Purpose | University of Strathclyde

Principle 1 - Purpose

The University of Strathclyde will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy.

As a place of useful learning, the University of Strathclyde is committed to ensuring that our students work closely with private, public and third sector organisations to develop a practical understanding as well as a theoretical framing of challenges and opportunities facing business and society. Throughout their time at Strathclyde, students will meet business and civil society representatives in the classroom, through site and field visits, during placements at home and overseas and develop relevant skills to help them identify opportunities and empower them to take on challenges.

Teaching that links theory and practice to cultivate a socially-aware mind-set:

In 2017, we launched our innovative Leadership through MCR Mentoring programme. This programme engages Strathclyde Business School staff as mentors for looked-after young people to help them overcome disadvantages in their lives by encouraging them to find, grow and use their talents. The programme is open to all SBS staff looking to develop their leadership skills. MCR Pathways is a charity with the vision that every care-experienced and disadvantaged young person in Scotland gets the same education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as every other young person.
During 2016-17, an innovative variant of the business school’s Management Development Programme (MDP), known as the International Leadership Development programme (ILD), was introduced for international undergraduate students in recognition of their specific support needs. The class includes core business knowledge and skills along with English language and study skills support.
The Department of Accounting and Finance regularly develops demand-driven courses on ethics and development in accounting. Classes offered by the Department of Accounting and Finance adopt a public policy perspective that allow students to think critically about the role of accounting in shaping societies and the business world. Most programmes have reflection built into them, allowing our students to link big accounting data and social theories with responsible leadership and sustainability issues, preparing our students to be more engaged with future trajectories where the accounting profession is heading.
Several modules within the Department of Economics introduce the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of responsible environmental governance. For example, the Honours level Natural Resources and Environmental Economics (EC416) class touches on the role of the SDGs in relation to both water and energy. Our MSc in Global Energy Management encompasses issues around climate change, clean energy, carbon trading and capture, and environmental policies.
In Professor Sarah Dodd’s capstone fourth year class Issues and Trends (Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation), students are engaged in the exploration of the wider social impact of entrepreneurship and how it interacts with pressing contemporary trends, such as resource poverty and the sharing economy. Students present lectures on global mega- trends, and their impact for entrepreneurship practice, policy and research.
In the Honours level Family Business class (Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation), students are taught about the importance of stewardship in running businesses for the benefit of future generations and the communities in which they operate within the context of family business.
In Dr Julie McFarlane’s Business Clinic, Hunter Centre undergraduate students in their third year learn to support a number of organisations in the third sector as well as for- profit organisations that have a sustainability focus. Students are trained to understand the unique needs of these organisations through workshops as well as the hands-on work projects they carry out for the organisations. For example, one group is working with a SME on ways to market Fair Trade Coffee from Malawi, while another group is looking into new sustainable energy markets for Scottish firm NPL Group.
First year students in the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation undertake the “value challenge” project in groups every year which entails carrying out a small business activity starting with a mere idea and developing this to actually generate sales. All monies raised are given to a children’s charity in Glasgow.
Professor Nigel Lockett has incorporated UN SDGs as a core component of a New Venture Creation module taken by all Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation postgraduate students. This will raise awareness of UN SDGs and enable students to appreciate the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in addressing global challenges.
Strathclyde Business School alumnus Iain MacRitchie was named in the AACSB Class of 2019 Influential leaders, which recognised 33 global business school graduates who have created lasting impact in their communities and industries. Iain is Chairman and CEO of the charity MCR Pathways. The award recognises that Iain has taken five years out to establish MCR Pathways, a school-based mentoring programme which works to radically transform education and life outcomes for young people who are care- experienced or disadvantaged.