Building upon the School of Business and Economics’ (SoBE) programming foundation in human resource management, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship and leadership, a newly announced department—Human Enterprise and Innovation (HEI) will focus on human-centered business design, innovation, critical thinking, and emotionally intelligent decision making. The new department aligns SoBE to become a leader in human centered management and innovation.

Recent advancements in technological and social innovation including the democratization of manufacturing, are indicators of a shift in ways of looking at how business organizations operate.

HEI will provide specific areas of expertise in both teaching and research. For faculty and students alike, this will mean a concentration in research fields, alignment with innovation and teaching and a strong link to organizations in Kamloops and beyond such as the Kamloops Innovation Centre.

“Strong identifiable subject matters are critical to the success of SoBE as they create an identity, support faculty in concentrating their efforts in developing creative teaching and research projects, and provide clear identifiable organizational concentrations from which collaborations can be made with other faculties, schools, businesses and community organizations,” said Andrew Fergus, HEI Chair.

In many ways, this new department is a response to the challenges found with the fourth industrial revolution and the skills needed in 2020.

“We need to foster new ways of looking at traditional business, graduating entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who are problem solvers with creative, innovative mindsets” stated Fergus.

“This new department of Human Enterprise and Innovation is an exciting development in SoBE and for TRU, ensuring that we’re on the cutting edge of teaching and research for our students,” said Alan Shaver, TRU President and Vice-Chancellor.

“The goals for the department are to have faculty and students working and interacting in a forward-thinking mindset, where learning happens in a fun engaged environment. It is important to have students graduating ahead of the curve with respect to the future needs of all organizations, business, not-for-profit and government. We will strive to develop a future-minded culture in SoBE and in the university as a whole, looking to build interdisciplinary, cross-boundaries relationships,” added Fergus.

Early illustrations of this culture can be found within two of the numerous research projects currently underway in HEI. For example, examining the potential role of virtual reality in student engagement, and in fast prototyping and innovation processes. And assessing the impact of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology in terms of developing shared understanding within organizational teams.

As this department becomes more established, courses will be adapted to the coming needs of future proofing students at TRU.

A current example of this is the leadership minor, which provides students from all disciplines with the opportunity to improve their general management skills in the areas of leadership, people management, teamwork, communications, decision making, negotiation, conflict resolution and organizational development and change, including how to create a more innovative work environment.

“The future of business and society depends on human creativity and innovation and this department illustrates our school’s commitment to our students,” said Mike Henry, Dean of SoBE.

The previous Department of Management was spread over a number of topic areas. The varied range of topics made it a challenge to generate areas of expertise with identity and focus.

The announcement of the Department of Human Enterprise and Innovation also means there will be changes to the other departments in SoBE.

Before June 1, 2017 there was a Department of Management, now with the creation of HEI, there is also a newly-named Department of Management, Information and Supply Chain, which will build on the current subject areas of supply chain management, strategy, information systems management and data analytics to provide a much-needed focus and concentration in what are fast growing and key demand areas for SoBE graduates.

The Department of Marketing and International Business will also gain a stronger focus in their two main areas.

For more information

Dr. Andrew Fergus
Chair, Department of Human Enterprise and Innovation
School of Business & Economics
Phone: 250-377-6015
Email: afergus@tru.ca