Category: Economic Development

Business and philanthropy: The blurring of boundaries

The latest publication from the World Bank Institute’s Business and Development Discussion Papers discusses the overlaps on business and philanthropy. Michael Jarvis and Jeremy Goldberg provide a briefing allows readers to get quickly caught up to speed on developments and consider the implications for both the business and development communities. “Recent years have witnessed a […]

Start a Corporate Volunteering Program Where You Work (part 2)

Corporate Volunteer programs, also known as Employee Volunteer Programs are a key component to Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. In this second part of our discussion, we’ll tell you how to pull your Corporate Volunteering program together including the components needed to properly execute and measure for success. First, Let’s Think Things Through What’s your first […]

Start a Corporate Volunteering Program Where You Work

Corporate Volunteer programs, also known as Employee Volunteer Programs are a key component to Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. We’ll tell you how to start one where you work, or how to improve the one you have. One Step Forward, Three Steps Back The discussion: How to start a Corporate Volunteering program. Here at Realized Worth, […]

Fighting poverty by empowering women

It is widely recognised in the development community that it is women who suffer most the burden of poverty, and that it is women who offer the best route out poverty. Grameen, perhaps the best-known advocate and pioneer, uses micro loans, financial services and technology, to help the poor, mostly women, to start self-sustaining businesses […]

Guy Sebban, Secretary General International Chamber of Commerce: Business plays a key role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

This year marks the midpoint in one of the most ambitious poverty-elimination efforts ever undertaken – the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In this pivotal year, when the objectives are being reassessed and strategies retooled to achieve these objectives, the biennial World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) in support of the goals, to be unveiled […]

Embedding Corporate Responsibility in the MBA Curriculum

Businesses around the world are struggling to embed Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. Management and business schools face similar challenges. For most schools, the MBA programme has become one of their core offerings. How far Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability is integrated through the MBA becomes an indicator of progress on broader embedding. Indeed, the biennial “Beyond […]

Business-NGO Partnerships under the spotlight

E-BULLETIN FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LEADERS FORUM The global context of the 21st century presents new development challenges, to which single sector solutions have proven an inadequate response. Cross-sector solutions – whether to economic, social, cultural or environmental challenges – involve organisations from all sectors systematically collaborating with non-traditional partners to share risks, costs and […]

Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund Goes Live!

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) website goes live today. The AECF is a US$50-100m private sector fund, backed by some of the biggest names in development finance and hosted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Its aim is to encourage private sector companies to compete for like-for-like investment support for […]

Business and Poverty: Opening Markets to the Poor

FROM THE WORLD BANK INSTITUTE: How can the private sector help transform the lives of the poor? Can poor producers and consumers in turn transform business models and shape new opportunities for companies? These are two of the key questions addressed in the forthcoming issue of the World Bank’s flagship publication Development Outreach, which examines […]

Crossing the Atlantic: American vs European Approaches to the Role of Business

Having spent my career in the UK, I have been carried along with the current of change in how British businesses see their role in development, and how the UK aid agency, DFID, sees the role of business. From business’ perspective, the action has moved well beyond philanthropy. The focus now is on how businesses […]

Growth, The Private Sector And The Path To Ending Poverty

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, set a fresh, bold direction for the UK’s aid agency, the Department for International Development, on Monday. In a speech at an event co-hosted by Business Action for Africa and the Overseas Development Institute, he pointed out that economic growth has accounted for 80% of poverty reduction […]

Shared Goals through Sport

Feb 08 – The business motivation behind, and characteristics of, effective private sector engagement in sport for development are delved into in this report.

Finding Volunteer Opportunities for Your Company: The Quick and Dirty Answers

Finding volunteer opportunities for your company can be tougher than expected. Here are some reasons why, and what you can do about it. Trends come and go. Skinny jeans, Emo and blogging are trendy. Webkinz, Facebook, and Crocs are trendy. Corporate Social Responsibility, however, is better than trendy. Right up there with eating organic and […]

Non-Financial Performance Metrics For Corporate Responsibility Reporting Revisited

This is the first “Working Paper” from the Doughty Centre. It has been written by Dr Malcolm Arnold from Cranfield. Malcolm has not had any previous engagement with the Corporate Responsibility field. He completed his doctorate at Cranfield in summer 2007, on the impact of mergers and acquisitions on corporate value. Malcolm kindly volunteered to […]