May 5, 2000 - TORONTO, ON --
A class of Rotman MBA students has shown that there is more to their degrees than high finance and big paycheques. The 27 students spent the Fall 1999 semester enhancing their leadership skills by consulting for community organizations located in downtown Toronto as part of the "Social Entrepreneurship and Consulting in a Community Context" course, a second year elective in the MBA program.
Teams of three to four students were placed with eight non-profit and community organizations that gave each team a consulting assignment to complete based on problems confronting the organization.
"The class gives students the chance to have an impact real organizations and people," explains course instructor Lorne Kenney. "I told them in the first class that the organizations will receive them warmly and will very likely act on their suggestions. If they were wrong in what they recommend, there would be a serious consequences for the organizations and the people they serve."
Participating organizations included Stop 103; AIDS Committee of Toronto; Russian Orthodox Immigrant Services of Canada; Regeneration House; St. Christopher's House; Breast Cancer Research & Education Fund/International Institute of Concern for Public Health; 761 Community Development Corporation; and Earlscourt Child and Family Centre.
"The course demonstrated to students that real life problems do not have text book solutions. It forced them to think integratively across the functional areas to solve the problems facing the organizations," says Peter Pauly, Associate Dean, Research and Academic Resources.
In just one example, Regeneration House, a non-profit housing and support service agency for persons with mental illness, needed advice on how to manage the risks and benefits of the rapid growth the agency is experiencing.
'We were interested in knowing how well we have managed the growth," says Diana Anderson, Executive Director. "The report by the Rotman MBA team consisting of Karen Tyler, Paul Koreen, and Ivi Ahuta, reassured us that we have managed our growth well, and provided us with recommendations for future growth that will greatly assist our
strategic planning. It was a positive experience for both us and the students, who became more aware of the plight of the mentally ill and the issues facing non-profit organizations."
"Over the past six months our organization has been called to 're-invent' itself due to changing demographics in the Russian community," says Nicholas Ignatieff, Vice President and Secretary of Russian Orthodox Immigrant Services of Canada. "The students were energetic, engaging and professional. Their report gives us a solid base to build on. As business recognizes that there are significant learnings to be gained from the not-for-profit sector, I believe that the Rotman School's investment in a course like this one can be seen as leading-edge experience building for Canadian business and the new generation of managers."
The results have proven so successful that several students have been asked to join the Boards of Directors of the organizations they worked with. According to course instructor Kenney, other students are considering pursuing careers in the non-profit sector or plan to devote more time to volunteer activities as a result of their experiences.
"The course was one of the most rewarding and challenging courses I've ever taken," says Andrea Savage, MBA'00, who worked with Stop 103, an anti-poverty agency operating in the Lansdowne and Davenport Road area. "I've learned a tremendous amount about the non-profit sector and the challenges of initiating change with a severely restricted budget. My involvement with Stop 103 has encouraged me to continue my involvement in the non-profit sector as a volunteer."
"Unlike most areas of study, the take-aways I received from this course cannot be learned from a book," adds Michael Paszti who consulted for Earlscourt Child and Family Centre.
The course has been offered as a second year elective in the MBA program for three years. It originated under the leadership of the late Max Clarkson, former Rotman Dean and Professor and founder of the University of Toronto's Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics.
For more information on the Rotman School, please visit the School's home page at www.rotman.utoronto.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Ken McGuffin
Media Relations Officer
Rotman School of Management
Voice: (416) 946-3818
Fax: (416) 978-1373
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca
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