ABSTRACT
This case explores the strategies employed by Ryerson University in Toronto and its Ted Rogers School of Management to engage in poverty alleviation and build capacity for social and economic development. Just as poverty is the result of a complex, interacting set of factors (Marquez et al. 2011), universities must develop strategies to address critical leverage points, providing accessible and affordable education (Usher and Medow 2010), enhancing the capacity of all graduates to build social and for-profit enterprises (Apostolakis 2011), and supporting social and economic development in communities at the local, national and international levels (Apostolakis 2011; Fetters et al. 2010; Guerrero and Urbano 2012; Thorp and Goldstein 2010). Management schools have a critical role to play in this process by helping nurture the skills needed to effectively advance employment and promote development within the context of the university and beyond. Mainstreaming corporate social responsibility is important (Barber and Venkatachalam 2013), but understanding that entrepreneurship is both a mindset and process is also critical to creating change (Hitt 2000; Nguyen 2013). First, this case study will provide a conceptual framework for understanding poverty alleviation strategies and identify areas where an urban university can leverage its significant resources.
Next, it will provide an overview of Ryerson University’s strategy and a brief review of some of the programmes and projects designed to address these leverage points at both the university and business school levels. It concludes with a call for additional research using an integrated systems approach, which sees the university as occupying a key node in the ecosystem by advancing economic development and opportunities for employment.
