$500,000 donation by RONA to the Chair in Ethical Management at HEC Montréal

    MONTREAL, May 30 /CNW Telbec/ - HEC Montréal announces a
$500,000 donation by RONA to the HEC Montréal Chair in Ethical Management,
held by Professor Thierry C. Pauchant. The Chair's mission is to encourage
integrity among people at work.
    RONA supports the Chair's efforts to integrate the dual quest for
personal and collective integrity in the workplace in all aspects of
management, from people management and development to production, information
technology, leadership, strategy, finance and marketing. RONA's contribution
will be paid over a 10-year period.
    "At RONA, our actions are guided by the quest for the common good - for
our employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and all other partners. We
are driven by values that shape our day-to-day business decisions and guide
all our employees," explained Robert Dutton, RONA President and CEO. Mr. 
Dutton has been particularly interested in ethical issues for many years now,
and has chaired the steering committee for the Chair since it was founded in
March 2003.
    As HEC Montréal Director Michel Patry noted, "RONA's commitment to the
Chair in Ethical Management is a sign of the growing desire on the part of
businesses to integrate ethical values into their management practices. HEC
Montréal is very grateful for this donation, which will go toward financing
the Chair's activities and strengthen the School's commitment and leadership
in the research field."
    The Chair attempts to respond to the threefold question now facing
societies everywhere, confronted with numerous financial and other scandals:
how can we ensure that "good" managers do "good" work in "good" organizations?
This question, which underlies all the Chair's work, involves the development
of personal maturity, the search for new directions in organizational missions
and the invention of new democratic management practices.

    About HEC Montréal

    HEC Montréal is the only business school in North America to be awarded
the three most prestigious international accreditations in its field: AACSB
International, EQUIS and AMBA. The School, celebrating its 100th anniversary
in 2007, offers 34 study programs from the undergraduate to postgraduate
level, trains 6,000 managers through its executive education activities and is
a leader in research, with some fifty research chairs, centres and groups.

    About RONA

    RONA Inc. is the largest Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware,
home renovation and gardening products. RONA operates a network of more than
668 corporate, franchise and affiliate stores of various sizes and formats.
With over 26,000 employees working under its family of banners in every region
of Canada and more than 14 million square feet of retail space, the RONA store
network generates close to $6 billion in annual retail sales.

For further information: Ginette Larose, HEC Montréal, [phone];
Michèle Roy, RONA, [phone] extension 5398