Sprott professors honoured with 2012 Achievement Awards

Each year, Carleton University honours the excellence of our professional librarians, teachers and researchers with Carleton Achievement Awards. This year, Sprott professors Uma Kumar, Garth Sheriff and Tom Duxbury have been recognized for outstanding research, professional and teaching achievements.

2012 Carleton Research Achievement Award recipients. Dr. Uma Kumar is shown in the front row centre.

Dr. Uma Kumar
Professor, Management Science and Technology Management
2012 Research Achievement Award Recipient

The Research Achievement Awards recognize 10 faculty members who are selected each year by a committee of previous recipients and chaired by the Vice-President (Research and International).

Research Summary:

Impact of Innovative, Entrepreneurial, and Environmental Protection Orientations on Manufacturing Strategy and Firm Performance

As developing and emerging countries attempt to catch up with developed countries, the manufacturing firms from developed countries will find it difficult to compete in both domestic and international markets. Canadian manufacturing firms must understand the process of developing manufacturing strategy to build a sustainable, yet adaptable, competitive advantage that will positively affect their performance. None of the currently published studies consider the impact of IEE orientations on manufacturing strategy. The proposed research addresses this gap in the literature and will determine how manufacturing firms in Canada develop manufacturing strategy to create a sustainable competitive advantage. It will examine the factors that influence firms to develop manufacturing strategy which, in turn, affects the firm’s financial and non-financial performance.

From left to right: Dr. Kim Matheson, VP Research & International, Professor Garth Sheriff, Professor Tom Duxbury, and Dr. Peter Ricketts, Provost.

Garth Sheriff
Instructor, Accounting
2012 Professional Achievement Award Recipient

The Professional Achievement Awards recognize outstanding scholarly achievement of faculty and are awarded by a peer evaluation committee.

Garth Sheriff’s teaching philosophy parallels Carleton’s slogan of “Anything but textbook”. He incorporates current business and economic events into the classroom to engage students and demonstrate the relevance of the course material. In the three business courses he teaches (first and third-year undergraduate, as well as MBA level), Research in Motion (RIM) has been iteratively examined to demonstrate classroom theory, and then observed through its current and timely coverage in the media. He has also written original case studies to further emphasize the importance of applying knowledge and classroom theory to real-life challenges. As a result, the classroom is frequently engaged in lively discussion about the content application to current events.

Tom Duxbury
Contract Instructor, Entrepreneurship
Teaching Achievement Award (Contract Instructor)

The Contract Instructor Awards are awarded on the basis of outstanding performance in meeting his/her responsibilities.

Tom Duxbury strives to impart students with a passion for creativity, innovation, and making the leap of starting new businesses. Entrepreneurship can be considered both an art and a science, and getting outside of the classroom is key to experiential learning. Students work directly with entrepreneurs to reinforce course material through a variety of non-traditional means: from production of video cases, to personal mentorship and blogging. As part of a new concentration in the Bachelor of Commerce program, as well as a minor, the entrepreneurship course has drawn enthusiastic students from all faculties at Carleton.