The One Thousand and One Questions on Business Ethics
What is an ethical business? Bernardo Toro, an advisor to the Avina Foundation, said it clearly and with humor during the opening ceremony of the Latin America Impact Investing Forum (FLII) which took place in Mérida, México at the end of February: “It is a business that doesn’t prey on people; one that creates real […]
Delivering Impact Beyond Income
Ten years ago I had a moment of disillusionment with the charity sector. I was working on the intractable conflict in Sudan: progress was slow, and I’m not known for my patience. I began to feel that traditional models of aid had limitations and decided it was time to explore different routes to tackling poverty. […]
Inclusive Value Chains in Plastic Waste Management
For a long time, waste management and recycling were primarily discussed in the context of environmental preservation. However with natural resources becoming scarcer and prices of raw materials increasing, it is no surprise that materials and energy recovered from recycling waste are gradually recognised as a valuable commodity, particularly by enterprises. In its Green Economy […]
Value in Sustainable and Inclusive Business Activities
‘Potential cocoa shortage by 2020’ was an obvious business case for a company like Hershey’s to invest in being resilient to climate change in order to sustain long-term profits. Hershey’s has even surpassed its 2014 goals, announcing that 30% of its globally sourced cocoa is independently certified and verified. Cost reduction strategies by Pacific Rubiales […]
The Business Case for Girls
One of the most common questions we get from entrepreneurs is why we’ve chosen to focus the SPRING Accelerator exclusively on adolescent girls who are living in poverty. Entrepreneurs understand the general business case for base of the pyramid (BoP) consumers, who represent a global market of nearly $5 trillion. They also understand that BoP […]
Empowering Female Entrepreneurs in Rural Communities
I met Tania five weeks ago during a field visit to Barisal, a city in Southern Bangladesh. I had gone to collect stories from female entrepreneurs in a small sub-district and learn about their lives before and since they began generating an income. Tania clearly stood out as the youngest of all the women I […]
Launching the 2015 Intrapreneur Labs
So 2014 was a whirlwind of a year for The Intrapreneur Lab – the accelerator programme for social innovations inside large companies conceived by Leadership Laboratories, Accenture and Business Fight Poverty and now held in business schools across the world. At the bottom of this post are a few stats around the 4 Labs we’ve […]
Inclusive Business: Forget Business School Strategy
In the coming decades, the majority of the world’s economic output and market growth will come from the emerging markets. Already, the seven largest emerging markets collectively contribute more to global output than do the G7 countries combined. That said, once one gets beneath the aggregate statistics, these emerging – and dynamic – markets are […]
Counterintuitive Ideas and Sustainable Enterprise
Most business models are formulated by the top of the pyramid. Many business leaders and academics write on the musts haves of a successful base of the pyramid (BOP) business model. Still quite a few of those business endeavors fail. While reasons for failure vary, experience shows that the ability to observe, listen and understand […]
Accelerating Sustainable and Inclusive Business
A growing number of companies are developing sustainable and inclusive business models that can offer positive developmental impacts—often partnering with the public sector, non-profit organisations, and foundations to leverage complementary capabilities and share up-front cost and risk. A new research report: “Growth for Good or Good for Growth?” by The Fletcher School at Tufts University […]
The Wealth of the Poor
I don’t know about you but I struggle to think of a device I could purchase that would improve my work productivity or help me save money. Actually, looking at the gadgets that clutter my desk I have probably been over-equipped for a long time. By contrast, poor families at the “base of the pyramid” […]
Evolving to Inclusive Finance
Transformative impact requires a range of financial services and products. It comes from a holistic approach, and that’s our strategy at Citi. Over the past decade, Citi, in partnership with governments, institutional clients and non-profit organizations, has attempted to build an inclusive financial infrastructure that enables long-lasting positive impact. We’ve worked on savings, payments, credit […]
What Drives Companies to Invest in Inclusive Business?
This month’s Editor’s Choice explores companies’ own perspectives on Sustainable and Inclusive Business. It’s a rare glimpse probing inside the company structures and lingo, to see what drives and what impedes company engagement. Growth for Good or Good for Growth is a new report by Monitor Institute, Citi Foundation and The Fletcher School at Tufts […]
Tracking Reach at the Base of the Pyramid
By Lara Sinha, Hub Manager, The Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business Changing lives for people at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP): easy to say, tough to deliver, and very tough to define and measure. Although nearly all inclusive businesses and social investors aim to benefit clients at the BoP, there is huge diversity in […]
Passion Fruit and a New Approach to Agriculture
Three Ways Businesses Can Boost Sustainable Development
What does a procurement manager in Managua have to do with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Or a Kenyan farmer’s mobile-phone plan with the World Economic Forum’s development discussions? When it comes to long-term development solutions – well, everything. Given the increasing involvement of the private sector in developing countries, ordinary aspects of doing business […]
Bootcamp on marketing and distribution
How Inclusive Business is Transforming Tourism
In 2012, 1 billion tourists travelled across borders, compared to 25 million in 1950. Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide, and it’s growing most quickly in emerging and developing countries. Currently, UNWTO calculates that tourism is responsible for 9% of global GDP, for over 1 in 11 jobs and for USD 1.3 […]
Communicating Sustainable & Inclusive Growth
As 2014 comes to an end, companies are beginning to reflect on their achievements from the past year and are already planning for their 2015 corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. CSR reports have become the norm among Fortune Global 500 corporations to communicate about successes and challenges associated with reaching sustainable and inclusive growth goals. […]
Communicating Sustainable & Inclusive Growth
As 2014 comes to an end, companies are beginning to reflect on their achievements from the past year and are already planning for their 2015 corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. CSR reports have become the norm among Fortune Global 500 corporations to communicate about successes and challenges associated with reaching sustainable and inclusive growth goals. […]