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Prior to joining Ivey, he was Director of the University of Ottawa's Executive MBA Program. Professor Schaan had a 20-year career at the University of Ottawa as a professor and as an administrator. He has taught in all academic programs, managed the School's Management section and run the bilingual International MBA Program. Professor Schaan started his academic career at the School of Business at Queen's University.
Professor Schaan holds a Ph.D. in strategic management from the Ivey Business School at Western University and an MBA from the School of Management at the University of Ottawa. He is a graduate from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP).
He has won teaching awards at both Ivey and the University of Ottawa.
Jean-Louis focuses his research on strategic alliances and project management. In collaboration with Micheál Kelly he has conducted studies about the management and implementation in strategic alliances in the high technology sector. With Christian Navarre he has studied approaches to project management from a CEO's perspective. The research investigated how managers form portfolios of projects and tailor management approaches to specific configurations of project profiles.
Prof. Schaan, has extensive teaching experience in both degree and non-degree executive education. He is the Faculty Director for the Ivey Executive Program (IEP), a three-week executive program, and for the Environment Canada Business Literacy Program (one week). Teaching in executive programs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, he has made a contribution to education that encompasses the globe.
Jean-Louis has co-authored the books Cases in Alliance Management: Building Successful Alliances and Le partenariat: stratégies et modes opératoires. In addition to teaching, he advises executives internationally and has over twenty years' experience serving on the Board of Directors of companies.
Abstract: Combining historical and longitudinal comparative case methodologies for nine nascent EMNCs over 12 years, we explain how their evolving relationship to a hyper turbulent home country motivates largely unplanned yet aggressive internationalization. Firms progressively mitigate the damaging effects of their rapidly deteriorating home context by pursuing a sequence of three institutional arbitrage modes. They first arbitrage rents to stabilize their rocky domestic operations, then arbitrage values to safeguard their threatened core identity, and finally arbitrage scales to transcend their limited growth prospects. The induced stepwise process of internationalization yields similar patterns for purely domestic firms, exporters, and foreign direct investors.
Abstract: We explore the circumstances under which expatriates can help their host-subsidiary capture headquarters attention. Our central contention is that expatriates will be particularly helpful in situations where a subsidiary or its market is showing signs of growth, allowing headquarters to recognize information signaling opportunities for the firm that could otherwise go unnoticed. We test this contention using a robust instrumental variable approach in a single multinational enterprise. Our results show that subsidiaries hosting expatriates and experiencing growth at the subsidiary or market level have a higher probability of capturing headquarters attention.
Abstract: Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the European Union and its performance were analysed in this work. Three different FDI or entry modes used by Japanese companies to enter the European market were compared, and the presence of a relationship between the selected entry mode and the performance of the subsidiary was investigated. We found that more than half of the Japanese investments in Europe took the form of new ventures, approximately 40% were joint ventures and less than 6% were acquisitions. We found that no specific entry mode performed better than another.
Abstract: The internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through international joint ventures (IJVs) has received limited attention in the international business literature. This study analyzes factors that lead an SME to gain a dominant equity share in an IJV. Three hypotheses are tested using bargaining-power, resource-dependency and transaction cost theories. Analyzing 55 IJVs among 110 European SMEs, we found that a partner’s dominant participation in the IJV ownership is positively related to its investment’s relative importance and the number of its employees. No relation was observed with knowledge transfer, IJV complexity and cultural distance in this ownership decision.
Abstract: This study revisits the 'national cultural distance paradox' based on a sample of Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in 53 countries and regions over 30 years. Earlier studies on cultural distance assumed linear relationships and showed mixed results. Results suggest that there is a nonlinear (inverted U-shape) relationship between CD and the choice of a joint venture as the preferred market entry mode, and between CD and performance.We also found that the relationship between CD and performance is moderated by entry mode choice: the nonlinear relationship between CD and performance is stronger for joint ventures than for wholly owned subsidiaries.
Abstract: Recent surveys indicate that executives of technology companies consider strategic alliances to be central to their competitive strategies. Yet the barriers to successful alliances are formidable. In many instances, these barriers develop in the early stages of an alliance. This study identifies and analyzes the types of challenges that companies face in the start-up phase of their alliances. It is based on a survey and interviews with executives in the Canadian high technology industry. The study finds that the principal challenges in the first year of an alliance relate to relationship issues between the partners. It suggests stronger attention to these issues in the design and implementation of an alliance. The paper concludes with guidelines to build and sustain effective working relationships between partners.
Abstract: The 1990's witnessed an explosive growth in strategic alliance activity. Today, strategic alliances are a central element in the growth strategies of technology entrepreneurs and emerging technology companies. In many instances, these alliances involve a large corporate partner. This phenomenon has been accelerated by the explosion in corporate venturing activity in recent years. On a conceptual level, alliances between small entrepreneurial firms and large corporations can provide significant benefits to both parties. A small technology company can leverage the research, manufacturing, marketing and financial resources of the large partner while the latter can tap into the innovative capacity of the smaller partner. On a practical level, however these alliances pose some significant design and management challenges. This article examines these challenges and outlines actions that the technology entrepreneur can take to respond to them.
Navarre, C.; Schaan, J-L., 1992, "De la Bataille pour Mieux Produire, a la Bataille pour Mieux Concevoir", Gestion 2000: Management and Prospective, December 6: 13 - 30.
Abstract: Examined the effects of the compressed work week in 3 police forces in Canada. One force was on a 9-hr shift using a 4-on/3-off schedule rotated over a 35-day period. One force had a 12-hr shift implemented over an 8-day cycle; the other had a 12-hr shift implemented over a 4-wk cycle. 75 officers participated, 25 from each of the 3 forces. The compressed work week appears to be an important factor influencing the operation of Canadian police forces. Results show that shift scheduling influenced how central police officers' jobs were to their lives, their perception of how well their forces were meeting their objectives, and their perceived ability to perform their own jobs well.
Abstract: An overview of the major managerial implications associated with the management of a project, as compared with the management of a portfolio of projects, is provided. Some areas in which preoccupations differ are key goals, staffing, time orientation, resource allocation, and conflict resolution. Based on data from 2 field studies, it was discovered that top managers were involved in one or several of a limited number of areas related to project manager, such as definition of general philosophy, screening and selection of projects, and control and monitoring. The project characteristics that play a determining role in shaping top management approaches to project management include project size, project complexity, and project position in the life cycle. The data suggest that, in practice, at any given time, a limited number of variables appear to shape the general approaches to project management adopted by an organization. These are the number and the homogeneity of projects undertaken. These 2 factors determine the appropriateness of one of 4 project management methods: 1. ad hoc approaches, 2. detailed rules and procedures, 3. various rules and procedures, and 4. meta-rules.
Navarre, C.; Schaan, J-L.; Doucet, A., 1989, "Ou en est la gestion de projets aujourd'hui?", Gestion 2000: Management and Prospective, December 5(1): 31 - 57.
Abstract: Based on the experience of 23 joint ventures operating mainly in North America, Mexico, and Europe, successful and less successful joint ventures are compared. To ensure joint-venture success, managers seek to maintain a subtle balance between the desire and need to control the venture and the need to have harmonious relations with the partners. A number of mechanisms can be employed to enable all interested parties to monitor developments and shape decisions that affect the joint venture: 1. board meetings, 2. provision of parent company services, 3. key personnel appointments, 4. organizational and structural context, 5. informal mechanisms, and 6. integrating the parent organizations. Even in a minority situation, a series of measures are recommended to enhance the likelihood of successful control. They include: 1. policies governing parental intervention, 2. diplomacy, 3. governance of the manager, 4. formal assessments, and 5. arrangements for resolving disagreements.
Navarre, C.; Schaan, J-L., 1988, "Techniques et methodes specifiques de la gestion de projets", Revue Francaise de Gestion, December 68: 36 - 47.
Abstract: The changing face of the engineering and construction industry is described, the main underlying trends and factors in this change being identified. The range of strategic options considered by firms in this sector in response to new challenges is examined. Finally, an analysis of the organizational and managerial implications of the changes is given.
Schaan, J-L., 1986, "Turning a Joint-Venture into a Successful Marriage", University of Ottawa Quarterly, December 56(4): 177 - 190.
