Three Ivey professors received a funding boost for research projects that include vaping, embedding leader character in organizations, and enabling the digital transformation.
Laurel Austin, Mary Crossan, and Nicole Haggerty, HBA '89, PhD '04, received grants totaling more than $380,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), an agency that supports post-secondary research in the humanities and social sciences.
The three are among 20 Western researchers across six faculties who received more than $2.7 million in Insight Grants.
Adjunct Research Professor Laurel Austin:
As a behavioural decision theorist, Austin uses behavioural science methods to study how individuals perceive risk, and how those perceptions affect decision-making.
- Why do young people vape? A Decision Science Approach to Gaining Insights into Vaping Decisions and Behaviours - Health authorities don’t want young people under 18 to vape because of worries about health effects. New concerns have been voiced due to COVID-19 and its impact on lungs. In order to influence decisions effectively, we must first understand why people do what they do. Unfortunately, we know very little about why, or how, young people use vaping products. This research will seek answers to these questions using in-depth interviews. Results will inform efforts to reduce this kind of risky consumption.
Professor Mary Crossan:
Crossan, a Distinguished University Professor, focuses her research on organizational learning, strategy and leadership character.
- Developing and Embedding Leader Character in Organizations for Sustained Excellence (with Assistant Professor Lucas Monzani and Professor Gerard Seijts) - While we have made significant progress in defining what leader character is, and why it matters, in order to elevate leader character alongside competence in higher education and organizations, there is a pressing need to address three key research questions: 1) How can leaders develop character?; 2) How can leaders embed character within their organizations?; and, 3) How does the application of character impact individual and organization outcomes? This study will have implications for both research and for organizations and society at large.
Associate Professor Nicole Haggerty:
Haggerty's research area is in enabling digital transformation, with a focus on multi-stakeholder shared knowledge influences on IT-enabled transformation projects with a focus on health care.
- Improving IT and Business Partnering During Digital Transformation - The research will elaborate on what makes IT-business partnering during digital transformation difficult and develop a richer understanding of digital transformation successes and failures. The research will investigate and test a management toolkit that will enable organizations to undertake digital transformation with greater ease and more success.
