Latest News
- Category: Telfer Announcements
We are so proud to announce that our EMBA was ranked as one of the 100 best EMBA programs in the world by the Financial Times.
Find out more about what this ranking means here: Financial Times Ranks Telfer Executive MBA Among Top Executive MBAs in the World
- Category: Appointments and Honours
On April 19th, twelve Ottawa women were honoured for their entrepreneurial and professional achievements at the Ottawa’s Businesswoman of the Year Awards (BYAs). The BYAs presents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the professional achievements of businesswomen working in organizations across the National Capital Region as well as to celebrate the recipients recognized within our business community.
Of those recipients, Linda Eagen (EMBA 2002), president and CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, and alumna of the Telfer School, was named the winner in the ‘organization’ category. Over the past 13 years, Eagen and her team raised $60 million for cancer care and research in eastern Ontario. She is the founder of Cancer Coaching, an innovative community-based health and social care service for cancer patients. A mother of two, Eagen is an active volunteer with the Life Saving Therapies Network, BioCanRx and Arvizio Health Technologies.
We wish to congratulate all the finalists and recipients on their inspiring accomplishments.
To learn more on the BYAs and the past finalists and recipients, click here »
- Category: Telfer Announcements
On November 7, we had the honour of welcoming Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, to the Chancellor's Master Class. This class brought together all Telfer School MBA and Executive MBA candidates. Mr. Rovinescu shared his experience at Air Canada and discussed its turnaround in the global market.
As Telfer Executive MBA Director Sophia Leong explains, we have to learn from our successes, but especially from the successes of our Canadian companies.
“Air Canada’s transformation from near death to market success is a perfect example of active learning from M. Rovinescu” stated Ms. Leong. “He led the financial and commercial turnaround by making bold and risky moves to transform Air Canada to a global player. Air Canada is a live case of ‘The Art of the Possible’ and M. Rovinescu brought that reality to both the Executive MBA and MBA candidates.”
In his presentation, Mr. Rovinescu discussed the role of a president and CEO, who must make bold decisions when standard practices fail. He likened this approach to solving a Rubik's Cube. “To move to more sustainable business outcomes, Air Canada had to let go of former business strategies or practises despite the associated risks and difficulties” said Mr. Rovinescu.
“This created significant change management for Air Canada personnel and stakeholders. In addition to frequent and mindful communication, we had to emphasize on the importance of ‘symbols’ to instill pride in the workforce and stakeholders. By leveraging the maple leaf symbol, Air Canada is mindful it is branding ‘Canada’ by proxy.”
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Class of 2018 are writing about their experiences on their Innovation and Entrepreneurship Consulting Project in Silicon Valley in a series of blogs.
Monday is about Finding the Right Problem to Solve
Written by Joanne Gardner, Team Procyon
Tuesday is about Making It Happen
Vlog by Darren Fleming, Team Kentaurus
Wednesday is about translating the value from technology, risk and employees into success
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Class of 2017 are writing about their experiences on their International Business Consulting Trip to Kuala Lumpur in a series of blogs.
The Before Picture: Departing for Kuala Lumpur
Written by Team Sirius - Mario Fowler
Exploring Kuala Lumpur as Teams Prepare for a Big Week
We're Not in Canada Anymore
Written by Team Kentarus
Reflecting on the Week: We Made it Happen!
Written by Team Arcturus
Twenty One Months Later: Reflecting on Where We've Come
Written by Team Procyon - Ashley Mascarenhas
Goodbye Kuala Lumpur, Hello Next Chapter
Written by Team Canopus - Sukri Sharbini
You can view photos from the trip here: Photo Gallery
- Category: Telfer Announcements
CEO Magazine (London, UK) has just released its 2017 ranking of the top Global Executive MBA programs and has ranked the Telfer School of Management’s Executive MBA program #1 in the world.
Using a ranking system entirely geared and weighted to fact-based criteria, CEO Magazine aims to cut through the noise and provide potential students with a performance benchmark for those schools under review.
“Our program is honoured to be recognized by CEO Magazine. The Telfer Executive MBA focuses on a 'Global, Practical, Relevant' platform that accentuates 'Responsible and Effective’ leadership for optimal business impact in an increasingly competitive global market”, said Sophia Leong, Executive Director of the Telfer Executive MBA. “To be tapped by CEO Magazine as the premier Global Executive MBA program underlines the program’s value proposition and impact on the candidates’ transformation.”
“I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of the entire Executive MBA team, led by Sophia Leong, and all the faculty members who have taught in this program”, said François Julien, Dean of the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. “In addition, our EMBA candidates and alumni, through their professional successes and impact within their organizations and communities, are making a tremendous contribution to their program and to the Telfer School. I congratulate them sincerely on this remarkable achievement and encourage them to continue their excellent work.”
The full ranking is available on CEO Magazine’s website.
About our Executive MBA
The Telfer Executive MBA Program accelerates value in three distinct ways: business leadership, organizational impact and value to the community. Our program offers professionals a ‘live’ and transformative learning environment, focusing on international market and leadership experience to excel in today’s global economy. The curriculum is anchored by the Signature Series of Six Business Consulting Projects, of which two are global in focus and involve two international business trips.
About CEO Magazine
CEO Magazine has been showcasing top business schools from around the globe since it first launched in 2008. In 2012, the publication launched its annual Global MBA Rankings, profiling MBA, Executive MBA and Online MBA programs.
This year CEO Magazine reached out to business schools across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the BRICS, and received responses from over 160 institutions – a 20 per cent increase in submissions from 2016.
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer Executive MBA will be hosting more than 35 candidates from the Sun yat-Sen University Executive MBA program from Guangzhou, P.R. China., during the week of October 2 – 7, 2016. This will be the third and final stop for these senior executives as a component of the Program's “Overseas Business Trip”. Prior to Ottawa, the group attended executive development programs at Columbia and Yale University.
One of the Telfer Executive MBA’s key objectives is to provide an impactful contribution to our business community through its executive leadership and competency development platform along with growing a global network that serves its business community.
This academic exchange program is an extension of a close relationship between our two programs. The first in 2014 was the direct result of the Telfer Executive MBA’s International Business Consulting Trip to Guangzhou, P.R China in April of that year. Since then the partnership has grown to include Summer Business Consulting Projects, known as the G9 [Guangzhou 9]. Working in teams of three, nine selected Telfer Executive MBA candidates complete a smaller scaled International Business Consulting Project for Chinese organizations throughout the summer months between their first and second year. This experience includes a one-week trip in Guangzhou to present their findings and meet with key stakeholders. The G9 was piloted in 2015 and the Class of 2017 recently closed off another successful year of the projects.
The activities during their stay will provide excellent opportunities to promote the University of Ottawa and the City of Ottawa, to many senior-level executives from China. It will also provide opportunities for engagement and insights from our community leaders through company visits, in-class sessions with distinguished professors, and several networking opportunities with Telfer Executive MBA alumni and leaders in the business community. It is important to note that more than 2000 of Sun yat-Sen’s alumni are in leadership roles of large and medium-sized enterprises in China.
With a focus on promoting local entrepreneurs and Canadian organizations, the Telfer Executive MBA has arranged for the Chinese visitors to enjoy the culinary and ale delights of Millstreet Brew Pub located in the historic Thompson-Perkins Mill building. The week also includes executive briefings at Ottawa’s Kivuto Solutions Inc., and the Royal Canadian Mint; as well as enjoying fall activities such as apple picking at Mountain Orchards and zip-lining adventures at locally owned Camp Fortune.
The visit is capped with a University of Ottawa / Sun yat-Sen Business School Delegation Dinner Reception on October 5th. The Mayor's office, in partnership with Telfer Executive MBA Program and Gowlings, will be hosting the reception with guests from the business community at the elegant Château Laurier. Special guests will include the mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson, senior officials from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and senior executives from the University of Ottawa.The academic portion of the week will be three fold; Global Competitive Intelligence; Economics for the Global Manager; and Self-Leadership and Branding.
During their scheduled leisure time, the executives will enjoy Canada’s rich history with visits to Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal, as well as Ottawa’s ByWard Market.
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
The Best Possible Care
Make sure your patients and their families are at the centre of everything you do. Engage healthcare professionals who are highly skilled and give them the resources required to do their jobs. And build your team of committed and collaborative leaders so that together you can solve problems, overcome challenges and make yours an even better organization. These things matter most to me.
That first point—ensure patients can access high-quality healthcare services in their hometown—has been my highest priority right from the time I graduated from medical school decades ago. Since assuming the role of chief executive officer at The Ottawa Hospital in 2001, I’ve been able to broaden that mission from my own patients and their families to cover thousands of patients and families served by one of the largest healthcare organizations in the country. That’s where the teams of skilled and caring professionals come in. If some people consider me to be a successful leader, it’s because of the intelligence and dedication of others. That’s not false modesty. Since my student days, I’ve been guided by a phrase attributed to Harry S. Truman: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Another big part of the credit for my success at The Ottawa Hospital goes to the Telfer School. I graduated from the EMBA program—just weeks before assuming the top job—equipped with skills and knowledge in many disciplines of business. I’ve relied on that ability and understanding every day since. I never anticipated becoming CEO of a large research and teaching hospital: I was an anaesthesiologist, not an executive. But when the challenge presented itself, I was ready to seize it. More to the point, I was prepared to put together teams that enabled our organization to eliminate deficits, raise morale, and ensure patients and their families receive the best possible care. It turns out what matters most to me also makes a difference for others.
- Category: Alumni in the Lead
Make Missions Work
The mission of the organization matters most to me. In the context of working at Shared Services Canada, my goal is to find solutions that help Canadians have their service needs met. We support all the technology services that enable people to be safe and secure, to benefit from our social safety net, and even to pay taxes in support all the priorities and activities of government. My mission now is the most ambitious I’ve ever been a part of: to create the new platform for governments at all levels so that information is gathered and used for the benefit of all Canadians. I want to help make our governments achieve excellence in gathering, using and safeguarding information.
Telfer School of Management made it possible for me to take on this challenge. Because of the Telfer Executive MBA, I have gained skills, acquired knowledge, cultivated new ways of thinking, and I have reached a much higher level of contribution for my employer. Along with turning me into a high-performing communicator, thinker and strategist, Telfer also taught me to appreciate the advantages of diversity. Organizations are made up of people at different stages of their careers, and we collectively face the challenges of achieving the mission. We can rise up to the challenges because of our diverse skills, perspectives, capabilities and experiences. The Telfer Executive MBA equipped me with the awareness and ability to bring together teams whose members have specific blends of strengths and capacities.
These are the kind of teams that succeed in completing missions and improving how governments operate. Which is vital, because the status quo is no longer an option—for people and for organizations. People must always look to enhance their knowledge—just as I did—and government departments must always look to give their people opportunities to apply what they know to make missions work.
Five remarkable alumni, including David Adamson, will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to the world of business, healthcare, community and their alma mater at the 2016 Telfer School of Management Gala of Excellence. The Gala will be held at the Shaw Centre on Saturday, October 15, 2016. This will also be an opportunity to collectively celebrate our alma mater and highlight the graduation anniversary of the classes of 1966, 1976, 1991 and 2006.
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 has spoken and the candidates will be going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The votes were cast and decision was made during the week of June 6, 2016, after insightful presentations from 7 teams that form the cohort. The presentations focused on four key factors:
- Strategic importance of respective international market to Ottawa and Ontario.
- The number of Canadian organizations already invested in the market.
- Market interest or focus by local associations such as Export Development Corp and the Canadian government.
- The level of impact each respective international market would have on the cohort’s international market experience, careers and global resume going forward.
This was the final step of the International Market Evaluation & Selection course that started in March. In total 14 different international cities were evaluated and Kuala Lumpur was selected on June 8, 2016. The course mirrors the strategic approach that an organization would take when evaluating and making a decision on a specific international market on expanding its global footprint. The process forms the compelling nature of the Telfer Executive MBA program, a program that strictly focusing on a Global, Practical and Relevant curriculum by anchoring key learnings on the Signature Series of Six Business Consulting Projects. The program works with over 50 client organizations in addressing business challenges and market opportunities. The Class of 2017 will be working with Canadian companies on exploring the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market as it marches the client organizations to Kuala Lumpur in April 2017.
About Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia and is located in Southeast Asia bordering with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei. It is home to a diverse and multicultural population of 30 million, with over seven million located in its most populated urban centre. The country’s annual GDP growth for 2015 was down from their 2014 growth of 6% but exceeded economist expectations by closing at 5%, reported by Financial Times in February 2016. Malaysia’s growth and opportunity has caught the attention of several of Canadian international groups, including Global Affairs Canada that listed the region as a priority market for Canadian business. Export Development Canada recognized Malaysia as a key market and it is also listed on Ontario’s top ten Asian markets.
Kuala Lumpur (KL) is the economic and business centre of the country and is considered one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South-East Asia. KL is one-hour flight time from the highly-developed and dynamic business environment of Singapore. The frequency of business is evident by the over 30 daily flights between KL to Singapore.
This is the second time a cohort of Telfer Executive MBA program has chosen Kuala Lumpur as a market destination for their International trip. The Class of 1997 departed to Kuala Lumpur to pursue opportunities of Malaysia’s emergence as a high-tech hub of the Far East exactly 20 years ago.
The Next Steps for the Class of 2017
Over the course of the next eight months the Telfer Executive MBA teams will be engaging with seven Canadian organizations that are looking to increase their business footprint in the Malaysian market. This global component of the Telfer Executive MBA curriculum focuses on leveraging both primary and secondary sources to conduct a market and business analysis, and to validate the market potential prior to the teams traveling to KL. The Class of 2017 will be in KL in April 2017, respective teams will leverage other data gathering methodologies including in-country with key stakeholders to validate the market potential.
The Telfer Executive MBA consistently provides compelling business value to respective client organizations as each candidate learns international business is not difficult with solid planning and precise implementation.
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 wrote about their experiences in Silicon Valley as a part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Consulting Trip which took place from May 14 - 20, 2016.
Anticipation Mounts as the Class of 2017 fly into San Francisco
Written by: Ashley Mascarenhas
Make Yourself Known
Written by: Adan Elsaadi and Mario Fowler
Video: Bringing a Canadian Perspective to Silicon Valley
Written by: Team Kentaurus- Michael Bell, Martin Chartrand, Kevin Jones, MJ Levesque, Glenn Moran and Derek Quesnel
Incremental Innovation vs. Invention
Written by: Team Capella – Mohamed Eldery, Daniel Feeny, Tanya Gracie, Kyle Taplay and Andrew Wright
Surviving in an Innovative Playground
Written by: Team Canopus- Amanda Bernier, Scott Johnston, Matt Lundie, Kimberley Marr, Ryan Peatt and Sukri Sharbini
Top 10 things Ottawa can learn from Silicon Valley
Written by: Amanda Dwyer, Team Sirius
Our Silicon Valley Outcome: Uniting as One Big Team
Written by: Team Arcturus - Abdul Ahmadzai, Ajay Bhandari, Isabelle Blondeau, Bernard Guité and Kurt Schweitzer
Subcategories
Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please