping by bringing work home, giving up sleep, personal time and their social lives.
• Balancing work and caregiving significantly increases the likelihood employees will be absent, use company benefits, turn down a promotion, be less productive and work fewer hours.

”An organization’s bottom line will be impacted if real support is not given to caregivers, especially those caring for both young children and elderly parents -“sandwich” caregivers,” said Duxbury. ”They reported the lowest levels of perceived health and very high levels of stress and depressed mood overall – the highest we observed in our sample of 25,000 employed Canadians.”

Employees in the sandwich group were evenly split between generation Xers and baby boomers, dispelling the myth that older employees are mostly likely to be caregivers.

• The study recommends that employers provide:
• Flexible work arrangements to address time-consuming health and daily-living assistance.
• Expanded Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAPs) to help employees cope with the need to provide emotionally-taxing support to aging family members.
• Training to communicate the importance of this issue to management.
• Seminars for employees to help them manage the emotional strain of caregiving.
• Paid and unpaid leaves of absence.
• Caregiver support networks in the workplace.
• Crisis and project management training.

“People can chose whether or not to have children but they cannot chose whether or not to have parents,” says Duxbury. “We urgently need to redefine work-life issues to include not just working parents but employees who are caring for loved ones in the end stages of their life.”

A copy of the study can be found here:

• Executive Summary
• Conclusions and Implications

About Carleton University:

Located in the nation’s capital, Carleton University is a dynamic research and teaching institution with a tradition of leading change. Its internationally recognized faculty, staff and researchers provide more than 25,000 full- and part-time students from every province and more than 100 countries around the world with academic opportunities in more than 65 programs of study, including public affairs, journalism, film studies, engineering, high technology, and international studies. Carleton’s creative, interdisciplinary and international approach to research has led to many significant discoveries and creative works in science and technology, business, governance, public policy and the arts. As an innovative institution Carleton is uniquely committed to developing solutions to real-world problems by pushing the boundaries of knowledge and understanding daily.

About Desjardins Insurance:

Desjardins Insurance has been offering a wide range of life and health insurance and retirement savings products to individuals, groups and businesses for more than a century. As one of Canada’s five largest life insurers, they oversee the financial security of over five million Canadians from offices across the country. Desjardins Insurance is part of Desjardins Group, the country’s leading cooperative financial group. Desjardins Insurance refers to Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company.

Media Contact:

(Originally published in Carleton’s Newsroom)

Sprott’s UNICC team from left to right: Victoria Barrio, Chris Sauve, Stephanie Ade and Rhea Higginson.

Sprott’s NIBS team from left to right: Mimi Lam, Leuven student host, Stephaine Lawrence, Kendra Thorogood, Ross Park.

“With a bronze in academics at JDCC, a first and a second at ICBC, a strong showing at JMUCC, a third at NIBS and now a second at Navarra, Sprott has earned a reputation as a force to be reckoned with on the case competition circuit,” says Rob Riordan, faculty advisor of Sprott’s case competition program.

“UNICC was an amazing, emotional experience,” says Chris Sauvé, member of Sprott’s Universidad de Navarra competition team. “Even setting aside the opportunity to experience the beautiful landscape and incredible hospitality of Spain, I am sure I will remember the week for years to come. Over the week we went through an incredible transformation from four smart, capable individuals to one amazing team, plus one kinda-great coach.”

The Sprott School was one of 12 teams invited to take part in the Universidad de Navarra International Case Competition (UNICC 13), which took place March 11 to 16 on Navarra’s campus in Pamplona. Coached by Professor Rob Riordan, the Sprott team of Stephanie Ade (fourth year Bachelor of Commerce), Victoria Barrio (third year Bachelor of Commerce), Rhea Higginson (fourth year Bachelor of Commerce) and Chris Sauvé (fourth year Bachelor of Commerce) proved to be fierce competitors among teams from Austria, Finland, Spain, United States and Canada, including Western University’s Ivey School of Business, the University of Alberta and Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. The Sprott team topped their division following two, head-to-head, three-hour case resolutions and an intense 24-hour case. Their strong performance in the finals, against Aalto (Finland) and John Molson, was awarded the silver medal.

The championship round of the NIBS Worldwide Case Competition took place March 3 to 9 at the Leuven University College in Leuven, Belgium. Coached by Professor Robin Ritchie, the NIBS team of Mimi Lam (fourth year Bachelor of International Business), Stephaine Lawrence (fourth year Bachelor of International Business), Ross Park (fourth year Bachelor of Commerce) and Kendra Thorogood (fourth year Bachelor of International Business) were among the top 10 teams in the preliminary written case round advance to the championships in Belgium. In the championship, the team was pitted in head-to-head competition among teams from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Thailand, the U.S. and Canada. The Sprott team delivered an outstanding performance during the three-day round robin of four-hour case resolutions and semi-final round to take third place.

The case competition experience provides students with an incredible experiential learning opportunity, equipping them with skills highly valued by employers, such as problem solving, communication and teamwork.

“I learned how to be more than just an accounting student,” says Sauvé. “Even when I was doing accounting cases, you aren’t just solving accounting problems; you are solving business problems. It really builds your ability to think holistically, to understand these problems at a fundamental level. In the end, it gives me the ability to apply this to all of my courses and my work, which makes me a much more valuable person to have around.”

Both teams prepared for months in advance through Sprott Competes, Sprott’s case competition training program that is run by Professors Riordan and Ritchie. Members of Sprott competition teams are chosen through a rigorous selection process.

To read more about Sprott students at interuniversity case competitions, check out our competition news archive.

Entrepreneurship and innovation are the major focuses of Mika Westerlund and other researchers involved in living labs. Creating new industries is one way of stimulating community innovation, notes Westerlund, an assistant professor with the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton.

“I’m interested in open and user innovation, with living labs as the current focus,” says Westerlund.

Full article published in Carleton Research Works. Read more…

But a couple of years turned into about 20 years with Nortel where Hudson ended up supervising about 600 employees.

During his final years at Nortel, he was responsible for its external research program.

“This program had me working with grad students and professors at several schools, including Carleton, on a number of exciting research activities and reminded me of my plan,” says Hudson. “When I decided to go back to my original plan, I found that I was now more interested in how technology gets used, often in surprising ways, by people. So the Sprott School of Business made perfect sense to me and CITOP was a great fit too.”

Read more…

RBC has a longstanding relationship supporting CREWW, which was launched in 1992 to facilitate and disseminate cutting-edge research on women and the workplace, build bridges to the community and offer innovative programs to develop Canadian business leaders.

The funds will contribute to new research on workplace diversity to better understand the obstacles that may be keeping employees from reaching their full potential. The donation will also support a distance education program delivered by Carleton’s Management Development Program for Women (MDPW) and a speakers’ series on women in management, with additional support for another leadership lecture series at the Sprott School of Business.

“We are grateful to RBC for its valuable support and leadership,” said Carleton President Roseann O’Reilly Runte. “This program profoundly influences the lives and careers of these students, enabling their professional advancement and a significant impact on regional and national economic development.”

“RBC is proud to make this $1 million commitment to the Carleton Centre for Research and Education on Women and Work and we are confident that with this donation, the Centre will strengthen the advancement of women in the workplace,” said Zabeen Hirji, Chief Human Resources Officer, RBC. “We believe that achieving gender equality is both the smart thing and the right thing to do, and this focus has made us a more competitive, relevant organization for our clients and employees, and a better corporate citizen for the communities we serve.”

“Working with business to make a difference in our community is a key goal of the Centre,” said Lorraine Dyke, Director of CREWW and a Sprott faculty member. “RBC is a leader on gender and diversity issues and it is a privilege to be able to continue to partner with such a progressive organization on this important work of breaking down barriers.”

Today’s donation is part of the RBC’s recognition of International Women’s Day. RBC is a strong advocate of women entrepreneurs, women in leadership, women in public life and those in community leadership. The bank is also committed to advancing the cause of women both in their workplace and in their communities.

“Our hope is that others in the business community will make similar commitments to help make a difference for women in the communities in which we live and work,” said Jeff Boyd, Regional President, Ontario North and East, RBC.

The Management Development Program for Women, unique in Canada, has a 20-year track record of success and is a proven career accelerator for women. Carleton’s goal is to take the success of this program online, offering it nationally as a distance education program that can reach women in remote communities, particularly Aboriginal women, who are assuming leadership roles with little support.

With the support of the Royal Bank Visiting Chair on Women and Work, Carleton conducted three major research initiatives between 1996 and 2003 that led to a deeper understanding of women in the workplace and career development. These projects resulted in three major conferences, two books and multiple research papers.

Visit our website for more information on CREWW and the Management Development Program for Women.

For more information on RBC’s efforts to advance women in the workplace, the marketplace and the communities check out the RBC Diversity Blueprint™ or visit the Community & Sustainability section of rbc.com.

About Carleton University:

Located in the nation’s capital, Carleton University is a dynamic research and teaching institution with a tradition of leading change. Its internationally recognized faculty, staff and researchers provide more than 25,000 full- and part-time students from every province and more than 100 countries around the world with academic opportunities in more than 65 programs of study, including public affairs, journalism, film studies, engineering, high technology, and international studies. Carleton’s creative, interdisciplinary and international approach to research has led to many significant discoveries and creative works in science and technology, business, governance, public policy and the arts. As an innovative institution Carleton is uniquely committed to developing solutions to real-world problems by pushing the boundaries of knowledge and understanding daily.

About RBC Community and Sustainability: 

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 49 other countries. RBC is recognized among the world’s financial, social and environmental leaders and is listed on the 2012 – 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the DJSI North American Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the FTSE4Good Index. RBC is one of Canada’s Greenest Employers, one of Canada’s 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations and among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed more than

$95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in sponsorships.

Media Contact:  Christopher Cline, Carleton Communications, 613-520-2600, ext. 1391

Best of TIM Review for Technology Entrepreneurs  is a must-read for entrepreneurs in the technology industry and compiles the top 16 articles from the Technology Innovation Management Review (TIM Review), a journal published by the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton.

The eBook ranks number one in the categories of “Bestseller in Entrepreneurship”, “Bestseller in Small Business and Entrepreneurship” and “Hot New Release in Small Business and Entrepreneurship”.  It is available for purchase from Amazon for $9.99 (ISBN: 978-0-77-9-0559-0).  Net proceeds from the sales will pay for the operating costs of the TIM Review.

It is the first in a series of eight eBooks being published by TIM program.  For more information, read the full article published in Carleton’s newsroom.

Today’s class assignment? Work out a great investment strategy. The Fund @ Sprott has been providing real, hands-on learning opportunities that provide students with a tremendous advantage once they graduate, whether they go on to further education or enter the professional world. This year, 22 finance students in the Sprott School of Business will work together to manage and grow the portfolio’s million dollars in assets and get a taste of what their futures may hold.

Members of the 2012-13 management team of The Fund @ Sprott.

“Coming out of the fund, we have very successful student placements including Export Development Canada (EDC) and at Brookfield Asset Management,” said Howard Nemiroff, faculty advisor for the Fund @ Sprott and an associate professor with the Sprott School of Business. “We have graduates working in Toronto on the Direct Energy trading desk, at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in wealth management and at Barclays working on the energy desk.”

Students working with the fund are given the opportunity to learn investment strategies in a team environment. All members contribute to the analysis process; helping to assemble the ideal portfolio that safely and wisely grows the fund’s capital.

“I would go so far as to say that those who participate in the fund for a year or two will do more in that time than graduates will do in their first two or three years on the job,“ said Nemiroff. “Typically, you will see students who have been involved with the fund proceeding along a very successful career path at an accelerated rate. They are often looked at first when entering competitions for jobs or graduate school admissions.”

“I credit the fund with getting me into a top American graduate finance program,” said James Heard, MSF, energy analyst with Barclays investment banking. “After just a month in graduate school, Barclays hired me. I think it is fair to credit the fund and Sprott for getting me my first job. My graduate school interview focused on the intangible skills I learned at the fund, including leadership, teamwork, recruiting and motivational skills.

“Working at the fund gave me the confidence to communicate value related material. When I am discussing business or investment decisions, I lean on my time at the fund, which gave me the skills to defend my recommendations. That is interviewing 101 in investment banking, having these discussions on the fly as people pepper you with questions.”

The fund’s goal has always been to give as much responsibility and direction to students as possible. The students, with faculty oversight, take the fund where they want it to go. This enables students to pursue whatever avenues they deem to be prudent or interesting. They must stay grounded in theory and answer the hard questions. They bring ideas and tasks to the faculty advisor, not the other way around, and that is unique.

This opportunity attracts a wide variety of students and it’s difficult to identify any single characteristic that makes a candidate ideal for the fund. However, one thing that is always desirable in a candidate is a spark of curiosity.

“I am looking for the student who is willing to lift up the rocks and see what is underneath, rather than just looking at the textbook and saying this is what I need to know as part of the exam, “ said Nemiroff. “They must want to go that extra mile and think outside the box. When it comes to finance and specifically to money management, there is a lot outside the box. Nobody really knows the right answers because there are no right answers. Those that are willing to go out and explore and do their due diligence are those that shine. They are the ones that also shine when they go out for interviews.”

“To me the decision to join the fund was very personal, as I have always been curious about the financial markets,” said Sydney Van Vierzen, portfolio manager at the Fund @Sprott and Bachelor of Commerce student. “When I heard about the fund, it wasn’t so much an opportunity to answer the questions I already had, it was an avenue to discover new questions I hadn’t realized. I wanted to expand my understanding and immerse myself in the world of finance.

“I was trying to explore the opportunities here at Carleton and learn more about various business disciplines when I discovered the fund,” said Mimi Lam, sector manager with the Fund @ Sprott and Bachelor of International Business student. “It was through the fund that I discovered my passion for finance. Work on the fund takes the knowledge you gain in class and removes it from the classroom setting. It gives you a better sense of what real life is all about.

“It is hard to say what opportunities may be right around the corner for me. I am open to anything finance related. However, I am confident the fund has prepared me for anything I’ll encounter after I graduate.“

About the Fund @ Sprott

The Fund @ Sprott was established in September 2007 with $50,000 of endowment capital and the mandate to give standout students in Carleton’s Sprott School of Business the opportunity to engage in real investment management. During the first four years, the students managed to grow the capital base by 25 per cent, despite one of the worst economic recessions in history. In 2011, the Sprott School committed an additional $1 million in the fund. Alumni of the fund have gone on to successful careers in investment management at such organizations as Bank of Canada, Barclays, Barra MSCI, Brookfield Asset Management, Export Development Canada, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and TD Waterhouse.

(Reprint of article posted in Carleton University Newsroom)