Dr. Canedo joined UHD's Marilyn Davies College of Business in 2015. He teaches Human
Resources (HR) courses (e.g., Foundations of HR, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management,
Compensation, Strategic HR). He serves on the Editorial Boards of journals such as
Human Resource Management Review and Research in Human Resource Management. Dr. Canedo
also serves as reviewer in multiple academic journals and the annual conferences of
the Academy of Management and its regional chapters. At UHD, he serves in multiple
roles at the department, college and university level. Before joining UHD, Dr. Canedo
was an Assistant Professor of Management at Northern Michigan University for two years
and an HR practitioner and consultant for 15 years. He held multiple roles of increasing
responsibility, focused primarily on aligning HR practices with organizational strategy.
Dr. Canedo earned his Ph.D. in Management and Organization Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio. In his spare time, he enjoys watching football, baseball, and live music concerts.
Dr. Canedo, tell us one highlight or gem about UHD's MBA in Human Resource Management, which you teach.
We take a holistic approach to the employee lifecycle. This is no easy task. On the one hand, we prepare our students to see the big picture in terms of organizational functioning and its strategy. On the other hand, we dig into the details. We are exhaustive about legal issues in HR, talent acquisition, talent management, and compensation. It is really a very comprehensive concentration for anyone interested in taking their HR career to the next level.
What's an assignment that you enjoy giving students, and why?
Use the Mission and Vision of their organization to create a Strategic Model of Competencies. This helps students understand how identifying the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that are strategic to the organization can help in designing employee lifecycle processes that contribute to the strategic intent of the company.
What has made you say Yes to teaching at UHD, year after year?
Having my former students connect with me via LinkedIn and learning how they progress in their careers. For me, that means mission accomplished!
Why should students pick the UHD MBA?
There are many reasons for this. Two very important are (a) the design of our classes obeys industry needs and (b) [each Faculty member teaches] with a Corporate Fellow, who is a partner from industry with strong experience in the class topic. Corporate Fellows enrich our classes a lot.
How do you prepare for class alongside your Corporate Fellow?
We usually connect well in advance to discuss syllabus contents. I integrate their insights into the topics and readings. Then, week after week, we discuss how to tackle each topic, the examples we will use in class and the assignments we will give our students to apply the contents.
Tell us about a favorite moment in a recent class.
Final projects presentations are my favorite. It's very satisfying to see my students presenting what they did or are planning to do at work. This is no easy task. Applying contents in a real setting is not easy, especially in 8-week classes. Students, however, always provide great projects. I always feel proud of their achievements. I can also say Corporate Fellows feel very satisfied too.
What's a great question a student has asked you?
In Talent Acquisition: How do you assess fit at the culture level? This is usually the most difficult [question]. Assessing fit at the job/skills level might be challenging, but we can always find instruments to do it. Assessing culture-fit, values-fit is, in part, an art.
What do you appreciate or enjoy most about UHD's students?
Their curiosity and willingness to learn. I love students who are eager to learn and question what they've learned.
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