Dr. Kyle Murray, Vice Dean at the University of Alberta School of Business - It Takes a C-Tribe Village Podcast

It Takes A C-Tribe Village

Preface: The origins of the phrase are a mystery. It takes a village to raise a child is a proverb that spirited from African or Native American cultures. The phrase translates into saying that it takes an entire community of different people interacting with children in order for children to experience and grow in a safe environment.

The thought leaders, game-changers, and innovators that we look up to are often impacted by the same thing: they’ve been exposed to people, environments, and interactions that have helped shape and define who they are today.

The It Takes a C-Tribe Village Podcast aims to identify, dissect, and celebrate the unsung heroes, things, and experiences that have impacted the greatest minds of our generation and how these individuals are paying it forward for those to come.

Guest: Kyle Murray, Vice Dean at the University of Alberta School of Business (https://www.kylemurray.com)

Interviewer: Sahr Saffa, Chairperson, C-Tribe

Bio: Dr. Kyle Murray is the Vice Dean and a Professor of Marketing at the Alberta School of Business. He held a previous role as the Director of the School of Retailing at the University of Alberta before making the transition to Vice-Dean. Kyle began his career as an Assistant Professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business and he has been a visiting professor at INSEAD (France), Monash Business School (Melbourne, Australia), and the Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland). Dr. Murray holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Marketing and Psychology are from the University of Alberta.

Kyle’s research examines human judgment and decision making, using the tools of experimental psychology and behavioral economics to better understand the choices that people make. He’s currently working on complex behavior change challenges in business and society, including the Canada-wide BIOrg project.

His research has applications in consumer marketing, customer loyalty, e-commerce, and pricing. He has consulted in these areas for clients including the Competition Bureau of Canada, Consumers Council of Canada, General Motors, Industry Canada, Johnson and Johnson, Leger, The Research Intelligence Group, LoyaltyOne, and Microsoft.

Show notes: "I was always interested in business, but when I came to university I was actually more interested in psychology and in how people think and made decisions. My undergrad degree was in psychology. As I was working my way through that degree I did take a couple of business courses and my plan was to go and work in the business world. I spent the first 5 years of my career working in finance for a wealth management company in Edmonton. I was also taking MBA classes at night to upgrade my skills a little bit and one of my professors said "with your background, you'd be a good fit for a PhD." I didn't really know this even existing in business, but gave me the chance to marry by two interests in business and psychology and a lot of the research I do now in consumer psychology—also known as behavioral economics—is about trying to understand how people make decisions."