Projects

In the Fall 2011 and Winter 2012, Queen’s School of Business is partnering with rural Eastern Ontario communities to address barriers to the region’s economic growth. The project is sponsoring student consulting projects with small businesses and community organizations through Queen’s Business Consulting and the Queen’s MBA program. MBA and senior Commerce students are working with these businesses and groups to provide management consulting in areas of strategy, marketing and product development, information technology, and business planning. Past initiatives have linked 120 MBA students with small businesses to provide support in process management and over 100 senior Commerce students with local businesses to profile lessons learned from success stories.

In 2011 - 2014, The Monieson Centre is leading a partnership development program that leverages the strength of existing partnerships as well as develops new collaborations to support new academic research to create knowledge that rural Canadian communities can use to enhance their social and economic prosperity. The program allows individual researchers and partners to form new collaborations to conduct research of importance to rural Canadian communities. The research should improve the environment, infrastructure, and opportunities for business in rural areas to increase productivity and community prosperity. The Centre is partnering with about 40 academic, business, government and community organizations. Researchers on this project include: Y. Chan, J. Andrew, C. Chen, T. Dacin, J. de Bettignies, O. Ivus, K. Packalen, J. Raver, V. Thiele (QSB), B. Donald, L. Viswanathan (QU), A. Blay-Palmer (Wilfrid Laurier University), H. Hambly Odame, L. Pant (University of Guelph), G. Hunter (University of Lethbridge) and K. Stolarick (University of Toronto).

In 2007, The Monieson Centre signed a multi-year memorandum of understanding with PELA CFDC to facilitate research on knowledge-based regional economic development. The PELA CFDC project team is multidisciplinary with faculty and graduate students from Business, Economics, Geography, Health Sciences, Policy Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, and other Queen’s Departments. Specific topics include: Human Capital Challenges (e.g., labour force education and skills, and the recruitment and retention of knowledge workers), Rural Innovation (e.g., the creative economy, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise), and Systems for Rural Development (e.g., governance, urban/rural interaction and knowledge spillovers, and information and communications technology infrastructures).  Some researchers on this project include: Y. Chan, T. Dacin,  J. Raver (QSB), B. Donald (QU), R. Wilson (QU), G. Hunter (University of Lethbridge) and A. Blay-Palmer (Wilfrid Laurier University).  View the Reports.

In 2011 – 2013, The Monieson Centre is partnering with the Rural Secretariat to assess the impact of academic knowledge mobilization on key gaps and barriers to rural Southern Ontario's economic development and growth. As universities increase their efforts to mobilize academic knowledge so that it can be used by practitioners, measuring and improving the efficacy of these initiatives becomes even more important. The growing body of research on knowledge mobilization indicates that qualitative, as well as more traditional quantitative, assessment of research impact is crucial to enhancing the practical value of academic research.

By assessing the outcomes of two Monieson Centre initiatives, the Knowledge Impact in Society (KIS) project in Eastern Ontario and Identifying Rural Research Priorities through Community Engagement (RRP) in Southwestern Ontario, as well as other academic research, this new participatory evaluation will build knowledge of effective means and strategies for bridging academic research with community economic development practice. The researcher on this project is Y Chan (QSB). Prince Edward/Lennox & Addington Community Futures Development Corporation (PELA CFDC), Northumberland County Economic Development, the Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) and Le Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité (RD ÉE) are partners in this project.

In 2010, The Monieson Centre received this public outreach grant to create French translations of important academic rural economic development materials now available only in English. These documents, which inform rural economic development practice and policy in Eastern Ontario (EO), were produced as part of a 2008-2011 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) Knowledge Impact in Society project entitled Revitalizing Rural Economies by Mobilizing Academic Knowledge. They bring critical academic knowledge in easy-to-use formats, delivered through partner channels, to rural residents and economic development professionals. The researcher on this project is Y. Chan (QSB).

In 2004-2005, The Monieson Centre engaged in a research project with the Bank of Montreal to study knowledge transfer. Within a specific division of the bank, individuals were identified as “single points of knowledge.” As a risk mitigation exercise, strategies were developed for effectively transferring their knowledge to others. Attention was given to valuing knowledge, understanding why single points of knowledge exist, and discovering how best to transfer this knowledge. This project involved fifteen researchers from seven different universities.

In 2007, the Nursing Research Council of Southeastern Ontario Health Sciences Centre received grant funding from the Change Foundation to develop and evaluate a proactive, interactive Practice Scholarship Program (PSP) to support direct care nurses. This project enabled participants to acquire and maintain a requisite base of knowledge and skills and to engage in knowledge-based, reflective practice activities. The Monieson Centre joined Kingston General Hospital, Providence Continuing Care, South East Community Care Access Centre, the Practice and Research in Nursing Group and the Queen’s Joanna Briggs Collaboration in this project. The Centre supported knowledge translation and the development of in-depth exploratory interviews/focus groups with program participants.  Researchers on this project included: Y. Chan (QSB), and M. Parry (University of Toronto).

In 2011, The Monieson Centre along with the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph will assist the Cavan Monaghan township in identifying key social, environmental and economic benefits and expenditures associated with different land uses. The demand for municipal services varies significantly when comparing residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural land uses. The study's findings will contribute to informed decision-making, particularly in the development of the township's official plan. Researchers on this project include W. Caldwell (Guelph) and Y. Chan (QSB).

In 2004 working in partnership, Deloitte and Queen’s School of Business created the publication Strategies for Growth to provide Canadian Technology Fast 50 companies with an introduction to some of the finest thinking on strategies for managing and maintaining rapid growth. The document—researched, complied, and edited by Monieson Centre staff—offered précis of influential business articles that addressed key challenges in four broad categories of business management: Financing the Future, R & D Pipeline, Marketing and Sales, and People and Structure.

In 2011, The Monieson Centre is partnering with the Ontario ministries of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) and Northern Development, Mines and Forestry (MNDMF) to develop an evaluation methodology to track the social and economic benefits of provincial investments in broadband services. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to assess the impacts of broadband deployment in rural Eastern Ontario.

Program evaluation and ongoing research will enable the fine-tuning of the implementation of the broadband network by identifying barriers and challenges as well as opportunities. It will ensure that broadband technology nurtures a robust, diversified economy through new linkages and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Researchers on the project include: Y. Chan, O. Ivus , E. Murray (QSB), H. Hassanein, C. Wasteneys (QU), C. Middleton (Ryerson University), P. Burpee and B. Wilson (Communities of Eastern Ontario Network), and L. Benecki and K. Wood.  View the Report.

In 2011, The Monieson Centre and the Economic Developers Council of Ontario, through funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, are partnering on a project aimed at economic revitalization in rural Ontario. The research comprises five separate projects that address workforce attraction and development, entrepreneur development/business innovation, regional strategies for international competitiveness, and innovation and creativity. The projects are grouped in two themes. The first examines knowledge gaps related to securing investment in rural Canada and mentoring entrepreneurs to reduce business failure rates. The second explores infrastructure, cultural integrity and the sustainability of local businesses and communities. The researchers on this research project include: C. Chen, T. Dacin, K. Packalen, V. Thiele (QSB), L. Dyer (Concordia University) and A. Blay-Palmer (Wilfrid Laurier University). View the Report.

In 2010, the Centre partnered with Empire Life to examine innovation in the financial services industry. Specifically, we are exploring how insurance firms are changing the ways in which they provide products and services to their customers and employees. The study examines how firms promote cultures of innovation. Our research team is focusing on innovation through social computing/Web 2.0. We are determining ways in which social computing (e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasts and social networking tools) can enhance the interactions of financial services companies with their customers, employees and partners.  Researchers on this project include: J. McKeen, S. Staples (QSB), S. Matrix (QU), A. Rohm, F. Sultan (Northeastern University), S. Erickson and K. Komaromi (Ithaca College).

In 2008, The Monieson Centre collaborated with the Insititue for Chartered Accountants of Ontario to identify: 1) key competency needs that Chartered Accountants should address through the various stages of their careers when their ultimate goal is to become a Chief Financial Officer in a public company and 2) key areas that a Chief Financial Officer needs to address to become a Chief Executive Officer if/when the opportunity arises.  Researchers on this project included: Y. Chan, P. Cunningham, C. McKeen, P. Murphy, (QSB).  View the Project Summary and Report.

Intel manages its global manufacturing enterprise by means of a network of global teams referred to as Virtual Factory (VF) teams. In 2003, The Monieson Centre undertook a research project to study the functioning of these teams and, in particular, their ability to share knowledge effectively and efficiently. This project examined several key issues in the management of virtual teams, including types of tasks, team member characteristics, team leadership, resources provided, and communications within the team. By examining the factors that potentially influence how effective the teams and their members are, Intel gained insight into how best to manage their teams. Twelve researchers from four different universities worked collaboratively on this project.

In 2008, The Monieson Centre received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to examine the diffusion of best practices in health care administration in Canada and the United Kingdom. Researchers at Queen’s University and the University of Cambridge explored how organizational structure affects the administration and delivery of treatment programs in stroke and prostate cancer. The use of best practices was examined to determine how and why knowledge is (or is not) being shared, and the resulting impact on the quality of health care provided.  Researchers involved on this project included: Y.Chan (QSB), A. Johnson, W. MacKillop (QU), M. Barrett, E. Oborn, (University of Cambridge). A. Langley (HEC Montreal) R. Greenwood, T Reay (University of Alberta).  View Working Paper.