The École des Hautes Études Commerciales and Quebecor Inc. announced today the inauguration of the Pierre-Péladeau Chair of Leadership. The first chair created as part of the funding campaign A World of Projects - a joint initiative of the Université de Montréal, the École des HEC and the École Polytechnique - the Pierre-Péladeau Chair of Leadership will receive a $1.5-million contribution from Quebecor Inc. over the next five years.

The director of the HEC, Jean-Marie Toulouse, confirmed that "the HEC has been a frontrunner in teaching and research on leadership. The first courses in this subject were given in 1972 by Pierre Laurin, today an HEC executive-in-residence, who will preside over the orientation committee of the new Chair. It is to be expected that a prominent business school should take an interest in this complex human phenomenon. Because whether it be political, administrative, intellectual, religious or artistic, leadership is pre-eminent in the advancement of society."

Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of Quebecor Inc. added: "Leadership is an indispensable quality in commercial success; my father brilliantly demonstrated this during his entrepreneurial career. It is a great honour for me to participate, on behalf of Quebecor, in the creation of the first chair of leadership in Canada."

Orientation of the Chair

Through original research, the Chair will contribute to a better understanding of the leadership phenomenon. To this effect, monographs of leaders will be published, case studies will be written and public conferences will be given by opinion leaders, intellectual leaders and senior executives. Basic texts will also be published on subjects such as the role of creativity, the imagination and emotions, the influence of the family and education, and the impact of new technologies, money and authority.

The Chairholder, Professor Laurent Lapierre, said that "the ideological orientation of the Chair will emphasize promotion of individual responsibility as a premise for the well-being of the community as a whole." To stimulate open debate on this issue, academics, opinion leaders and senior executives from diverse horizons will be invited to participate in the Chair's activities.

Dr. Lapierre hopes that the research findings of the Chair will be broadly disseminated via new information technologies. In addition, media such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM will gradually house the Pierre-Péladeau collection on leadership.

Presided over by Mr. Pierre Laurin, executive-in-residence at the École des HEC, the orientation committee of the Chair will comprise the following members:
- Mr. Alain Bouchard, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.;
- Ms. Sylvie Cordeau, Executive Advisor, Office of the President, Quebecor Inc.;
- Ms. Francine Harel Giasson, Full Professor, HEC;
- Mr. Laurent Lapierre, Pierre-Péladeau Professor of Leadership;
- Mr. Abraham Zaleznik, Professor Emeritus, Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School.

Three HEC professors will join the Chair from its inception. Francine Harel Giasson, Veronika Kisfalvi and Patricia Pitcher, all associated with the Department of Management, have several years of teaching and research on leadership to their credit.

Quebecor Inc. (TSE: QBR.A, QBR.B) is a communications company with operations in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Company runs its lines of business through two subsidiaries: Quebecor World Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. Quebecor World is the largest commercial printer in the world. It operates close to 160 printing plants and studios specializing in related services in 16 countries. Quebecor Media is active in the following sectors: newspapers, integration of Internet technologies, Internet portals, books, magazines, music, video retail sales, business telecommunications and remote surveillance. Subject to approval by the CRTC, its cable television and television broadcasting are being controlled by trustees. Overall, Quebecor Inc. has over 50,000 employees in 17 countries.

The École des Hautes Études Commerciales of Montreal offers more than 25 management programs, from the bachelor's to the doctorate levels, to 10,000 students each year, approximately 800 of whom originate from over 60 countries. Its multidisciplinary faculty comprises 190 full-time professors, many of whom are involved with over 30 chairs or centres and research groups at the HEC. In association with four foreign universities, the École is a founding member of the AEA Alliance (Americas, Europe, Asia), a unique inter-university partnership intended to offer businesses training solutions that meet their globalization needs. The HEC has earned EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), and is a member of the Conférence des grandes écoles de France.

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For information
Sylvie Brisson
Senior communication counselor
École des HEC
(514) 340-6298
Sylvie.Brisson@hec.ca

Luc Lavoie
Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs
Quebecor Inc.
(514) 877-5165
lavoie.luc@quebecor.com