• Schulich Webinar Series:
    Shaping the Post-Pandemic World

    Launched by the Schulich School of Business, this webinar series draws lessons from the COVID-19 experience in order to help shape the post-pandemic world. Thought leaders from various disciplines of the Schulich faculty offer reflections and guide a free-flowing discussion with participants.

  • Join the Conversation: #SchulichSeries
 

Focus on India

The webinar series focuses on the Indian business and government responses to the pandemic and strategies beyond. It brings together eminent corporate leaders among the School’s India Advisory Council, spanning the worlds of finance, technology, manufacturing and the service sector and other eminent senior executives from India Inc; they draw on their experiences and offer reflections in a moderated discussion with the participants.

Rontu Basu
Rontu Basu
Series Organizer

Monday, July 12th 2021 at 6:30pm IST / 9:00am EDT (Toronto)

Brand Building in Turbulent Times: Learning from Taj – the World’s Strongest Hotel Brand

If you are interested in creating brands that thrive in turbulent times, this webinar is for you.  Come and engage with Professor Konson and Mr. Chhatwal in a discussion wherein they examine key brand building lessons based on Mr. Chhatwal’s exemplary leadership of the Indian Hotels Company, and of the Taj hotel brand in particular.

Discussants:

Puneet Chhatwal

Managing Director & CEO Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)

Head shot of Ashley Konson

Ashley Konson

Adjunct Professor of Marketing – Schulich School of Business

Suggested Reading: Brand Finance’s Hotels 50 2021 Report

View Video ›

 

Schedule

Series Organizer: Ashwin Joshi Headshot of Preet S. AulakhWebinar Host: Preet Aulakh
 

Previous Webinars

 

Head shot of Dirk Matten
Dirk Matten

Thursday, April 16th 2020 at 1:00pm

Covid-19 – a new test for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The Covid-19 crisis has revived risk and uncertainty as central parameters of CSR management. We will examine encouraging and less successful examples of companies’ policies and actions in recent weeks. Based on that the webinar will suggest some implications for CSR in the hopefully soon to come post-pandemic world.

View Video ›


Head shot of Dirk Matten
Amin Mawani

Monday, April 20th 2020 at 1:00pm

CEWS Offers Businesses a Win-Win Opportunity
I compare the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Employment Insurance (EI), and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) programs to analyze which one is the most generous to employees based on their pre-crisis wages. CEWS seems ideal for those earning greater than $37,569 while CERB is ideal for those earning less, with EI somewhere in between depending on wages. This webinar offers a practical guide to employers and employees as they consider whether to apply for CEWS.

View Video › Read Article ›


David Johnston

Tuesday, April 21st 2020 at 1:00pm

How Covid-19 Will Change Supply Chains
This global crisis has exposed the strengths and weaknesses of current supply chains to sustainably deliver goods and services. As organizations move from disruption to recovery, they will look to engaging with key stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, employees and government in new ways. We explore how managers will make different strategic choices and trade-offs in the design of future supply chains. 

View Video › Read Webinar Summary ›


Winny Shen

Thursday, April 23rd 2020 at 1:00pm

The Critical Role of Leaders in Organizations during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated substantial uncertainty in worker’s personal and professional lives. As a result, workers will inevitably look to leaders for guidance to get through this difficult period as well as to rebuild their organizations in the post-pandemic world. Will leaders rise to the occasion?

View Video ›


Moshe Farjoun

Tuesday, April 28th 2020 at 1:00pm

Strategy in Upheaval
Most business leaders are spending the bulk of their time on doing what they can to stabilize their organizations. But it is precisely during these times, when we are in the eye of the storm, that leaders must examine and reinvent the strategy of their organizations. We will try to make sense of the current upheaval, examine the role of business strategy in it, and ponder whether our thinking about strategy needs to be adapted too.

View Video ›


Russ Belk

Thursday, April 30th  2020 at 1:00pm

Consumers and Covid-19: Before, During, and After
Will consumption ever be what it was before Covid-19? What has changed? What consumption patterns will and will not resume? What are the long-term impacts likely to be on real estate, entertainment, travel, sports, and debt? If Christmas is the first global consumer holiday, what will Christmas 2020 look like? How are business and government responses shaping these outcomes? These are some of the focal issues I will tackle in this webcast.

View Video ›


Tuesday, May 5th 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

Re-opening the Economy and Revitalizing Business
Bringing together eminent corporate leaders among the School’s India Advisory Board, this webinar spans the worlds of finance, technology, manufacturing and the service sector. The discussion will draw on the panelists’ collective experiences and insights regarding the revitalization and economic impact of the pandemic.

Om Prakash Bhatt

Bhaskar Pramanik

Viswanathan Raghunathan

View Video ›


Anoop Madhok

Tuesday, May 5th 2020 at 1:00pm

Have we reached peak globalization?
The Covid-19 crisis represents a tipping point in the debate trending post-financial crisis on the darker side of globalization.  This presentation will argue that we are entering a phase of de-globalization and will explore underlying economic, political, technological and financial factors.

View Video ›


Thursday, May 7th 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

The Critical Role of Leaders in the Aftermath of the Pandemic
This webinar focuses on the Indian business and government responses to the pandemic. It brings together corporate leaders among Schulich’s India Advisory Board.  The discussion will draw insights and reflections on how the pandemic has inalterably changed the priorities and role of corporate leaders.

Gunit Chadha

R

Nadir Godrej

Read Poem ›

Bahram Vakil

R

View Video › Read Thank You Letter ›


Matthias Kipping

Thursday, May 7th 2020 at 1:00pm

This time will be no different… A historical view of the post-pandemic future
We forgot the Great Influenza of 1918, until this one hit. We forgot the Great Depression until the 2008 financial crisis. Who says we won’t forget this one, missing the important lessons that could be learnt?

View Video ›


Eileen Fischer

Tuesday, May 12th 2020 at 1:00pm

When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Enterprising:  Entrepreneurial Resilience in the Post Pandemic World
Without doubt, the effects of the pandemic for small, new and growing businesses have been catastrophic. But, equally without doubt, there are practices of entrepreneurial resilience that will contribute to a renaissance in the post pandemic world. This presentation will consider both individual and collaborative approaches that can fuel the revival of this vital element of our economy.

View Video ›


Irene Henriques

Thursday, May 14th 2020 at 1:00pm

The Economic Impact of a Pandemic and Yes People do Matter!
Unlike the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis.  We are witnessing a sharp and persistent decline in real economic activity and unprecedented global uncertainty.  Unlike a financial crisis, the only way to counteract a pandemic is aggressive early and extensive intervention of social distancing and forbidding large gatherings.  What is governments’ role in leading us through this crisis?  This presentation will consider how citizens, companies and governments can work together to boost confidence and provide some stability in these unprecedented times.

View Video ›


Ellen R. Auster

Tuesday, May 19th 2020 at 1:00pm

Stragility – Navigating Ultra-Dynamic Change
Ultra-dynamic (aka extreme) change is our new normal. This session will offer some practical, action-oriented tips and tools for overcoming common pain points and creating leadership and personal skills to navigate through these challenging times.

View Video ›


Brent Lyons

Thursday, May 21st 2020 at 1:00pm

Inequality and Our Responses to COVID-19
How is inequality amongst workers manifesting in our responses to the pandemic? Many workers are now working from home, meeting virtually, and wearing masks etc. How are these responses to the pandemic affecting how we relate across difference, such as across categories of gender, race, and disability? What are we, and our organizations, doing well and what can we do differently?

View Video ›


Jim Clayton

Tuesday, May 26th 2020 at 1:00pm

Cities After COVID-19: Rethinking How and Where We Live, Work, Shop, Play and Learn
Proximity and density drive economic productivity and innovation in the modern economy and are viewed as essential to improving environmental sustainability of cities. Distancing, however, is leading to a re-evaluation of concentration that could radically alter location, transportation, space usage, social infrastructure and city design decisions. How might the intersection of health and environmental concerns, economic forces and technological innovations reshape cities, and what policy levers can be pulled to ensure we take the “right” path?

View Video ›


Don Thompson, Emeritus Nabisco Brands Professor and Senior Scholar

Thursday, May 28th 2020 at 1:00pm

Luxury Fashion in the Time of Covid-19
Luxury fashion – think Hermes, Louis Vuitton or Chanel – has been hit by the clash of its traditions with the now-majority millennial and Gen Z culture, and with the economic downturn from the pandemic. Stores and factories are closed, runway shows cancelled. Spring/Summer inventory is piled up everywhere. Luxury has been characterized by quality, but also by perceived scarcity, elegant corporate boutiques and luxury department stores – and no selling online, no comparative or price advertising, and no discounting ever. Now millennials seek streetwear, and high end labels are offered online at major discounts. What should luxury labels do? The topic is part of an in-process documentary film.

View Video ›


Friday, May 29th 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

The Healthcare Sector: Challenges and Opportunities – Lessons from India and Canada
Featuring some of the most eminent leaders in the sector, this webinar will explore the healthcare ecosystem and the actions that have been most effective in responding to the crises. It will also explore opportunities for the two countries to work creatively together and develop new avenues of collaboration, business and government partnerships.

Preetha Reddy

Professor Joseph Mapa

H.E. Nadir Patel

View Video ›

Wednesday, June 24th 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

How Global Brands are Responding to the Pandemic: The IHCL Experience
The purpose of this interactive discussion is threefold: (I) To learn how the Indian Hotels Company has responded to Covid-19, (ii) To draw lessons for brand management from this period of crisis, and (iii) To reflect on the brand growth opportunities that the future holds.

Puneet Chhatwal

Ashley Konson

View Video ›

Thursday, August 6th 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

Geopolitical Realignment Post COVID: A Bigger Role for India?
The latest geopolitical forces and the onslaught of the pandemic are reshaping global relationships and usher the realignment of nations as China asserts itself and the US retreats into its own. Global shifts in the balance of power are redefining India’s role in the global and regional stages; businesses are called to navigate those unchartered waters. The panelists will reflect and shed light into those shifts drawing on their experiences and offering reflections in a moderated discussion with the participants.

Dr. Naushad Forbes

Dr. Alan Middleton

View Video ›

Monday, August 31st 2020 at 8:00am (5:30pm IST)

How Global Pension Funds are Responding to the Pandemic: The CDPQ Experience
The purpose of this discussion is threefold: (i) To learn how CDPQ has responded to Covid-19 in India and around the world, (ii) To draw lessons for the management of long-term institutional capital from the CDPQ experience, and (iii) To reflect on growth opportunities that Covid-19 may have created.

Anita George

View Video ›

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Chris Carder and Vito Giovannetti of the Schulich Startups team for their support of this webinar series.  Information on the Schulich Startups team can be found here.