Prof. Allan MacKenzie – Faculty of Engineering
Allan MacKenzie

Prof. Allan MacKenzie

Expertise

Workplace ecology, organizational strategy, leadership and management, entrepreneurship and innovation

Areas of Specialization

  • Assistant Professor

    W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Overview

Allan MacKenzie has been a faculty member at the W. Booth School of Engineering Practice & Technology since 2009. He started as an adjunct lecturer, teaching leadership and ethics courses for the Bachelor of Technology Program, concurrent with his faculty role at Wilfrid Laurier University, Lazaridis School of Business and Economics. Allan joined McMaster full-time in January 2012, teaching and serving as the inaugural Management Chair for the Bachelor Technology Program (BTech) from 2012-2017.

Allan has developed and taught various management courses in the undergraduate BTech program, including Leadership, Strategic Management, Technology Ethics, Management Principles, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Techno-Politics. He actively supervises graduate students with implementing engineering management and human-centred design solutions for a variety of community partner projects. In addition, he advises and dialogues with progressive global business leaders and their teams to create workplace environments that inspire human flourishing and improve organizational capacity in conjunction with his academic role.

Allan is the Senior Faculty Advisor for Enactus McMaster, a campus-wide student organization that utilizes the power of conscious entrepreneurship for positive change through the creation and implementation of community empowerment projects and business ventures in the Hamilton region.

Did you know?

Allan was a professional Outdoor Guide early in his career. He has instructed rock and ice climbing skill courses and led multi-day backcountry excursions for a variety of groups throughout some of North America’s most ecologically diverse and stunning wilderness areas.

Block Heading

Allan MacKenzie is an Assistant Professor of leadership and management in the W. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology. In the 3rd act of his diverse career journey, Allan purposely transitioned into academia to educate NextGen leaders and professionals. As practitioner-academic, he is a seeker and sharer of researched-informed workplace ecology dynamics, which inspire human-centred and successful organizations.

In conjunction with his academic role, professor MacKenzie is a Workplace Ecology Strategist at WorkScapeO2, a notion garage where the interplay of restorative workplace design, human well-being, and organizational enablers are explored. He advises and dialogues with progressive global business leaders and their teams to create workplace environments that inspire human flourishing and improved organizational capacity.

Allan has a wealth of experience as an organizational development educator and practitioner, including faculty appointments at various universities and colleges; advisor specializing in emergent talent management intelligence for leading firms in the pharmaceutical and technology sectors; Managing Director for a human capital management consulting firm serving mid-market enterprises; VP Operations for a training and development firm serving Fortune 100 and 500 companies and non-profit organizations; and several years in senior talent management within the specialty retail and adventure tourism sectors.

He has worked with diverse organizations, such as Xerox Canada, BlackBerry, Connaught Labs, Novartis, Nortel, Hydro One, Cyanamid Canada, RCMP, SC Johnson Canada, Petro-Canada, Intrawest, Sportchek, and Mountain Equipment Coop; as well as numerous entrepreneurial and mid-sized companies. In addition, he has led dozens of workshops and seminars in organizational development, restorative workplace design, strategic planning, and leadership. He is known for his right-brain thinking combined with a pragmatism that guides leading organizations in articulating and implementing strategies that achieve results.

Allan has a great passion for exploring the natural world in his spare time and is an avid cyclist, wilderness canoe tripper, and accomplished mountaineer. He and his spouse are currently hiking the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks Mountains in upper New York State, USA, to raise awareness for water.org, a global nonprofit organization helping to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to rural communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America.

DEGREES

  • MBA, Strategy & Leadership
  • B.Sc. (Hons) Life Science

DIPLOMAS/CERTIFICATES

  • Strategic Management Certificate
  • Human Resources Management Post-Graduate Diploma

PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS

  • Certified Manager, USA (CM)
  • Chartered Manager, United Kingdom (CMgr)
  • Chartered Manager, Canada (C.Mgr.)
  • Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL)
  • Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR)

2020 Regional Excellence Presentation Award – Canadian Council
Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs (ACBSP) Global Conference
Presentation Title: M-Factor Competition: A Reality-Themed Student Managerial Skills Showcase
Award Criterion: Recognition of an exceptional presentation that demonstrated excellence in creativity and quality in content for the conference theme “Teaching in a Student-Centered World.”

Gold MarCom Award
Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals
Award Category:  Communication Research/Study
International recognition for research on enhancing management skills through experiential learning

Silver Leaf Award of Merit
International Association of Business Communicators
Award Category: Institutional Communications Training
Recognition of excellence and innovation in curriculum development for educational institutions and programs that help to improve the communication skills and expertise of students

John Dobson Enactus Fellow
Enactus Canada
Inducted into the John Dobson fellowship for leadership and commitment to Enactus McMaster students in enabling social entrepreneurship that transforms lives and creates better futures

Selected

Karamanis, T. & MacKenzie, A
The M-Factor: An experiential learning student competition
RESEARCH OUTREACH

View more publications on Google Scholar.