EMBA McGill — HEC Montréal : an Executive MBA for experienced managers

Professor Louis Hébert interviewed by Canal Argent and RDI en direct

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:37:22 +0000

Professor Louis Hébert, was interviewed by Canal Argent concerning the possible rise in Chrystler’s upcoming financial forecast.

He was also interviewd by RDI en direct. Interview about the repercussions of Research in motion’s (RIM) decision to install servers in Saudi Arabia. Broadcast airs tonight.

Our first class graduates with a bang

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:14:21 +0000

It is with great pride that our first EMBA McGill-HEC Montréal graduates received their diplomas last Wednesday during the Convocation ceremony held on McGill University’s beautiful downtown campus grounds.

It was a historic moment. This diploma was the first ever issued bearing the prestigious seals of both HEC Montreal and McGill University, the two universities which combined their strengths in the creation of this ground breaking program.

Our proud graduates will also attend the HEC Montréal graduation ceremony scheduled for September 3rd 2010.

Congratulations to you all!

Click here if you would like to see the image gallery of the ceremony.

The EMBA in the McGill Reporter : “Where theory meets on-the-job experience, in two languages”

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:45:18 +0000

Read the article by Chris Chipello.

The EMBA in the McGill Reporter : ” Where theory meets on-the-job experience, in two languages”.

The McGill – HEC Montreal EMBA vaunted in La Presse

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:52:32 +0000

We are proud to have been journalist Martine Letarte’s subject of honor for a La Presse special report that appeared in the paper yesterday, April 21st 2010. Her article brilliantly describes the essence and boasts the unique pedagogical approach of our program.

To see the article in its initial context : “Une première fournée de diplômés”

Stephen Jarislowsky, Nancy Neamtan and Salvatore Guerrera: The EMBA McGill-HEC Montreal & Growing Enterprise

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:11:56 +0000

On April 16th, the EMBA class was treated to a fascinating panel discussion on growing enterprise. The panel comprised people from three very different milieux, each with tremendous success in growing enterprises: Stephen Jarislowsky, a self-made man sometimes referred to as the Warren Buffet of Canada, Nancy Neamtan, President/Executive Director of the Chantier de l’économie sociale, a Quebec-wide organisation whose mission is the promotion and development of collective entrepreneurship, and Salvatore Guerrera, President and founder of SAJO, a retail solution service company that covers projects worldwide in retail environments. Despite the tremendous diversity in their backgrounds, the class identified some common threads in their paths to growth. All three set very clear end goals – they knew where they wanted to get. They stayed very focused on these goals, and their focus enabled their organizations to stay focused as well. But, interestingly, apart from the goal, there was lots of flexibility. As Mr. Guerrera put it, it’s important to remain open to possibility. They were able to adapt and change direction because they weren’t fixed to a plan, but rather to a goal. This was an interesting demonstration of what Henry Mintzberg, who moderated the panel, refers to as emergent strategy. The panel gave the class a real opportunity to understand growing enterprise from ‘in the field’, which underscores the philosophy of the program: grounding learning in reality, making strong links between theory what happens in ‘the real world’.

Serge Godin, Founder of CGI, meets with EMBA McGill-HEC Montreal

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:24:57 +0000

Growing enterprise is one of the themes of the current EMBA module, and who better to discuss this than Serge Godin, one of the founders, and the current Executive Chairman of the Board of CGI. He shared with the EMBAs some of the philosophies that underpin the company’s rise from 2 people and $138,000 of revenue in 1976, to 26,000 people and $3.8 billion of revenue. He explained how a sense of ownership is key to the success of the company – employees are called members, and 86% of them are shareholders. This sense of ownership also means a great transparency throughout the company. Going beyond the traditional mission/vision, at CGI, everyone shares a dream, to create an environment where they enjoy working and, as owners, to contribute to building a company they can be proud of.

EMBA Student Building on past experience

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:09:57 +0000

Kimberly Cosgrove’s entire career has been in the construction industry and in 1992 she co-founded Montreal-based Construction Cogela Inc. “Some people have the experience of working five years in one area, two or three in another,” she says. “I didn’t.” In 2008, she decided the time had arrived to expand her business-leadership knowledge and skills, including tapping in to different perspectives and approaches on how to tackle business problems. That summer, she enrolled in McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management and HEC Montreal’s joint EMBA. Encouraging open-classroom discussion won Ms. Cosgrove over. She appreciated the special attention given to ensuring a good mix of students and professors from various backgrounds, says Ms. Cosgrove, pictured, who graduated in February.

National Post

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2741445

Jacques Blouin named President of Board of Directors of Supermetal

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:49:21 +0000

Mr. Jacques Blouin, who will take part in the 3rd cohort of the McGill-HEC Montréal Executive MBA program starting this fall, was named President of Board of Directors of Supermetal on February 12th. Having built his career at Supermetal, based in St-Romauld, Mr. Blouin most recently served as the company’s Executive Vice President.

EMBA McGill HEC Montreal – Our first graduates: Outstanding women and men

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:47:24 +0000

The First Cohort is Launched

McGill – HEC Montréal EMBA Students Ready to Take on the World

Montreal, March 16, 2010 – Diploma in hand, the 32 senior executives who completed the very first EMBA program offered jointly by HEC Montréal and McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management are ready to put their new knowledge and skills into practice. After spending fifteen months combining full-time work with learning modules, the 12 women and 20 men will be returning to their jobs with new tools allowing them to approach their duties in a very different way.

The new graduates are all coming out of the program with the conviction that they took part in an exceptional adventure that pushed them to excel both individually and as a group. The participants’ varied backgrounds contributed in many ways to the high-quality exchanges among them. They also say that the bilingual nature of the program, offered in alternating sessions at HEC Montréal and McGill University, opened new windows on the Francophone and Anglophone business cultures for them.

“The strength of the McGill – HEC Montréal EMBA lies in the approach used. It provides a direct and constant link between the subjects studied, with an emphasis on sharing expertise among colleagues and immediate application in our daily lives,” explains Richard Labelle, Director of Marketing with sanofi-aventis. “It’s a winning formula, and a very rewarding one.”

“The program’s unique formula really helped me juggle my studies with a very busy full-time job,” adds Michèle Meier, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Groupe Aeroplan. “From an academic perspective, this innovative new EMBA helped me develop both professional and personal skills, something I think is essential in training leaders for today and tomorrow.”

The second cohort, which started the program in September 2009, will finish in December this year. Everything is going very well, and the two Montréal business schools are currently recruiting students for the third cohort.

About the EMBA

McGill – HEC Montréal EMBA participants are experienced managers with a minimum of ten years’ work experience, including at least five in management. They are action-oriented, thoughtful people interested in creative, responsible, motivational management and committed to playing an active role in their own development and that of their co-participants.

A conversation with Principal Heather Munroe-Blum.

Andree-Ann Lavoie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:42:19 +0000

Monday March 8th Florent Francoeur, EMBA candidate from the class of 2012, took part in a lively conversation with McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum. Francoeur, along with a student from each of the undergraduate, full-time and PhD programs at the Desautels faculty of management, spent an hour discussing the business of running a university with Principal Munroe-Blum. Mr. Francoeur’s questions centred on leadership issues, stemming no doubt from his role as the Président/Directeur Général of the Quebec association of human resources professionals. He quizzed Munroe Blum on her leadership style, and on whether she believed leadership could be learned. Her answer was an unequivocal yes, reflecting her deep belief that if leaders want to be good leaders they need to keep learning, and searching out anything and anyone that can help them meet the mission they’re trying to accomplish. She’s a believer in active leadership, and doesn’t think ‘caretaker leadership’ really qualifies as leadership: the world is so dynamic that if you stand still, you fall behind.