Study finds corporate charitable foundations fund health care in richer communities
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A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics has found that corporate charitable foundations tend to direct health-care funding to richer communities rather than to regions with the greatest health-care needs.
Irene Henriques
The study, titled “Putting the ‘Love of Humanity’ Back in Corporate Philanthropy: The Case of Health Grants by Corporate Foundations,”was co-authored by Irene Henriques, a professor of sustainability and economics at York University’s Schulich School of Business; Muhammad Umar Boodoo, an assistant professor at Warwick Business School in the U.K.; and Bryan W. Husted, a professor of management at EGADE Business School in Mexico.
The study looked at health grants made by U.S. corporate foundations as well as county-level health data. The research findings showed that corporate health grants are less likely to go to communities that have a lower proportion of medical service providers and insured citizens. As a result, corporate philanthropy tends to exacerbate health inequality by providing grants to wealthier counties with fewer health problems.
“In conducting this research, we wanted to find out whether corporate philanthropy is in fact reaching those with the greatest health-care needs,” said Henriques. “One would expect corporate philanthropy to provide for the poor and disadvantaged by addressing the root causes of these inequalities, not reinforce them. But what we discovered was that corporate health philanthropy tends to reinforce pre-existing health inequalities and even exacerbate them.”
Social media posts with higher fat foods lead to higher engagement new research shows
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New research published recently in the Journal of Consumer Psychology indicates that visual displays of calorie-dense food is a key factor in boosting viewer engagement on social media.
Theodore Noseworthy
According to the study, co-authored by Theodore Noseworthy, an associate professor of marketing and the Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good at York University’s Schulich School of Business, the caloric density of food dishes depicted on food sites positively influences social media engagement. Researchers examined visual depictions of food on popular food sites such as Buzzfeed’s Tasty, the world’s largest digital food network, which has more than 100 million followers on Facebook and over a billion monthly views.
The findings were published in a research paper titled, “Content Hungry: How the Nutrition of Food Media Influences Social Media Engagement.” The paper was co-authored by Noseworthy as well as Ethan Pancer, an associate professor of marketing at the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University; Matthew Philp, an assistant professor of marketing at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University; and Maxwell Poole, a graduate student at the Sobey School of Business.
The researchers examined the recipes and ingredients of hundreds of videos from Buzzfeed’s Tasty on Facebook using a text-processing algorithm. They discovered that some nutrients are more effective than others when it comes to driving social engagement. In particular, researchers determined that nutrients people can readily see, like saturated fats, are more likely to draw positive comments, likes and shares. Saturated fats are prevalent in butter, cheese, meats, and oils, and are known to give foods their juicy, chewy, and creamy sensory experiences.
According to Noseworthy, the depiction of saturated fats is a major reason why food photographers spray foods with WD-40, which gives them an artificial sheen to make them look more plump, moist and juicy. “Is it possible to make other healthy foods like vegetables more appealing by applying visual characteristics associated with fattier foods?” asks Noseworthy. “Future research should consider identifying these visual characteristics of nutrients to better inform strategies for garnering engagement with more health-conscious food media content.”
The findings have implications for advertisers, consumers and health advocates. “Understanding the specific characteristics that shape engagement on social media is of critical importance to content producers looking to tailor media towards viewer preferences, to advertisers seeking to increase impact, and to health advocates interested in helping consumers make better food choice,” says Noseworthy.
A video summarizing the research paper can be found here.
Here are the summer 2021 editors of the ‘Future of Marketing’ magazine
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The student-magazine has announced five Master of Marketing (MMKG) ’21 candidates as the new managing editors of the magazine for summer 2021
The Future of Marketing magazine, curated by Schulich graduate students, is the largest digital publication on the topic, with more than 1.3 million pages read.
The student-run magazine has announced five Master of Marketing (MMKG) ’21 candidates as the new managing editors of the magazine for summer 2021:
Anastasiia Filimonenko
Abeera Khan
Mariana Kurobasa
Aishwarya Mani
Julia Orsini
With more than 48,000 viewers and nearly 11,000 followers, the magazine reports on leading-edge developments in marketing, including artificial intelligence, hyper-personalization, facial recognition, voice search/digital assistants, proximity marketing, marketing automation, privacy, and other topics.
The widely respected publication is updated daily and is considered an excellent resource for marketing professionals, academics and students. It also contains articles, commentary, videos, news items and podcasts which all directly discuss ‘Future of Marketing’ topics.
The Future of Marketing magazine’s collection consists of 5,500-plus articles and is available free-of-charge. Read the magazine here.
Research shows organizational structure in retail can curb in-store theft
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Retail companies should engage frontline employees in the ongoing battle to reduce in-store theft, according to new research from M. Johnny Rungtusanatham, Canada Research Chair in Supply Chain Management and Professor of Operations Management & Information Systems at York University’s Schulich School of Business.
According to the paper, retail inventory shrinkage arises from two primary sources: theft or administrative errors. The former includes employee thefts and shoplifting and constitutes the larger portion. To combat this phenomenon, retailers have invested in technologies to monitor (e.g., security cameras), detect thefts (e.g., sensors at entrances), and deter thefts (e.g., locked cabinets), as well as in visible security personnel. The Walmart greeter, for example, is there not only to welcome you but also to demotivate shoplifters. The same is true of the Costco employee checking receipts at the exits. Despite these efforts, retail thefts have not abated, with losses piling north of $50 billion.
What else can retailers do? Schulich’s Rungtusanatham and his colleagues – Hung-Chung Su (University of Michigan Dearborn) and Kevin Linderman (Pennsylvania State University) – provide some insights and practical steps retailers can take in their research paper.
Analyzing inventory shrinkage data, store attribute data, and employee survey data from a Fortune 500 U.S.-based retailer with over 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores, the researchers offer three suggestions:
Raise the alertness of in-store, on-the-floor retail personnel to potential and actual security breaches. Think of a security breach as a specific opportunity arising from the convergence of physical factors (e.g., an open door that should have been locked) and time factors (e.g., holiday sales) that allow an individual – employee or shopper – to be motivated to engage in illegal behavior.
Formalize in-store procedures and protocols to prevent and to react to retail thefts. Such formalization bolsters retail personnel alertness and should begin by soliciting their inputs. Sadly, according to the National Retail Federation, only 40 per cent of retailers have formal in-store loss prevention committees.
Delegate decision-making regarding security breaches to frontline employees. Doing so speeds up detection and reaction time. For the Fortune 500 U.S.-based retailer in question, adopting these suggestions could lead to inventory shrinkage savings of between $4.5 and $16.7 million (USD) (or, approximately $1.8 to $6.7 million (USD) from curbing thefts).
Study shows diversity and inclusion efforts failed employees of Chinese descent during pandemic
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A new study published April 27 in Harvard Business Review has found that some workplace diversity and inclusion policies ended up backfiring during the COVID-19 pandemic by making North American employees of Chinese descent more likely to be the targets of prejudice and mistreatment.
According to the study, diversity and inclusion efforts focused on the integration of differences ended up drawing attention to the identity of workers of Chinese descent, making them more likely to be mistreated during the height of the pandemic.
Winny Shen
The study, titled “Why Some D&I Efforts Failed Employees of Chinese Descent,”was co-authored by Winny Shen, associate professor of organization studies, and Ivona Hideg, associate professor and Ann Brown Chair in Organization Studies at York University’s Schulich School of Business, together with Janice Lam and Christianne Varty, two Schulich PhD students, and Anja Krstic, assistant professor in the School of Human Resource Management at York University.
Their research involved conducting a series of in-depth surveys during May 2020 with approximately 250 East and Southeast Asian workers in the United States and Canada. The surveys asked participants about their organizations’ diversity initiatives, and their experiences with mistreatment at work due to prejudice associated with COVID-19.
Fifty per cent of the employees surveyed reported that they had been mistreated at work due to prejudice associated with the coronavirus. In their responses, employees gave examples of ostracism by coworkers, supervisors using stigmatizing language when discussing the pandemic (such as “Kung Flu”), and customers rejecting their service. In turn, workers who experienced these hateful acts felt more burned out, reported poorer job performance, and expressed a greater desire to leave their organization.
“When people are scared and uncertain during a novel threat such as COVID-19, they often look for someone to blame – and during the pandemic, the role of scapegoat has often fallen on people of Chinese descent,” says Shen, the lead researcher.
Although study participants who reported that their organizations invested more in diversity and inclusion policies experienced fewer incidents of mistreatment, this was not true for Asian workers of Chinese descent, according to Shen.
“Our research demonstrates that many workers of Chinese descent have remained vulnerable to mistreatment even in purportedly inclusive work environments, indicating that there is still much to be done to achieve true workplace inclusion,” says Shen. “Companies must ensure that displays of differences will always be met with respect – otherwise, they risk turning the very people these policies aim to support into targets for abuse.”
Schulich takes first place at Yale Case Competition
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The academic school year ended off on a very positive note for York University’s Schulich School of Business MBA case team members as they finished in first place at the 10th annual Yale Graduate Student Consulting Club (YGCC) Case Competition. This was Schulich’s first year participating in the event, which featured top schools across North America.
The competition featured a total of 20 teams participating, including students from Yale, Harvard, Berkley, as well as a finalist team of PhD students. Teams were challenged with a real-world business case to develop solutions for the exodus of people and businesses from the state of California. The loss of tax revenue combined with the extremely high cost of living in the major cities is creating a complex set of financial and social issues.
“Seeing as all five of us were from Canada and not totally familiar with this issue, we had to learn a lot about the state of California fast,” said MBA student Azra Samji. “Teammates were handing in final deliverables, studying for exams, and finalizing their 601 all while trying to create a high quality and well-researched presentation.”
Schulich’s team was comprised of five MBA students:
Azra Samji (MBA ’21)
Mary Wei (MBA ’21)
Rageeb Kibria (MBA ’21)
Deanna Galati (MBA Candidate ’22)
Kyle Hatton (MBA/JD Candidate ’23)
“I am so proud of our teams. They did their very best, and worked intensely on their solutions, in spite of their high workloads in the program,” said coach and Schulich instructor Joe Fayt.
“The championship Yale team has upheld a long tradition of success and excellence at Schulich when it comes to national and international case competitions,” said Detlev Zwick, interim dean at Schulich.
York University posts top scores in Times Higher Education Global Impact Ranking 2021
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For the third year in a row, York University has been ranked highly by the Times Higher Education (THE) global Impact Ranking, which classifies universities on their work towards the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, York has placed 11th in Canada and 67th overall against 1,115 post-secondary institutions from 94 different countries.
Rhonda L. Lenton
“York’s strong performance in the rankings this year is a result of the extraordinary efforts of our students, faculty, course directors, staff, and alumni, whose dedication to our communities and our planet has helped us make great strides in furthering the UN SDGs,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “We are proud of the way our community members have come together in support of the SDGs, and grateful for their passion, enthusiasm, and continued commitment to driving positive change in our local and global communities.”
The THE Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking compares universities on research, stewardship, outreach and teaching across 17 categories.
York ranked in the top four per cent globally in two SDGs that closely align with the strategic focus of the University’s Academic Plan (2020), including third in Canada and 27th in the world for SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals, which examines a university’s stewardship of resources and its preservation of community heritage, and fifth in Canada and 24th in the world for SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, which looks at how the University supports and collaborates with other universities in working towards the SDGs.
Lisa Philipps
“The Impact Ranking is a strong reflection of York’s progress in advancing the University Academic Plan 2020–2025 (UAP), which challenges us to build a better future, bringing our unique capacities to bear on the most urgent issues facing the world, while deepening our collective contributions to the SDGs,” said Provost and Vice President Academic Lisa Philipps. “I am very proud of the significant contributions that have been made to advance our UAP and address complex global issues.”
Partnerships for the goals: Global hubs, partnerships and collaborations improved ranking in SDG 17
Hosting global hubs for international initiatives, sharing best practices, and partnering with the federal government to offer expertise improved York’s ranking to 27th overall in Partnerships to Achieve Goals − a major improvement over last year’s rank of 50th.
Driven by a welcoming and diverse community with a uniquely global perspective, York’s international network of partnerships helps our students and faculty make a difference across the world.
York hosts four significant global partnerships and hubs that contribute to the pursuit of the SDGs.
Charles Hopkins
The UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Educations Towards Sustainability, held by Charles A. Hopkins, works in association with the many other entities, including the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions and the #IndigenousESD, towards achieving the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Ecological Footprint Initiative, which hosts a data centre at York, focuses on researching, investigating, mapping, and explaining humanity’s ecological footprint on the planet.
Professor Steven Hoffman
The World Health Organization has recognized the work of York’s Global Strategy Lab team led by Director Steven J. Hoffman, a professor of global health, law and political science and the Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology, by designating it as the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance (WHOCC). The Glendon Accelerator for Innovation and Best Practices in French Teaching will also host a new knowledge mobilization hub to meet the need for French as a second language teachers at a time when they are in short supply.
In addition to these international hubs, the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom won the 7th Airbus Global Engineering Deans Council Diversity Award for its efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in engineering education.
Deborah McGregor
Finally, through the leadership of Osgoode Hall Law School Associate Professor Deborah McGregor, who is cross appointed to the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice, the Osgoode Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic intervened successfully with the federal government to obtain a regional impact assessment for proposed mining and road infrastructure in Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
Sustainable cities and communities: COVID-19 research and new green buildings recognized in SDG 11
New Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified buildings, timely COVID-19 research, projects funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and a new Charter Centre on Homelessness propelled York to 24th overall in the Sustainable Cities and Communities ranking. York University’s top ranking in this category is further proof of its commitment to make things right for our community, the planet and our future.
York’s researchers have also been helping lead the fight against COVID-19, with a pair of projects to simulate mass vaccination sites and model COVID-19 transmission.
Ali Asgary
Ali Asgary, associate professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, and Jianhong Wu, a Canada Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the NSERC/Sanofi Industrial Research Chair in Vaccine Mathematics, Modelling and Manufacturing and York Distinguished Research Professor in Mathematics, have together developed a simulation that models ongoing processes in a drive through vaccination clinic. The innovative approach is being used in Canada and the United States and has been listed as one of the best community models available.
Jianhong Wu
Jude Kong, an assistant professor in Mathematics & Statistics at York, leads a team of 50 researchers from organizations across Africa and Canada to predict the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their project builds on a South African-led COVID-19 dashboard and combines modelling at York to inform and support national policymakers from across Africa manage the virus in real time.
Jude Kong
Two SSHRC grants awarded to York professors will enhance the ability to preserve local heritage in communities around the world. Laura Levin, associate professor in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, and director of Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts & Technology, leads the “Hemispheric Encounters” partnership project to build a network of organizations across Canada, the United States, and Latin America, with the aim of sharing knowledge and strategies for positive social change. Linda Peake, professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and director of the City Institute, leads “GenUrb,” a research project aiming to build a network to examine the changing relationship between gender, poverty, and inequality across the globe.
Laura Levin
In working to make their own community more sustainable to live in, York Faculty of Education Professor Steven Gaetz leads a collaboration between the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada, a successful partnership to prevent youth homelessness that was recognized by the United Nations.
The Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study and Research Building, part of the internationally renowned Schulich School of Business, became LEED Gold-certified earlier this year. The new site, which opened in 2019, features a glass solar chimney that provides natural ventilation for the facility.
Linda Peake
Two more buildings under construction, the School of Continuing Studies at the Keele Campus, and the first phase of York’s Markham Centre Campus, are also aiming for the LEED Gold standard. The School of Continuing Studies features a high-performance prismatic façade, composed of photovoltaic panels and glazed openings to bring natural light into the building. The photovoltaic panels will also allow the building to produce its own power. The School of Continuing Studies is scheduled to open in the fall of this year, while the Markham Centre Campus will open in Fall 2023.
Steven Gaetz
York’s ongoing success in the THE Impact Rankings is owed entirely to its community of positive changemakers. With so many projects, initiatives, and partnerships underway, and many more in development, York University continues to expand the work that makes the world a better place to live, learn and work.
New research on enterprise reform, technological innovation in emerging economies
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Can governments turn underperforming state-owned enterprises (SOEs) into global champions? A research team led by Justin Tan, the Newmont Chair in Business Strategy at York University’s Schulich School of Business, attempted to address this question by investigating the innovative performance of restructured SOEs in China’s high-speed train sector.
Justin Tan
The research findings, reported in a new paper forthcoming in Journal of International Business Studies, builds on institutional theory and distinguishes state governance via equity ownership and administrative affiliation in an emerging economy with market-hierarchy institutional conflicts. Under such conflicts, restructured SOEs experience institutional logic dissonance, which hinders organizational change for technological innovation. The research was based on a comprehensive proprietary panel data of high-speed train manufacturers in China between 1989 and 2015. This study contributes to the institution-based theory of technological innovation in emerging economies.
For policymakers and business leaders, the research findings suggest that emerging states may adopt arms-length governance to spur SOE innovation and unleash these dynamic dynamos to fuel sustainable economic growth. This line of research has profound implications for Canadian economic interests, especially given the significant role Canadian companies such as Bombardier have played in the development of the Chinese rail transportation equipment manufacturing industry.
The research paper, titled “State Governance and Technological Innovation in Emerging Economies: State-Owned Enterprise Restructuration and Institutional Logic Dissonance in China’s High-Speed Train Sector?”, was co-authored with Aurora Liu Genin, assistant professor of management at University of Massachusetts Amherst in the U.S., and Juan Song, associate professor at Central South University in China.
Students develop Schulich initiative for Black and Indigenous high school students
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York University’s Schulich School of Business will soon be launching its Business Excellence Academy, a business education and mentorship program supporting 60 Black and Indigenous Ontario high school students this summer.
This program was conceived by four Schulich undergraduate students – Rebecca Jodhan (BBA ’21), Brittany Rossi (BBA ’21), Joy Zhang (BBA ’21) and Kim Tram (BBA ’21) – to help high school students discover the limitless career streams related to business. It will provide opportunities to build connections with business professionals, network with Schulich students and become more successful university applicants.
Schulich will launch the Business Excellence Academy, a business education and mentorship program supporting 60 Black and Indigenous Ontario high school students this summer
“The Schulich Business Excellence Academy is a one-of-a-kind program for high school students to discover the exciting opportunities in business – exploring topics such as marketing, finance and entrepreneurship, all under the mentorship of students from one of Canada’s top business schools,” said Rossi.
The first cohort of students will take part in an intensive one-month program in July, with two-hour classes running four evenings a week. Sessions will be a combination of guest speaker discussions followed by interactive activities led by Schulich undergraduate students. The final session will allow program participants to exercise the skills they have learned by taking part in a case competition, followed by a closing ceremony. Upon program completion, high school students will receive a certificate of completion.
“What I love about the Business Excellence Academy is that it is a student-led initiative and supported by our faculty and staff, all working together toward the shared goal of greater Black and Indigenous representation at our School,” said Interim Dean Detlev Zwick.
Registration for program participants starts in May, and we will also be hosting an information session in May. To learn more and apply, visit the official page here.
Schulich team takes second place at L’Oreal Brandstorm case competition
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Three teams from York University’s Schulich School of Business made it to the top 10 in the national finals of the L’OréalBrandstorm case competition, with one team earning second place.
L’Oréal Brandstorm is an innovation competition that reinvents the beauty shopping experience through entertainment – exploring the world of retail and e-commerce – mentored by L’Oréal’s digital experts.
The second-place team members consisted of Hugo Pinto (BBA ’22), Anne Villeneuve (BBA ’22), and Ananthen Karunakaran (BBA ’22)
The three Schulich teams did an outstanding job representing Schulich in a competition that saw close to 150 teams from schools across Canada participate.
The second-place team members consisted of Anne Villeneuve (BBA ’22), Ananthen Karunakaran (BBA ’22), and Hugo Pinto (BBA ’22).
The final round was held virtually, with the top 10 teams competing from seven different Canadian business schools. One of Schulich’s finalist teams presented to an executive panel, including Frank Kollmar, the president and CEO of L’Oréal Canada and a member of Schulich’s International Advisory Council, as well as other senior executives from L’Oréal Canada and the President of Publicis, L’Oréal’s advertising agency.
“It is always so inspiring to see the extraordinary levels of creativity among our undergrad students who bring an unbridled enthusiasm to the process and create outstanding solutions,” said coach and Schulich Professor Joe Fayt. “It also reminds me of how strong and resilient our students are – the world was turned upside down, and they figured it out, got re-oriented, and continued the Schulich legacy of success.”
The aim of the competition was to offer students an experience and opportunity to innovate within the beauty industry. It also enhanced students’ entrepreneurial skills, creativity skills, and perception of the L’Oréal business. Some of the participants were involved in a recruitment process to explore career opportunities.
“We’ve been involved with this competition since it started in 1992, and Schulich has been supporting our teams, both through faculty coaching and through consultations with the Career Development Centre, ever since,” said Fayt.
