Goodman: The Magazine, Summer 2021 - Vol. 4, Issue 1

Summer 2021 Volume 4 Issue 1

Meet Goodman’s Executive in Residence

Bringing the world to students

A monster of an idea

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS

13

Dean’s message................................................................................................ 3 Goodman news: New and notable............................................................... 4 The legacy of business education at Brock................................................. 6 Business Matters event focuses on inclusive decision-making............... 10 The man who keeps Goodman's virtual world turning............................. 11 A whole new world for global education.................................................... 12 Meet Goodman's Executive in Residence.................................................... 13 Goodman earns prestigious designation..................................................... 14 How to gain a world of perspective in 24 hours........................................ 16 A passion for parkour led Goodman grad to China................................... 17 How Goodman student leaders thrived in online environments........... 18 Breathing new life into professional development................................... 20 Accounting research unearths true cost of cheap conflict minerals..... 21 New faculty members join Goodman team............................................... 22 Dean's Advisory Council.................................................................................. 22 Once a teacher, always a teacher................................................................. 23 Monster Pitch winners dig up success with creation of DirtMarket...... 24

24

International accolades for UN Co-op program partnership.................. 25 Prof's Perspective: Employment for marginalized persons...................... 26

PUBLICATION MANAGER Susan LeBlanc EDITOR Kaitlyn Little ASSISTANT EDITOR Tiffany Mayer DESIGNER Kev Greene PUBLISHER Goodman School of Business

2

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

CONTRIBUTORS Kemi Anazodo, Sakthiha Jeyendran Kaitlyn Little, Cathy Majtenyi, Tiffany Mayer, Jocelyn Titone, Simran Sandhu

PHOTOGRAPHY Fab Formisano, Julie Jocsak, Danika Leminski

PRODUCTION Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario ISSN 2561-6706 (Print) ISSN 2561-6714 (Online) goodman@brocku.ca

ON THE COVER The Goodman community celebrated the official completion of the School’s building expansion project this winter with name being added to the exterior.

DEAN’S MESSAGE I hope this summer issue finds you and those close to you in good health. The 2021-22 academic year marks a milestone in our university’s history as the 50th anniversary of business studies commencing at Brock. In September 1971, Brock launched the BAdmin degree to respond to the community’s expressed need for business education. Now, 50 years later that initial investment in community-dedicated business education is generating a sustained return with increasing impact over time.

In the centre spread of this issue, we are proud to share the findings of the Business School Impact System (BSIS) report, which quantifies the impact of our Goodman activities in the community. The School received the globally recognized BSIS label for our significant contributions and impact being made within our community.

You will also read about a recent sustainability reporting webinar Goodman hosted, which is Brock’s largest online event to date, bringing together more than 1,800 professionals worldwide to talk about this increasingly important issue. The impact sustainability reporting measures will have on both global business and the accounting profession is profound.

In this issue we also welcome former AACSB President and CEO Tom Robinson as Goodman’s Executive in Residence for Quality Assurance. You can read about his impressive background in quality assurance in business education and his plans for this new role within our School.

As we enter into the next 50 years, we focus on our responsibility as a global leader in business education offering world-class programs. We look towards underscoring the importance of responsible business education and commit to our values of passion, perseverance and professionalism in our response to being a a business school, which is accessible to all and remains committed to the needs of our community.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

Andrew Gaudes, PhD, ICD.D Dean, Goodman School of Business

SPRING 2021

3

GOODMAN NEWS

NEW AND NOTABLE newspaper GOODMAN SYMPOSIUM EXPLORES BUSINESS IN POST-PANDEMIC ECONOMY

C

ollectively reimagining what work, life, business and education will look like after COVID-19 was the focus of discussion at the annual accounting symposium hosted by the Goodman School of Business CPA Ontario Centre for Public Policy in February.

Keynote speaker Jean McClellan, National Consulting People and Organization Leader at PwC Canada, has been closely monitoring how the pandemic has been impacting both employees and organizations.

Her talk, “New World. New Skills. For the New Reality,” focused on upskilling — how organizations give employees opportunities to gain the knowledge, tools and the ability to adapt to the ever-changing technologies in the workplace and their daily lives.

Skills relating to employee wellness have become more important over the last few years, McClellan said.

But COVID-19 has only enhanced the need to focus in this area.

“On a day-to-day basis, I see frontline leaders and

professionals struggle with knowing how to support their teams,” McClellan said. “Continued focus on skill building in this area is critically important.”

Goodman Associate Prof. Anamitra Shome led a panel discussion at the event and noted employees don’t want to return to the pre-pandemic definition of an office. Shome is investigating whether changes in the workplace in response to COVID-19 will result in a change in employer perceptions towards online training

and employee skill development.

“There was a consensus among the panelists that to succeed in the post-COVID-19 world, firms would need to ensure workplace flexibility while putting in place robust processes for fostering and sustaining employee perceptions of well-being, connectedness and belonging,” Shome said.

A recording of the symposium can be watched on Goodman’s YouTube channel.

BROCK EVENT LEADS INTERNATIONAL CONVERSATION ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has increased the focus on environmental, social and governance issues by investors, policy-makers and educators.

But the absence of a global standard is hindering the widespread adoption of sustainability reporting.

To help shape the future of sustainability reporting, Brock University brought together global experts in May for an online discussion hosted by the Goodman School of Business’s CPA Ontario Centre for Public Policy and Innovation in Accounting.

It was the largest online event ever held at Brock

4

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

with more than 1,800 participants and 3,600 registrants viewing the discussion.

The event featured two sustainability reporting panels with the first looking at meeting stakeholder needs and the second discussing materiality versus corporate greenwashing.

Samir Trabelsi, event organizer and Professor of Accounting and Governance at Goodman, said business reporting has expanded beyond the financial, so it’s important for practitioners and users to have these discussions.

“Sustainability standards should be stakeholder driven but there needs to be a set of checks and balances put in place to keep organizations from engaging in greenwashing,” he said. “The accounting profession has an obligation to stay informed, communicate and be an active participant in shaping the future course of sustainability reporting.”

A recording of the discussion is available to watch on Goodman’s YouTube channel.

BROCK BRINGS ICEWINE EDUCATION TO FRANCE WITH NEW COLLABORATION

W

ine and gastronomy graduate students in France’s Champagne region recently gained an in-depth understanding of one of Canada’s top wine exports thanks to a new partnership with Brock University.

The course, titled “A Canadian Icewine Story: From production to consumption and beyond,” was organized in a collaboration between Brock’s Goodman School of Business and NEOMA Business School’s MSc in Wine and Gastronomy program.

Nathalie Spielmann, Director of the MSc program in Reims, France, worked with Goodman to create an online experience that immersed students in a new-world wine region.

“It was great for students to learn about a product not made in France, to learn from other teachers and to have a virtual tasting,” Spielmann said.

The course, which ran for the first time in March, included technical information on production of this signature style from leading Icewine researcher Debbie Inglis, Director of Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.

Students then heard from Narongsak (Tek) Thongpapanl, Goodman’s Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Marketing Professor, about the unique marketing considerations of the product. For consumers, Icewine has an experience curve different than other wine styles that can be steeper to climb in the beginning.

“It was great to use this educational session to present the history and life of Canadian Icewine that might be the fundamental reason of why we are the No. 1 producer of Icewine in the world in quantity and arguably quality, too, and to share our in-house expertise on Icewine production and consumption,” Thongpapanl said.

GOODMAN RECEIVES ACCOLADES FROM INTERNATIONAL HONOUR SOCIETY

G

oodman recently garnered international attention when it received the Beta Gamma Sigma Silver Chapter of the Year for 2021.

The award is given based on chapter performance.

More than 600 chapters around the world are eligible for Beta Gamma Sigma’s highest chapters recognition.

Abu Dhabi University was the 2021 Gold Chapter while the Grossman Business School at the University of Vermont received this year’s bronze award.

The accolades come with a US$1,000 scholarship, which has been awarded to third-year Bachelor of Accounting student Ali Elkhodary.

Beta Gamma Sigma’s mission is to encourage and honour academic achievement in the study of business, to cultivate and celebrate leadership and professional excellence, to advance values of society, and serve its lifelong members.

NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM INTRODUCES NEWCOMERS TO CANADIAN BUSINESS

A

new online Goodman program aims to help internationally trained professionals secure a job in their field to match their level of education and experience.

The Canadian Business for Internationally Trained Professionals program is organized

by Goodman Group, the School’s community-focused learning and development services provider, in collaboration with Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre, Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre, Niagara Workforce Planning Board, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce, YMCA of Niagara, CERF Niagara and Immigrants Working Centre in Hamilton.

Goodman Group Director Abdul Rahimi said the program is designed to show employers that although these employees may be new to the country, they are equipped with the skills to easily transition into jobs in Canada today.

“We frequently hear from employers about the skills they would like to see in their employees.

Internationally trained professionals bring this expertise and experience, and what they lack in terms of the Canadian context, they make up with their international perspective,” Rahimi said. “By providing them with essential knowledge of the Canadian business environment, the program bridges that gap and gets them ready to make a difference sooner.”

The three-month program provides participants with an academic component and the opportunity to work with local organizations to help understand the cultural and professional landscape in Niagara. The academic courses focus on business law, business communication and Ontario-specific information on accounting, human resource management, labour standards and employment law.

Financial assistance and complimentary child care were made available to participants to offset the cost of enrolment.

SPRING 2021

5

THE LEGACY OF

BUSINESS EDUCATION AT BROCK

By Tiffany Mayer

F

IFTY YEARS AGO, Brock University welcomed its first class of business students.

There were only 13 of them but they took a chance on a program that hadn’t even hired all its professors yet. In fact, it wasn’t even a standalone Faculty. The program was housed under the umbrella of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Things have changed significantly since then. No longer a department within another faculty, it’s now the Goodman School of Business, offering programs of national and international prestige.

But for all that’s changed, there’s much that’s stayed the same, and that’s why the School has been — and remains — a calling card for the brightest, most tenacious and innovative students.

Goodman: The Magazine caught up with alumni through the decades to see where their business education led them, and what led them to Brock and Goodman in the first place.

6

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

MARK ARTHUR (BAdmin ’77)

There aren’t many Goodman alumni who can say they took every business course offered during their degrees.

Mark Arthur can, however. It’s a bragging right that comes with being among the first cohort to graduate from Brock University’s business program, long before there was the Goodman School of Business, even before there was a Faculty of Business.

Back then, Arthur was a student of the School of Administrative Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences. He was also one of 13 students to take a chance on a fledgling program that would become a flagship for Brock.

Ask Arthur, though, and attending Brock for business was more about bypassing Grade 13 in high school than pursuing a lifelong dream.

In the mid-70s, Brock hosted six-week summer programs for Grade 12 students. If attendees passed the program, they were admitted into their first year of university.

That was Arthur’s gateway. In his second year, he decided to focus on business. Doing so required a bit of blind faith, however. Third- and fourth-year courses weren’t determined yet because faculty hadn’t been hired. Still, there were perks.

“It was a constructive learning environment because of the small class sizes,” Arthur said. “But there was no hiding under the tables either.”

That meant being ready to be called on, a skill that helped Arthur through his subsequent master’s degree in finance at Western University, then in his career in investments and asset management. Today, Arthur is the Executive Vice-President of CWB Wealth Management in Toronto.

He hasn’t forgotten where he got his start, though. Arthur now sits on Goodman’s Advisory Council and is the chair-elect of Brock’s Board of Trustees, where he takes stock of how far his alma mater has come — and can go.

“I’m very excited by its evolution,” he said. “It’s become much deeper, much more international. There’s great depth in the academic talent, depth and breadth of courses, and strong leadership.”

SHELLEY CHEMNITZ (BAcc ’89)

Accountants possess a certain pragmatism and Shelley Chemnitz is no exception.

In the mid-1980s, the St. Catharines native chose to study accounting at Brock for the obvious reason: “Brock simply had the program I wanted,” Chemnitz recalled.

It also had co-op education. Chemnitz was keen for work experience, having no professional — or previous university graduate — in her family to lean on for mentoring.

There were other benefits Chemnitz would come to realize once she took a seat in a Brock classroom. Accounting was a small program, enabling a self-professed introvert to connect with classmates and flourish academically. It also helped Chemnitz fine-tune her career path, particularly during work terms.

Chemnitz completed her co-op placements at Durward Jones Barkwell & Company, and was hired by the St. Catharines firm after graduation.

That’s where she learned public accounting wasn’t for her.

Handling the finances of a municipality would be her calling instead.

Chemnitz was hired by the City of St. Catharines in 1991 as a frontline accounting supervisor after her mother convinced her to apply.

“I thought ‘Geez, City Hall. How exciting can that be? How exciting can government work be?’ I remember driving into work the first day, still unsure, and I thought ‘I hope this isn’t a mistake.’ ” Thirty years later, Chemnitz is retiring as the City’s first female Chief Administrative Officer, the highest bureaucratic post in the organization.

There’s pride in having contributed to critical decisions that bettered her hometown over the years, including — perhaps especially — during the pandemic.

“There was so much opportunity and I was prepared really well with my degree and subsequent CA,” Chemnitz said about her work with the City.

Now as she heads into retirement, she’s preparing for the possibility of something else: more education — but nothing to do with accounting.

“You don’t go into co-op accounting and business because the courses are riveting,” Chemnitz said with a laugh. “Now that I’m retired, I wouldn’t mind going back to get an education in a less practical subject.”

SPRING 2021

7

KRISTINE EMMETT (BBA ’90)

Small classes and tough professors are enough to scare off some students from a university program.

Not Kristine Emmett. She wanted to get to know her professors and interact with her classmates so she opted to study business at Brock. She didn’t know it at the time, but those opportunities gave her essential skills for a career spanning operations, marketing, government relations, sales, starting her own executive and team coaching busienss, and now as a Vice-President of Human Resources for BCE Inc. “One of the benefits I did not expect with small classes and getting to know my professors was the ability to frequently prepare and deliver presentations, which would have been less frequent with larger classes,” Emmett said. “Part of that early development of the executive presence comes from being challenged to connect with professors, establish credibility, communicate clearly and concisely, and to think on your feet.”

Still, being a vice-president of human resources wasn’t her original plan.

Emmett originally enrolled in co-op accounting but then realized marketing was her passion.

“One of the things I liked about Brock is the first two years (of the BBA degree) are very general and then you pick what you want to major in.

Getting a taste of everything is critical before actually picking a major.”

Even better that her favourite professor was also one of her toughest, readying her for boardrooms and climbing the corporate ladder to a level so few rise. “That prepares you for what the business world is going to be like. Students wouldn’t show up for his class unprepared more than once,” Emmett recalled.

More than 30 years after graduating, Emmett has used virtually every skill in her career that she learned at Brock.

“That holistic education is so critical for me,” she said. “I’ve really drawn upon all the areas I learned when I was in school and the more senior you are, the more you draw on those disciplines.”

8

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

JON FABER (BBA ’02)

Jon Faber started his accounting degree at Brock with a typical goal: graduate in four years and start a career.

Except it took him 18 years to become an accountant. Faber credits Brock for the gift of the scenic route to becoming president and CEO at Pason Systems, an energy technology company in Calgary. His long and winding path started in residence in first year. As a twin from Strathroy, Ont., Faber was always part of a pair. But he “found out who he is” living and studying on campus.

“Brock was the first time I was seen as an individual,” Faber recalled.

By second year, he was committed to residence life and its benefits.

Faber also switched to marketing. His enviable GMAT score and a full scholarship offer after graduating in 2002 inspired Faber to get his MBA in international management from Purdue University through studies in Hannover, Germany, including a consulting assignment in Switzerland.

That was followed by a decade in investment banking in Canada, during which he earned the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Business Valuator designations.

“If you want to go into investment banking, the last thing you should do is take a marketing degree at Brock and international management for an MBA,” Faber said with a laugh.

Still, that path led him to meeting Pason’s CEO, who inspired Faber to join the company. Faber took over the CFO role in 2014 and, five years later, was counted among the top seven per cent of CFOs in the world as rated by global shareholders in a survey with Brendan Wood International.

While serving as CFO, Faber finally completed studies to become a Chartered Professional Accountant. Ask him, though, and the accolades are because of the magic he works with words, not numbers.

“Most of what I do in my role is communicate. It’s critical to be able to deliver key messages to employees, customers and shareholders,” he said.

That’s a skill honed largely by starting at Brock in those residence halls, small business school classes and smaller seminars, all of which forced him to, well, communicate.

“A lot of how I progressed in my career was because of those small classes at Brock and presenting in those classes,” he said. “They’re clear in my mind as a bell.”

WENJIE DENG (BAcc ’10, MBA ’12)

Working at the Canada Revenue Agency seems an obvious fit for Wenjie Deng, given his accounting education. But after years as a tax avoidance auditor, his current role might be a surprise.

Deng is the regional chair of the CRA’s Western Region Young Professionals Network, a role that sees him mentor young professionals, including future leaders, within the federal agency. Deng supports them in their career development, including building connections and being innovative.

But Deng’s time at Brock was largely spent number crunching, not studying human resources. Still, advising others on how to be and do their best is, in many ways, Deng paying it forward.

Deng arrived at Brock in 2007 as a transfer student from a partner university in China. “It wasn’t really easy for me. The culture, the language, everything was so different than I was used to at home,” Deng recalled.

But he had the support of faculty and staff — from professors who encouraged him to pursue his Certified General Accountant designation to the Career Office, which helped him write his resume and cover letter, and build professional connections at accounting events.

All in, it enabled Deng to graduate as a Beta Gamma Sigma inductee, the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can earn. He then went on to do his MBA. Deng also did an exchange in Germany, studying and working there, including for insurance and asset management giant Allianz SE in Munich.

Again, these were opportunities that came by way of being a Brock student backed by the people who knew his potential.

Deng largely credits the business program’s small classes with helping him tap into a support system he’s certain he wouldn’t have had at other, larger universities. Even the relationships he continues to have with many professors — similar to the connections he nurtures at the CRA — would be unlikely.

“I still keep in touch with them. They became like lifetime mentors to me,” Deng said.

“Never underestimate the power of networking and let people know where you want to be. The person next to you might just give you that chance.”

NIMRAT KAUR BRAR (BBA ’21)

When Nimrat Kaur Brar started at the Goodman School of Business, she walked the corridors of a dark and dated Taro Hall.

When she graduates this year, she’ll walk out the doors of a modern university building that’s a focal point on campus.

Brar has seen a metamorphic change during her time at Goodman with the school becoming more and more a flagship of Brock’s academic offerings. Still, her story bears similarities to other graduates who came before her.

Brar came to Goodman for the small class sizes. She knew they would provide an environment in which she felt comfortable to push herself.

In her first year, Brar enrolled in accounting and signed up for DECA as a delegate. The latter introduced her to different elements of business education and people she wouldn’t have met in the tight-knit accounting program. Her involvement with the student group compelled her to study marketing instead.

“Once I realized that accounting isn’t the only option or the best option, I could explore other business education options, too,” Brar recalled. “I think I had a very well-rounded experience.”

And a supportive one, too — something for which Goodman has become known, she noted.

“You felt like the school was supporting you in any way you needed.

Even when we would go to other events, you always hear that about Goodman — the support for students.”

Brar will graduate during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most challenging times in modern history. It’s given her new perspective on life after school. She plans to spend time with her family before pursuing a career filled with possibilities in marketing and entrepreneurship.

“My time at Goodman taught me the transferrable skills I need to go into whatever field I choose to. (My degree) provides lots of flexibility, which is important in a post-pandemic world,” she said. “Over the years, I’ve become more confident with failure. That’s one of the skills I learned: It’s OK to try, it’s OK to fail, and it’s OK to try again. I think the future has endless opportunities.”

SPRING 2021

9

BUSINESS MATTERS EVENT FOCUSES ON INCLUSIVE DECISION-MAKING

Kareen Brown, Goodman 2020-21 Graduate Teaching award recipient.

By Kaitlyn Little

B

uilding inclusive business environments goes beyond buzzwords and corporate policies. So what does it take to get there? The consensus from a panel at a recent Goodman event is it requires a deep look internally and a willingness to make change.

Inclusive decision-making was the theme of the 2021 Business Matters event, held virtually Tuesday, April 13. The event was the sixth in a series of panel talks on emerging business topics moderated by Todd Green, Associate Professor of Marketing at Goodman.

The panel included Mark Dockstator, former President of First Nations University and current leader of the Indigenous Knowledge Initiative at Queen’s University; Leela MadhavaRau, Director of Human Rights and Equity at Brock University; Ivana Musich, Vice-President, Managing Director of Digital Products at No Fixed Address Inc. and Founder of Nomad; and Yvonne Nasri, Founder and CEO of Victory & Co. Emerging from the panelist’s discussion was the fact that inclusivity is a process and series of actions rather than something a single policy or statement could address. The panelists detailed considerations and steps people could take to create more inclusive and equitable environments.

“Begin the process from a starting point of let’s be truthful about where you are right now, how you got there, and why you want to change,” Dockstator said. “That may get us to being more inclusive, or it might not, but it’s a good starting point.”

Figuring out that starting point might require help from outside the organization to learn what organizational blind spots exist, Musich added.

“You essentially have to call yourself out,” Musich said. “It’s important to challenge your own point of view.

“At the end of the day we all want to be seen and we all want to be heard. I think inclusive practices allow us to do that and they really allow our best selves to show up and emerge at work.”

A recording of the event is available to watch on Goodman’s YouTube channel. The event is supported by the Willmot Foundation and is part of the D.G. Willmot leader series.

Anamitra Shome, Goodman Undergraduate Teaching Award recipient for 2020-21.

10

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

STUDENT-VOTED TEACHING AWARD WINNERS CELEBRATED

By Kaitlyn Little

F

or accounting professors Kareen Brown and Anamitra Shome, the recipients of this year’s student-voted Goodman School of Business teaching awards, the admiration their students showed them is mutual.

In a school year that was anything but typical, Brown, the recipient of the Graduate Teaching Award, and her colleagues who were teaching first-year MBA courses became the face of Brock for students who had yet to step on campus. They had to find new ways to connect with students across countries and time zones.

“The Teams meetings we did gave my days purpose,” Brown said. “We shared what life was like outside our windows. Whether it was in Canada, China, India, Ukraine or Vietnam the students were simply amazing.”

Anamitra Shome, the Undergraduate Teaching Award recipient, echoed similar sentiments as he thanked his students for continually challenging and inspiring him to be a better instructor.

“In short, I dedicate this award to my beloved students,” Shome said.

The awards were handed out at the annual Goodman Student Success Celebration held virtually Tuesday, April 27. The event also highlighted the significant accomplishments of student leaders who pivoted their clubs, competitions and activities online this year.

Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes recognized that despite the time or distance, and remote ways of working and learning, the School is just as connected as it was before the pandemic.

“We did it without being in a room at the same time and that wasn’t easy. It took a lot of your passion, perseverance and a high degree of professionalism in order to make this happen and for that I’m extremely proud of all or students, faculty and staff,” Gaudes said.

Harry Serabian, 2021 recipient of the Goodman Staff Member of the Year award.

D

REAL RECOGNITION FOR THE MAN KEEPING GSB’S VIRTUAL WORLD TURNING

By Tiffany Mayer

esks in home offices everywhere are weighed down with the miscellany of daily to-dos in this era of working from home.

In Harry Serabian’s case, his desk is groaning under the load of up to six computers at a time.

One is a personal computer. A couple others are laptops or desktops in need of diagnosing and, depending on the problem, a sendoff to the great tech junk heap.

And then there’s the machine he uses to keep the technology at Goodman — and the entire school, itself — running in a global pandemic.

It’s where Serabian, Goodman’s technical analyst, receives messages on Teams from professors and staff who’ve hit a snag with whatever computer or software they’re using.

It’s also where Serabian made such an impression over the past year, ensuring Goodman has operated as normally as possible in a time that’s anything but, that he received the annual Goodman Staff Award.

Serabian is humbled by the recognition. Mostly, though, he’s trying to keep his desk in order.

“It’s a bit of a mess, plus I have all my notes as I’m working on different things,” he said. “It’s trying to keep them all organized.”

Thinking back to March 2020, though, Serabian recalls an Information Technology team at Brock organizing to take the entire campus online in short order. Though he had a role to play testing machines to ensure those without a computer had the tools to work remotely, he’s quick to assert making the move from in-person work and learning to online was a team effort.

“It happened so fast for everybody,” he said. “Central IT built a virtual lab environment for the students mimicking the labs on campus. This was accomplished in a very short period of time. It was quite a feat. I kind of stood by watching but I was happy to be part of the team.”

The quick pivot to a different reality did bring some good that will linger long after the pandemic, he noted. It sped up plans to move everything to the cloud and wider adoption of SharePoint and other Office365 apps for everyone to work remotely.

Still, being the tech guy in a pandemic hasn’t always been easy, even if the heavy lifting of transitioning to an online work and learning space is long done. In a role that often requires hands-on diagnosing and fixing of problems, Serabian has had to navigate technology woes from afar.

That means a quick, straightforward fix in person requires more time to virtually.

“We’re still getting things done. Everything is taking a little longer,” he said.

“That’s what I’m finding — everything takes a little longer.”

Like Goodman’s friendly Big Brother, Serabian also worries when there’s a few days’ radio silence from those who typically reach out regularly for assistance.

“I was always there (on campus) but now it’s not knowing where everyone is at,” he said. “I always worry someone is struggling with something and since we’re not there, I worry they’re not getting in touch. If I haven’t heard from someone in a while, I’ll see how they’re doing.”

And that’s a big reason why Serabian received the staff award, endorsed by more than a dozen letters of support.

Still, as much of a hero as he’s been in this virtual world, Serabian is looking forward to helping with the School’s technology woes and projects IRL again and clearing a computer — or four — off his desk at home.

“I’m looking forward to going back,” he said. “It’s so much easier to be there. If there’s going to be people working there, someone (in IT) needs to be there.”

SPRING 2021

11

Globe-americas

A WHOLE NEW WORLD:

HOW THE PANDEMIC RESHAPED GLOBAL EDUCATION AT GOODMAN

By Tiffany Mayer

S

tudying abroad might sound like an impossibility in the age of COVID-19.

But as the pandemic grounded flights and limited world travel, opportunities for global education took off at Goodman.

The School signed on to the new International Partnership of Business Schools (IPBS) Virtual Global Course Exchange Program. The program, which launched in January, opened online courses at four IPBS schools in France, the U.S. and Mexico to Goodman’s nearly 3,000 students, allowing them an immersive global experience without the plane ride.

It will also give them a glimpse of the work world expected to emerge postpandemic, said Andrew Gaudes, IPBS President and Dean of the Goodman School of Business.

“By participating in a course offered in another country, students get to work in multicultural teams comprised of students with diverse experiences and perspectives,” Gaudes said. “It’s preparing them for the future of work, which will consist of working remotely alongside a virtually integrated global team of colleagues.”

Before the pandemic, studying at an IPBS school was an in-person affair limited only to students on exchange or enrolled in Goodman’s BBA Co-op Double Degree program, which includes two years learning and working abroad.

The double degree program moved entirely online in March 2020 after students were called home to Canada with the advent of pandemic. But that shift to virtual learning sparked new ideas for global engagement, explained Abbas Sumar, IPBS Virtual Mobility Program Chair.

“Our current IPBS partnerships target the double degree program almost exclusively and overlook a spectrum of opportunities, so the question was how do we create programming that increases engagement across the entire student body,” Sumar said.

Thanks to social media and other marketing strategies, Sumar expects enrolment in the program to grow steadily. At least two more universities, Elon University in

12

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

North Carolina and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy, will join the program’s four original schools, Goodman, NEOMA Business School in France, Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University and Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico, in offering courses.

The Virtual Global Course Exchange Program is about more than giving students an international academic experience, however.

“It’s about supporting equity, diversity and inclusion at Goodman by increasing access to high-quality international education for all learners, including those who may not have seen themselves as candidates for studying abroad,” said Heidi Madden, Goodman’s International Exchange Assistant.

Federal money has also been earmarked over the next five years to financially support marginalized Canadian university students who want to pursue short-, medium-, and long-term mobility opportunities. Goodman and Brock are considering all options, from a two-week, faculty-led field study to two-month global experiential learning or a semester exchange, for a possible share of the $85 million in funding.

When it comes to international courses, though, offering such opportunities from the comfort of one’s own laptop means less world travel amid growing concerns over climate change, Sumar explained.

A student getting on a plane to Paris, France, for example, contributes about 3.35 tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. So keeping sustainability in mind with global education is in keeping with Goodman’s own newly updated policies on the issue, he noted.

“The program is intended to increase and diversify access to sustainable global mobility,” he said. “Once COVID set in, there were a lot of topical conversations.

In 2022, the world is going to look very different. As a school that considers itself forward-thinking, we needed to preempt the market and reflect those changes in how we deliver business education.”

EXPERIENCED ACCREDITATIONS EXPERT NAMED GOODMAN’S

USER-TIE EXECUTIVE IN RESIDENCE

By Kaitlyn Little

A

leading expert in quality assurance has been appointed as the Executive in Residence for the Goodman School of Business.

Tom Robinson will join the School in this volunteer role that will see him serve as a mentor to Goodman students, providing insight on the realities of working in their chosen area of study, giving guest presentations in courses, and contributing to the School on continuous improvement strategies.

Robinson recently retired as President and CEO of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). He brings with him many years of experience from his senior leadership role at AACSB, as well as his time as a Managing Director of Education globally for CFA Institute. He also provides rich academic experience as a former tenured professor in accounting at the University of Miami.

“We are delighted and very fortunate to have Tom as our Executive in Residence,” said Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes. “His extensive experience in quality assurance as well as his positive energy and enthusiasm for what he does makes him a perfect fit for this role.”

Robinson looks forward to sharing with students his personal and professional experience with the CPA, CFA and CFP designations, and conveying the importance of attaining a quality education in one of Goodman’s AACSB accredited programs to prospective employers.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Goodman School of Business at Brock University,” Robinson said. “I had the pleasure of working with Dean Gaudes while I served as President and CEO of AACSB and am looking forward to collaborating with such a great institution.”

The position is a two-year term that will run until March 2023. To start, Robinson will explore virtual engagement opportunities with the School with the hopes for in-person opportunities once international borders and the campus reopen.

Tom Robinson, Goodman’s Executive in Residence

SPRING 2021

13

EXPERIENTIAL EXCELLENCE

PEN-RULER

MEASURING IMPACT: HOW RECEIVING THE BUSINESS SCHOOL IMPACT SYSTEM LABEL HELPED QUANTIFY THE EFFECTS OF GOODMAN’S ACTIVITIES

I

n February, Goodman became the third business school in North America to receive the Business School Impact System (BSIS) label for the contributions the School makes both locally and globally.

The BSIS external review quantifies the extent and nature of a business school’s impact on its environment.

The process is well established in French higher education and is now offered through a joint venture between the French National Foundation for Management Education and the European Foundation for Management Development.

External evaluators examined the School’s impact in seven areas: financial, educational, business development, intellectual, impact within the regional ecosystem, societal and image impact. This spread highlights the report’s findings.

As part of the assessment, Goodman has committed to creating a formal three-year development plan that will act on recommendations from the report to further increase the School’s impact.

$

GOODMAN CO-OP STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE

11.7 MILLION EXPERIENTIAL CLASS PROJECTS CONTRIBUTE

29.6 MILLION

$

IN VALUE FOR NON-PROFIT & BUSINESS PARTNERS

EACH YEAR, MORE THAN:

950

CO-OP STUDENTS COMPLETE PLACEMENTS

2,880

STUDENTS COMPLETE EXPERIENTIAL PROJECTS

STUDENT ADMISSIONS 4% 30%

66%

STUDENTS FROM PRIMARY AND EXTENTED IMPACT ZONE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

14

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

CANADIAN STUDENTS FROM OUTSIDE IMPACT ZONE

70%

OF FACULT Y TRAINED INTERNATIONALLY

15,000+ GOODMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ALUMNI AROUND THE WORLD

$

49M

DIRECT

$

59M

$

INDIRECT

FACULT Y MEMBERS CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN

GOODMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS RANKED

#

1

8,500 SERVICE HOURS

FOR STUDENT & FACULTY DIVERSITY

TO THE COMMUNIT Y EACH YEAR THROUGH PRO-BONO CONSULTING AND SERVING ON BOARDS OR COMMIT TEES

IN CANADA BY QS GLOBAL RANKING

88%

OUR IMPACT ZONE As a community-dedicated business school, Goodman’s primary area of impact is its home in the Niagara region of Ontario. However, to ensure the impact zone was representative of the School’s activities and influence, the extended zone analyzed by BSIS includes the Golden Horseshoe, starting in Niagara Falls at the eastern end of the Niagara Peninsula and extending west, wrapping around the western end of Lake Ontario at Hamilton, then heading northeast through Toronto, terminating at Oshawa.

8%

OF RESEARCH ARTICLES

271M

INDUCED

OF ALUMNI STAY IN THE IMPACT ZONE AFTER GRADUATING

DURHAM

67%

YORK PEEL

TORONTO

OF ALUMNI STAY IN THE EXTENDED IMPACT ZONE AFTER GRADUATING

HALTON

21%

HAMILTON

NIAGARA

OF ALUMNI STAY IN NIAGARA AFTER GRADUATING

RESEARCH IMPACT

30%

OF CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

100%

OF BUSINESS CASES DEVELOPED

ALL DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE NIAGARA REGION

SPRING 2021

15

Business-time

HOW TO GAIN A WORLD OF PERSPECTIVE IN

24 HOURS

By Simran Sandhu

L

Simran Sandhu is a second-year student completing her BBA Honours Co-op degree at Goodman.

16

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

ast February, I participated in the IPBS 2021 Sustainability Challenge, where I connected with an amazing team of business students to collectively develop sustainable business strategies in 24 hours.

Participants from all over the world were split into more than 20 different groups to analyze a fictional case narrative and suggest sustainable corporate policies in response to particular issues. Since the case narrative featured many complicated developmental problems, my team and I decided to first thoroughly discuss the impact of each challenge and the urgency of specific policy actions.

As thorough as our planning process sounds, we had to work within a tight timeline to organize our ideas, divide roles and complete a PowerPoint presentation on our policies.

Most of my team members were from Europe and South America, leading to a fascinating conversation about personal experiences and possible courses of action based on what we each knew about sustainability. It was an honour to hear these perspectives and integrate them into our team proposal; for example, a teammate from Germany shared their knowledge on NGO systems often used in the business proposals they studied in their home country.

After learning how the system works, we integrated a similar NGO strategy in our “Corporation Contracts” policy to remedy a government corruption issue in the case narrative. I enjoyed discussing our views because it forced me to diversify my perspective on how to approach a challenge, which I can now use in the workplace.

My team co-operated, making the planning process and division of roles easy.

However, we had to overcome the challenge of being in different time zones. I was the only team member from North America, so I had to work independently on my part of the presentation while the others would complete their parts once they woke up the following day.

This time difference meant I couldn’t seek immediate clarification or feedback on my work and had to rely on messages that came later from my team. From this, I learned that trusting my colleagues and communicating honestly is the best strategy for resolving time zone issues.

My team members were dedicated to doing their best on this challenge, which is why I had complete faith in their abilities to complete their parts, review my comments and submit the presentation by the due date.

The judges then reviewed all submitted projects and selected six teams to present their ideas live to more than 200 students and a professional jury from around the world.

Fortunately, the judges chose our team as one of those six. Even though the presentation was on Zoom, we were so excited and nervous to present our ideas to everyone. We quickly discussed the key elements we wanted each member to contribute and anxiously awaited our turns.

Once all six teams finished presenting, there was an incredible opportunity to network with other participating students worldwide. The networking opportunity felt nerve-racking at first, but I was able to build meaningful international connections with students also working towards a business degree.

I am so happy that I took on this opportunity. While I didn’t know what to expect going into this event, I came out of it with so much knowledge on sustainable business practices and sustainable development goals (SDGs), and made connections all over the world. I encourage others to participate in this event, or take other similar opportunities, to build their understanding of issues and teamwork, and expand their professional networks.

An outdoor, rooftop sports facility co-owned and operated by Goodman alumnus Kyle Shapiro in China.

A PASSION FOR PARKOUR LED GOODMAN GRAD TO CHINA

By Jocelyn Titone

K

yle Shapiro (BBA ’09) didn’t grow up dreaming of being a stuntman.

Nor did he think he’d speak Mandarin or live on the other side of the world pursuing his passion.

When Shapiro enrolled in Brock University’s business administration program in 2005, he wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do with his degree.

But a few years before starting at Brock, Shapiro discovered parkour, a sport involving travelling from one point to another in a complex environment using running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, swinging and other movements in the quickest and most efficient way possible.

He continued to develop his interest in parkour while at Brock, which led to managing the local parkour community and forming partnerships with gymnastics venues to run weekly training sessions.

“One step after another, and it just kind of grew,” he said.

So, too, did his connection with China.

During the summer of his second year, Shapiro travelled to DengFeng near Zhengzhou, home to numerous Kung Fu schools, to practise martial arts. Using the connections he made there, he developed a sports equipment importing business when he returned home to Canada.

The following year, Goodman’s international office contacted Shapiro with a proposal: The School was developing a relationship with Shanghai University. Would he be interested in doing a four-month exchange? He was.

He headed to Shanghai before classes started to reconnect with the martial arts community. He also met his future business partner.

Shapiro finished his degree at Brock, graduating in the midst of the Great Recession. There were few jobs in business he was interested in pursuing. Meanwhile, a friend introduced him to a stunt co-ordinator in Toronto who needed a stunt double to do parkour for a TV series.

“He told me I could make a living doing stunts,” Shapiro said. “It was never my plan, just an opportunity in the moment that I didn't think of until it was presented to me.”

That experience led to a film opportunity in Shanghai.

So, in 2010, he returned to China. He continued stunt acting in films for two years and then developed an informal stunt and parkour team to hire for stage performances and films. He also reconnected with that future business partner.

Together they invested in a venue and created an official company, LINK Parkour, in 2013 that managed sports and stunt teams for performances, competitions, film and entertainment. It soon grew to include sports coaching programs, opening its first parkour facility in 2015. Since then, LINK Parkour has added more facilities and hosted parkour competitions.

Shapiro and two business partners now manage a team of seven employees across three business divisions.

They own and operate several sports facilities that offer parkour and movement-related training; they train and represent professional athletes for sports competitions or stunt work in commercials and film; and they service other sports facilities by designing their venues, developing their parkour fitness and coaching programs, and training their instructors. The company also continues to host professional and amateur competitions, and has ventured into facilitating birthday parties, school programs and youth sports camps.

Shapiro credits his time at Brock with giving him the skills to both build and manage a multi-faceted business.

“I feel a lot of what I do in project management and operations can be linked to my time in Brock and on exchange,” he said. “If I hadn’t come to Shanghai in 2008, I would not have met my best friend and current business partner… . From there it just grew and grew to what it is now.”

The only aspect of his business that’s slowed down is Shapiro’s own work as a parkour-performing stunt double.

“I’m getting older, and as it takes longer now for recovery, I need to be more and more careful with my body,” he said. “I can’t just throw myself around like I used to.”

Above: Kyle Shapiro in costume on a movie set.

Below: Kyle Shapiro does stunt videography on a movie set.

SPRING 2021

17

Right: Jayna Sutaria, President of Brock’s Women in Business club.

Opposite left: Members of Brock’s winning team at the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara Case Competition Bill Huynh (top centre), Sukhwinder Gill (bottom left), Ashley Harold (bottom centre) and Angelo Pirrera (bottom right) prepared for the competition with Advisors Mark Parker (top left) and Kent Walker (top right) and Goodman’s Student Programming and Engagement Co-ordinator Teighan McIntyre (far bottom right).

Opposite right: MBA students Manjit Hari and Anna Cherdakova led the academic team that placed second at the 2021 MBA Games.

STUDENT SUCCESS: HOW GOODMAN STUDENT LEADERS THRIVED IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS 18

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

By Kaitlyn Little

I

n a time of Zoom fatigue, Goodman’s student leaders were able to successfully move their clubs and competition teams online this year and proved that their passion for engagement outside of the classroom can transfer from the boardrooms at Brock to online platforms without missing a beat.

STUDENT CLUBS MOVE ONLINE

In an average year, Goodman clubs program more than 300 events and opportunities for their members. As the virtual year started, the Business Students’ Association (BSA) was faced with the question of how they can provide the same value to students online as they did in person.

“With the university experience at the forefront of our student leaders’ minds, the BSA and associated umbrella clubs were able to facilitate multiple initiatives that not only brought value but showed us how resilient and determined we as students could be,” said BSA President Kaley Vu. One of the clubs that found success online this year was Brock’s Women in Business (WIB). The club explored every channel where students were online, including LinkedIn, Instagram Live, TikTok and course Sakai pages, to share upcoming events and opportunities; avenues that in the past had been underused.

The club also made the most of the online environment by having 32 members complete Google’s #IamRemarkable virtual workshop. Club President Jayna Sutaria had previously completed the training and found that it was a great way to openly discuss strategies about overcoming moments of self-doubt.

“I realized that for young women, especially Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC), self-advocating can be difficult, and I wanted to bring the development of this skill to Goodman students,” Sutaria said.

Four of the students who completed this workshop went on to act as facilitators at WIB’s annual signature event The Rise. The event highlighted the 2021 International Women’s Day theme of Choose to Challenge and focused on actionable ways people can demand equality in the workplace. This included a session highlighting how attendees can be better allies to the LGBTQ2S+ community and how men can be better allies to women in the workplace.

Industry leaders also became more accessible during the pandemic, allowing WIB to expand its Unapologetic podcast to include 11 more episodes than the previous year, featuring business leaders and profiling club members.

“Being a student leader during a pandemic has really taught me the value of relationship building and culture,” Sutaria said. “Creating the space for students to feel heard, supported and empowered yielded more creativity and collaboration within the team.”

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION SUCCESS FROM HOME

MBA GAMES ONLINE COMPETITION YIELDS TOP ACADEMIC FINISH

The closure of the Canada-U.S. land border didn’t keep Goodman’s team from defending their title at the 2021 World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara International Case Competition.

The team, comprised of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students Sukhwinder Gill and Bill Huynh, BBA double degree student Ashley Harold, Accounting student Angelo Pirrera and faculty advisers Ken Walker and Mark Parker, leaned into the online environment to find success.

The case was timely, focusing on how the operations of the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara were changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the programming needs of the association’s members had also changed.

For Gill, who acted as the team captain and participated in the 2020 competition, this win was just as special as the in-person event the previous year.

“Goodman is able to uphold their reputation as a global business school and is also able to show the rest of the world that our students are ready to make major contributions in the business world,” he said.

The team competed Friday, March 19 against students from Canisius College, Daemen College, University of Buffalo and Niagara College. This was the third annual competition and Goodman has taken home the first-place trophy each year.

The advisers were impressed with the level of poise and polish the team possessed when presenting.

“Their achievement reflected their ability to work well together and draw upon each other’s individual strengths and abilities,” Parker said. “The confidence in which they answered challenging questions and how well prepared they were for such questions was impressive.”

This year’s virtual format provided more opportunities for the team to prepare.

Without having to meet on site like in previous years, it was easier to get everyone together for mock cases and to solicit feedback from advisers and Goodman professors, Walker said.

“Ultimately, it all came down to the team’s ability to adapt to this new form of virtual delivery and their commitment to utilizing their own and others’ suggestions about best practices,” he said.

Canada’s largest graduate case competition, the MBA Games, also moved online this year and was hosted virtually by Université Laval in January.

In the online environment, the traditional case competition format was changed, which allowed teams two months to prepare for the competition. The additional time helped Goodman’s MBA Games team earn its best academic finish ever, placing second out of 16 business schools competing.

The academic team was led by Anna Cherdakova and Manjit Hari as captain and vice-captain, respectively. Other student members included Murtaza Lokhandwala, Vandhana Parthasarathy, Aravinth Ramalingam, Anushri Sachdeva, Syed Zarif Samdani and Jason Wagner.

The academic team was split in half with four working on each case. The weekend of the competition, the team presented their recommendations and applied the judge’s feedback in a live presentation.

For Cherdakova, their MBA classes gave the team the theoretical knowledge they needed, and the extra time helped to create overarching strategies to approach the case problems. The teams also included first- and second-year graduate students, which allowed for mentorship for the students that will provide leadership to next year’s team.

“I’m really proud of all our team members. Their success has really raised the bar for the future,” Cherdakova said. “It really helped having experienced members on the team in the virtual environment and the first-year students now have foundation to build on this success next year.”

SPRING 2021

19

BREATHING NEW LIFE

INTO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

By Tiffany Mayer

T

here’s something to be said about the head-clearing magic of a morning walk.

After all, it was one of those early-day strolls in spring 2020 that gave Abdul Rahimi the idea for Goodman Group to continue offering relevant business professional development during a pandemic that prohibited the usual in-person training.

The Goodman Group director decided to provide snippets of PD programming online. Through virtual sessions, Goodman Group could reach and connect people in all corners of the world with thought leaders at Brock and beyond. In the process, it would help those in the business community get through sheltering and working in place together.

Rahimi called the program Business Breathers. The 45-minute, free webinars that started in May 2020 and now happen every second Wednesday have turned out to be a breath of fresh air for Goodman Group and those tuning in.

“We were hearing that people were looking forward to their Wednesdays,” Rahimi said. “This is a breather from everything that’s going on. This gives individuals tuning into this the chance to take a break, catch their breath and focus on their development as well.”

The key to Business Breathers' success has been their content and their guests. Webinars have tackled timely and critical issues, including corporate social responsibility in the era of Black Lives Matter with Brock President Gervan Fearon, and plenty of pandemic-related topics ranging from working from home, governance in the time of COVID-19, and changing systems toward sustainability.

Others have touched on personal growth, plugging the benefits of volunteering and stopping self-sabotage.

Guests have also included household names. Former CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge zoomed in for an Extraordinary Canadians interview in January.

“It has definitely raised the profile of Goodman Group, the Goodman School and Brock University at the local, provincial, national and international levels based on the calibre of folks we’re seeing leading the sessions but also joining the sessions,” Rahimi said.

So much so that Business Breathers will likely outlast the pandemic. There have been more than 46,000 viewers/registrants combined and prospective guests now reach out to Rahimi to be featured.

Knowing the webinars have become part of people’s routines every couple of weeks gives him an endorphin rush not unlike that walk a year ago that inspired the idea.

“People are facing challenges in many ways. For us to provide them something useful that they keep coming back… is really elating,” Rahimi said. “As long as we’re making a positive contribution, we’ll keep hosting these and I’m not seeing any sign of that slowing down.”

20

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

headset

BUSINESS BREATHERS IN A BREATH

3,478 NUMBER OF REGISTRATIONS

(between May 2020 and April 2021)

24 NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

where the webinars were watched

TOP 3 BUSINESS BREATHERS COVID-19: GOOD GOVERNANCE IN CRISIS OR A GOOD CRISIS FOR GOVERNANCE? Webinar Leader: Samir Trabelsi, Professor of Accounting and Governance, Goodman School of Business Registrations: 330

EXTRAORDINARY CANADIANS: AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER MANSBRIDGE Webinar Leader: Peter Mansbridge, Former Anchor, CBC The National. Moderated by Andrew Gaudes Registrations: 292

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ERA OF BLACK LIVES MATTER

Webinar Leader: Gervan Fearon, President, Brock University Registrations: 222

Workers sift for precious metals and minerals at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ACCOUNTING RESEARCH

UNEARTHS TRUE COST

GEM

OF CHEAP CONFLICT MINERALS

By Cathy Majtenyi

C

heap in the short term can lead to expensive in the long term, especially for companies that source minerals mined in conflict zones, a Goodman research team has found.

Take the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country in central Africa whose raw minerals are estimated to be worth more than $29.5 trillion. Yet, beset by decades of warfare and gross human rights violations, DRC ranks among the world’s poorest nations.

Companies that purchase the so-called ‘3TGs’ – tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – mined from DRC can pay three times less for these minerals than those purchased elsewhere, says Professor of Accounting Fayez Elayan.

3TG minerals are vital for the production of a huge array of items including cell phones, computers, televisions, paint, laboratory equipment, cars, and jewelry, among many others.

But with the enactment of transparency legislation in the U.S., such practices often cost the company much more down the road, Elayan said.

Elayan is lead author of a 2019 paper published in the Journal of Business Ethics, co-authored by Associate Professor of Accounting Kareen Brown, Professor of Accounting Jennifer Li and Master’s student Yijia Chen.

“The Market Response to Mandatory Conflict Mineral Disclosures” examines if and how investors value mandatory human rights disclosures of conflict mineral usage as outlined under Section 1502 of the U.S.’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Section 1502, passed in 2010, makes it mandatory for U.S. public companies to disclose their use of 3TG minerals in their products and determine whether they are obtained in an ethical manner.

In the case of DRC, the extraction of 3TGs and other minerals involves such abuses as child labour, sexual assaults, little or no safety equipment, poor pay, harassment of workers, forced labour, mass murder and forced relocation of communities.

Proceeds from the mining business finance rebel groups that have been waging war for more than two decades, killing more than five million people in the process.

In their study, Elayan and his colleagues examined the files of 3,639 U.S. registrants from Jan. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2014 to determine the market’s reaction to companies’ disclosures concerning their sourcing of 3TG minerals originating from conflict zones.

The research team found the market reacted negatively to the disclosures, especially disclosures from companies outsourcing minerals from the DRC, other conflict zones, and those involved in previous human rights violations.

“The market perceived that there are risks there: reputational risk, legal liability risk, sanction risk, boycott risk, operational risk,” Elayan said. “Given these risks associated with such disclosure, investors are going to change their mind about investing in such companies.

Those companies lost value.”

But the reverse was also true, he noted.

“Which companies benefited from the disclosures?

Those companies that took mitigation measures to overcome this problem,” he said.

Elayan referred to two examples of such measures.

One is the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), a 400-member organization that helps companies to responsibly source their minerals.

The RMI lists smelters and refiners that have successfully completed the organization’s Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) assessment, conforming to regulatory requirements, and meeting best practice expectations.

Another example is the technology company Intel’s Responsible Minerals Sourcing program “to ensure that our supply chain does not source certain minerals… from mines under the control of armed groups who exploit mine workers to fund crimes against humanity.”

Elayan encourages investors, stakeholders, consumers, and all to put their money into companies that don’t contribute to, or benefit from, human rights violations. He also exhorts companies sourcing minerals from the DRC and other conflict zones.

“For those companies, I would say: Wake up. The movement is coming. Try to examine your business practices and if you find something that’s in violation, fix it before you face the consequences.”

SPRING 2021

21

NEW FACULTY MEMBERS JOIN GOODMAN TEAM

DEAN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS

By Sakthiha Jeyendran

President & CEO, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

T

he Goodman School of Business welcomed three new faculty members this year. With research interests that range from augmented reality to financial accounting and the organizational dynamics of workplace bullying, the new faculty members’ concentrations underscore Goodman’s commitment to advancing its research culture while increasing global opportunities and exceptional student experiences.

WAQAR NADEEM

Waqar Nadeem joins Goodman’s marketing department from Oulu Business School, Finland, where he was an assistant professor in marketing.

Prior to this, he worked in banking and the automotive sector. Nadeem’s international experience and concentration inspired him to research the sharing economy from a marketing perspective. The recent advancements in technology related to augmented reality is also one of Nadeem’s interests. He will be able to further pursue this area of study and incorporate his findings into the curriculum thanks to Brock University’s investment in augmented reality.

Waqar Nadeem

MENGTIAN LI

Mengtian Li

Mengtian Li recently graduated from Temple University’s Fox School of Business with a PhD in accounting. With her well-rounded international education, Li focuses her research on how changes in regulations (accounting and auditing standards, and tax rules) affect firms’ public disclosures. Li will continue to implement new techniques to examine qualitative and quantitative information in firms’ public disclosures. She plans to continue her own research while teaching managerial accounting and tax courses in Goodman’s CPA-accredited accounting programs. Li was the recipient of the AAA/Deloitte Foundation/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium Fellowship in 2018 and a co-investigator in a research project funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in 2021.

SAIMA NASEER

Saima Naseer

22

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

Saima Naseer holds a PhD in Management of Organizational Behaviour from the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. She brings more than a decade of experience as a researcher and professor. She also served as head of the Department of Management. Naseer’s research focus is workplace bullying, addressing despotic leadership, destructive leadership, and transformational leadership. Naseer has also served as a reviewer for many local and international journals and conferences.

JUNE 2021 Mark Arthur (BAdmin ’77)

Executive Vice-President, CWB Wealth Management

Mishka Balsom Julia Deans

President and CEO, Habitat for Humanity Canada

Mark Dockstator

Past President, First Nations University of Canada

Daniel Goodman

Owner, GFI Investment Counsel

Scott Hawkes

President & CEO, FortisOntario Inc.

Bonnie Lysyk

Auditor General of Ontario

Manik Mair (BAcc ’15) Co-Chair, Goodman Alumni Network George Soleas

President & CEO, LCBO

Doug Wilkinson (BBA ’91) Vice-Chairman, Deloitte

TORONTO ADVISORY GROUP Deepak Chopra

President & CEO (Retired), Canada Post

Graeme Deans

Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

Dan McGrath (BAdmin ’85) COO, Cineplex Entertainment LLP

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY GROUP Greg Berti

Vice-President Global Markets & Industry Relations, Andrew Peller Ltd.

Lili Tomovich (BA ’89) Board of Directors, Dine Brands Global Members of the Dean’s Advisory Council are recognized leaders and influencers in their industries who offer diverse expertise, perspectives and advice to the Dean and faculty. They enhance relationships between the School and the business community; assist Dean Andrew Gaudes in shaping the direction of the School; and help the School achieve its overall mission. Most members of the council are not alumni. They have no affinity to the Goodman School of Business other than their belief in the School and its leadership.

Kai-Yu Wang, Professor and Chair of the Marketing, International Business and Strategy department at the Goodman School of Business.

WINNING IN THE CLASSROOM WITH SERVICE LEARNING Service learning is among the most impactful teaching tools Kai-Yu Wang uses in his courses.

The reason: It gives students the opportunity to work on real-world projects that help a business or organization grow and succeed.

Wang started using service learning as a teaching tool 10 years ago in his Introduction to Marketing class. He extended it to his Marketing Research, Consumer Behaviour and Internet and Social Media Marketing courses soon after. Wang won international awards in 2020 and 2018 for his efforts incorporating service learning in his classes.

It wasn’t easy but the benefits outweighed the hard work required to incorporate such hands-on lessons, he said.

“You have to be committed to spend the time to see the curriculum design work. If you design the curriculum well, you can see the students benefit immediately, not just to connect them to the business world but to help them in their career.”

The effort students put into their service learning projects often lead to other opportunities once their assignments are complete. That’s confirmation enough for Wang that service learning is an essential teaching tool.

“When you see students’ smiling faces saying I got a job offer… you know you’re doing the right thing incorporating service learning.”

ONCE A TEACHER, ALWAYS A TEACHER

By Tiffany Mayer

K

ai-Yu Wang always ends each of his academic terms the same way.

It doesn’t matter the subject, whether it’s a graduate or undergraduate class, or the fall or winter term.

At the end of his last lecture, Wang lets his students know they can always reach out to him for advice.

Sometimes they connect soon afterward. Others, it’s years later. There’s no time limit on his offer because Wang lives by a Chinese saying that means once a teacher, always a teacher.

“What it means is that a teacher is a lifelong position,” Wang said. “Even when (students) finish their degree, there are so many puzzles in their life, they don’t know what to do. I try to make a bridge for them so they can transition from university to industry.”

That level of care that Wang, Professor and Chair of the Marketing, International Business and Strategy Department, demonstrates hasn’t gone unrecognized.

He’s this year’s recipient of Goodman Faculty Teaching Excellence Award because of it.

The accolades follow Wang earning the Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching in fall 2020.

The recognition is an honour, Wang said, but it’s not the reason he chose a career at the head of the class, including 14 years at Brock.

Chalkboard-teacher “I just love teaching and interacting with students, and seeing how students gain knowledge and how they grow during the semester,” he said. “The joy for me is seeing students get interested in a certain subject and wanting to do this for their career.”

Thinking back to his years as a student, Wang recalled several instructors whose work and impact extended beyond the lectern, inspiring him to do the same in his career as a professor.

He counts his PhD supervisor, Laura Peracchio, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee among them.

She didn’t just coach him through his doctoral thesis, Wang recalled. She took time to practise job interview questions with him, even advising him on his suit and tie choices to make the best impression.

“I just felt blessed to have a supervisor who looked at so many details,” Wang said. “There are many teachers in my life that really inspired me. They not just cared about the intellectual part of my life but about my career, my life. I just felt really grateful and thought maybe I could do something similar for my students.”

SPRING 2021

23

MONSTER PITCH WINNERS

DIG UP SUCCESS

WITH CREATION OF DIRTMARKET

By Kaitlyn Little

E

mma Kirwin and Asad Jalib (BBA ’20) have proven they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty.

With hard work under their belts, the young entrepreneurs impressed the judges at this year’s Monster Pitch competition, showing that while it might not be glamorous, dirt removal is big business.

The pair earned the coveted Monster Pitch title for DirtMarket, their unique solution to divert loads from landfills and illegal dumping sites.

Co-founded by Kirwin, a fourth-year Brock History student and President of The Brock Press, and Jalib, the Brock University Students’ Union President, DirtMarket is an online marketplace where users can instantly connect to exchange topsoil, clean fill, pea gravel and other dirt.

In the first two months the site has been operational, more than 200 businesses have registered with it, posting listings offering or requesting more than a million yards of dirt.

Inspired by the hit TV show Dragons’ Den, the Monster Pitch competition was hosted virtually on Sunday, March 21 by student club Brock Innovation Group in partnership with Goodman Group Venture Development and the Goodman School of Business. As the winners, DirtMarket’s creators took home a prize pack of cash and startup support valued at $11,000.

“The greatest aspect was hearing feedback and getting the assurance that the solution we have been working on, that we think will make an impact on people’s lives and the environment, makes sense to others, too,” Kirwin said. “It means we can help a lot of businesses and that’s what we are excited about.”

The idea for the company started when Jalib’s father had dirt dumped illegally on one of his properties. The cost to remove the 10 loads of soil came with a hefty price tag and Jalib thought there had to be a better solution for this problem. He started doing research with the help of Kirwin and found there was more soil being excavated each year than there was landfill space for it, and that landfill diversion was a key priority.

DirtMarket has been popular among construction companies looking to find local sources for soil while avoiding costly trucking and landfill fees. The website allows users to view site alteration plans, chemical analysis of the soil and anything else they need to know about each posting to help them make informed decisions.

The team has also launched DirtMarket’s companion service DirtTrack, a digital app and tracking system that will help users meet new provincial government compliance legislation that comes into effect Jan. 1, 2022. The application allows users to create regulation-compliant reports easily from their phone so source sites, drivers, and receiving sites can collect and show documentation and data on their loads.

The Monster Pitch judging panel included: Emilie Cushman, Founder and CEO at Kira Talent; Crystal D’Cunha, Chief Experience Officer at The Inside View Inc.; and Ryan Seravalle, Founder, CEO and Broker at Revel Realty Inc. The three other finalists, Capteurio, Creator and Creekside Garlic, made the judge’s job difficult with their impressive presentations. From creating sensors that help companies prevent unexpected machine breakdowns, to creating a platform that enables anyone to create authentic content on their favourite brands, and expanding a local garlic farm to provide product to more local grocery stores, the teams weren’t short on big ideas.

Creekside Garlic took home the $500 Fan Favourite prize, which was awarded based on an audience vote.

Monster Pitch was sponsored by Spark Power, DDL and Co, Start Smart, Lancaster Brooks and Welch, Innovate Niagara and Brand BLVD.

24

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

Asad Jalib (left) and Emma Kirwin won Monster Pitch with their dirt removal business, DirtMarket.

Photo by Julie Jocsak.

shovel

GOODMAN RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL ACCOLADES FOR

UN CO-OP PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP

By Kaitlyn Little

A

partnership between the Goodman School of Business and the United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) has landed the School a prestigious award.

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has recognized this powerful partnership as part of their Innovations That Inspire initiative. The collaboration titled Local Roots, Global Reach allows students the opportunity to gain a global business perspective while addressing community issues during a co-op work term with a United Nations agency.

Goodman is the only Canadian business school recognized this year out of 24 initiatives from around the world.

“The Goodman School of Business has embraced the call to create positive societal impact and it is our privilege to recognize Local Roots, Global Reach among the 2021 Innovations That Inspire initiative,” said Caryn Beck-Dudley, AACSB president and CEO. The program consists of a paid internship at a United Nations agency outside of Canada that is open to all Goodman undergraduate and graduate co-op students. Goodman students can participate in an eight-month economic development work term in any country that has a UN agency.

The partnership was motivated by Goodman’s desire to provide learning opportunities that focus on sustainable development and local economic growth, and impact society in meaningful ways beyond the boardroom, said Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes.

“I believe our school is truly contributing to a global need and that in itself is an award,” Gaudes said. “To be recognized by AACSB, a respected organization that has accredited more than 900 business schools worldwide, provides a grace note on an already beautiful piece of work.”

Recent grad Ahmed Jawa (BBA ’20) got to experience the impact of this partnership first-hand. During his work term with the United Nations Development Program in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, he evaluated the success of landmine removal projects, introduced silk production back to local farmers and promoted the rapid growth of modernized industrial projects.

The work he did not only made a significant difference in Cambodia, but also changed him as a person.

“The experience itself will grow you personally more than you can think,” said Jawa, who now works as a Business Consultant at IBM. “You are never going to get a chance to work on projects that are this big and this valuable, not just for economic growth but also for the people. The societal impact changes you.”

Placements with UN organizations are typically unpaid internships.

However, Goodman students are paid for their work through a collaboration with Brock’s Co-op Education office and support from Goodman, made possible by a legacy gift from the Goodman Family Foundation.

2021 INNOVATIONS THAT INSPIRE HIGHLIGHTS AACSB recognized 24 institutions from around the world serving as champions of change in the business education landscape.

OTHER PROJECTS HIGHLIGHTED INCLUDED:

Sitemap Developing a communityled roadmap to recovery following the Beirut explosion in August 2020.

Hospital-alt

HANDSHAKE-ALT

file-invoice-dollar

A program that used hospitalization data from all 50 US states to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on local hospital systems and forecast future needs.

An applied research centre that helps people from a refugee background obtain meaningful employment and access to education.

Sustainable wealth creation without generating waste or deteriorating natural resources in developing countries.

SPRING 2021

25

Kemi Anazado, Assistant Professor of Human Resources Management.

Prof’s Perspective is a Goodman: The Magazine feature that highlights the opinions of our researchers on timely topics.

So, what can we take from this illustration, and where can organizational leaders start in terms of improving access to employment for marginalized persons? I encourage organizational leaders to develop a wholesome approach and commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion — one that involves accountability across members, processes and systems.

SURVEY THE LANDSCAPE

Observe your surroundings. Who is represented in the organization? Who is underrepresented? When making this observation, consider surface-level factors, such as visible/ observable characteristics, including age and race, as well as deep-level factors, which are invisible/non-observable characteristics, including beliefs and values.

REFLECT AND DIG DEEP

PROF'S PERSPECTIVE:

EMPLOYMENT FOR MARGINALIZED PERSONS

By Kemi Anazodo

W

ith social justice initiatives increasingly amplified, especially over the course of the last year, attention has been called to the inequities inherent in society and in organizations.

In response, many organizations have been challenged to reflect on and respond to calls for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

A director of a provincial not-for-profit organization recently shared with me that he noticed volunteers were underrepresented in the pool of candidates considered for employment opportunities.

A further disconnect became apparent as he sought to bridge this gap. He wondered, “Where are the Black people?” The presence of Black persons was limited and even non-existent in some areas of the organization even though they represent a large portion of the communities the organization serves, and professionals trained in the field.

As he dug deeper and considered the perspective of the individuals in the grassroots of the organization, he came across what I’ve come to recognize as “counterintuitive microcosms” where, for certain disadvantaged communities, “social givens” such as volunteerism and work are a privilege to which access is limited. For instance, to volunteer requires supports in place to be able to give one’s time for free. Black people, particularly in the communities this organization serves, disproportionately had access to fewer resources to be able to do so. I recently learned of a similar dilemma for individuals in Indigenous communities. For many Indigenous persons, the privilege to work requires access to resources to travel to work, to afford childcare, etc. However, access is limited, especially for those living on reserves. Although these are not phenomena or circumstances blanketing everyone in these communities, the communities are disproportionately impacted by these concerns.

26

GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE

If there is a lack of representation, why is there a gap?

How is your organization explicitly committed to access for employing marginalized populations? Even if there is representation of persons in the organization, consider whether that’s a product of the system or is it in spite of the system?

CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM

Dissect the employment processes, systemic barriers and history. What are the existing organizational policies and practices? What is their purpose and how are these interpreted and practised by organizational leaders? In what ways is the system creating opportunities and/or contributing to barriers to employment?

RESPOND

Diversity should be a conversation starter, not a conversation stopper. Individuals at all levels of an organization can do their part to demonstrate commitment to learning, and to furthering the conversation. Provide opportunities to learn about the needs of individual communities. Also learn and incorporate inclusive, non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing language.

ACT

Build bridges, create solutions and opportunities. Consider which systemic pathways may block entry into your organization. Equity, diversity and inclusion efforts should be infused through all elements of the employment process and reflected in corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.

The director I mentioned has since begun developing an initiative to provide opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and eventually other marginalized persons to gain paid experience in the organization. Should this initiative move forward, it would improve access to employment opportunities within the organization, and also make individuals more marketable and competitive for employment opportunities in the field. It’s this approach, community-oriented mindset, and creation of new pathways that will be powerful tools for social progression and change in providing opportunities for equitable employment.

Goodman Group brings together the expertise and experience from Brock University’s Goodman School of Business to support professionals, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Whether your business is just an idea or has been around for decades, Goodman Group will help you grow and develop your team, your business and your bottom line.

Taking careers, businesses and ideas to the next level.

Accredited professional development courses

Executive education programs

Consulting services

Startup support

Connect with us today at brocku.ca/goodman-group

SPRING 2021

27

THE LAST WORD

“We appreciate the institution’s effort and their long-term dedication to the impact optimisation even more now in these ongoing challenging times. While the university has relevant international significance, at the same time it is an actively engaged community player within the local ecosystems.”

Comments on Goodman’s impact assessment from Michel Kalika, Business School Impact System (BSIS) Director at EFMD

Brock University Niagara Region 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1

brocku.ca/goodman