MBA teams of students in Professor Garrick Apollon's MBA 5211 – Corporate Governance and Ethics course worked on a term project named Global Anti-Corruption Project aiming to develop an anti-corruption corporate governance compliance program for small Canadian global companies. The students' challenge was organized according to the format of the television show, "The Apprentice." The students had to submit a written report and make an oral presentation to an evaluation committee composed of:

  • Sgt. Pat Poitevin (acting as the chief judge for the Global Anti-Corruption Project ) Senior Investigator - Outreach Coordinator Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sensitive and International Investigations National Division
  • Alison FitzGerald, Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright in Ottawa
  • Yolanda Banks, Senior Corporate Social Responsibility at Export Development Canada
  • Mark Grenon, CPA, Managing Forensic Accountant at PWGSC (Government of Canada)
  • Professor Garrick Apollon, Telfer School of Management
  • Susan Côté-Freeman, Programme Manager, Private Sector Programmes at Transparency International 
  • Allison Caverly, General Manager GoodLife FITNESS and alumnus of the Telfer School
  • Professor Michael Miles, MBA Director at the Telfer School

Congratulations to the members of the challenge-winning team:

  • Juhee Anderson
  • Mark Lyons
  • Craig Marsh (team leader)
  • Alex Nderitu
  • Paola Osorio
  • Deyanira Reyes-Moran
  • Brad Smith
  • Connie Sung

As explained by Professor Apollon, it is not common for students to be required to make a presentation and be evaluated by members of the business community and not only by their professor.

"I was nervous for them and I am proud of their accomplishments and their work. Just like in "The Apprentice" show, they got some harsh but very constructive criticism about their work. They didn’t get fired but they definitely learned a lot and most importantly got a lesson of humility. I also want to express my deep appreciation to Sergeant Patrice Poitevin from RCMP who acted as our chief judge and worked passionately on this project with me and all the judges, who all generously gave more than one workday to this Telfer School project," said Professor Apollon.

Inspired by his experience with Professor Adam Grant of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Professor Apollon’s intentions in creating the Global Anti-Corruption Project was to have his students work on a real project of a social and ethical nature.

“My father came to Canada from Haiti for a better future because Haiti always experienced until today severe problems with political instability and corruption. However, corruption is not just a problem happening in developing nations like Haiti; recently our country has faced its share of corruption scandals. Therefore, like I always say to my students’ ethical leadership in business or in our lives is something that we should all aspire and work on every day. This is why the Telfer School decided to partner with RCMP instead to work with one company, like Alain Doucet, Assistant Dean, External relations at Telfer said to me we will have the chance to have a meaningful impact not just to one company but to the whole business community in Canada because RCMP will be able to use our work and research. The Global Anti-Corruption Project was only possible because of a great team effort and I was honoured to have the chance to “quarterback” this project. We are currently running the Global Anti-Corruption Project in my undergraduate class of Multinational Business Policy. We are starting something big and sustainable that RCMP would also like to replicate in all business schools across the country”.