The Triangle That Will Fix Capitalism
It is remarkable how the agenda in this 50th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting has shifted towards calling for a move to stakeholder capitalism, as issued by Klaus Schwab in the new Davos Manifesto. The theme of the 2020 forum itself is: “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. How do we get there […]
The Company of the Future Must Do Well by Doing Good
The world has got richer, but one billion people still go to bed hungry. Helping society should be a core part of business, not an add-on. A multistakeholder approach ensures long-term success. In the past 50-100 years, we have created immense prosperity. In 2019, global GDP is expected to reach almost US$ 90,000 billion, compared to […]
Fintech Opens New Opportunities for Private Sector to Support Cash Transfer Aid in Developing Countries
A new global network of blockchain-based community currencies, announced very recently, demonstrates how fintech is creating new ways for public and private sector partners to work together to help the most vulnerable. The two-year project will test, develop and distribute eVouchers, or Community Inclusion Currencies, held in mobile wallets on feature phones in some of […]
What Will Last Mile Distribution Look Like in 2025? Six Predictions for an Emerging Sector
Beneficial household products such as solar lights, improved cookstoves, water purifiers, nutritional supplements and agricultural inputs can play a significant role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. But these products can’t make an impact if they don’t reach the last mile customers who could benefit from them. And since they often live in rural communities […]
Top Stories of 2019
While the social impact and business agenda is shaping up for 2020, we first wanted to share the most popular stories we published in 2019 with you. A huge thank you to the authors featured in this list and to all of you who made contributions. We hope these stories inspire you and welcome your submissions this year*. 10 Seven Key Learnings for Corporate Partnership Leads in […]
10 Trends That Should Be on Your Board’s Radar
Ten things that caught my attention on the topic of business and social impact: 1.Climate change goes social: Global CEOs rank it as the biggest threat to business. But it has taken Greta Thunberg leading six million people to strike for the climate on one day to generate a feeling of real action. The global […]
Positive Impact Tool – Shape the Future of Investor Impact Measurement
Introducing the Positive Impact measurement tool. The UNEP FI wants businesses to help shape how this tool is developed further. Hear from Careen Abb in this exclusive presentation to find out more about how the tool works. Your feedback will help shape the future of this work. Note, the UNEP Finance Initiative’s Positive Impact tool […]
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 […]
Understanding the Pitfalls and Shooting for Alignment: How ViiV Healthcare is Tackling HIV Globally
What you should know about GSK, ViiV Healthcare and DTG GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a purpose: to help people do more, feel better, and live longer. This includes a commitment to improve global health impact through research and development (R&D) for infectious diseases affecting children and adolescents in the developing world, […]
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 […]
The Partnership Re-Imagining the Rice Value Chain in Nigeria
The Value Chain Development Program (VCDP) is a partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria, IFAD and Olam. It works to connect smallholder farmers to markets, land, credit and other agricultural support to improve productivity, the quality of their produce and their linkage with agro-processors for the buying of this produce. In turn, this supports […]
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 […]