Faisal Anees, PhD student at G. d’Annunzio University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy

Faisal Anees is currently a PhD student at G. d’Annunzio University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy. As part of his thesis project, he spent six months at the CPA International Research Chair in Management Control at HEC Montréal, from April to October 2019, as a researcher. With the aim of expanding his scientific network, this stay was a fruitful experience to enhance his research perspectives and develop collaborative relationships in a quality scientific environment.

The main purpose of Faisal Anees’s thesis is the issue surrounding the coexistence of creativity and management control in the life cycle of organizations. Having similar research interests to those of Samuel Sponem, associate professor and holder of the CPA International Research Chair in Management Control, they together examined whether creative CEO behavior had an impact on organizational creativity.

In an environment that is conducive to collaboration, he seized opportunities to attend numerous research seminars offered at HEC Montréal or at other universities in the region. Prior to his departure, he presented his reflections as part of activities organized by the Department of Accounting Studies at HEC Montréal and was able to obtain valuable and informative comments for his work from fellow researchers.

In addition to being totally seduced by the trendy atmosphere, the outdoor spirit and the architecture of Montreal, Faisal was pleasantly surprised to find himself in such an open-minded, safe and bilingual environment. He was also delighted to be surrounded by competent and esteemed researchers with whom he could share his ideas. As the doctoral student pointed out at the end of his stay, this experience was important for his professional and personal development: “I can certainly say that I could not have made a better choice.”