
Exploring the connections between business, development and transformation: Conscious Business,
Enlightened Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Markets, Sustainable Development, Transformative Leadership.
31 March 2007
Mission or Profit? CSR and Social Enterprises at the Intersection

30 March 2007
Entrepreneurship vs. State Direction as the answer for Africa

William Easterly wrote his view on this in the Wall Street Journal:
"Economists involved in Africa then and now undervalued free markets, instead coming up with one of the worst ideas ever: state direction by the states least able to direct. The free market is no overnight panacea; it is just the gradual engine that ends poverty. African entrepreneurs have shown what they are capable of. They have, for example, launched the world’s fastest growing cell phone industry to replace the moribund state landlines. What a tragedy, therefore, that aid agencies have foisted the poorest economics on the world on the poorest people in the world for 50 years. The hopeful sign is that many independent Africans themselves are increasingly learning the economics of how to get rich, rather than on how to stay poor."
A commentator on the Private Sector Development Blog of the World Bank, in my opinion, balances Easterly's argument well: "A market based approach which does not define an effective stewardship role for government is as unlikely to produce sustainable development as a statist approach."
This topic is closely related to an essay on "How can Economic Development Policies foster Social Entrepreneurship?" that I started to am write for my Masters... and a super interesting project proposal with Elise and Tomas... more soon!
New German video spot of "Deine Stimme gegen Armut"
"Deine Stimme gegen Armut", the German initiative of the Global Call for Action against Poverty, published their new TV-spot highlighting that every 2 seconds a child is dying because of preventable diseases. Have a look at theire nice and short spot featuring Ben Affleck, Bono, Penelope Cruz, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Claudia Schiffer and many more. Even if you don't speak German it's nicely cut:
22 March 2007
Skoll Makes Awards to 10 Leading Social Entrepreneurs

"This year's awardees ... all reflect the essence of a Skoll social entrepreneur: a practical innovator who creates sustainable engines at the grassroots level, putting into place the lasting means to get housing, education, health care and other critical resources to the world's impoverished and vulnerable billions. They offer a model for a new kind of leader who melds the discipline of business with the perspective of those less fortunate, and brings a tough-minded optimism to bear on the biggest challenges confronting our communities, our countries and the planet."
Most of them are very inspiring stories, read for yourself: Recipients of 2007 Skoll Awards
21 March 2007
Using the Market to alleviate Poverty: The next 4 billion customers at the "Bottom of the Pyramid"

Professors C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart broke new ground in the poverty alleviation debate almost a decade ago by introducing the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) concept. They flipped on its head the status quo of business, which effectively ignored the majority of people in the world because they live in poverty, by framing the poor as a huge market opportunity that could benefit not only business but also benefit the poor themselves...
This new report helps solidify the BOP agenda by providing documentation of the $5 billion market using income and expenditure data from household surveys.
The 2007 "Fast 50": Profit-driven solutions for what ails the Planet

This years winners range from Arnold Schwarzenegger (fighting greenhouse gases), Nike (eco-design), Deutsche Bank (socially responsible investing) to many yet unsung heroes. Read about the complete Fast 50. Short on time? Watch a fast slideshow.
17 March 2007
What's the best way to loan an entrepreneur $20? Microfinance Test

Slate's winner: "Kiva combines online community with microlending in a way that's truly exciting. It's remarkably compelling to see your borrower face to face..." Got interested? Invest via Kiva.
13 March 2007
Convergence between Businesses and Nonprofits

Examples include that IBM partners with the nonprofit Women in Technology to co-host an engineering camp for middle-school girls and has become a national champion for excellence in public education. And though Goodwill Industries still accepts donations, it’s as much a booming business as it is a charity: Goodwill’s $2.21 billion in revenue from nearly 2,000 stores made it one of the top 15 discount retailers in the United States. The authors claim that IBM and Goodwill are not alone.
Nonprofits and businesses are converging much more quickly, broadly, and deeply than most people suspect. This multifaceted melding of the sectors creates opportunities to improve not only nonprofits and businesses, but also society as a whole. Seizing these opportunities, however, requires a new managerial mind-set. The leaders of nonprofits and businesses would be wise to shift their current mind-set from one of “us and them” to one of “we”. Where are the new managers with this mind-set?
Read the full Stanford Social Innovation Review article.
11 March 2007
'MDG Scan': Benchmarking business contribution on poverty reduction

The Dutch have set up an 'MDG Scan' to keep the score on what multinational companies do towards realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In September 2000, the United Nations member countries made a commitment to reaching eight MDGs by 2015, such as halving the proportion of people suffering extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The Dutch Commission on Sustainable Research (NCDO) has now financed the MDG Scan as a tool to raise awareness of the MDGs in the private sector. The scan allows for detailed comparisons between companies within the same sector and evaluation of the progress of a company over time. ...
The United Nations Development and the Global Compact, the UN's voluntary corporate responsibility initiative, have already shown interest in the MDG Scan. The MDG Scan will be made available online later this year as a self-assessment tool in a slightly modified version. "Companies and stakeholders have asked us to attribute more weight to performance indicators that measure real impact results," Lubberts said.
Read the full article on IPS News and World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog.
Also interesting is a MDG Measurement Framework paper and World Bank's Business and MDG website.
03 March 2007
Ban Ki-moon: "Information technology plays key role in fostering development"

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
To leverage ICT-technology for development is a "natural" interest for me after having worked many years for Siemens and Palm. But to transfer it into real action for development is still a big step. Therefore, it's very interesting that the UN called for a meeting with an alliance of ICT companies including Intel in the Silicon Valley.
“It’s time to focus on actions with results, not protocol. Our focus can improve people’s lives.” said Craig Barrett, Global Alliance Chair and Intel Corporation Chairman. Read more at UN News.
01 March 2007
Acumen Fund uses entrepreneurial approaches against poverty

Therefore when I first learned about Acumen Fund, I followed them closely and when they recently announced a fellowship program, I had to apply. They have offices in New York and India as well as operations in Africa... it seems to be a great match between Acumen's and my mission, let's hope it works out. Read more about them in BusinessWeek or Acumen's website.
BusinessWeek: Doing well by doing good

Here a nice table of companies who are doing well by doing good. Examples include Toyota with its hybrid car Prius, Dell who recycles its computers and many other global players.
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