HEC Montréal

About: HEC Montréal is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Vehicle routing problem. The organization has 1221 authors who have published 5708 publications receiving 196862 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Montreal & HEC Montreal.

Playing across the playground: paradoxes of knowledge creation in the videogame firm

Abstract: This contribution illustrates how a videogame firm copes in managing creativity and expression of artistic values, while meeting the constraints of the economics of mass entertainment. The research is based on a case study in one of the largest video game studios in the world located in Montreal, Canada. The approach considers that the creative units of the firms are the communities of specialists (game developers, software programmers, etc.). Each of these communities, which have found a fertile soil in Montreal that nurtures their creative potential, is focused on both exploration and exploitation of a given domain of knowledge. In order to benefit from these sources of creativity, the integration forces implemented by the managers of the firm to bind the creative units together for achieving commercial successes reveal a hybrid form of project management which combines decentralized platforms with strict constraints on time, and a specific management of space that favors informal interactions. However, we suggest that the integration forces put forward by the firm are not just for harnessing creative units: they also generate creative slacks for further expansion of creativity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Metformin and Other Biguanides in Oncology: Advancing the Research Agenda

Abstract: Retrospective studies that may be impractical to confirm prospectively suggest that diabetics treated with metformin have a substantially reduced cancer burden compared with other diabetics. It is unclear if this reflects a chemopreventive effect, an effect on transformed cells, or both. It also remains to be established if these data have relevance to people without diabetes. Laboratory models, however, provide independent impressive evidence for the activity of metformin and other biguanides in both cancer treatment and chemoprevention. Investigations of mechanisms of action of biguanides have revealed considerable complexity and have identified important gaps in knowledge that should be addressed to ensure the optimal design of clinical trials of these agents. Such trials may define important new indications for biguanides in the prevention and/or treatment of many common cancers.