North American Module Faculty

Simon Ashbourne

Simon Ashobourne started his career at Procter and Gamble and also worked at Cadbury before moving into consulting. His work is primarily with senior marketing and sales managers and focuses on helping them develop clear and compelling answers to the "tough questions" they face in the marketplace, for example: What do we want our consumers or customers to do differently than they are doing today? How can we influence their attitudes and behaviours? How should we organize our marketing and sales resources so that we are most effective?

How do we identify the most attractive business opportunities to pursue? How do we plan effectively - neither under-investing or over-investing in the planning process?

Dr. Melanie Carr

Adjunct Professor,
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Dr. Melanie Carr is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and has been an Adjunct Professor at the Rotman School of Management since 2004. Her involvement at Rotman has been focused on the development of the integrative thinking program, including design and teaching of the experiential learning lab and development of courses which focus on skills development in the areas of self-awareness and interpersonal dynamics.

Prof. David Beatty, M.A., O.B.E.

Conway Director, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics & Board Effectiveness, Professor of Strategic Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

An adventure capitalist for the last two decades, Professor Beatty is the former president of Weston Foods and a founding Chair of Orogen Mineral Resources. He has worked in the Central Planning Office of Tanzania and as an economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. As Director of Planning, he helped create the country's economic infrastructure. In September, 2006, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea awarded Professor Beatty a 30th Independence Anniversary Medal in recognition of his continuing services to that nation.

Professor Beatty serves on boards of the Bank of Montreal (where he chairs the Risk Review Committee), FirstService Corporation, Goldcorp, Husky Injection Molding and Inmet Mining (where he is lead director).  He spent a decade on the board of Peter Drucker's Foundation in California, serving as vice chairman.  Currently, Professor Beatty is the Managing Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, which promotes best corporate governance practices and aligns the interests of boards and management with those of the shareholders.

As well as teaching in the Rotman School’s Executive MBA programs, Professor Beatty teaches strategy in large diversified corporations.

Prof. Jim Fisher, MBA

CCMF Chair in Entrepreneurship, Professor of Strategic Management, Vice Dean, MBA Programs & Executive Education, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Three times voted “Teacher of the Year” by the second-year MBA classes, Professor Jim Fischer teaches leadership, strategy and organization design in the MBA, Executive MBA and Executive Development Programs. He brings extensive practical business experience to the classroom. Having worked with McKinsey & Company, Professor Fisher co-founded the Canada Consulting Group, the country's largest Canadian-owned strategy firm before it merged with the Boston Consulting Group.  He joined George Weston Limited in 1986 and served as Executive Vice President of Weston Foods, Chairman and President of William Neilson Limited and President of George Weston North American Bakeries.  Currently he serves on a numbers of boards, including Canadian Tire Corporation, Atlas Cold Storage and the ICD Corporate Governance College. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in political science and economics and from Harvard University with an MBA.

Prof. David Dunne, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Marketing,
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Professor David Dunne is an award-winning marketing professor, holding the University of Toronto President’s Teaching Award and the prestigious 3M Fellowship, Canada’s only national award for university teaching across disciplines. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Toronto and has an extensive background as a marketing manager in Europe and North America with Unilever and Young & Rubicam Advertising. Professor Dunne launched and managed several well-known products in the packaged goods industry and consulted leading companies in the packaged goods and pharmaceuticals industries. He is regularly quoted in the media on marketing strategy, advertising and related issues. Prof. Dunne has taught workshops in North America, Europe and Asia and his current research interests include the impact of design thinking on management education.