“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
Maya Angelou

MONUMENT EN HOMMAGE AUX FEMMES EN POLITIQUE
Quebec City, Quebec
Share.Learn.Inspire.Transform
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
Maya Angelou
MONUMENT EN HOMMAGE AUX FEMMES EN POLITIQUE
Quebec City, Quebec
“Amazon is essentially about merchandizing convenience for all. Organics, meal kits, it’s all about convenience. For years, Walmart mastered the concept of simplicity in a big box store. On the other hand, Amazon is hedging against the indolent nature of mankind. And for that, it’s winning.”
Sylvain Charlebois
Amazon is not wasting time. Speed of execution is at the essence of Amazon’s model. As soon as U.S. regulators approved its acquisition of Whole Foods, it announced that it would aggressively reduce the price of several organic staples in all of the 431 Whole Foods stores in America and Canada. Amazon’s playbook is about low margins and high-volume sales, for anything, including organics.
Technically, Whole Foods was in a free fall before its acquisition. Store traffic was shrinking, sales were sluggish and the company was having difficultly convincing shareholders that organic food sales are immune to economic cycles and pose a bright future for the company. Whole Foods reinforced the fact that organics were, for the most part, exclusive and for the elite. Organic groceries can cost consumers almost twice as much as conventional food products. Margins are also a sweet deal for grocers, as they can be as much as 5 times of what it would be for mainstream food products.
Amazon obviously knows all this and intends to make organics more affordable, more democratic. At the same time, it also expects to make a statement as a change-agent in groceries, putting everyone on notice. Slumping stock prices for main grocery chains in the U.S. show Amazon certainly has the market’s attention.
This is not the first time a giant food retailer attempts to make its mark in organics. Through its influential logistics, Walmart has made organics more affordable over the last decade or so, however with mixed results. When it committed to organics, Walmart wanted to offer well over 140 different organic products to its customers, but failed miserably. Walmart soon found out that the realities of organic farming make accessibility more challenging. Over the years, it adjusted expectations by offering fewer but cheaper products. Today, Walmart is now the largest seller of organic food products in America. Amazon, on the other hand, has Whole Foods, the Mecca of organic food retailing, giving it a huge advantage over Walmart. By acquiring Whole Foods, Amazon gave itself access to an incredible eco-system which includes well-established organic farms and wholesalers. Unlike Walmart, Amazon can execute its strategy almost instantaneously.
And so, it begins, but it remains unclear as to how all this will affect the Canadian organic market. Unlike in the U.S., food prices in Canada have started to rise again in recent months which has given grocers some well-needed breathing room. If anything, we could see organics go up in price due to Amazon’s willingness to make organics more appealing to American consumers. With higher demand south of us, procurement could become more challenging for main Canadian grocers, even if our currency remains strong against the greenback. With time though, as Amazon increases its footprint in Canada, this may all change.
The American food distribution landscape is much different, especially these days. With German-based Lidl and Aldi also expanding in the U.S., Americans may witness a continued food price war. Except for July, food prices have dropped for 18 months in a row, the longest stretch since the 1950s. Pricing always has a very direct short-term impact on profitability. Over time though, survivors are the ones able to absorb shocks coming from the competition. Since Amazon has never played the high-profit, high-dividend game, this is a non-issue for the company. But with organics, the Amazon-Whole Foods story will only make matters worse for Kroger and Cie. Convenience, for organics, is the primary factor, price is less so. The physicality of organic retailing coupled with online selling can only leverage Amazon’s position in the market place. The distribution story behind Amazon’s move on Whole Foods makes the online giant almost immune to any procurement challenges which is typical with organics.
Amazon’s next move could be with meal kits. For years, grocers have considered food service as an afterthought. Given that some project that the online food service market is likely to increase 15 times faster than the rest of the restaurant business by 2027, some are starting the move. The first one in Canada was Metro. Metro’s brilliant move of purchasing MissFresh this summer is evidence that grocers are starting to see the potential, but it has been slow. Amazon is clearly not as patient.
Blue Apron just announced it was reducing its sales force to better calibrate sales with capacity. Several start-ups have emerged and have done well, but no one has proven that the meal kit business can be sustainable for the long term. Many must spend an outrageous amount on marketing and set very high price points for their products. It is easy to see how Amazon can clarify the essence of the meal kit space by using its massive data-driven schemes.
Amazon is essentially about merchandizing convenience for all. Organics, meal kits, it’s all about convenience. For years, Walmart mastered the concept of simplicity in a big box store. Amazon is quite frankly hedging against the indolent nature of mankind. And for that, it’s winning.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Dean, Faculty of Management
Dalhousie University
August 2017
Steen Madsen, Investment Advisor, RBC Dominion Securities
Steen Madsen, Investment Advisor, RBC Dominion Securities graduated in the MBA (FS) Class of 2016. In a recent virtual interview with CFAME Connection, Steen reflected on his academic journey, offering profound insight into the opportunities and challenges facing those involved in life-long learning.
Steen Madsen:
To be honest, I had the thought of attaining an MBA for 20 years – a bucket list item if you want to call it! The MBA (FS) program offered rich academic content with a high degree of real-world learning supporting the entire program. I wanted education that went beyond my industry, which would allow me to explore other career opportunities beyond banking.
As Rick Nason would say, I embraced the spirit of emergence when I decided to enroll in the MBA(FS). Working within banking and wealth management roles, requires that I must continually adapt to a changing environment both in the market place and within an evolving organization. Studying alongside other industry participants provided new perspectives which inspired me to move forward personally as well as professionally.
Timing the markets or attempting to time the markets is never a proven success; however, I believe that life goals in relation to timing is crucial. For me, it was the right time to take that next-step towards an MBA. Having career and life experience when I entered the MBA(FS) program broadened my learning capacity, positioning me to legitimately contribute within an academic environment. My favorite part of the MBA (FS) program was the intensives. In those three or four days, I learned alongside other industry-experienced students committed to life-long learning
For someone just starting the MBA program, time management will be critical. Use your existing scheduling skills to their fullest and learn to block chunks of time to get the work load and studying done. Use this time wisely, not only to achieve a mark, but to gain knowledge. Integrating an academic journey into the reality of family life and career responsibilities requires a thoughtful approach. The first step starts with a scheduling dynamic that is backed by family permission to spend the hours to get each course done. When I started the program, my daughter was 3 years old; when I graduated, she had turned seven. This meant that her entire memory and impression of her Dad throughtout that time was of me studying in my home office. During those years, there was a shift in philosophy of what is important, that learning for the sake of acquiring knowledge was the ultimate goal.
When I received the letter of acceptance, “congratulations, you’re in.” I bought a Dal sweatshirt. I wore that same sweatshirt for each and every intensive exam, the entire length of the program (4 years), kind of like a lucky charm. Hah, it worked! Believe it or not, I wasn’t the only one to do that!
My next challenge is back to studying. This time a must because it is my insurance licensing which will be a small part of my wealth management business going forward. I still balance work hours with family life because my kids are 8 and 11 and between homework-help and activities there is little time other than the odd NFL game or UFC fight to watch. I really enjoy being a Dad and the time I spend with my children is a blessing. I appreciate every moment – they are only young once!
“I believe you should try to help your community if you’re fortunate enough to have that opportunity. I think you should leave something behind.”
John E. Poole (1917-2007)
John E. Poole Wetland, Alberta
The John E. Poole Wetland is the first project of the John E. Poole Conservation Fund, established by Ducks Unlimited Canada as a tribute to John’s passion for the environment and his community.
An interesting aspect of working in the information management field is the difficulty in explaining clearly and concisely the nature of the field. Many professions have a reasonably clear public profile, such as medical doctors, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and so forth. Information managers, on the other hand, often find themselves in the position of having to explain what they do. The same is true also for those of us who teach and conduct research in this area.
There is no standard definition of what constitutes information management (IM). The Government of Canada defines it as a discipline that directs and supports effective and efficient management of information in an organization, from planning and systems development to disposal and/or long-term preservation.
Wikipedia defines IM as [the] cycle of organizational activity: the acquisition of information from one or more sources, the custodianship and the distribution of that information to those who need it, and its ultimate disposition through archiving or deletion.
At the School of Information (SIM), we define information management as a people-centred approach to discovering, organizing, analyzing, representing, and accessing data, information, and knowledge. Effective IM gets the right information to the right people at the right time. I am undoubtedly biased, of course, but I think SIM’s definition captures the main functional areas of IM very well. We propose also the following areas of competencies for IM professionals:
The Government of Australia has a very well-crafted information management standard that could be applied to any organization, either public or private. The standard outlines eight principles for the management of business information:
The graphic below, from K.L. Scott & Associates, provides a good summary of IM processes:
This graphic shows the business value of IM to an organization:
In this column, we will explore a number of IM areas, particularly in relation to events in the news, as well as relevant research. IM is a truly exciting field, as I hope we will discover together.
Dr. Louise Spiteri
School of Information Management
Welcome to our new column, Information that Matters
The editors of CFAME Connection have graciously asked me to write a regular column about matters pertaining to knowledge and information management, data privacy, information governance, and social media management. In this column, we will explore current events, research, and new developments in these areas.
A little bit about me. I am an associate professor in the School of Information Management (SIM) Dalhousie University. SIM provides innovative graduate information programs that focus on the management of information, people, and technology. SIM offers the following graduate programs: The Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS); the combined MLIS and Juris Doctor; the combined MLIS and Master of Public Administration; and the combined MLIS and Master of Resource & Environmental Management. Further, the School offers the mid-career degree Master of Information Management (MIM), which is administered through CFAME.
I teach courses in the areas of metadata, the organization of information, knowledge management, and records and information management. My research interests over the past several years have explored the use of social tagging and user-generated metadata in information retrieval systems. Most recently, I am co-editing a book that looks at the role of social tagging in a linked data environment. In this book, my chapter explores the role of hashtags in linking data and information resources across a variety of retrieval systems and social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. You can follow my research projects, and link to my social media accounts, in my About Me page.
I look forward to contributing regular columns in CFAME Connection, and sharing developments in the areas of knowledge and information management.