Erna van Duren

Biography

Erna became a member of the School of Hospitality and Tourism in 2012, and was previously a faculty member in the Department of Business (2006-2012), as well as Food, Agriculture and Resource Economics (1990-2006).

Her longstanding interest in food and resources stems from an early interest in food security and sustainability. She was part of the team that developed the College’s industry focused MBA, and has taught and advised extensively at the graduate level. Erna has worked with industry associations and a variety of organizations on policy and economic analysis and strategy development. She has published a variety of cases, journal articles and research monographs, and has developed several distance learning courses and a textbook.

• Ph.D. (1990), University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
• M.Sc. (1987), University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
• B.A. (1985), University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario

Erna has received funding from a variety of industry organizations, federal and provincial ministries as well as SSHRC for a variety of research projects. Her article “Van Duren, Erna et. al. Forging Vertical Strategic Alliances, in the Best of Choices, 1996, was selected as one of the best 10 articles of the decade to be published in the American Agricultural Economics Association’s Policy Journal.

Erna’s research interests include value chains, the competitiveness of the food industry, sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the food and resource industries.

van Duren, Erna and Rumina Dhalla (2014) Planet Bean: Growing Responsibly in Spinelli et. al New Venture Creation, Second Edition (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, London, Canada.)

van Duren, Erna Competitiveness: Integrating Theory, Research and Practice, Presented in the Session on Building Competitiveness in Food Manufacturing, Conference Board Food Summit Feb. 7. 2012, Toronto, Canada.

van Duren, Erna, Import Substitution Opportunities for Ontario Cheese, Ontario Cheese Society Annual Meeting , March 2007

van Duren, E et. al., “An Assessment of the Strategies and Strengths of Medium Sized Food Processors”. Agribusiness: An International Journal, Vol. 19, Number 1, Jan. 2003.

van Duren, E. Sparling, David and Carl Neggers. “TML Foods Inc”. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 4 (2001) 309-343.

van Duren, Erna and Sparling, David, Supply Chain Management and the Canadian Agrifood Sector: Concepts and a Research Agenda Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 46, 1999 479-489.

Van Duren, Erna and Clarissa de Paz. "The Impact of the Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement on Canada's Processing Tomato Industry's Competitiveness: An Examination of Changes in Tariffs, Technical Regulations and Industry Bargaining Behaviour", in Empirical Studies of Industrial Organization and Trade in the Food and Related Industries, 1995.

van Duren, Erna and Helen McKay, Forging Strategic Alliances in Canada's Agrifood Sector: A Framework for Analysis and Action, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Nov. 1994.

van Duren, Erna. An Economic Analysis of Alternative Countervailing Duties. The Journal of World Trade. Vol. 25. No. 1, February 1991, pp. 91-105.

van Duren, Erna and Martin, Larry. The Role of Economic Analysis in Countervailing Duty Disputes: Cases Involving Agriculture. Canadian Public Policy, Vol.XV:2, June 1989, pp.162-174.

Currently Erna teaches strategic management, food and agricultural policy and business for students who are not enrolled in a business program, but wish to gain knowledge of business concepts. She advises students in a variety of graduate programs including the College’s PhD in Management, MBA and M.A. in Leadership and undergraduate students who have an interest in the food system.