January 2024

Dear colleagues,

We’re about two weeks into the term and I hope everything is going smoothly for you. I'd like to extend a warm welcome back following the holiday break to faculty and staff and a welcome to any new members of our community who are joining us.

The end of 2023 was difficult on many levels. The back and forth with the government concerning tuition fees left many of us confused and concerned about the future. I want to thank those in recruitment and admissions who have dedicated so much of their time and energy to navigating the changes and working diligently to attract new students. We see you and we appreciate you!

Concordia’s University Communications Services team updated the university’s landing page (concordia.ca) to focus on recruitment and provide up-to-the-minute information to prospective students on funding options available to them. They’ll be adding information about new awards and tuition fee reductions for out-of-province students to JMSB department pages as well to make it easier for students to find.

Open House

We'll be welcoming prospective students on Saturday, February 17 for the Winter Open House. To combat the confusion caused by the tuition changes, I invite you to emphasize our strengths, our consistently strong rankings and our meaningful connections to the Montreal business community. Keep in mind the three Rs of our vision: to be one of the most Relevant, Responsible and Respected business schools in the world. It cannot be timelier or more inspiring than at this present moment; embrace it proudly.

PRME

We are proud to be part of the 2024-2025 Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) cohort. We are among 47 business and management schools that have committed to championing Responsible Management Education through thought and action leadership with PRME.

Over the next two years, JMSB will work with the rest of the cohort to develop and implement game-changing projects that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through business education. I want to thank Frédérica Martin, Alexandra Panaccio and Barbara Henchey for their work on this initiative.

Celebrating our success

Michel Magnan was honoured at the President’s Media Outreach Awards and Newsmakers Celebration on January 29. He earned the Expert Commentary award, given to the most widely quoted researcher for their valuable insight into issues of the day.

Michel Laroche earned Most Popular Article 2023 from the Journal of Marketing Analytics for “Extracting marketing information from product reviews: a comparative study of latent semantic analysis and probabilistic latent semantic analysis” with co-author Shimi Ahmad.

A big congratulations goes to Alexandra Dawson on being named among the most productive scholars in family business according to the Texas State University Family Business Research Productivity Ranking. The rankings are based on the last five years of publications featured in the top three academic journals dedicated to publishing family business research.

I would like to congratulate and thank Dr. Magnan, Dr. Laroche and Dr. Dawson for representing John Molson and for their impact on the community.

Case competitions

The John Molson MBA International Case Competition took place from Jan 3 to 7. The 42nd edition of the largest case competition of its kind in the world saw 30 teams competing for a podium finish. In the end, Muenster University (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) earned first place.

I want to give special thanks to Bill Meder, Cynthia Law and Li Yao for their support of the MBA ICC.

Of the five undergraduate John Molson School teams who qualified for the finals at the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (ICBC), three teams made it to the podium with Strategy placing third, and Marketing and Finance placing second.

At the Dublin Case Competition hosted by TU Dublin, the John Molson Undergraduate Team made it to the finals, ultimately coming in second place and earning “Best Speaker Award” for team member Bobby Padmore. Congratulations to students and to Nora Baronian.

John Molson Perspectives

John Molson Perspectives hosted a business writing workshop with award-winning journalist and Concordia Department of Journalism faculty member Aaron Derfel. The goal was to give researchers the tools to share their research to the widest audience possible. Despite the ice, there was a great turnout. The John Molson Perspectives team hopes to present more workshops like this in the future so stay tuned.

JMSB Social Committee

You may have seen an email from Valentina Mennella unveiling the JMSB Social Committee’s first set of events.

Every last Tuesday of the month from 2-2:30 in the MB 15 Lounge, we’ll gather to celebrate that month’s JMSB birthdays with cake. All are welcome to celebrate the birthdays of the month, not just the guests of honour. A big thank you to Barbara Henchey for providing the cake.

On Wednesday, February 14 from 2-3 pm in MB 15 lounge, the Social Committee will host a Valentine’s Day Bake-Off. Interested bakers should contact Valentina by February 7. All are welcome to taste the treats.

Stay in the know about the Social Committee’s activities by checking out posted information in the kitchenettes and/or copy rooms. You have until February 28 to fill out the survey to let the committee know what kinds of activities you’re interested in.

Save the date: Dean’s Sugar Shack Celebration

I hope you can make it on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 from noon to 1:30 for our annual spring celebration. A detailed invitation will arrive soon!

Closing remarks

Our strategic plan is a grounding and hopeful document to leverage in difficult times. Let it guide us in our efforts to support our potential and current students and faculty. Remember: #WeAreJMSB.

One of our overarching pursuits is to celebrate and share JMSB successes. To that end, please contact Taylor Tower, Communications Manager, at taylor.tower@concordia.ca with details about recent successes – your own, your students’, your colleagues' – so we can continue to shine a light on our strengths.

Take care,

Anne-Marie Croteau, PhD, CDir
Dean