Three Canada Research Chairs renewed
November 25, 2010
In Toronto yesterday, Minister of Industry Tony Clement announced new or renewed funding for 310 Canada Research Chairs at 53 universities. They include three chairs at HEC Montréal: the Canada Research Chairs in Information Technology Implementation and Management, in Risk Management, and in Management of Employee Commitment and Performance, held by professors Henri Barki, Georges Dionne and Christian Vandenberghe, respectively.
The announcement was made at a regional conference held to mark the 10th anniversary of the Canada Research Chairs Program. The goal of the Program is to recruit and retain internationally renowned experts at Canadian universities and colleges, so as to support advanced research work in all fields there.
HEC Montréal has the largest number of Canada Research Chairs of any business school. In addition to the three Chairs whose funding has just been renewed, the School has four others in the fields of distribution management, strategic management in pluralistic settings, logistics and transportation and information technology in health care.
Canada Research Chair in Information Technology Implementation and Management
Created in June 2003, the Canada Research Chair in Information Technology Implementation and Management (Tier 1) will be continuing its activities for another seven years, thanks to the renewal of its $1.4 million grant.
Under the direction of Chairholder Professor Henri Barki, the Chair’s research program strives to better understand the phenomenon of IT implementation and aims to develop management tools and knowledge for better management of implementation projects. Its research focuses on three main themes: the organization, the IT project itself and users.
Professor Barki holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Western Ontario. He joined the HEC Montréal faculty in 1989, with the Department of Information Technologies. He is currently a member of the editorial committee of MIS Quarterly and the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. Professor Barki has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 2003.
Canada Research Chair in Risk Management
The Canada Research Chair in Risk Management (Tier 1), held by Professor Georges Dionne , will also be continuing its activities for another seven years, thanks to the renewal of its $1.4 million grant.
Risk management, traditionally associated with the insurance industry, has now extended to other activity sectors that closely concern not only businesses, but also individuals and society as a whole. Professor Dionne has contributed in many ways to this evolution, including risk management models with applications in such fields as insurance, banking, traffic safety, environmental risks, health, public safety and finance, in particular as it relates to operating and credit risks and the management of financial portfolios.
Professor Dionne, a member of the Department of Finance, holds a PhD in Economics from the Université de Montréal. He is currently the Editor of the Journal of Risk and Insurance, a member of the editorial committees of seven insurance and risk management journals, and Vice-President of the Canadian Economics Association. He is a prolific author and has won many awards; in fact he is a three-time winner of the Pierre Laurin Award from HEC Montréal in recognition of his scientific contributions. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada since 2000.
Canada Research Chair in Management of Employee Commitment and Performance
Lastly, the Canada Research Chair in Management of Employee Commitment and Performance has been renewed for a second five-year term. The Tier 2 Chair, created in 2005, will receive funding of $500,000.
The mission of the Chair, directed by Professor Christian Vandenberghe, is to advance our knowledge of employee commitment so as to improve their performance, retention and health. One of the Chair’s concerns is the interaction between the different forms of organizational commitment and their impact on professional performance; the role of hierarchical superiors in developing the organizational commitment of team members; and management practices likely to encourage organizational commitment.
Professor Vandenberghe, a member of the Department of Management, holds a PhD in Psychology from the Université catholique de Louvain. His fields of interest and research are organizational commitment and performance indicators in the workplace, relations between employees and organizations, links between management practices and employee attitudes, and change and leadership.