Administrative Sciences Association of Canada conference finds its way to Ted Rogers
The Ted Rogers School of Management hosted a successful Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) conference (external link) , from June 3 - 5, 2023. Sessions were also held virtually May 30-31, 2023.
“This was an incredibly successful conference and we are so pleased to have gathered in Tkaronto — the place in the water where the trees are standing,” said Rory O'Neill, ASAC conference manager. “We are so thankful for Ted Rogers School to host us over this weekend and for being a driver in the conversations we had over the course of this conference.”
Each year, the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (external link) brings members, senior and junior academics, students and business professionals together to discuss research, teaching and management practices and to innovate organizational management. Attendees include business and management students, faculty and researchers from across Canada and beyond.
This year marks the third time Toronto Metropolitan University has hosted the conference since 2000. The event included 520 submissions, 400 attendees and more than 50 doctoral students, all supported by 30 volunteers. The conference also included virtual programming which included over 100 virtual-only participants, O'Neill explained.
The conference provides a Canada-wide forum for business professors, researchers and students to come together and really get to the heart of what's important for the future of business, he said.
“Researchers present their work at the conference to their peers — this sparks all sorts of new conversations to further develop and grow these ideas,” he said. “The conference serves as a platform for knowledge sharing across the country. These are invaluable conversations that allow us to make real progress together, establish meaningful partnerships and bring better outcomes for business research and student experiences across Canada.”
The keynote speaker was Tabatha Bull, president and CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
“Can we find our way?”
Given the global challenges people have faced over the last few years - from the pandemic, to increasing inequality and the demand for sustainability - the focus was on finding the most appropriate and inclusive path, explained Deryk Stec (external link) , VP Program for ASAC 2023.
“This theme is all about bringing people together within the context of these problems and finding our way forward together,” he said. “We really wanted to put an emphasis on Indigenous programming under this theme."
The conference had a number of conference wide sessions covering Indigenous themes, including the main professional development workshop, Indigenizing and Decolonizing Business Schools in 2023. That session brought together university administrators, deans, department chairs, program heads, and faculty members to describe how they are all working to find ways to change embedded culture and practice, Stec said.
“We also wanted to ensure we were incorporating Indigenous elements in every element for the conference,” he said. “We engaged a designer, Nishina Loft (external link) (Ken:teke) who provided us with the visual representation of the theme and Henry Pitawanakwat (external link) , a language keeper from the Three Fires Confederacy and Michael Mihalicz who provided us a translation of the theme.”
“Valuable opportunities”
André Laplume, professor and program director of the Master of Science in Management & PhD in Management at the Ted Rogers School, was the doctoral consortium coordinator for the conference. “ASAC is really the only full service management conference in Canada,” he explained. “The last time we hosted (in 2018), we didn't have a PhD program. Now we do, so now it's even more important.”
Md Sajjad Hossain (external link) , a first-year Ph.D. student at the Ted Rogers School, volunteered and presented at the 2023 conference. It was his first time participating at ASAC and he said it was an engaging experience.
Hossain’s primary research interests lie in the field of entrepreneurship and strategy research.
“During the conference, I presented a work-in-progress paper focusing on the impact of micromanagement on start-up visa entrepreneurs within the Canadian business incubator and accelerator contexts,” he explained.
“Specifically, I aimed to address the research question of whether entrepreneurs enrolled in Canada's start-up visa program (SVP) require closely monitored and engaging leadership styles such as micromanagement. The valuable feedback I received from knowledgeable scholars in attendance will undoubtedly enhance the strength and quality of my research project.”
While volunteering, Hossain had the chance to connect with academic experts and scholars and gained insights into their research projects. He eagerly anticipates next year's ASAC conference and the valuable opportunities it will bring, he said.