Welcome

We enter the season of hope and goodwill with the economy in an ominous dip, and many of our contributions this issue reflect the headlines.

Barry Cross, Lecturer in Operations Management and Technology, and Douglas Reid, Associate Professor and Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Strategy, both have timely advice to help you through the period ahead. Cross, in New Ideas, outlines the benefits of a new form of practical innovation, Lean Innovation, and Reid, in The List, presents five new approaches to strategy for 2009. To further help, other faculty members share their predictions of how the economy will fare in the coming year in the In The News section. 

In What I'm Reading, Louis Gagnon, Associate Professor of Finance, tells about a book on the fall of the fabled investment house Bear Stearns by MBA alumnus Bill Bamber, and Book Corner columnist Harvey Schachter highlights two offerings from this year that will make for good holiday reading if you want to reflect on the economic headlines. As well, we asked our students a provocative question that government leaders have to face these days: Should governments bail out companies that are considered "too big to fail" or should those companies be allowed to go into bankruptcy where they might restructure?

In addition, our New Ideas section has a conversation with Laurence Ashworth, Assistant Professor of Marketing, revealing his surprising and dismaying findings about the negative impact that correcting misleading advertising has on consumer behaviour. In the In The News section, Ken Wong, Associate Professor of Marketing, explains where both marketing and regulation went wrong with the Do Not Call List.

Best wishes of the season, and let's hope the economy improves in 2009.