FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 1999           CN Donates $1 Million For Strategic Management Chair Canadian National has pledged $1 million to establish a chair in strategic management at the Rotman School of Management. The University of Toronto will match the gift to permanently endow the chair. The chair will focus on ways of enhancing Canada's sustained competitive advantage. In addition to undertaking ground-breaking research in Canadian competitiveness and identifying and exploring issues relevant to specific Canadian companies, the incumbent will develop proposals to enhance competitiveness for business, government and organized labour. "The University of Toronto has an important role to play in responding to corporate demands for expert knowledge and top-ranked managerial skills," says Roger Martin, dean. "We deeply appreciate CN's vital contribution to ensuring that new business school graduates are equipped with the conceptual and analytical abilities to develop and implement plans for sustainable competitive advantage in the 21st century." The chairholder will also design and teach courses for the MBA and executive programs in the Rotman School, and play a leadership role in the PhD program in strategic management and international business. "The Rotman School of Management is fast becoming one of the leading business schools in the country, producing graduates who are eminently qualified to lead corporate Canada in the global economy," says Paul Tellier, president and chief executive officer of Canadian National. "I am delighted that CN will help to fund this important research and teaching work, which will provide new leadership to Canadians at a time of unprecedented change in our economy." "As North America's only transcontinental freight rail company, CN has a long history of leadership in Canadian business and and transportation," says Jon Dellandrea, U of T's vice-president and chief development officer. "We are delighted that this outstanding company has chosen to continue that tradition by supporting the work of a world-class business scholar. This is not just a gift to U of T, but a gift to all Canadians. Research and teaching conducted by this chair will advance understanding of the ways competitive advantage can be sustained in the new economy, and be a vital part of training leaders who can carry that understanding to real companies." Canadian National Railway Company serves all of Canada and the U.S. Midwest, including the ports of Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax and key cities of Toronto, Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo, with connections to all points in North America. Harvard Joint Program Exceeds Expectations The inaugural offering of "Understanding the New World of Health Care: An Intensive Course for Canadian Leaders", a joint program between Rotman's Executive Development Programs and Harvard University, has been very well received. More than 100 preliminary reservation forms have been submitted for only 60 available spots, and formal applications are now being processed. Reaction to the new one-week course for senior executives in the health care sector has been so positive that the program team is considering a second offering in October. For more information, contact Steve Arenberg at (416) 946-4038. Community Service Week Rotman MBA students hit the streets of Toronto during the first week of March as part of Community Service Week. Students volunteered their time at the Daily Bread Food Bank and worked in the kitchen at an Out of the Cold shelter. Students also helped prepare tax returns for community members in need at the JCC and helped students at the Boys and Girl Club improve their resume writing skills. The week also featured a raffle with proceeds going to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Laura Drabik, MBA'00, president of the MBA Community Service Group, thanks all of the volunteers who made Community Service Week a such resounding success. Bonham Centre Launches Derivatives Courses Executive Development Programs and the Bonham Centre for Finance Studies have teamed up to offer new courses for derivatives specialists this spring. "Frontiers of Risk Management" is scheduled for May 28 & 29, while Advanced Valuation of Swaps, a course for senior financial engineers, is scheduled for June 4 & 5. For more information, contact EDP at (416) 978-4441. MBA Business Conference Focused on Knowledge and Information Management For the first time in its nine-year history, the annual MBA Business Conference was held in the Fleck Atrium at the Rotman School. This year's version focused on strategies for managing and using the ever-increasing flow of information available to businesses. "In today's information age, knowledge in becoming an increasingly important resource," says conference organizer Jenine Krause, MBA'99. "The objective for the conference was to give students and the business community an opportunity to learn how particular businesses face the challenge of managing knowledge." Julia Gluck, president, Adajeo Enterprises Inc., served as the master of ceremonies. Speakers at the daylong event included: John Wetmore, President & CEO, IBM Canada; John Evans, Chairman, Torstar; Howard Dean, Director, Knowledge Management, KPMG; Gordon Divot, President, FundSERV; and Craig Sands, Senior Manager Customer Dynamics, Deloitte Consulting. The highlight of the afternoon sessions was the panel discussion on risk management with: Tanis MacLaren, Special Advisor, Ontario Securities Commission; Dr. Robert Mark, Executive Vice President, CIBC; Dr. David Penny, Chef Technology Officer, Algorithmics Inc; Dominic Staniscia, Manager, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board; Richard Williams, Manulife Financial. Andersen Consulting Supports Women in Management Conference MBA students will have the chance to meet and network with women in senior management positions at the Andersen Consulting Women in Management forum held at the Rotman School on Mar. 12. The program, a partnership with the Rotman School, addresses critical issues facing women in management. It is designed to encourage women to pursue an MBA and consists of scholarship and mentoring programs as well as the annual forum. This year's forum features Connie Martin, partner, Andersen Consulting, as the moderator. Panel members include: Barbara Stymiest, Senior VP & CFO, Nesbitt Burns and Chair, TSE; Beverley Lepine, VP Administration & Finance, Royal Canadian Mint; Nandini Jolly, VP, Bank of America Canada, and Mardee Kasik, Partner, Andersen Consulting. Connie Martin also participated in the Rotman School's Student Awards Ceremony. Amy Alfred, MBA'00, was awarded the Kathy Duffy Memorial Scholarship. The award, which was previously the Andersen Consulting Women in Management Award, has been renamed in memory of an Andersen Consulting partner active in the program who passed away in December 1998. MBA and MMPA Students Honoured at Awards Ceremony The achievements of MBA and MMPA students were celebrated on Mar. 1 at the Rotman School's Student Awards Ceremony held in the Fleck Atrium. Over 100 students were honoured with awards, scholarships and fellowships based on academic excellence "We are very proud of the high standards we set for our students," says Dean Roger Martin who also notes that the evening would not have been possible without the support of over 30 individuals and corporations who sponsor awards. 1998-1999 Student Award Recipients MBA Program Dean's List - Full-time MBA Dennis Chow Brian De Wit Michael Friedman Melanie Goodz Scott Henshaw Robert Innocentin Paul Kapsos Gus Karantzoulis Shahen Mirakian Andrea Stairs Rajeev Thakur Karen Webert Dean's List - Part-time MBA Ruth Abbot William Dale Bohdan Stasiw David Wolgelerenter Andersen Consulting Women in Management Award Amy Alfred Max Clarkson Fellowships in Public Management and Government Chia Chia Sun Sanders Natasha Sharpe Faculty of Management Alumni Association Fellowship Sabrina Leoni Faculty of Management Alumni Entrance Scholarships Patrick Chang Hassan Gangji Paul Koreen Linhai Pu Tarek Saleh Donna Shear Mary Jane Felker Fellowships Heidi Hay (First Year Recipient) Caroline Bachand (Second Year Recipient) Andrew Alexander Kinghorn Award Robert Innocentin Andrew Alexander Kinghorn Fellowships Dennis Chow Brian DeWit Michael Friedman Melanie Goodz Scott Henshaw Robert Innocentin Paul Kapsos Gus Karantzoulis Shahen Mirakian Andrea Stairs Rajeev Thakur Karen Webert Schulich Award for Entrepreneurship Tomi Poutanen University of Toronto Canadian Credit Management Foundation Fellowships Linda Ezergailis Shermaine Tilley Heather M. Reisman Prize in Organizational Behaviour Phillippa Perkins J.A.D. Slemin Memorial Fellowships John Hovland (First Year Recipient) Tracy Hoskins (Second Year Recipient) Gordon M. Watson Entrance Award Daljeet Singh Lamba Mohammad Al Zaiback Excellence Award Aran Hamiliton Laura Drabik University of Toronto Open Fellowships Anthony Aulicino James Mylet Jessie Poh Stephen Redden Caroline Bachand Bryan Brown Paul Cancilla Dennis Chow Daniel Debow Thomas Elliott Michael Friedman Leonid Gorelik Raymond Halley Pei-Ching Huang Edwin Kao Gus Karantzoulis Albert Lee Shahen Mirakian Stephen Morris Michael Redding Alexander Rose Susan Schauffert Andrea Stairs Anita Lopez Michael Paszti Jonathan Powell Robert Ages Anna Balinsky Laura Bunston Eddie Chan Bernadette Comiskey Brian DeWit Michelle Fiebig Melanie Goodz Lei Gui Scott Hickey Robert Innocentin Paul Kapsos Jane Klubal Miranda Liang Richard Moras Phillippa Perkins Uri Ron Joan Schatz Natasha Sharpe Lisa Hamann Memorial Scholarship Lisa Sansom AlliedSignal Canada Fellowships of Excellence in Management Dennis Chow Rajeev Thakur Ontario Graduate Scholarships Sven Milelli Joanna Rotenberg 1998-1999 Student Award Recipients MMPA Program Dean's List Graduating class Justin George Cressall Gila Ossip Karen Wharton Dean's List First year course Clare Mary Smee Christopher Bellerby Natalie Lynn Mathiasen The W. Barry Coutts Memorial Prize Justin George Cressall Andrew Alexander Kinghorn Fellowships Clare Mary Smee Christopher Bellerby Natalie Lynn Mathiasen Arthur Andersen Accounting Award Christopher Bellerby Deloitte & Touche Accounting Award Nina Smith Ernst & Young Accounting Award Amrit Samtani KPMG Accounting Award Natalie Lynn Mathiasen PricewaterhouseCoopers Accounting Award Sajjad Hussain Operations Management Seminar March 11 1:30 - 3:30 pm Room 151 Dr. Scott Hadley, Strategic Research Applying Operations Research Techniques in Supply Chain Management Marketing Association Speaker Series It's been a busy winter term for the MBA Marketing Association speaker series, reports association president Karl Al-Issa, MBA'00. Speakers from Procter & Gamble, MacLaren MacCann Advertising and Rogers New Media visited the Rotman School to give lunchtime presentations. Two Rotman alumni from Procter & Gamble spoke on the consumer packaged goods industry. David Grisim, MBA'96, from customer business development and Colin Mulligan, MBA'96, from brand management, discussed their career paths since graduating and discussed what is expected of today's graduates. On Feb. 3 Peter Bolt from Maclaren McCann Advertising talked about his agency's advertising campaign for Molson's featuring hundreds of monkeys trying to figure out the meaning of Canada. He discussed the research that led to the development of the campaign and beer advertising in general. With the Internet economy in full swing, the session by Michael Abramsky, president of Rogers New Media, was well attended on Feb. 24. Abramsky talked about the economic winners and losers on the Internet. AOL and Yahoo are profitable but Amazon, Excite, Lycos, and much of the industry remains focused on revenue growth with significant losses. Institute for International Business Roundtable Scheduled The next IIB roundtable will be held on Mar. 24 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm., with Professors Jack Mintz and Tom Wilson leading off the discussions on "The 1999 Budget and what's up for next year?" The Roundtable discussions bring together academics and members of the Canadian business community to discuss current business issues. Attendance is by invitation only. For more information, please contact Liza Tham at (416) 978-2451. Printed copies of a collection of papers presented to the Great Minds for Great Business Lecture and Symposium held on October 22 to 23, 1998 are now available. If you are interested in receiving copies, please contact the Institute for more information by phone at (416) 978-245, by fax: at (416) 978-0002 or e-mail at iib@rotman.utoronto.ca. Farewell to Associate MBA Director Catherine Lewis, associate director of the MBA program, has left the Rotman School to become the chief administrative officer at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. She had been at the Rotman School since 1995 in her current position and had recently added the role of registrar to her duties. "She oversaw a significant improvement in the full and part-time MBA programs, both in terms of teaching quality and service delivery," says Prof. Hugh Gunz, associate dean, programs. "I'm extremely grateful for everything that she has done for us. All are invited to a farewell gathering for Lewis will be held in the City of Toronto Room on Mar. 12 at 4:15 pm. Upcoming Capital Markets Workshops Capital Markets Workshops, sponsored by the Capital Markets Institute, are held in Room 151 from 2:00 - 3:30 pm. April 16 Long Chen University of Toronto Illiquidity and Expected Return of Treasury Securities April 23 Wei He University of Toronto Comparison of the Credit Risk Portfolio Models: Creditmetrics and Creditrisk+ Marketing Area Workshops Marketing workshops are scheduled Fridays from 10:30 am - 12 pm and take place in the Rotman School unless otherwise noted. March 12 Room 500 Drazen Prelec MIT "How to Score Wine-Tasters if You Know Nothing About Wine" March 19 10 am - 12 pm Room 151 Jin Gyo Kim University of Toronto "A Bayesian Dynamic Logit Model with Household Specific Time-Varying Parameters Edward Yau University of Toronto "Investigating Promotion Response Heterogeneity: A Hierarchical Approach March 26 Room 151 Greg Allenby Ohio State University "Overcoming Scale Usage Heterogeneity: A Hierarchical Approach" April 9 Room 151 Pradeep Chintagunta University of Chicago Topic TBA Faculty News Andrew Mitchell, Patricia Ellison Professor of Marketing, has been invited to the "summer camp" on Behavioral Research in Marketing at INSEAD, France in June. He will present a paper entitled "The Effect of Brand and Attitude Accessibility on Brand Choice". Harvey Kolodny, professor of organizational behaviour, presented "Managing Change: The Organization Change Process Model" at the Human Resource Professional Association of Ontario's Annual Conference in Toronto on Feb 17-19. The content of the talk was published simultaneously in The HRM Research Quarterly, a publication of the Human Resources Research Institute, an HRPAO organization that promotes and disseminates applied HR research. Joseph D'Cruz, professor of strategic management, was the keynote speaker at a recent conference arranged by the Canadian Healthcare Licensing Association. He spoke about "A Strategic Approach to Business Development in the Health Care Industry: establishing Strategic Priorities." Roger Martin, dean, was invited to speak at Industry Canada in Ottawa on Feb. 23. He presented "Canadian Competitiveness: The Managerial Foundations of Productivity" to a group of senior officials from several federal government ministries including Industry Canada and the Ministry of Finance. Jack Mintz, Arthur Andersen Professor of Taxation, spoke on Feb. 16 to the Financial Executives Institute, Toronto, on business tax reform. Responses to the Mintz discussion were given by Gary Webb of Deloitte & Touche and Rick Anderson of the University of Western Ontario. Rotman Professor of Marketing Sridhar Moorthy's paper (with Jeffrey Banks, California Institute of Technology) entitled "A Model of Price Promotions with Consumer Search" has been published in the latest issue of International Journal of Industrial Organization (April 1999). Joan Kitunen, senior tutor in accounting, has been named as head of the taxation area for the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountant's 1999 School of Accountancy. She is replacing Robert Beam, Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, who held the position since 1972. Submissions to Rotman Reader Requested The editors of the Rotman Reader welcome submissions for the April 1999 issue. Please submit your article or story ideas to the Rotman Reader mailbox in Room 300 or by e-mail to mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca. The editors reserve the right to edit all submissions. News Briefs Professor Joseph D'Cruz recently appeared on CBC Newsworld's "Ralph Benmurgie Live", speaking about the Bell Canada decision to transfer its operator services to a new business to be set up in Canada by a US-based call center company. Anil Verma, professor of industrial relations, was interviewed on CBC-TV's Saturday Report, Feb 27 on the increasing incidence of strikes. He was also quoted in the Toronto Star on Feb 27 on strikes in the public sector. Laurence Booth, professor of finance, was interviewed on CBC Radio on Feb. 12 on the new legislation to allow foreign banks into Canada without requiring that they set up separate Canadian subsidiaries. Dean Roger Martin was interviewed by CBC Newsworld Business News on the same topic. Staff Changes in Rotman Communications Kate Eccles has started in her position as assistant dean, marketing and communications. She can be reached at (416) 978-6991 or by e-mail at eccles@rotman.utoronto.ca. Jim Milway has taken on the role of acting director, Alumni Relations. He will carry out alumni-related responsibilities. He can be reached at (416) 978-8825 or by e-mail at milway@rotman.utoronto.ca. Milway is also leading the process for recruiting a permanent director.