Discussion: View Thread

Sponsoring divisions include BPS, ENT and PNP.

It is now widely recognized that leveraging the power of markets to help alleviate poverty can significantly complement more traditional charitable approaches. In turn, strategic management scholars have demonstrated a growing interest in the application of management and organizational theories to poverty alleviation efforts. However, as several recent PDWs have highlighted, conducting meaningful research in such contexts can be fraught with methodological challenges including social desirability, illiteracy, and omitted variable bias that stems from the complexity of poverty. Additionally, many strategy scholars have struggled to identify theoretical gaps that simultaneously represent meaningful practical challenges to the poverty-focused organizations whom they strive to inform.

In this PDW we seek to equip interested researchers with a set of research tools and processes to help overcome some of these challenges. Such instruction will be based on the research process employed by the Social Impact Research Lab (SIRLab) to undertake a host of poverty alleviation projects around the world. SIRLab is an international network of management scholars who work directly with both non-profit and for-profit organizations to help them design and pilot test potential solutions to their most pressing development challenges, and to publish such insights in top management journals. Thus, representatives from SIRLab, in conjunction with a local NGO (Goodwill Enterprises) will help to facilitate the full-day workshop using a combination of instructional and hands-on approaches. Our goal is that participating scholars will significantly improve their knowledge and skills with respect to conducting field experiments that seek to inform poverty alleviation efforts.

This is a full day offsite PDW to run from 9am to 5pm on Friday, August 5, with an optional cocktail reception from 6:30-8pm (transportation to and from PDW location provided).

This event is by application only, and due to the hands-on nature of the workshop, participation will be capped at twenty participants. If you are interested in participating, we recommend sending us your expression of interest early, as these will be reviewed as they are received, with a deadline of June 1. Expressions of interest should include a CV and brief summary (1 page or less) explaining your interest in participating and relevant experience. Individuals will be pre-assigned based on interest and theoretical expertise into groups of 4-5 individuals focused on topics that stem from issues Goodwill has identified as challenges. These topics may include but are not limited to:

• Leveraging non-traditional mechanisms to identify, motivate and retain a workforce comprised of vulnerable or at-risk individuals;
  
• Fostering a culture of collaborative innovation across autonomous sub-units;
• Motivating cross-functional knowledge sharing in a highly siloed environment;
• Legitimation of hybrid organizations to donors.

Accepted applicants will receive confirmation by June 3. Please note that, due to the condensed nature of this experiential workshop, some pre-PDW reading and post-PDW work (completing a 2-5 page summary for Goodwill) will be required. 

For more information on the Social Impact Research Lab (SIRLab) please visit our website at www.sirlab.org.

Please submit applications or questions to Geoff Kistruck (gkistruck@schulich.yorku.ca) or Angelique Slade Shantz at asladeshantz13@schulich.yorku.ca.