Based in Ontario, Canada, Brad MacMaster is a part time Hunter Centre researcher. He has more than 25 years of business experience as a financial professional and executive-shareholder of several entrepreneurial business ventures, as well as being an adjunct lecturer at the Universities of Waterloo, Guelph-Humber and the Ted Rogers School Management at Ryerson, where he has taught numerous undergraduate courses in accounting, finance, marketing research and leadership, as well as two Executive MBA courses at Management Centre Innsbruck.
Encouraged by the Dean of the College of Management & Economics at the University of Guelph, Brad decided to broaden his academic interest to include research. Recognising entrepreneurship as his passion, he decided to embark on a new academics career and identified the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship as a progressive and respected centre of study, beginning his PhD programme on a part time basis in 2008.
Recently, he has developed an MBA course: "Venture Planning & Finance" for Ryerson University in the winter semester of 2012; three students of the course gained careers in the private equity industry upon graduation and attributed part of their success to the knowledge gained in this practical, hands-on course designed to get both parties to a PE deal understanding the perspectives and decision-making processes of the other so they could effectively collaborate on getting deals done!; the course was a finalist for the "Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Course" Awards at the recent 2012 Annual Conference of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship held in Halifax, NS (Canada) in September.
He also conducted a workshop for entrepreneurship researchers at the 2012 Annual Conference of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship held in Halifax, NS (Canada) in September; title: "Philosophical Perspectives for Entrepreneurship Research: What alternatives are appropriate for informing our research strategy today?”
He also designed and executed a member-needs-assessment online survey for the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The purpose of the survey is to truly understand what members (and prospective members) do or attempt to do in their various roles with respect to advancing entrepreneurship and supporting small business development, and to identify the most significant challenges encountered, so that the organisation might formulate effectives strategies for expanding / improving the marketplace for interaction, including the channels and content that might facilitate helping members become more effective in supporting shared goals. Brad is the Strategy Team Lead for the organisation.