[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Schreiber.Elliot.DNews.jpg” caption=”Elliot Schreiber”]Market strategist Elliot S. Schreiber has been named director of McMaster's E-Business Research Centre in the School of Business.

The research centre has recently changed its name as well – it was formerly known as the McMaster University E-Commerce Research Centre.

After discussions with students, faculty and industry representatives, it was determined that the electronic commerce definition is narrower than the intended and actual operations of the centre.

Schreiber said, “We changed the name from e-commerce to e-business to correctly reflect what research and experiences have found – that focus just on commerce, the buying and selling of goods services over the internet – has blinded us to the real impact that the internet has had and continues to have on business processes, business models and a different way of gathering information that is altering the way that business is done and how businesses interact with their customers, suppliers, distributors, shareholders and others.”

It is Schreiber's mandate to encourage members of the centre to seek opportunities for collaboration with faculty and students from all disciplines, as well as with industry professionals.

Schreiber explains his vision: “The so-called dot-com crash last year brought us all back to the reality of both the marketplace and basic financial models. There was a gold rush and we found that some models worked and many of those tried did not.

“But it is a mistake to think that the internet's impact may have been overhyped. In fact, long-term, I believe that the internet's potential will be under-hyped. There are still many questions about the internet's impact and there is great potential for cross-disciplinary research between faculty throughout McMaster to examine these areas and how business, politics, education and society in general are affected by the next generation, which will include mobile communications and pervasive computing.”

Schreiber is a highly regarded market strategist and business architect with a 20-year track record in building successful corporate and consulting organizations. He is an expert in business and marketing strategy, positioning, reputation management as well as the development of successful partnerships and alliances.

In his new role, Schreiber will act as an intermediary between industry leaders and the business faculty to identify new areas of research and to create opportunities for collaboration with faculty and students. He also has an appointment as Industry Professor of E-Business.

Since obtaining his PhD in communications from Pennsylvania State University in 1977, Schreiber has held senior management positions in the U.S. at the DuPont Company and Bayer Corporation. He was recruited to Canada in 1995 and served recently as senior vice-president, corporate marketing and communications for Nortel Networks and later as managing partner and chief operating officer for Digital 4Sight, an e-business strategy and research firm.