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CORONAVIRUS: How Will It Impact Business in Canada? And What Happens Next?

For businesses and the economy, this is all new territory

The coming weeks will be unprecedented in Canada as companies, schools and stores close, cities shut down, and people stay (and work) at home—all to flatten the curve of coronavirus.

For businesses and the economy, this is all new territory. What do companies need to know now? And how can they adapt to the new reality?

This webinar, presented by Smith Business Insight and Queen’s Executive Education, offers an in-depth look at the immediate and long-term impacts of coronavirus on Canada. Featuring Smith finance professor Wei Wang, strategy and governance professor Scott Carson, and organizational behaviour professor Kate Rowbotham.


Participants will learn:


• What steps companies need to take to adapt over the next few months

• The biggest risks that businesses will face

• The long-term implications of coronavirus on the economy

• How government can help firms right now

• How to work with employees and keep them engaged

• Strategic opportunities that may be available to businesses coming out of the crisis

• Whether we can expect a quick recovery (or not)

Session Participants

Dr. Wei Wang

Professor & Distinguished Professor of Finance

Professor Wang is an expert on corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, distressed investing, leveraged finance and high-yield bonds. His research has been published in top finance journals and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and other prominent media. He has taught at Wharton and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School. He is the co-author of the authoritative finance book “Corporate Financial Distress, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy (Fourth Edition)”. Prior to his academic career, he worked in commodity derivative trading and financial engineering.

Dr. Kate Rowbotham

Assistant Dean (Teaching and Learning), Adjunct Assistant Professor & Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Organizational Behaviour

Dr. Kate Rowbotham is an assistant professor and a Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Organizational Behaviour at Smith School of Business.  Kate received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies and French and her Master of Science in Management from Queen's University. She completed her PhD at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Rowbotham has taught courses in human resource management, organizational behaviour, negotiations, and diversity and inclusion at Queen's University and the University of Toronto; her teaching excellence has been recognized at both schools.

Kate's research focuses on experiences of inclusion and exclusion across different organizational and educational settings.  She has studied deviance inside and outside of the workplace, and her current work centres on integrity and how it’s understood in different contexts.  Kate is the longest serving member of the Smith School of Business Academic Integrity Panel, and she also works as a dispute resolution advisor for the Office of the University Ombudsman.  Kate has also worked with non-profits and in small business management.

Scott Carson

Professor of Strategy

Scott Carson is a professor at Smith School of Business, specializing in governance and strategy. He is formerly the Stauffer-Dunning Chair of Policy Studies and Executive Director of the Queen's School of Policy Studies. Scott’s career has combined business, government and academe. He was the head of corporate finance for a major Canadian bank, CEO of an Ontario government secretariat, and the Dean of two Canadian university business schools. He is the former Chair of the Board of Kingston General Hospital. He is the co-editor of three recent books on Canadian healthcare governance: Toward a Healthcare Strategy for CanadiansManaging a Canadian Healthcare Strategy and A Canadian Healthcare Innovation Agenda: Policy, Governance and Strategy.