Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dr. Yolande E. Chan has spent the past 30 years in Kingston, Ontario, where until recently, she served as Associate Dean of Research, PhD and MSc Programs, and the E. Marie Shantz Chair of Digital Technology at Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. Now, she is bringing her considerable talents and experience to McGill as she begins a five-year, renewable term as Dean of the Desautels Faculty of Management.

Throughout the pandemic, in-store technologies like price-check kiosks and self-checkout have created a more convenient shopping experience for consumers and provided retailers with greater access to valuable data on shopping habits. But consumers are concerned about privacy, and retailers may not have the necessary resources to purchase and upkeep in-store tech.

Professor Karl Moore discusses his recent research on how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced extroverted and introverted leadership styles. Most people slowly became ambiverts in lockdown, Professor Moore says, with extroverts learning how to be alone and introverts realizing how much they missed social interaction. When leaders on both sides of the social spectrum are forced to step outside their comfort zones, they bring a greater degree of empathy and collaboration to the workplace.

Retail experts like Charles de Brabant, Executive Director at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management, are signaling the rise of revenge shopping, a phenomenon describing how consumers purchase more for pleasure as retailers re-open their doors to the public. Clothing retail will see a particular uptick in sales, de Brabant predicts, along with home decoration and renovation. But consumer behaviour continues to evolve in response to the pandemic, and retailers must be ready to adapt to budget, time, and safety concerns.

McGill is the academic lead of a $2.7 million consortium project to build the first national food supply chain data platform with Canada’s food and beverage associations.

Professor Laurent Barras joins the hosts of RikaTillsammans, a Swedish podcast and video series that provides followers with weekly financial insights. In this episode, Professor Barras discusses his research on the correlation between manager performance and fund performance. Whether a fund is actively or passively managed, its success does not necessarily reflect the skill of the manager, he finds.

Kamran Shojaei (MBA’13) spends his weekends volunteering with Transit Secours, a Montreal-based organization that provides moving and storage services for women and children fleeing domestic violence. In addition to providing logistical support in high-risk, time-sensitive contexts, Shojaei and his fellow volunteers work to build trust with clients by providing a safe space for them to share their stories.