Appropriate Technology for Serving the ‘Last Mile’ – The Need for Simple, Flexible and Scalable Solutions
Technology Challenges With the widespread proliferation of mobile phones, most of the leading FMCG players have attempted various initiatives to use technology to reach and gain visibility of mass-market businesses. However, while mobile phones are a true game-changer, common misconceptions have plagued many of these initiatives: Assumption 1: Mobile Phone = Mobile Data The majority […]
Harnessing the Power of Businesses to Advocate for Change
Improving social responsibility requires broad, holistic engagements that reach beyond company walls to influence stakeholders and decision-makers, fostering cross-sector partnerships to drive change. With their size and reach, multinational companies are in a position to influence their peers, investors and political leaders to step up the action for sustainable development. By cooperating with each other, […]
Adjusting the Lens on Inequality
2019 has been a transformative year for the inequality debate. From the historic broadening of the Business Roundtable’s view on the role of a corporation to the protests taking place in Chile, Haiti, Lebanon and elsewhere, a common thread is the need to address inequalities in human development and the sense of unfairness they can […]
Reaching the Elusive Last Mile – Challenges of Digitizing Indirect FMCG Distribution Channels in Emerging Markets
With over 400 million business not connected to the digital economy and an annual “offline” trade of $5 trillion (Based on World Bank Statistics), today’s global consumer facing companies realize that reaching the ‘elusive last mile’ is key to their bottom line and ongoing growth. However, despite many efforts, ranging from partnerships with NGOs and […]
Social Innovation: The Answer to Progress
Innovation is not just about new ideas and methods, it’s about the new ways of thinking that lead to them. It’s also about new data models and being open to change that can improve products and services. In fact, at Salesforce.org, our most trailblazing products came from ideation and co-creation with customers, volunteers, interns and […]
Access the latest Inclusive Business Resources
Many multinational corporations (MNCs) are actively looking at how to scale and replicate inclusive business initiatives. In response, the UK Department for International Development, through the Inclusive Business Boost programme, has supported the development of knowledge products that aim to help MNCs identify and address the issues and challenges they face. To date, it has […]
C’est La CIV!
Corporate Impact Venturing (CIV) is a relatively new approach, marrying classic Corporate Venturing with social entrepreneurship. It is particularly apt for venturing into low-income markets, as our recent report shows. Oh la la! Many of the pioneers in CIV are French multinationals: The French utility Engie started “Rassembleurs d’Energie” in 2011 with a total investment capacity of […]
A New Twist on an Old Story: Renewed Hope For Impact From Large Companies
I have been lucky enough to meet the women entrepreneurs of 2 Chak Village, Sargodha district in Pakistan three times over the last two years. They tell inspiring stories of how selling high-quality hygiene products to their fellow women has brought them valuable income, but also respect and empowerment. Many of them have had extremely […]
What Does it Take To Go Big? Management Practices to Bring Inclusive Business to Scale
The Inclusive Business Management Practices Tool, supported by DfID and developed as part of the Inclusive Business Boost, marks a new stage in the development of Business Call to Action. The Tool provides inclusive business (IB), particularly within multinational corporations (MNCs), with an assessment tool that sets a new bar, with aspirations to motivate and […]
Five Questions on Partnership with the Pollinate Group
1.What is Pollinate Group’s business model? Pollinate Group is a social enterprise with a mission to empower women as leaders of change to distribute products that improve health, save time and save money for the world’s most neglected communities. It was established in Bangalore in 2013, and later expanded to Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kanpur and Lucknow. […]
Might Slowing Down Be the Best Way to Accelerate Change in Business?
This was the underlying theme of the book I wrote last year, The Intrapreneur: Confessions of a corporate insurgent, (which Business Fights Poverty were kindly the main sponsor of): “did I go nuts or is it the system I was trying to change that’s crazy?” Having said all of that, purchasing the remains of a […]
What Difference Can a Multinational Make? With the Right Management Practices in Place, a Lot.
In the latest Business Call to Action (BCtA) report, launched at the BCtA 9th Annual Forum, we examine how to overcome these organisational barriers, drawing from examples of successful companies who are already doing this, and offer steps that companies can take to adapt their management practices to become more inclusive business friendly. Business experts predict that […]
Businesses Share Employment Practices to Eradicate Poverty
Last Thursday was International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Whilst ending poverty is a motivating goal, it is not always clear how to work towards this lofty ambition through day-to-day business operations. In a new toolkit, Reducing Poverty through Employment, members of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC) have collaborated to share their experience […]
How Can Business Accelerate Career Opportunity for Entry-Level Workers to Ensure the Future of Work is Strong and Inclusive?
During Business Fights Poverty New York, a select group of professionals from the business, academia and the international development community explored how companies are responding to disruptive trends affecting the Future of Work, such as automation, the rise of artificial intelligence, and new forms of independent employment and how companies are preparing their workforce for […]
In Memoriam: Tribute to Paul Polak – Market-Based Development Pioneer 1933 – 2019
We were greatly saddened to hear the news of the death of Paul Polak, a pioneer of market-based development, on 10 October 2019. Paul’s mission was to inspire a revolution in how we tackle poverty – showing how market-based approaches to development can benefit the 2.7 billion customers who live on less than $2 a […]
How Can We Better Support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Large Company Value Chains Through an Ecosystems Approach?
Business Fights Poverty has been running a Challenge to find out how business can take an ecosystems approach to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in their extended value chains. To ensure MSMEs thrive, large companies, governments, donors and funders and NGOs need to move towards a holistic and joined-up approach to enterprise support. […]
A Conversation on The Future of Work at the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit
To mark the launch of a new Challenge supported by Walmart on the Future of Work, Enrique Ostalé, Regional CEO of UK, Latin America and Africa at Walmart International, and Zahid Torres-Rahman, Founder and CEO of Business Fights Poverty joined Brad Staples, CEO of APCO at Concordia’s 2019 Annual Summit, to speak about International Future […]
There is No ‘I’ in team: How Collaboration and Innovation are Enabling Inclusive Businesses to Achieve Greater Social Impact
The world of inclusive business isn’t any different. We’re seeing more and more inspiring collaborations that are achieving exponential results, demonstrating the value of partnerships, and the opportunities for innovation that these alliances allow. Take a look at the recent partnership between BCtA member Essilor and Chinese commerce giant AliBaba – together they’re providing access […]
Strengthening the MSME Ecosystem to Enable Business Growth and Social impact in Frontier Markets
For large companies operating in emerging and developing countries, Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are key business partners along the value chain – as suppliers, distributors, retailers and customers. MSMEs can create access to untapped low-income markets. As retailers, clinics, pharmacies or service providers, they reach both rural and urban households with goods and […]
Banking The Unbanked
‘Dreams are too expensive – We cannot afford to dream’ Khalida Bibi, a female home-based worker, expressed her despair during one of our customer surveys to assess the needs of lower- and middle-income individuals in rural Pakistan. Khalida is a 45-year-old, mother of three who runs a small home-based embroidery business, which provides an inconsistent […]