“It’s always been about giving our students the experience to become the next generation of organizational leaders.”
- Prof. David Zweig, Chair, U of T Scarborough Management (2011–2020)
The Department of Management, together with the entire U of T Scarborough community, extends a profound congratulations to David Zweig, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management, who completed his nine-year tenure as Chair of Management on June 30, 2020. Kudos to you, professor!
From launching the Master of Accounting and Finance (MAccFin) degree, to the introduction of the Management and International Business (MIB) program and the Double Degree in Quantitative Finance and Statistics, to the grand opening of The BRIDGE, we sat down with Prof. Zweig to reflect upon the Management milestones, programs, and people—including hiring more than 20 outstanding new faculty members from the top schools in the world—that have helped shape the learning landscape at U of T Scarborough.
Department of Management: First of all, a thunderous "Bravo" is in order! How do you feel after nine years in the role of Chair?
Prof. Zweig: (Laughs) Thank you! It's been such an incredible honour to lead the Department of Management. At its core, my role has been to ensure that we are going in the right direction and continuing to be innovative, deliver excellent programs for our students, and give them every possible opportunity to be successful. Consider Work-Integrated Learning, or "WIL". We were doing WIL before WIL was popular. We were doing WIL before WIL even had a name! It’s always been us taking the best theory and knowledge that had the grounding in the curriculum and marrying that with practical experience in real-world organizations. The narrative about our program is that it’s always going to be—always was, always intended to be—a very challenging yet exceptional education in Management. I'm proud of all that we've accomplished, and will continue to accomplish!
M: On the topic of WIL, one of the biggest innovations under your leadership has been the opening of The BRIDGE: an integrative partnership between the Department of Management, U of T Scarborough Library, and organizations serving the Eastern GTA. How do WIL and The BRIDGE elevate the learning journey for Management students?
Z: In a nutshell, our commitment to WIL means giving our students unprecedented opportunities to work with industry, moving beyond the static approach to education where we might throw a case study at them and say, “Here. Solve this problem.” Building on our incredibly strong tradition of co-operative education, through The BRIDGE we have our very own applied teaching and learning space, equipped with the latest financial technology and resources, that enhances learning well beyond the case study. We’re actually bringing real-world problems into the classroom, where organizations are asking us—our students—to help them find solutions in real time. For example, in our data analytics class, Unilever has come to our students with a major problem, and the students are providing Unilever—not a small organization!—with a solution to their supply-chain optimization challenge, which is phenomenal. That’s really the essence of WIL: giving our students real-world opportunities to apply all of the knowledge and experience they have gained. I'm extremely proud to say that 100% of Management students will participate in at least one Work Integrated Learning experience prior to completing their BBA degree.
M: In Management, we often talk about developing the Experience to Lead within our students. What does that mean to you?
Z: "Experience to Lead" literally came from me thinking about what we do differently here and what we do better, and considering the symbiotic relationship we have not only with the rigour on the academic side but also with the experiences our students are getting through co-op and opportunities to work in organizations and apply their knowledge. That is such a tremendous asset as you’re learning about business and management, but also discovering how to work in an organization with people and understand why people do what they do. Understanding that is really, really critical, and that is the key to leadership. Knowing that, having that experience, is how our students become the next generation of leaders. And there you have it: Experience to Lead.
M: What are your plans after June 30, 2020? Any words of wisdom for the next Chair of Management, Prof. April Franco?
Z: Ours is a program that continuously needs to adapt, innovate, and demonstrate why we are the best. We will continue to do that by leveraging a unique blend of programming—the holistic approach to management education—through Management Co-op and WIL, and by ensuring that we are giving our students the experiences that they will need to be successful in the workplace and in their lives. Prof. Franco is the right person to shepherd this mission into the post-pandemic era. As for me, I'll be focusing on my research into workplace privacy and the erosion thereof. I am also going to continue working on an exciting new line of research on knowledge theft in organizations.
Connect with Prof. Zweig on Twitter @DavidZweig1
Recent media highlights
- The Globe and Mail: Tribute to the Management and Economics Class of 2020 (pictured at right)
- News Release: U of T Scarborough Earns ACCA Accreditation for Graduate and Undergraduate Accounting Programs
- CTV News: Is the great shift to working from home here to stay?
- CNN (video): Businesses prepare to safely return employees to work
- The Agenda with Steve Paikin (video): Happiness at work