Managing your organization during and after a crisis

A crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic creates several challenges for businesses, especially entrepreneurial firms and SMEs.

In this first event of the Researcher-Practitioners Exchange Series, hosted by the National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship & Family Business, Concordia professor and researcher Matthäeus Tekathen will exchange thoughts with successful entrepreneurs facing business challenges.

Matthäeus Tekathen will share some findings from his relevant research partially funded by NBI on “Management Control Systems for Entrepreneurs during and after the crises.”

Speakers

• Matthäus Tekathen, PhD
  Chair, Department of Accountancy, Concordia's John Molson School of Business
• Sarah Takforyan, BComm 12
  CEO, La boîte à bonbons and c'est BONBON
• Sean Arani
  President and Founder, Arani Group
• Emilia Mattei
  Managing Director, Clortech Tools

Moderator

• Ehsan Derayati, PhD
  Director, National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship & Family Business

Matthäus Tekathen's research focuses on organizations’ risk management and management accounting and control practices.

He joined Concordia in 2014 and received his doctoral degree for his dissertation on the topic of enterprise risk management from EBS Business School, Oestrich-Winkel/Wiesbaden, Germany. He also holds a BSc and MSc in Management with majors in accounting and management accounting and control.

Sarah Takforyan studied International Business and Marketing at John Molson followed by a Master's degree at HEC.

After working in a technology start-up and meeting passionate entrepreneurs who pushed her towards creating her own company, she decided to follow her passion for entrepreneurship and her sweet tooth by founding La boîte à bonbons.

Since 2016 Sarah and her team have been working hard to spread happiness throughout Quebec and Canada! La boîte à bonbons, via online and offline channels, offers their customers the best selection of candies, coming from all sides of the world. Quality and freshness are the two values they live by.

Sean Arani founded Arani Group in 2009 immediately after graduating from the master’s program in electronics engineering from Lancaster University in England.

Arani Group manufactures a range of electrical products which it supplies directly to electrical contractors, bypassing distributors and sales agents. It has been listed as one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies for 4 years in a row and operates from 2 offices located in Montreal and Calgary. 

Sean believes in improving access to property ownership by reducing construction costs. He also an master's degree from McGill University.

In her role as Managing Director at Clortech, Emilia Mattei is responsible for overseeing all of the non-manufacturing elements of the day-to-day operations, including finance, procurement and human resources.

Founded in 1987, Clortech is a family-owned Montreal-based manufacturer of custom precision cutting tools for some of the biggest names in the aerospace, defence, rail and automotive sectors.

She also has a Bachelor of Education from McGill University.

Ehsan Derayati. PhD, has been teaching strategy and consulting courses at the John Molson School of Business for eight years.

In addition to his academic background, Ehsan is Senior Advisor of Innovation and Strategic Research Initiatives and is active in the consulting and startup scene in Montreal.

He also has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.