Business Commons^™

Addressing The Lack Of Digital Literacy Learning At A Kuwaiti Higher Education Institution, Mariam Sarhan Alshammari

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan is an effort to address the lack of digital literacy learning at a Kuwaiti higher education institution. Digital literacy, and by extension, digital citizenship are critical skills to have in today’s world. Global College of Kuwait (GCK, anonymized) is a relatively new college in the region that is struggling to retain students, particularly after COVID highlighted the college’s lack of experience/preparedness with digital literacy. To tackle the problem, a reform committee was formed and tasked with finding a feasible solution to improve digital literacy learning in the college’s Foundation Program. A Foundation Program is a preparatory …

Just Following Up: My Experience As A Summer Student Administrator For Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Llp, Bridget Leslie

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this paper, I reflect on my experience as a Summer Student Administrator for Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP where I acquired skills such as proficiency in various software and data analysis as well as professional communication, confidence, and organization. I applied these skills daily to produce quality work, and I am still applying these skills to my academic and personal life almost a year later. The culminating experience of the summer was presenting my own data analysis to a group of executives, which helped me improve my presentation skills and foster confidence in my own abilities. In addition to …

Stories Of Words, Numbers, And Communities: My Usri Research And Speak Fluent Marketing Internship Experiences, Choi Sze Leung

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This report illustrates my experiential-learning opportunities, which took the form of two internships. In the summer of 2021, I worked as a marketing intern at Speak Fluent Speech Services, a speech clinic that provides speech and communication training for adults. Aside from designing posters for the clinic’s social-media campaigns, I also had the opportunity to write creative and professional copy and compile a campaign's key performance metrics into a marketing report. In my second internship, I was a research student in the Undergraduate Student Research Internship (USRI) program in the Anthropology department. In this internship, I conducted linguistics anthropology research …

Employees’ Response To Corporate Greenwashing, Jennifer Robertson, Wren A. Montgomery, Timur Ozbilir

Management and Organizational Studies Publications

Research on corporate greenwashing has expanded rapidly in recent years. At the same time, emerging studies in related literatures have found that employees are seeking out firms that are social and environmental leaders, and employee activism within firms is growing. However, the effect of firms’ exaggeration and misrepresentation of environmental claims, or greenwashing, on their own employees has been overlooked. Accordingly, we investigate greenwashing from an organizational psychology lens, exploring the impact it can have on employees, and whether these effects differ for different types of employees. Using data collected at three separate time points from a sample of employees …

A Qualitative Look Into Repair Practices, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research poster is based on a working research paper which moves beyond the traditional scope of repair and examines the Right to Repair movement from a smaller, more personal lens by detailing the 6 categorical impediments as dubbed by Dr. Alissa Centivany (design, law, economic/business strategy, material asymmetry, informational asymmetry, and social impediments) have continuously inhibited repair and affected repair practices, which has consequently had larger implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) on ourselves, our objects, and our world. The poster builds upon my research from last year (see "The Right to Repair: (Re)building a better future"), this time pulling …

Learning From Experience: Sasah Communications Intern And Osborne Holdings Intern, Andrew Fullerton

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

I certainly learned about communications as a communications intern, and I certainly learned about copywriting as an intern copywriter at Osborne Holdings. However, what resonates the most with me a year after completing my experiential learning credits are not job-focused skills. Instead, what resonates the most with me are the things I learned about responsibility, valuing my skillset, and leadership.

As an intern with SASAH, I learned that communication is not just a skill; it is a responsibility. I learned this as I ran the SASAH Instagram page through a school year that was cut short because of the COVID-19 …

Internships At The Walrus And Hive Media Group, Reese Berlin Bromstein

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This report will reflect upon my experiential learning experiences of interning at The Walrus and at Hive Media Group. The opportunity to work with a company as revolutionary as The Walrus and gain experience in the rapidly changing online publishing industry was an honour. I loved being a Digital Intern at The Walrus as it combined my passion for storytelling, interest in web development and production, and content strategy. I also loved working for Hive Media Group as a Mergers and Acquisitions Intern. M&A allowed me to work within a large ecosystem of sales, operations, and project management, and move …

Coding Ivey Publishing: Building Sustainable Values For Tomorrow's Business Leaders, B. Pick

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

A reflection on the future of sustainability in business as it pertains to Ivey Publishing's case collection and the coding system developed through the USRI program.

Beyond Books: Closing My Chapter At The Timmins Public Library, Britney Forget

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

For my SASAH experiential-learning project, I worked at the Timmins Public Library over the summer of 2020. While it was my third year working as a summer student at the library, this one offered new challenges and unique learning opportunities as I was working in the midst of a pandemic. My main responsibilities were working on the newly implemented curbside pick-up program and assisting patrons over the phone. But working at the library is so much more than just checking out books. Throughout the summer, I created social-media content, organized a StoryWalk event, and provided vital resources to the community. …

Experiential Learning Final Report: Western Heads East X Mikono Yetu And Crhesi, Rebecca Jackson

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

Over the summer of 2020, I completed an internship with Western Heads East (WHE), a collaboration between Western University and African Partners. During this internship, I worked alongside two of my peers to design a website for the non-governmental organization “Mikono Yetu” to showcase the important work they are doing surrounding female empowerment and economic independence. During the Fall term of my final year at Western, I completed a placement with The Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion (CRHESI). For this placement, I created an infographic that outlined the barriers migrant agricultural workers currently face to accessing …

Sasah Experiential Learning Opportunities: Western Heads East And The Iconoclast Collective, Jade Rozal

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

The first part of this report discusses my time as a remote intern during Summer 2020 for the Tanzanian organization, MikonoYetu. MikonoYetu is an NGO that seeks to promote the empowerment and economic independence of young girls, and my team and I were tasked were creating and designing their live website. This internship was supervised by Western Heads East, who also tasked my team with reviewing and suggesting changes for their current website. While completing this remote internship during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges, my team and I were able to fulfill our deliverables and learn …

Grand Theatre Internship: Final Report, Kaitlyn Lonnee

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this final report about her 2020-21 internship at London’s Grand Theatre, Kaitlyn Lonnee discusses the ups and downs of an internship in the world of an international pandemic; the work she completed as a contributor to a souvenir publication meant to document the Grand’s historic multimillion-dollar renovation and modernization by interviewing theatre staff, board members, and donors; the skill sets, lessons, and relationships she has come away from the experience with; the value of internships and community learning experiences; how SASAH contributed to her success in this position; and finally, her plans for the future.

In this presentation about …

Mikonoyetu And S.W.I.M. Report: My Fourth Year, Labour, And Learning, Qingxiao Cui

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This report covers two internships I undertook from July to September 2020 and October 2020 to February 2021: respectively, a website design internship with MikonoYetu and Western Heads East and a promotional internship with the Single Women in Motherhood Training Program, or S.W.I.M. It discusses the duties I undertook on a team of other interns, the hard and soft skills I developed by branching out into fields I would not have on my own, the implications for my future career path, and the relevance of my SASAH education. It also discusses the remote nature of the internships and the impact …

Learning From Experience: Designing For Western Libraries And Western Mustangs, Sophia Belyk

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

In this report, Belyk reflects on her two internship experiences. In her summer with Western Libraries, Belyk worked on social-media content production and social-media management, as well as expanded her knowledge of design and her skill of working collaboratively. In her three years with the Western Mustangs, Belyk learned a lot about working in design professionally, as well as how to thrive in unfamiliar circumstances, and what kind of team she likes to work with. Throughout the report Belyk reflects on the value of experiential learning and what it means to be a designer.

Final Report: Marketing Internships With Connected, Hadi Kiani

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

Working as the Marketing Coordinator Intern for a tech start-up was an amazing experience. I conducted competitor research, ghostwrote blog posts, ran social media, and aided in a complete company rebrand. Connected is a software product development firm. They partner with ambitious organizations to deliver on the potential of software-powered products. Joining the company halfway through their rebrand, I was immediately thrown into the deep end. Fortunately, I was able to leverage the research and communication skills I had honed through SASAH and translate them into successful contributions. Nevertheless, I had to learn a lot about industry standards, tech jargon, …

Reflecting On My Adventures In Experiential Learning, Will Sharpe

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This report analyzes and reflects on my experiential learning experiences with the Forest City Film Festival and Western Libraries. I look back at my initial feelings of bewilderment and imposter syndrome and then track my progress as I’m pushed out of my comfort zone and learn the skills I need to excel. My time with the Forest City Film Festival and Western Libraries, as well as my peers’ testimonies, taught me that at SASAH, we all have the skills needed to succeed in our fields — and the experiential learning program is an excellent place to nurture them.

Csr-Contingent Executive Compensation Contracts, Zhichuan Li

Business Publications

Firms have increasingly started tying their executives’ compensation to CSR-related objectives. In this paper, we attempt to understand why firms offer CSR-contingent compensation and the conditions under which such compensation improves corporate social performance. Using hand-collected data from proxy statements, we find that this emerging compensation practice varies significantly across industries and across different CSR categories. Further, well-governed firms are more likely to offer CSR-contingent compensation, and such compensation does lead to higher corporate social standing. Such firms are more likely to offer formula-based, Objective CSR-contingent compensation. However, our results suggest that non-formulaic, Subjective CSR-contingent compensation also helps improve companies’ …

“Integrated Reporting Is Like God: No One Has Met Him, But Everybody Talks About Him.” The Power Of Myths In The Adoption Of Management Innovations, Delphine Gibassier, Michelle Rodrigue, Diane-Laure Arjaliès

Business Publications

Purpose: This paper analyzes the process through which an IIRC (International Integrated Reporting Council) pilot company adopted “integrated reporting” (IR), a management innovation that merges financial and non-financial reporting.

Design/methodology/approach: We use a seven-year longitudinal ethnographic study based on semi-structured interviews, observations, and documentary evidence to analyze this multinational company’s IR adoption process from its decision to become an IIRC pilot organization to the publication of its first integrated report.

Findings: We demonstrate that the company envisioned IR as a “rational myth” (Hatchuel, 1998; Hatchuel and Weil, 1992). This conceptualization acted as a springboard for IR adoption, with the …

Social Barriers To Entry: Liquefied Natural Gas Import Terminals In The Us From 2000 To 2013, Chethan D. Srikant

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Management scholars recognize the uncertainties and challenges during the market entry process that can impede operational startup. However, very little empirical research exists to fully understand these challenges and explain firm responses. Even less attention has been paid to the threats from non-market actors and the countering strategies employed by firms. Hence, this thesis explores firm reactions to community contestation, as a form of social barrier to entry that can prevent the firm from exploiting market opportunities. Specifically, I consider the strategic implications of firms’ rhetorical responses to community contestation during the market entry process.

For this thesis, U.S. liquefied …