Across programs and subject areas, the 平特五不中 Desautels Faculty of Management recognizes the vital role that research, teaching, service and media engagement play in enriching the student experience and inspiring the next generation of leaders through the annual Faculty Awards. This year we recognize the following outstanding members of our faculty:
Research
平特五不中 will confer an honorary degree 鈥� the highest order it can bestow 鈥� upon Monique Leroux as part of its Spring 2024 Convocation ceremonies, recognizing her exceptional contributions to the business world and her advocacy for corporate social responsibility. Leroux, a distinguished Canadian business leader with a career spanning finance, insurance, and cooperative sectors, has been a trailblazer in promoting ethical leadership and community engagement.
Kanuk jackets are made for Quebec winters鈥攂ut Quebec winters aren鈥檛 as cold as they used to be. Bertrand Cesvet (BA鈥�86, MBA鈥�88) wants to make Kanuk jackets more versatile. Cesvet led a group of investors who recently bought the Montreal winter wear company from Champlain Financial, a private equity group. Cesvet shares with La Presse the company鈥檚 plans to sell jackets that are more suited to temperature fluctuation, making its products more appropriate for markets where it plans to expand, such as the United States.
Changes to an organization鈥檚 structure are tangible but don鈥檛 necessarily bring about any concrete results. Consider the example of the UK鈥檚 National Health Service. It regularly reorganizes but doesn鈥檛 change much. 鈥淭he reason is simple,鈥� says Professor Henry Mintzberg in an interview with Business People.
Gillian Stein (BCom鈥�00)鈥檚 great-grandfather founded the Toronto-headquartered electronics business Henry鈥檚 in 1909, but she never envisioned becoming the company鈥檚 CEO. Growing up, she had seen how stressful running the company could be for her father Andrew, who had a heart attack at the age of 47. 鈥淚 always had a ton of respect and passion and admiration for the business but it wasn鈥檛 something I wanted for myself,鈥� says Stein. 鈥淚 changed and the business changed.
In 2024, elections will be held in over fifty countries, with more than 2 billion voters eligible to head to the polls. But the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools could be a game-changer. Tools like ChatGPT allow for the rapid creation of disinformation, and deep fake videos can make it difficult to know what is actually real.
Despite being a lucrative revenue source for the government, the Soci茅t茅 des Alcools du Qu茅bec (SAQ) monopoly is under scrutiny for limiting consumer choices, especially for premium spirits like high-end bourbons. Exclusive distribution rights mean that if SAQ doesn鈥檛 stock a particular brand, it won鈥檛 be available in Quebec's retail outlets.
Despite commitments to implement the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) by 2027, Canada鈥檚 strides in regulating crypto-assets remain sluggish. CARF establishes a standardized reporting system for crypto-assets across 48 nations with the aim of tracking specific asset types and transactions while defining relevant tax jurisdictions.
Saloua Benkhouya (BSc鈥�04, MBA鈥�11) has been elected as President of the Board of Directors of the Women in Finance Association in Quebec (AFFQ), an organization dedicated to women in the financial services sector. Benkhouya has been an active member of AFFQ since 2016, previously serving as secretary and a member of the audit and risk management committee.
Camila Sabogal Cuadros (MBA '24) has been recognized as one of Poets and Quants' 2024 Best & Brightest MBAs. Hailing from Lima, Peru, Sabogal has demonstrated exceptional leadership as the 2023 President of the Desautels Graduate Women鈥檚 Association (DGWA) and as a Senior Strategy Consultant at Monitor Deloitte post-graduation.
On May 1, 平特五不中's 6th annual Black Grad Gala, hosted by the Black Students鈥� Network, honoured the Class of 2024's Black graduates. Approximately 50 graduates from various faculties were celebrated on stage, each receiving Kente stoles in recognition of their achievements. Notable speakers included Associate Professor Momar Ndao and Black Grad Valedictorian Yasmine Elmi, a McCall MacBain Scholar in the Faculty of Science and incoming 平特五不中 medical student.
This year, the DataSphere Lab was privileged to welcome two exceptional students through the Integrated Management Student Fellowship (IMSF) program: Chloe You, a third year student studying Finance and Statistics, and Ruo-Ying, a Business Analytics major.
Bachelor of Commerce student Nikki Tye is the recipient of the 平特五不中 Collaborative for AI & Society (McCAIS)鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Award (McURA) for Summer 2024. The $8,700 award, aimed at promoting interdisciplinary AI research in society, recognizes Nikki's project on "Protecting the Amazon Forest from Illegal Activity through Image Recognition and Operations Research: A Partnership with JungleKeepers and Peruvian Indigenous Communities."
2024 is shaping up to be a big year for Fran莽ois Cauchon (BCom鈥�22). Cauchon will be representing Canada at the summer Olympic Games in Paris. "It is a surreal feeling," Cauchon, who battled through knee, back and ankle injuries before being named to Canada鈥檚 14-member fencing team, tells CBC. "For every amateur and professional athlete, The Olympics is the holy grail of sports."
Extroverted people often take naturally to leadership roles 鈥� but they don鈥檛 always do enough listening. Introverted leaders may listen more, but sometimes lack the ability to inspire. A combination of the two personality types could yield the best results, according to Associate Professor Karl Moore. 鈥淭he downside of extroverted leaders is that they often like to talk more than listen,鈥� says Moore in an article in Scientific American.
