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Yan Cimon

Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation, l’Université Laval, 2012-13, Research Project: Canadian and American Production Chains
Yan Cimon

About

Yan Cimon, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, l’Université Laval, held the Fulbright Chair in Innovation, part of a special competition in 2012-13. Cimon was housed in the U.W. College of Civil and Environmental Engineering where he worked with Anne Goodchild on research addressing the changing dynamics of Canada-U.S. value chain integration. “Whether they realize it or not, North American firms operate in global and complex networks, be they supply chains, value chains or a variety of horizontal relationships. Nonetheless, few academics and executives are able to determine whether, and how, these complex network relationships truly affect their firm. The question of how a firm’s position and the architecture of its many relationships affect its competitive advantage is far from resolved. The purpose of my research,” says Cimon, “is to determine how North American (Canadian and American) firms can leverage or adjust their network position and their own capabilities to generate a sustainable competitive advantage in the North American market.”

Since 2006 the U.W. has enjoyed a close relationship and MOU with Fulbright Canada. “It continues to be a privilege and a pleasure,” notes Michael Hawes, CEO of Fulbright Canada, “working with an institute that regularly demonstrates such a strong commitment to the internationalization and to the goals and priorities that we hold dear.”

To date five U.W. Canada-U.S. Fulbright Chairs have infused the U.W. with the following research and annual lectures: Sukumar Periwal, Government of British Columbia, “Beyond Borders: Regional Partnerships in the Pacific Northwest,” 2006-07; Michael Orsini, University of Ottawa, “A ‘Spectrum’ of Disputes: Framing Autism in Canada and the United States,” 2008-09; Rob Williams, University of British Columbia, “Marine Conservation in the Pacific Northwest: Whales, Salmon, and Sound,” 2009-10; Marcia Ostashewski, University of Victoria, “Métis, Mixed-ness and Music: Aboriginal-Ukrainian Encounters and Cultural Production on the Canadian Prairies,” 2010-11; and, Claudio Aporta, Trails and Their Role in the Construction of Inuit pan-Arctic Identities,” 2011-12.

Funding for the 2012-13 Canada-U.W. Fulbright Visiting Chair program is provided by the U.W. Office of Global Affairs; the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies; Social Sciences Division, College of Arts and Sciences; U.W. Graduate School; and the Foundation for Educational Exchange Between Canada and the United States of America, Ottawa.