“I take out CEOs once a month and they all tell me the same thing,” said Alan Middleton, marketing professor and executive director of Schulich’s Executive Education Centre, in The Globe and Mail Aug. 26. “ ‘Whatever happened to the ability of someone, in less than two minutes, to state what they want me to do, state the rationale and how to do it?’ ”… Not only that, Prof. Middleton added, the competitive job market gives prospective employees little time to make a positive impression. “You may have as little as five seconds, and maybe up to 30 seconds, to make that initial impression so someone engages with you,” he warned. Read full story.
Burger King deal yet another attempt by Tim Hortons to crack U.S. market
Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto, said Tim Hortons faces many hurdles in cracking the U.S., and that the new owners might not give the company time to establish itself. The company struggles to stand out in the U.S. because its products – coffee, sandwiches and deep-fried treats – are no different from those sold elsewhere, said Middleton in The Globe and Mail Aug. 26. Read full story.
Canadian Space Agency prepares another study for launch
The Canadian Space Agency, which has struggled for years with the gravitational pull of tight budgets, plans a sweeping study of the benefits of Canada’s involvement in space…. “What I read is perhaps somebody at the (space) agency saying, ‘We’ve got to try to mount a bit of a defence here to shrinking budgets from the government and prove our worth,’” said Paul Delaney, professor of physics and astronomy at York University, in the Ottawa Citizen Aug. 25. Read full story.
How a Burger King deal could change Tim Hortons
"Tim's won't die because of foreign ownership, they'll die because foreign ownership will bring forth ... death by a thousand cuts," said Alan Middleton, executive director of York University's Schulich Executive Education Centre, in CBC News Aug. 26. Read full story.
Entrepreneurs hope fitness pass start-up takes hold
When he returns to classes at the Schulich School of Business next month, Jake Stief will be bolstered by real world experience from his summer job, reported the Toronto Star Aug. 25. The MBA student and his high-school pal and fitness instructor, Leila Ellen, garnered promising responses to the fitness pass business they launched in July. For $49 the program allows purchasers to take one group class at 20 different boutique gyms over six months. Read full story.
Cheating or collaborating?
As more and more university courses are offered on the Internet, it seems only logical that study groups would move online too. CBC “Metro Morning” guest host Jill Dempsey spoke about it with Cael Zorn, philosophy professor at York University, Aug. 25. Read full story.
Builders changed Tim Hortons stadium designs mid-construction
Ontario Sports Solutions, the builders of Hamilton’s new Tim Hortons Field stadiu, had to modify their designs mid-build, but it’s hard to know whether that’s contributed to the delay, says a senior executive with Infrastructure Ontario…. Ontario Sports Solutions is also building the velodrome in Milton and the stadium at York University. Both of those projects are also behind schedule, reported CBC News Aug. 26. Read full story.
Landing the big one
After a few weeks of law school Frances Mahon boldly went to Professor Alan Young’s office at Osgoode Hall Law School and in her words, “begged him for a job,” reported Canadian Lawyer Aug. 25. His response to her plea was disappointing yet encouraging at the same time. “He said: ‘Come talk to me in the summer when you actually know something and you’re not a baby law student,’” recalls Mahon, who would later that year begin a two-year journey working on one of the most pivotal cases in recent Canadian history. Read full story.
The law school of the future – today
Harry Arthurs knows a thing or two about legal education, reported Canadian Lawyer Aug. 25. The 79-year-old has been a fixture of Canada’s legal community for more than 50 years. He has served as dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, president of York University and was the author of “Law and Learning,” a 1983 report that was the first comprehensive examination of Canadian legal education. When asked to assess how important McGill University’s introduction of a “transsystemic” law program in 1999 was, Arthurs is definitive. “I think it’s one of the most dramatic changes in English-language legal education in 100 years,” he says. Read full story.
Inspired by ghosts
“My costumes are inspired by an interest in classical Japanese ghost folklore and my studies in law and social justice relating to women’s experiences of inequality,” wrote Osgoode Hall Law School student Veronica Yeung in Canadian Lawyer Aug. 25. “I use elements of Japan’s ghost archetypes to reflect on these historical and ongoing realities.” Read full story.