Research @ Schulich Podcast

A teacher assures a student that their low mark on a test isn’t the end of their academic career.

A flight attendant makes small talk with passengers on a delayed flight.

A security guard calmly escorts a trespasser from a building.

A server puts on a smile and offers free entrees to a table of angry diners who have “been waiting for hours” for service.

You’ve probably seen situations like this in real life – and you may have even personally experienced several of these situations yourself.

You may not know it, but these are all examples of “emotion work” – the process by which employees manage their own emotions to sustain and change a business or a market.

But emotion work (or, as it’s more commonly known “emotional labour”), is a complex issue that goes beyond the service economy and transactions in shops and stores. Emotional labour also includes the work put in by volunteers, community organizers and “committed consumers” – individuals who voluntarily invest significant time and effort to uphold the principles and operations of alternative marketplaces, such as farmers markets.

And while this may sound like a niche form of emotional labour, the work put in by volunteers to simply ensure that a community market stays active and running – and sticks to its principals – often matches the level of emotional labour used by staff at for-profit businesses.

Join us as Schulich Professor Eileen Fischer (Professor of Marketing; Associate Dean, Research; Anne & Max Tanenbaum Chair in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise) talks about her research on emotional labour in alternative markets – and find out how managers, organizers and policymakers might be able to learn (and manage) the emotional labour costs of their fellow team members and staff.

Listen to Episode 7 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

You can read Eileen’s paper on emotion work entitled ““It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it”: Committed consumers’ voluntary emotion work in alternative market systems” here

Works Cited
Bentsen, K., Fischer, E., & Pedersen, P. E. (2025). “It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it”: Committed consumers’ voluntary emotion work in alternative market systems. Journal of Consumer Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1454

When you hear the words “self-care” what comes to mind? A quiet walk along a lake? A luxurious bubble bath? A strict diet and workout regime? A day’s worth of retail therapy?

Self-care – which refers to actions we undertake to sustain and improve our lives, health and well-being- is a concept with a variety of meanings and interpretations.

But self-care isn’t just some random set of activities that you do when you’re trying to recover from a bad day or are working to better your health -rather, it’s a collection of moral considerations that shape your actions and, ultimately, drive your activities as a consumer to carry out a set of specific self-care “scripts”.

On the newest episode of the Research @ Schulich podcast, Schulich Associate Professor of Marketing, Ela Veresiu talks about how consumers are shaped by a variety of factors – from moral considerations to health influencers –  when making decisions about what types of “self-care” we individually see as valid, and what types we see as invalid – and how this sense of internal moralizing  can influence even everyday purchases.

Listen to Episode 6 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

Ela’s paper “Moralizing Everyday Consumption: The Case of Self-Care,” was published in Journal of Consumer Research. It can be read at the link below:

“Moralizing Everyday Consumption: The Case of Self-Care”

The idea of “Authenticity” refers to the quality of being seen as real or genuine. Consumers crave authenticity, especially when it comes to hand-crafted or luxury products. Imagine being presented with the choice of two plates of sushi – one that comes from a Florida supermarket, and one that’s made by a skilled sushi chef who has trained for years in Japan. Which would you perceive as a more “authentic” plate of sushi?

Increasingly, authenticity has been seen as a source of competitive advantage for businesses. “Authenticity work” – the process by which businesses work to create and sustain believable authenticity claims – is an important part of how brands tell (and sell) their stories to consumers. Be it by highlighting “traditional” business practices, the genuineness of the staff, or how a product is made, authenticity and authenticity work has emerged as an important organizational practice in many industries.

The Canadian Whisky Industry (that’s ‘whiskey” without the “e”) is one area that trades heavily in authenticity. While some distilleries may promote their heritage and lineage, others may talk about the expertise of their team or new and unique processes. All of them have one goal in common – to be seen as an “authentic” brand in the minds of consumers, and reap the benefits associated with being a “true whisky”

Find out how the lessons learned by distilleries in Canadian Whisky industry can be applied across the business world – and what you might need to do to present your brand or product as “authentic” in a believable way.

Listen to Episode 5 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

You can read Maxim’s article “Distilling Authenticity: Materiality and Narratives in Canadian Distilleries’ Authenticity Work” here

Works Cited
Voronov, M., Foster, W. M., Patriotta, G., & Weber, K. (2023). Distilling authenticity: Materiality and narratives in Canadian distilleries’ authenticity work. Academy of Management Journal, 66(5), 1438-1468. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0017

Join Schulich Professor Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam (Professor of Accounting; Associate Dean, Students; Ron Binns Chair in Financial Reporting, Banking and Governance) for Episode 4 of the Research @ Schulich podcast!

We’re all familiar with the process by which governments provide tax and financial incentives to encourage businesses to adopt or change a behaviour. In recent years, many governments have been providing tax incentives in order to promote the spread of green technologies as a way to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

But are these tax incentives a useful tool on their own? Or are social norms and the beliefs of upper management a more important driver of change?

Tune in as Professor Kanagaretnam breaks down the connection between climate risk management, corporate strategy, tax incentives and social norms.

Listen to Episode 4 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

A large part of Canada’s economy is dependent on the extraction of fossil fuels. While some may associate the oil and gas industry with healthy financial returns and profitability, the resource extraction industry is facing risks. Risks that can come the in the form of climate change, carbon pricing, government regulations and stranded assets.

In addition to environmental and social consequences, these risks also have financial consequences – who would want to lend money to a company that may go out of business or become unprofitable if public opinion or government policy shifts away from fossil fuels? How can banks and financers avoid “climate risk” and “credit risk”.

Schulich School of Business Professor Olaf Weber (CIBC Chair in Sustainable Finance) has been researching this topic and has some insights to share on fossil fuels, sustainable finance and more on the Research @ Schulich podcast

Listen to Episode 3 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

Works Cited

Hunt, C., & Weber, O. (2019). Fossil fuel divestment strategies: Financial and carbon related consequences. Organization & Environment, 32(1), 41–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026618773985

Oyegunle, A., Weber, O., & ElAlfy, A. (2023). Carbon Costs and Credit Risk in a Resource-Based Economy: Carbon Cost Impact on the Z-Score of Canadian TSX 260 Companies. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5539/jms.v13n1p187

Canada prides itself on being a nation which promotes and encourages entrepreneurship and innovation. Businesses started by Canadian entrepreneurs – and the small and medium sized businesses that they create and operate – account for the vast majority of all Canadian jobs. Yet one segment of the population has, traditionally, been ignored by (and in some cases, prevented from becoming) entrepreneurs – Indigenous Canadians.

Fortunately, a new generation of Indigenous Canadians is working to change that.

Join Schulich Professor of Sustainability and Economics Irene Henriques for a discussion of how Indigenous Canadians are working revive the vibrant economic traditions that Indigenous Canadians once engaged in before being disrupted by colonial practices, on this episode of the Research @ Schulich Podcast.

Listen to Episode 2 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

Irene’s papers “Indigenous Entrepreneurship? Setting the Record Straight” and “Transforming Indigenous Procurement: Empowerment, Challenges, and the Road Ahead” can be read at the links below:

Indigenous Entrepreneurship? Setting the Record Straight
Transforming Indigenous Procurement: Empowerment, Challenges, and the Road Ahead

Works Cited
Colbourne, R., Peredo, A. M., & Henriques, I. (2024). Indigenous entrepreneurship? Setting the record straight. Business History, 66(2), 455-477. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2023.2166034

Henriques, I., Colbourne, R., Peredo, A. M., Anderson, R., & Wanuch, R. (2024). Transforming Indigenous Procurement: Empowerment, Challenges, and the Road Ahead. Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development, 14(1), 2-15. https://doi.org/10.29173/jaed9

belittles employees. But do most “bad bosses” set out to act that way? Or is something else at play?

Schulich Associate Professor of Organization Studies Winny Shen talks about her research on what emotions, feelings and mindsets might contribute to someone turning into a “bad boss” – and how they might be able to change.

Listen to Episode 1 of the Research @ Schulich podcast here:

Read the papers discussed in the episode at the links below:
Bad, mad, or glad? Exploring the relationship between leaders’ appraisals or attributions of their use of abusive supervision and emotional reactions

Leading through the uncertainty of COVID-19: The joint influence of leader emotions and gender on abusive and family-supportive supervisory behaviours

Works Cited
Shen, W., Evans, R., Liang, L. H., & Brown, D. J. (2023). Bad, mad, or glad? Exploring the relationship between leaders’ appraisals or attributions of their use of abusive supervision and emotional reactions. Applied Psychology, 72(2), 647-673. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12394

Shen, W., Hentschel, T., & Hideg, I. (2025). Leading through the uncertainty of COVID‐19: The joint influence of leader emotions and gender on abusive and family‐supportive supervisory behaviours. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 98(1), e12439. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12439