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Building Manager Communication Competencies in Canadian MBA Programs
No full text2025Organizations today face many persistent challenges, including stubbornly low employee engagement, declining public trust, and growing risk of internal and external activism. Strong managerial communication competencies are vital to addressing these risks, as they are closely tied to building trust, engagement, and resiliency. Globally employers prioritize these communication competencies over other soft skills and technical competencies, yet they have long expressed concern that graduate management education is not adequately meeting this need. To better understand this persistent gap, the research question was “How can Canadian MBA programs, equip managers with advanced communication competencies that will enable them to build trust, engagement and drive change in a complex business context?” The two objectives for this study were to: (1) identify which communication competencies are most important for MBA graduates, students, faculty, program staff and employers; and, (2) identify changes to MBA structure that can support these priorities.The research uses a sequential exploratory qualitative approach to identify key communication competencies sought by Canadian organizations and compare them with the course content from Canada’s MBA programs. A total of 49 interviews were conducted with Canadian executives, recent MBA graduates, current MBA students, and faculty and staff from Canadian MBA programs.
This research finds there is a misalignment between how employers define a communicative manager and the competencies MBA programs develop in their core and elective courses. Finally, this research proposes a way to help MBA programs better include these key competencies in their curricula, thereby improving outcomes for the post-secondary institutions that deliver these programs and to the organizations that hire their graduates
Strengthening Regional Tourism in Colwood, BC: An Examination of Effective Strategies for Leisure Attractions.
No full text2025This thesis focused on how to strengthen regional tourism in Colwood, B.C., through effective strategies for leisure attractions. The objectives of the study were to determine how community stakeholders and local businesses have been involved in the development of the Royal Bay-Latoria South Parks Plan, and to examine how effectively the plan has been implemented to attract tourists and identify the tangible outcomes achieved. The study applied a concurrent triangulation design. The study participants comprise stakeholders and expert informants:Llocal and International one-time tourists at Hatley Castle, local and International tourists at the Esquimalt Lagoon, visitors to the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre, park users, residents, and community leaders. The study adopted purposive sampling to choose 7 participants for the qualitative research and selected 50 participants for the survey. The study used descriptive statistics to analyze data collected from the survey and conducted a thematic analysis of the data obtained from interviews. Findings indicated that broader community stakeholders were somewhat involved, albeit still at a moderate level, in the Royal Bay-Latoria South Parks Plan, whereas local business enterprises were only considered moderately involved. While the availability of consultation tools, including public hearings, committee procedures, and online platforms, was a defining feature of stakeholder involvement in Colwood's Royal Bay-Latoria South Parks Plan, the actual level of engagement remained uneven and limited. The study also revealed mixed perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the Parks Plan in attracting tourists to Colwood. The study recommended that Colwood could improve stakeholder involvement by going beyond formal consultation to encourage genuine collaboration and ensure that stakeholder input is clearly included in the decision-making process. It should also improve its outreach and communication methods to make sure stakeholders are aware of current tourism plans and developments in a consistent and easily accessible manner
Eco-literate young people: Creative community-engaged intergenerational research for cultural and social sustainability
No full textThis chapter was originally published as: Wager, A. (2025). Eco-literate young people: Creative community-engaged intergenerational research for cultural and social sustainability. In T. Doughty, J. Deszcz-Tryhubcza, & J. Granton (Eds.), Children’s literatures, cultures, and pedagogies in the Anthropocene: Multidisciplinary entaglements (pp. 181-193). Bloomsbury Academic. DOI: 10.5040/9781350510005Amanda Wager discusses a participatory research project with young people taking an arts-based approach to land-based, intergenerational, and cross-cultural education for eco-literacy. At the core of her chapter is the Youth Language Warriors project hosted at the Tsawalk Learning Centre, an Indigenous community-based learning program. Among the participants of the project were youth researchers, artists, Indigenous elders, facilitators, a community support worker, a teacher, and of course the land itself
A Local Level Response to Reducing Childhood Hunger and Advancing SDG#2
No full text2025Child hunger continues to be ongoing concern in Canada due to adverse effects that poor nutrition can have on developmental outcomes. The objective of this research was to investigate a local-level approach as a potential solution to reducing hunger and improving nutrition for vulnerable children (aged one to fourteen) in the Region of Waterloo (ROW) through a case study of Food4Kids Waterloo Region (F4K-WR). Additionally, the F4K-WR program model was investigated to understand how local-level interventions are helping Canada achieve Sustainable Development Goal # 2: Zero Hunger. A case study approach was the most appropriate method to fulfill the study's objectives because it allowed for an in-depth collection of evidence, which helped to identify gaps and capture information on F4K-WR as a necessary intervention, while debates continue regarding policy reform. Data were collected through observations, document analysis, and in-depth semi-structured interviews. questions. Inductive coding was used to generate themes emerging from the data to identify gaps that need to be addressed for Canada to advance SDG #2. The study found that F4K-WR provides safe access to healthy and nutritious food to vulnerable children on days when they are not in school, a gap in Canada’s food policy. F4K-WR program should maintain a core focus on vulnerable children and nutrition, by ensuring that they continue to receive nutritious food and the support they need to thrive. Due to the interconnectedness of F4K-WR activities with the broader SDGs, a more holistic view is necessary to measure how local-level approaches are helping advance progress on all the SDGs. F4K-WR can achieve this by mobilizing action in partnership with local school boards, the London Branch of the United Way and the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region. Key Words: Food Insecurity, Hunger, Vulnerable Children, Local Level, and SDG #
Adult Third Culture Kid’s (ATCK’s) Concept of Belonging and Identity Creation: Can Spiritual Self-Leadership be a Solution?
Get PDF2025Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs), with their mobile and cross-cultural childhood, bring into adulthood both benefits and challenges which impact their personal and professional lives. This research was conducted through narrative inquiry with 25 ATCK participants ranging in age from 18 to almost 80. These participants came from various backgrounds: military kids, diplomatic kids, missionary kids, and business expat kids. The research question that guided this study was “How can spiritual self-leadership foster identity development and sense of belonging in ATCKs in order for them to elevate their potential and value contribution in the workplace?” The four objectives for this study were to: (1) identify how ATCKs’ professional lives are impacted by their cross-cultural mobile life before the age of 18; (2) explore how the Spiritual Leadership model (Fry & Nisiewicz, 2020) can foster identity development (inner life) and sense of belonging (membership) for ATCKs within the workplace; (3) examine how ATCKs’ deconstruction and/or construction of faith impacts their inner life and, by extension, spiritual self-leadership; and, (4) propose recommendations for how ATCKs can cultivate spiritual self-leadership for themselves and leverage their value within their workplaces.Four emerging threads arose from the participants’ stories. The first emerging thread was professional mobility and restlessness, which were the most commonly cited impacts on ATCKs’ professional lives. Many ATCKs feel the need to change jobs, organizations, and geographical locations frequently, mirroring their mobile lives before the age of 18. The second emerging thread was spiritual leadership in the workplace. Although only a few of the ATCKs highlighted how organizational leaders who exercise spiritual leadership had helped them mitigate their challenges, those who did, spoke of how these leaders helped to foster a sense of belonging and provided outlets for purposeful living. The third emerging thread was the core spiritual beliefs questioning process. This process varied between ATCKs where some completely deconstructed the faith they followed before the age of 18 while others only sifted through their core spiritual beliefs. Some settled on their spirituality, while others still search for their path. Regardless of where this questioning process led them, the value was in the journey, not the destination. The fourth emerging thread was spiritual self-leadership principles. These principles were gleaned from examples from the lived experiences of the ATCKs, as well as their advice for other ATCKs. The ATCKs’ narratives clearly showed how they had used spiritual self-leadership to cultivate their inner life, mitigate their challenges, and engage with their community.
The spiritual self-leadership principles from the fourth emerging thread informed the creation of the Spiritual Self-Leadership model, a signature contribution of this study. The model includes six principles which are housed under two headings: Focus on Self and Taking Self into Community. The four principles under Focus on Self are know yourself, develop your spirituality, seek professional help, and commit to a lifelong, continual journey. The two principles under Taking Self into Community are build your community and live your purpose. This model was developed as a tool for ATCKs to lead themselves towards fostering identity creation and sense of belonging; however, it has implications for a much wider audience. For organizational leaders, this model provides a pathway towards greater understanding of ATCKs and their challenges, as well as awareness of the need to provide space for ATCKs to cultivate their spiritual self-leadership. As well, leaders can use this model as a guideline on how to cultivate their own inner life and spiritual self-leadership, and, using this knowledge, to encourage their followers to do the same. If organizational leaders provide space for all organizational actors to cultivate and practice spiritual self-leadership, a climate of spiritual well-being can be created and encouraged for everyone within the organization.
The Spiritual Self-Leadership model has implications for both the academic and non-academic world. This model is the first of its kind to marry spiritual leadership and self-leadership into one model. This overlap can inform literature in both subject areas in the organizational leadership discipline, as well as set itself apart in its own subject area. In addition, the model can fill a gap in the mainstream leadership literature for the same reason. For the ATCK academic literature, the model contributes knowledge on how to mitigate ATCK challenges of identity and belonging in order to elevate their potential and value contribution in the workplace. Very little has been written about ATCK professional challenges and nothing on solutions. The model’s practicality can be attractive to both academic and practitioner audiences.
The recommendations for practice are centered around the Spiritual Self-Leadership model and how it can be made available and usable to the greatest number of people. First, training materials should be developed for ATCKs, ATCK practitioners, and organizations with target audiences such as those who dispatch expatriates, those for whom ATCKs work, organizational leaders, HR practitioners, and academic institutions. Second, a published book should be written to widen the access for ATCKs and organizational leaders. Third, a website should be developed to further widen access and provide videos and resources for all interested in the model. Although the Spiritual Self-Leadership model was birthed from ATCKs’ narratives and was designed to help ATCKs mitigate their belonging and identity challenges, this model will also help leaders who desire to cultivate their inner life in order to become a more effective spiritual leader. Keywords: Adult Third Culture Kid, Spiritual Self-Leadership, Spiritual Leadership, Workplace Spirituality, Belonging, Identit
Smart Home Governance in Hong Kong and Vancouver: A Comparative Study of Smart Home Technologies
No full text2025The idea of ‘smart cities’ has been proposed by some scholars as an overall response to the energy challenges associated with climate change. A more granular or localized aspect of smart cities, namely the concept of 'smart homes', it is argued in this work, can provide an important focal point for addressing urban sustainability challenges such as energy and climate change. This research aims to shift the discussion about 'smart homes' from a technical or top-down solutions-oriented approach to a more user-centric perspective. A five-factor framework which includes Agency, Sustainability, Equity, Privacy and Durability (ASEPD) forms the conceptual foundation for this research. This study also develops an original, comparative study between two distinct city-regions: Hong Kong and Metro Vancouver. The study examines specific understandings of smart homes and smart home technologies (SHTs) amongst end users, builders, designers, developers, property managers, planners and government officials in each of these city-regions. Quantitative and qualitative data collected in online surveys (n=120) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=9), as well as a literature review, offers insights on a diversity of respondents’ expectations and concerns regarding SHTs in both city-regions. Such insights are linked to a set of specific recommendations about design and public policy, and governance for sustainability issues (and future research directions) related to SHTs in the hope of better aligning the needs and desires of diverse users and communities in both unique city-regions
When we fall, we get back up again: Survivors of equestrian trauma report a lack of physical and psychological support
No full textPosterThe current study investigated the psychological effects of equestrian accidents on athletes in Canada. By understanding these effects, the study aims to contribute to the development of better support systems and preventive measures for equestrian athletes
First Response: Centering Victim Care in Human Trafficking
No full text2025This research study focuses on human trafficking for sexual exploitation, one of many forms of gender-based violence. Victims are often recruited and groomed at an early age, experience manipulation, and complex forms of coercion and control. There are few studies that examine the types of support that victims need when reaching out for help. The current study employed a feminist methodology to examine victim service and specialized police officer insights into the types of responses victims need when seeking support. The research suggests centering support around the needs of victims using a collaborative model focused on a trauma-informed, client-centered approach. Enhanced knowledge is recommended for victims of trafficking to receive a consistent response from professionals, whether that be healthcare, education, or criminal justice personnel
Post-school transition planning: creating a pathway to success
No full textSupporting students with diverse abilities as they transition from the K-12 education system to post-school life requires appropriate transition planning and programming. However, from the author’s perspective this has not been a major focus in education in British Columbia, Canada. The literature review explores how the United States, and many other countries, have developed best practices and programming for post-school transition planning, as well as laws requiring it begin by age 16 for all students, especially students with diverse abilities. This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the current knowledge levels and beliefs about postschool transition planning with the goal of influencing the degree to which it is included in classrooms across British Columbia. The hypothesis is that post-school transition planning was not a well-known topic in education in British Columbia, nor was it widely being implemented. An online questionnaire and follow-up semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 29 individuals. Three individuals participated in both the questionnaire and interview, while the remaining 26 completed only the questionnaire. This study found that while more post-school transition planning is being done than initially believed, it is not being done in an explicit, consistent, or structured way across the province. Implications are shared for the education system, including an increase of province-wide over-sight and increased teacher training; and individual teachers, including making it a student-driven process that starts earlier in a student’s school career and directly teaching self-determination skills
Refugee Resettlement and Social Inclusion in Greater Vancouver: An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis of Local Immigration Partnership Strategies
No full text2025Using an intersectionality-based policy analysis, this research examined Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) strategic plans specific to the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, to assess how well these documents accounted for the intersectional identities of refugees. This paper accordingly explored the intersectional identities of refugees–race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion–and how these identities affect the challenges of resettlement, how those challenges compare to those of other immigrant classes, and after an assessment of the way that LIP strategic plans account for these factors, proposes possible areas for strategy improvements. The analysis focused on LIPs in the Greater Vancouver Area, with a primary focus on the Surrey LIP. The reason for this focus is that Surrey, BC has a significant refugee population, and its LIP had the most robust strategy documents. This analysis revealed that LIP strategic plans had positive and thoughtful action points that would ease resettlement challenges, however, they did not consistently consider the intersectional identities of refugees. The analysis concluded that LIPs would benefit from engaging in intersectionality-based policy analysis in the process of writing their next round of strategic plans and action plans. This process would strengthen strategic plans so that LIPs can better support refugees in their communities as these groups carry out their key role in coordinating community services, ultimately easing the unique challenges that refugees of all identities face during resettlement