Emerging Topics Speaker Series

  • Digital technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and social media, have significantly transformed organizational hiring processes, such as recruiting and selection. While convenient, these digital technologies can introduce new barriers of employment for job applicants with deep diversity traits, such as mental health challenges, that are not readily visible.

    In this talk, Wenxi will share his work on potential negative impacts of digital technologies for job applicants with mental health challenges and other deep diversity traits. He will discuss the implications of such negative impacts and potential strategies to create a more friendly employment environment for people with deep diversity traits.

Previous events

The new corporate activism: The promise and pitfalls of business speaking out on social issues

Businesses are increasingly speaking out on social issues such as climate change, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ matters, gun control, and immigration. However, this kind of corporate sociopolitical activism may pose risks to businesses in certain instances. 

In this talk, Dr. Sean Buchanan provides an overview of the emerging research on corporate sociopolitical activism and describe the conditions under which it may be harmful or helpful to businesses.

Drawing from research on Patagonia clothing, Dr. Buchanan highlights the importance of “value congruence” between a business and its key stakeholders and demonstrates how Patagonia works to achieve ongoing alignment with its stakeholders in pursuit of its own sociopolitical activism. 

In doing so, Dr. Buchanan aims to generate insights for managers on how to engage in sociopolitical activism that benefits rather than harms their business.

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ADHD in finance and entrepreneurship

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, and has an aggregate economic cost of more than $6 billion in Canada due to workplace productivity loss. Given the rise in ADHD diagnoses, it is critical to understand both the positive and negative implications of ADHD for business. 

In this talk, Dr. Chi Liao will draw on her publications to provide an overview of the emerging research on how and why ADHD affects individual-level financial and entrepreneurial outcomes. She will also share what we currently know about the efficacy of various treatments and interventions for mitigating the negative outcomes associated with ADHD.

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Asper School of Business Research Webinar Series

The Asper School of Business is proud to host internationally acclaimed researchers in a range of fields to present their work to a global academic audience to encourage discussion between scholars and the business community.

For more information about how to register for an Asper School of Business Research Webinar please contact the Asper Research Facilitator at ASBevents@umanitoba.ca.

2023

Market Feedback: Evidence from the Horse’s Mouth
February 3, 2023
Dr. Liyan Yang, Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics, and the Peter L. Mitchelson/SIT Investment Associates Foundation Chair in Investment Strategy at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

2022

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and the Workplace: Systematic Review and Feminist Conceptual Analysis
February 4, 2022
Dr. Michelle Greenwood, Associate Professor in the Department of Management at Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia

Me-Search: A Path to Relevant Research with Impact and Meaning
December 9, 2022
Dr. Johan Wiklund, Professor & AI Berg Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University

2021

Balancing the Bright and Dark Side of Digitization - Dr. Alain Verbeke
February 5, 2021
Dr. Alain Verbeke, Professor and Research Director on Strategy and Organization
McCaig Research Chair in Management, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

How Subtle Feelings Shape Judgement and Choice - Dr. Norbert Schwarz
February 26, 2021 
Dr. Norbert Schwarz, Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing, University of Southern California

Security Analysis: An Investment Perspective - Dr. Kewei Hou
April 30, 2021
Dr. Kewei Hou, Ric Dillon Endowed Professor in Investments, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University and Editor of the Journal of Empirical Finance

Competition and Product Quality: Fake Trading on Crypto Exchanges – Dr. Evgeny Lyandres
November 19, 2021
Dr. Evgeny Lyandres, Professor of Finance at Tel Aviv University and Head of Hogeg Blockchain Research Center
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Stu Clark Distinguished Speaker Series

The Stu Clark Distinguished Speaker Series is supported by a generous endowment from Asper School of Business alumnus Stu Clark [BComm/76]. The Series features prominent researchers from outside of the University of Manitoba to give research seminars and interact with faculty and graduate research students.

Guest speakers considered for the Series must be distinguished or up-and-coming in their area(s) of research, external to the university, be good presenters and have a strong appeal to Asper faculty and graduate research students.

If you are interested in registering for any upcoming Stu Clark Distinguished Speaker Series events please contact the Asper Research Facilitator at ASBevents@umanitoba.ca

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    Dr. Runjing Lu

  • Roe v. Rates: Reproductive Healthcare and Public Financing Costs

    After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, states with abortion “trigger” bans tied to the decision see an increase in municipal bond yields relative to states with pre-existing laws protecting abortion. The effects are stronger in counties where access to abortion services decreases more after the court ruling, where residents are more accepting of abortion, and those which rely more on a female workforce. Using the stock market’s reaction following the Court’s decision and the staggered state-level adoption of laws targeting abortion providers, we identify deteriorated firm value, worsening business dynamism, and lower net in-migration as key factors underlying the rise in municipal bond yields. Together, our results highlight the importance of reproductive healthcare policies in driving local economies and public financing costs.

  • Span of Control and Salesforce Performance: An Empirical Investigation

    The appropriate span of control is crucial for organizational effectiveness as it not only allows the sales manager to monitor and guide its salespeople without being overbearing but also the salesperson to put adequate effort in achieving the superior performance. Despite the substantial importance of the span of control, research on the topic has been sparse. Using the lens of Leader-Member Exchange Theory and Social Learning Theory, we hypothesize that the span of control has a curvilinear effect on sales force performance. In other words, a narrower span of control may lead to micromanagement, thus affecting salespeople’s autonomy and flexibility in handling the sales task. However, as the span of control widens, the performance diminishes after a certain threshold, as the sales manager may neither be able to devote sufficient energy to high quality interactions with its salespeople nor observe their performances. Analyzing the monthly data of 495 salespeople over five years (2014 – 2018) of a US-based firm, we investigate the effect of span of control on the salesforce performance. Contrary to the common wisdom of a negative association between the span of control and salesforce performance, our analysis suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship. Moreover, we find that customer heterogeneity and salesperson tenure with the focal firm flatten the curvilinear effect. We also investigate the impact on salesforce performance in the case of deviation from the optimal size of the sales team. This study helps managers better understand how to use span of control as a tool to get improved performance not only from individual salespeople but also from the sales team.

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    Dr. V. Kumar

Past events

2023-2024

Unraveling the Puzzling Risk-Return Relationship: Distinctive Roles of Government Involvement in Venture Capital Investment
Associate Professor, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University

2022-2023

When Do Corporate Parents Matter? Disentangling the Corporate Effect
Dr. Daniel S. Andrews, Assistant Professor, Global Strategy, Ivey Business School, Western University

Digitalization of Inventive Records and Startup Innovation
Dr. H. Dennis Park, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Dallas

Passive Investing and the Rise of Mega-Firms
Dr. Hao Jiang, Associate Professor of Finance, A.J. Pasant Fellow

Managing and Tuning-up Big Data Systems
Dr. Jarek Szlichta, Associate Professor, York University, Faculty Fellow, IBM Centre for Advanced Studies

The Spillover Effect of Product Quality Failures in Multi-tier Buyer-Supplier Networks
Dr. Kersi Antia, George and Mary Turnbull Faculty Fellow, Professor of Marketing, Ivey Business School, Western University

Focused Learning from Big Enterprise Data
Dr. Morteza Zihayat, Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, Faculty Member, IBM Center of Advanced Studies

An Examination of the Chief Audit Executives’ Reporting Standards for Handling Artificial Intelligence Design Ethical Decision-Making Processes
Dr. Waymond Rodgers, Chair Professor, University of Hull, Professor, University of Texas, El Paso
 

2020-2021

Inventory in times of war
Presented byJuan Camilo Serpa, William Dawson Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

Do pensions have teeth? Evidence from the state government borrowing costs
Presented by Ting (Jeffrey) Zhang, PhD, Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, School of Business Administration, University of Dayton

Analytical solution to a partially observable machine-maintenance problem
Presented by Dr. Hao Zhang, PhD Associate Professor of Operations and Logistics Sauder School of Business, UBC

Blockholder Mutual Fund Participation in Private In-house Meetings: Evidence on Social Bonding and Stock Return Volatility
Presented by Dr. Pengcheng (Phil) Zhu, Professor of Finance, University of San Diego School of Business

Physician Staffing and Shift Scheduling at Emergency Departments with Time Varying Productivity
Dr. Alireza Sabouri, Assistant Professor, Operations and Supply Chain Management Area, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

Heterogeneous Response: An Extension of the Fama-MacBeth Regression
Dr. Guofu Zhou, Frederick Bierman and James E. Spears Professor of Finance, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis

Hurting Those We Mean to Help? Startup Boards, Conflict and Entrepreneurial Success
Dr. Laura Huang, MBA Class of 1954 Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Supply Disruptions: Complex Effects of Supplier Shirking Opportunism, Sourcing Relationship Investments and Cross-Functional Information Sharing
Dr. M. Johnny Rungtusanatham, Canada Research Chair in Supply Chain Management, Professor and Area Coordinator, Operations Management &

Information Systems, Schulich School of Business, York University
Asset Pricing with Attention Guided Deep Learning

Dr. Ruslan Goyenko, Professor of Finance, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

The Psychology of User-Generated Content
Dr. Shiri Melumad, Assistant Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
 

Asper Research Events

2023

2023 Rod Senft Family Business Conference

The Rod Senft Family Business Conference is an opportunity for business and academics to connect and collaborate to strengthen the family enterprise footprint in Manitoba and Canada.

The 2023 conference theme; Succession Planning in Family Enterprise-Align the Family and the Business will Follow, focused on the intricacies of succession planning, whether it be management or ownership succession.

The 2023 Rod Senft Family Business Conference was co-sponsored by the Senft Family Fund for the Advancement of the Study of Family Business and the Asper School of Business.  

2021

Quadrant Behavioural Finance Conference

The Annual Quadrant Investor Behaviour Conference is a top level academic conference that brings leading international academics and practitioners in the investment field together to examine and discuss cutting edge academic research in investment finance.

This conference provides enhanced learning experiences for student and research opportunities for professors, as well as provides exposure to new trends in investment finance to practitioners.

Bill Moir Marketing Speakers Series

The Bill Moir Marketing Speakers Series is supported by a generous endowment from Asper School of Business alumnus Mr. William (Bill) Moir [BComm (Hons)/72].

Speakers invited for the Series will generate meaningful discussions around emerging themes in marketing, covering a wide range of marketing specializations and industry backgrounds. Each event will reflect a mix of academics and practitioners.

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    Using Generative AI to Unlock Nature’s Principles for Product Design, Creative Marketing, and Sustainable Innovation

  • In this presentation, Dr. Tojin will explore various ways in which principles observed in nature and living organisms can contribute to the process of product design, creative marketing, and sustainable innovation.

    Specifically, by referencing two recent HBR articles How generative AI can augment human creativity and Use GenAI to improve scenario planning, he will discuss how organizational Generative AI tools are facilitating sustainable innovation within companies.

    Additionally, he will delve into a research paper discussing how businesses can apply responsive design principles from nature to identify innovative product concepts.

2022

Using Text Analytics Models to Examine Consumer Mobility Patterns - Dr. Ning Zhong Assistant Professor, Marketing Smeal College of Business Pennsylvania State University

Video Influencers: Unboxing the Mystique - Dr. Prashant Rajaram Assistant Professor, Marketing Ivey Business School, Western University

Annual Research Events