items sorted by publication date
Access to Energy Project 
By Jean-Elie Aron & Oliver Kayser, October 16, 2009
Ashoka and Hystra are working together to bring clean, safe and affordable energy to the base of the pyramid.
>> More Details | created on: 10/16/2009
iBoP Asia Grantees
iBoP Asia, February 23, 2009
iBoP Asia (the Science and Technology Innovations for the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia) project of the Ateneo School of Government recently announced their small grantee winners.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2009
Systems versus pilots and the lessons of WaterHealth International 
By Rob Katz, Acumen Fund, February 22, 2009
Acumen Fund investee
WaterHealth International (WHI) announced earlier this week that it had closed a
$15M round of financing from the International Finance Corporation. The financing - combined with WaterHealth’s
Series D round of funding - will enable the company to bring purified, disinfected water to 3 million more people in more than 600 Indian villages (in addition to the 200 in which they currently operate).
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2009
Microfranchising at the Base of the Pyramid Working Paper
By David Lehr, Acumen Fund, August 1, 2008
David Lehr’s paper provides an in-depth analysis of microfranchising as a development tool. The paper highlights three leading microfranchising organizations that partner with Acumen Fund: Drishtee, VisionSpring (formerly Scojo Foundation) and Sustainable Healthcare Foundation. It’s one of a series of written articles that Acumen Fund has produced about the ways market-based approaches are changing the way we think about poverty alleviation.
>> More Details | created on: 11/10/2008
The Cycle of Light
By Nilanjana Nag, Mumbai Mirror, July 6, 2008
Suprio Das, an electrical engineer based in Kolkata, has created a battery that is charged by the pedalling of a cycle rickshaw. He calls it 'Firefly'.
>> More Details | created on: 07/29/2008
Innovative Bicycle is Designed to Meet Needs of Urban Poor
By Derek Newberry, The City Fix, June 12, 2008
The product is called the Aquaduct, a tricycle designed by a team of five at IDEO that stores water in a twenty gallon tank in the back of the bike’s wide, blue frame. As the user travels back home, the energy they expend pedaling is used to filter the water into a removable two gallon tank that rests in front of the handlebars.
>> More Details | created on: 06/17/2008
Powering Villages from Rice Husks
By Brevy Cannon, May 19, 2008 (University of Virginia)
Two rice husk generators are providing power to about 10,000 rural Indians, but the business plan calls for a rapid expansion that will put the miniature power plants in hundreds more villages within a few years. The project won the Social Innovation Competition at the University of Texas.
>> More Details | created on: 06/12/2008
Taking BoP Strategies to Scale: Connecting Rural Communities
By Al Hammond, NextBillion.net, May 7, 2008
A rural connectivity pilot project in Son Tay Commune, Quang Ngai Province of Vietnam. Suggests that providing rural coverage with a wireless network would be dramatically less costly to the telco. Plus the telco can sell Internet access to cybercafés, schools, government offices, and small businesses, over the same network. From the perspective of the users, it also looks like a good deal, because local calls would be free.
>> More Details | created on: 05/12/2008
Sustainable Rubber Sourcing: Michelin
By WBCSD , February 8, 2008
At the end of 2001, Michelin was confronted with a combination of crucial issues surrounding its hevea tree plantation in the state of Bahia, on the northeastern coast of Brazil: poor productivity due to structural factors, the decreasing price of natural rubber, playing a key local role as an employer in a low economically developed region, and holding unique ecological wealth in the presence of endangered primary Atlantic forest. In grappling with how it could cope with these issues in a positive manner, Michelin decided to stay and implement a new business model and organizational structure.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2008
Procter & Gamble: Safe Water Through a Powder
By WBCSD , January 18, 2008
Procter & Gamble's Children's Safe Drinking Water program - the signature program for P&G's Live, Learn and Thrive™ corporate cause - helps address this critical issue by the use of simple, household-level water treatment technology: PUR™ Purifier of Water.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2008
Local Supplier Development Program: Ledesma
By WBCSD , August 24, 2007
Ledesma's Local Supplier Development Program aims to strengthen job-creation in and the economic development of the province of Jujuy, in Argentina, and particularly in the area where its employees live. In doing so, the company designed a program in which the growth of local suppliers could also provide benefits for the company.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2008
What Works: Scojo India Foundation
By Nico Clemminck & Sachin Kadakia, NextBillion.net, June 1, 2007
In this case study, the authors examine Scojo Foundation and identify the key drivers that make their social enterprise program successful in India.
>> More Details | created on: 07/31/2007
Mi Farmacita Nacional: Enabling Good Health Among Mexico's BOP
By Enrique Coronado & Christina Krettecos, Yvonne Lu, NextBillion.net, June 1, 2007
Mi Farmacita Nacional is a fully for-profit, Mexican owned pharmacy franchise with a social imperative. The company’s mission statement is "to bring medicines and special services to the regions of most necessity in the Mexican Republic and to provide health, well-being, communication and accessible prices to the majority of homes."
>> More Details | created on: 08/15/2007
HBS Cases: How Magazine Luiza Courts the Poor
By Julia Hanna, HBS, April 18, 2007
Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza has developed an innovative strategy for selling to the poor, combining technology with great service that please both customers and employees. The question of how the company can grow without sacrificing the special qualities that have made it successful.
>> More Details | created on: 04/24/2007
Building Markets Where Few Exist
WBCSD, March 9, 2007
Once a week, Hilario Amador makes the short journey to the city center of Zacatecas, Mexico, to deposit 120 pesos with Patrimonio Hoy, a self-help building scheme run by CEMEX, one of the world’s largest cement companies.
This disciplined habit has allowed the 38-year-old abattoir worker to receive regular supplies of building materials, with which he has tiled his floors, repaired the roof, and added two rooms to his modest, single-story home.
In the mid-1990s CEMEX, a WBCSD Cement Sustainability Initiative leader, was suffering along with most other Mexican companies from a devastating currency devaluation that eliminated more than 1 million Mexican jobs and cut the buying power of the Mexican peso roughly in half.
>> More Details | created on: 04/24/2007
Electricité de France: Providing Services to Rural Populations
WBCSD , February 23, 2007
EDF, a competitive multi-energy, multi-service provider, has a keen interest in global electrification, both as a major player in the global power industry, as well as a public company with a history of dedication to public service and rural electrification.
EDF committed itself “to help provide energy to developing countries' populations”. Improving rural and peri-urban (areas outside formal urban boundaries but which are in the process of urbanization) zone development, reducing the negative impact on the environment, and using and promoting renewable energy technologies, are some of the objectives of the Group's sustainable development commitment.
>> More Details | created on: 04/24/2007
Vodafone: economic empowerment through mobile
Vodafone, February 20, 2007
Following a successful pilot program in Kenya, Vodafone is rolling out a service that allows customers to access cash via their mobile phones. Called M-PESA, the service allows customers to borrow, transfer and make payments using a mobile phone, transforming financial services by making transactions cheaper, faster and more secure.
Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said his company sees significant growth potential in emerging markets like Kenya partly because research shows that mobile technology can revolutionize social and economic growth in these countries
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2007
Quantifying Heineken's economic impact in Sierra Leone
WBCSD, February 2, 2007
A new economic impact assessment (EIA) model was developed and tested in Sierra Leone to quantify both direct and indirect impacts of a foreign company on the local economy.
The Dutch National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) and Heineken International commissioned Triple Value Strategy Consulting and InReturn to develop an economic impact assessment model and test the model on the Heineken operating company, Sierra Leone Brewery.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2007
Using raw materials sustainably: Natura
WBCSD, January 8, 2007
The Brazil nut is appropriate for infant nutrition as a milk and is a source of selenium, an important anti-oxidant. It is used as a medicine to treat hepatitis; it also treats dry skin and hair, and can be eaten as an appetizer. Brazil-based Natura depends on the sustainable harvesting of the Brazil nut for its products.
The Brazil nut also has an important socio-economic function. As sustenance for many families, the nut is used as an appetizer, and Brazil nut meal, a byproduct rich in selenium, can be used in cereals and other foods. The locally processed oil is sold to cosmetics companies.
In 2000, Brazil-based Natura started its program to sustainably use raw materials from Brazilian biodiversity. For example, Natura uses the Brazil nut in products for dry skin and hair (the Ekos line).
>> More Details | created on: 01/12/2007
Doing Well by Doing Good
By Aneel Karnani, Ross School of Business Working Paper Series, January, 2007
According to the ‘doing well by doing good’ proposition, firms have a corporate social responsibility to achieve some larger social goals, and can do so without a financial sacrifice. This paper empirically tests this proposition by examining in depth the case of ‘Fair & Lovely,’ a skin whitening cream, marketed by Unilever in many countries in Asia and Africa, and, in particular, India. Fair & Lovely is indeed doing well; it is a profitable and fast growing brand. It is, however, not doing good, and we demonstrate its negative implications for public welfare. We conclude with thoughts on how to reconcile this divergence between private profits and public welfare.
>> More Details | created on: 03/02/2007
What works: Grameen Telecom's Village Phones
By NEVIN COHEN, World Resource Institute, December 7, 2006
The high revenues generated by Grameen Telecom’s shared-access business model suggest how powerful such approaches can be. With local entrepreneurs providing one phone per village, the whole community is the customer. The phones generate revenues averaging $90 per month in rural Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries. Social and economic benefits to the entrepreneurs, and to the village, from phone access have
proved to be high as well.
>> More Details | created on: 12/07/2006
Fighting hidden hunger: DSM
WBCSD, December 4, 2006
According to the United Nations World Food Programme, one-third of the world’s population -- approximately 2 billion people -- suffers from hidden hunger (micronutrient malnutrition).
One of the most effective and sustainable ways to combat malnutrition is to fortify staple foods with vitamins and minerals. DSM's Nutrition Improvement Programme is intended to contribute to the elimination of malnutrition in the developing world. Improving the nutritional status in these developing and emerging countries and economies offers future business opportunities for DSM.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2007
Procter & Gamble: Treating water at its point of use
WBCSD, October 17, 2006
Did you know that Procter & Gamble, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and governments, is working in developing countries to provide safe drinking water to people directly in their homes?
>> More Details | created on: 10/20/2006
Integrating Sustainability into Business Practice: Novo Nordisk
By Mette Morsing & Dennis Oswald, WBCSD, October 6, 2006
Novo Nordisk is an organization that attempts to consider sustainability as an integrated part of its strategy and in all of its business decisions. To meet this goal, the company has adopted a management philosophy that they call the “Novo Nordisk Way of Management” to ensure all actions taken by employees meet corporate objectives. Within this management tool are three pillars that are used as control mechanisms to integrate sustainability into Novo Nordisk’s business practices: facilitators, a sustainability report, and the balanced scorecard.
>> More Details | created on: 11/02/2006
Educating Amaretch: Private Schools for the Poor and the New Frontier for Investors
IFC.org, October 5, 2006
The accepted wisdom says that the poor need billions of dollars more in donor aid for public education. But this ignores the reality that poor parents are abandoning public schools to send their children to ”budget” private schools that charge very low fees, affordable to parents on minimum wages.
>> More Details | created on: 10/05/2006
Microfinance for shelter
International Institute for Environment and Development, June, 2006
The world of housing finance has changed very significantly over the last ten years. In particular, small-scale lending for land purchase, infrastructure investment and housing improvements has increased significantly. Ten years ago, the state programmes in Thailand had barely started, while the housing subsidy programme in South Africa was being conceived of as a capital grant. Microfinance agencies had a “toe in the water” approach to shelter lending, and the urban poor funds that now are a firm feature of SDI programmes had been launched in only one country. NGO shelter lending continued, and had been taking place for many years, but programmes remained relatively disconnected from other financial systems and institutions. Hence they remained smallscale revolving loan funds assisting relatively small numbers of families. The landscape is now very different.
>> More Details | created on: 01/19/2007
The Case of Vodafone
By UK Department of International Development , May 2, 2006
Vodafone has successfully bid for grant funding from the Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF) to develop a Mobile Micro-finance “platform” in Kenya and Tanzania. This initiative has already resulted in important new developments within Vodafone that are likely to have significant commercial and social impact. However, it was not developed without overcoming a number of significant challenges.
This Case Study examines the process through which Vodafone recognised and took advantage of the opportunity presented by the FDCF, and captures important lessons that have relevance to the process of engaging the private sector in development activities.
>> More Details | created on: 05/02/2006
Electrifying South Africa: Eskom
WBCSD, April 27, 2006
A key sustainable development issue is access to essential services for improved quality of life, including improved health services, clean water, adequate food and modern energy. Electricity plays a key role in delivering all these services. It underpins the economic and social development of many countries, and provides the support infrastructure for such development to occur. Therefore, for any nation or region to move forward and become competitive in the global market, providing reliable and affordable electricity is crucial.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
Unilever in Brazil:Marketing Strategies for Low Income Consumers
By P. Chandon & P. Pacheco Guimaraes, INSEAD, January 1, 2006
Unilever is a solid leader in the Brazilian detergent powder market with an 81% market share. Laercio Cardoso must decide: (1) whether Unilever should divert money from its premium brands to target the lower- margin segment of low-income consumers; (2) whether Unilever can reposition or extend one of its existing brands to avoid launching a new brand; and (3) what price, product, promotion, and distribution strategy would allow Unilever to deliver value to low-income consumers without cannibalising its own premium brands too heavily. This case deals with the question of whether marketing and branding create value for really poor consumers.
>> More Details | created on: 04/18/2006
Bringing healthcare services to rural communities: Royal Philips Electronics
WBCSD, December 13, 2005
The poorer sections of rural Indian households spend close to 12% of their income on healthcare, making the availability and affordability of quality healthcare a major national issue. Nearly 60% of this population takes loans at interest rates of 60-120% per year to pay for either prolonged treatment or for hospitalization.
In India, Royal Philips Electronics aims to provide quality healthcare at an affordable price to the people who need it. In order to reach this goal, the company has custom-built a tele-clinical van complete with diagnostic equipment and dedicated doctors and para-medical staff.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
Thamel.com: Diaspora-enabled Development (Nepal)
By John Paul, World Resources Institute, December, 2005
Thamel.com is a Nepal-based marketing and development company that has tapped the resources of the diaspora to create new opportunities for Nepalese workers, generate cultural value, and help move local businesses in a new direction. The company’s unique combination of e-commerce, remittance, and business development services demonstrate how combining the power of IT and diasporas can create opportunities at the base of the pyramid.
>> More Details | created on: 03/15/2006
Fighting disease clean-handed: Unilever
WBCSD, November 16, 2005
Diarrhea causes over three million deaths a year worldwide, mostly among children. At a rate of one child every ten seconds, mortality from diarrheal diseases represents one-third of all deaths of children under the age of five in developing countries. Yet a World Bank study estimates that hand washing with soap and water can reduce diarrheal diseases by up to 48%, preventing over one and a half million children from dying each year.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
Safety Nets for the Poor: A Missing International Dimension?
By Sanjay G. Reddy, October 19, 2005
Poor persons in poor countries are greatly exposed to the risk of adverse shocks, many of international origin, which can create long-lasting damage to individual well-being. There is a strong moral and practical case for taking measures which reduce the extent to which such shocks arise, and diminish their adverse effects.
>> More Details | created on: 01/20/2006
Focusing on the Triple Bottom Line: Natura
WBCSD, October 12, 2005
Brazil has a rich natural heritage, one-third of the world's remaining tropical forests, as is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Natura’s Ekos Challenge aims to create a model to allow the sustainable use of natural resources, generating good business opportunity and social development for traditional communities and for Natura and its partners.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
First Mile Solutions Daknet Takes Rural Communities Online
By Carol Chyau & Jean-Francois Raymond, World Resources Institute, October 1, 2005
First Mile Solutions (FMS) counters the problem of increasing technological access to rural areas by providing telecommunications equipment that can cheaply connect rural and remote populations to the Internet through an innovative technology: DakNet. DakNet leverages short- range wireless technology in tandem with traditional telecommunication and physical transportation infrastructures.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2006
Shell - Searching for sustainable solutions to indoor air pollution
WBCSD, August 15, 2005
Because Indoor air pollution (IAP) is the most serious energy and poverty-related health problem, the Shell Foundation has committed US$ 10 million to tackle IAP through its Household Energy and Health Programme, branded as “Breathing Space”. Breathing Space’s approach is to identify, test and then ideally diffuse “market-based” schemes for getting killer smoke out of very large numbers of very poor people’s kitchens. Under this program supply- and demand-side interventions based on business and market principles are being piloted in eight developing countries.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
Narayana Murthy and Compassionate Capitalism
By Bill George, Shailendra J. Singh & Andrew N. McLean, Harvard Business School, July 22, 2005
Narayana Murthy's roles at Infosys Technologies--as a co-founder, longtime CEO, and nonexecutive chairman and chief mentor--has been marked by explosive growth, demanding management challenges, and widely lauded company leadership. His personal leadership philosophy has been articulated through and driven by his philosophy of "compassionate capitalism." Profiles Murthy's philosophy and leadership principles. Traces the development of Murthy as a child, scholar, businessman, and political and social activist. Traces the links between Murthy's principles and the business practices that repeatedly brought Infosys Technologies recognition as one of India's most admired and best managed companies. Raises questions in his mind about the place of philanthropic principles in the management of a business enterprise.
>> More Details | created on: 04/03/2006
The Mogalakwena HP i-community: Hewlett-Packard
WBCSD, July 5, 2005
Despite the enormous worldwide impact of the Internet, more than 90% of the world’s population has never used the technology and the “digital divide” between the developed and developing nations is growing. Hewlett-Packard's Mogalakwena i-community in South Africa seeks to bridge that divide.
Through public-private partnerships, the HP Mogalakwena i-community aims to turn the region into a thriving, self-sustaining economy where access to technology permanently improves the livelihoods of the population by raising literacy rates, creating income, providing access to government services, education and health care, and opening new markets.
>> More Details | created on: 07/13/2006
The Mogalakwena HP i-community: Hewlett-Packard
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, July 5, 2005
Despite the enormous worldwide impact of the Internet, more than 90% of the world’s population has never used the technology and the “digital divide” between the developed and developing nations is growing. Hewlett-Packard's Mogalakwena i-community in South Africa seeks to bridge that divide.
>> More Details | created on: 11/23/2005
Electrifying rural Moroccan households: Electricité de France (EDF), Tenesol, Total
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, June 2, 2005
Through a unique program developed by Morocco’s National Electricity Office (ONE), EDF, Total and Tenesol (previously Total Energie) are helping remote Moroccan villages access electricity through solar power installations.
>> More Details | created on: 11/23/2005
Social Entrepreneurship: Creating New Business Models to Serve the Poor
By Christian Seelos & Johanna Mair, Harvard Business School, May 15, 2005
The term "social entrepreneurship" refers to the rapidly growing number of organizations that have created models for efficiently catering to basic human needs that existing markets and institutions have failed to satisfy. Social entrepreneurship combines the resourcefulness of traditional entrepreneurship with a mission to change society. Because it contributes directly to internationally recognized sustainable development goals, social entrepreneurship may also encourage established corporations to take on greater social responsibility.
>> More Details | created on: 04/03/2006
The Kuppam HP i-community: Hewlett-Packard
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, May 2, 2005
Hewlett-Packard's Kuppam i-community aims to provide people with access to greater social and economic opportunities by closing the gap between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities.
>> More Details | created on: 11/23/2005
NetMark: A Case Study In Sustainable Malaria Prevention Through Partnership with Business
By AED, Academy for Educational Development, April 1, 2005
This case study examines NetMark, a unique cross-sector partnership created to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease kills more than two million people each year.
>> More Details | created on: 07/31/2007
Access to Electricity program eases poverty: ABB
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, March 1, 2005
ABB’s Access to Electricity program is designed to promote sustainable economic, environmental and social development in poor communities and is yielding its first concrete results in a remote village in southern Tanzania.
>> More Details | created on: 11/23/2005
Share MicroFin Limited: India's Largest Microfinance Organization
By R. Meenakshisundaram & R. Fernando, ICFAI Centre for Management Research, March 1, 2005
Within just over a decade, SHARE Microfin Limited (SML) grew from a small society into India’s largest microfinance organisation. During the initial years, the organisation had to face many challenges with regard to customer acceptance, fund mobilisation, government regulation and operational issues. However the organisation had adapted the Grameen model to the local conditions and had even transformed its constitution from that of a society to a public limited company so as to attract funds from private sector banks. The organisation sustained its growth momentum over the years, through innovative fund mobilisation efforts using partnership models with private sector banks and structured deals like securitisation.
>> More Details | created on: 04/18/2006
Empowering supply chains: Anglo American’s Mondi Recycling
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, February 25, 2005
Mondi Recycling, the biggest paper recycler in South Africa, feels it has the ability to create employment and sustain livelihoods in its operational areas.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
PC Industry's Next Billion Customers: Exploring the Growth Avenues
By T. Phani Madhav & D. Gayatri, ICFAI Business School Case Development Centre, February 1, 2005
The global PC industry was looking for new avenues for growth as its traditional markets matured. Penetration levels in the US PC market as well as other European nations were as high as 60%. The industry behemoths like Dell, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett Packard believed that developing countries like Brazil, India, China and Russia were the next 'one billion market'. While the companies were tapping the unmet needs and were adapting themselves to the market requirements, several challenges stood in their way to success. The poverty levels, the rigid laws and the language diversity were among others the problems for these multinationals. The case highlights the PC industry's growth strategies in the traditional markets and its entry into emerging markets. The case drives discussion towards the opportunities and challenges in the next 'one billion market' and how the companies were tackling them.
>> More Details | created on: 04/18/2006
Natura
By Brazil BCSD, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2005
Natura’s Ekos Challenge aims to create a model to allow the sustainable use of natural resources, generating good business opportunity and social development for traditional communities and for Natura and its partners.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) and Project STING A
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0266-SSRN, 2005
This series of cases concerns the attempts by the Unilever division Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to create, market, and distribute a detergent for India's rural poor. In this war of laundry powders, HLL must revise its traditional practices in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution pursuant to C. K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond's theory of the worldwide four-tiered market, in which the bottom of the pyramid is an untapped and potentially lucrative market.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Eskom and the South African Electrification Program C
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0164-SSRN , 2005
Eskom had committed to spending approximately $400 million annually to provide 1.75 million South African households with electricity by 2000. The company had to forfeit an additional $300 million because of consumers' nonpayment for service. Moreover, the company also faced rising operational costs as a result of consumers' illegally tampering with their electrical connections. In fact, these costs had increased to such an extent that annual costs were higher than annual sales in many of the areas Eskom served. This illegal behavior, however, had evolved under an oppressive regime that forced many consumers to steal from the existing infrastructure in order to access basic services. Following the end of apartheid, Eskom hoped to receive an adequate return on its investments in the electrification program. See also the A, B, D, and E cases (E-0162, E-0163, E-0165, and E-0166).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Eskom and the South African Electrification Program D
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0165-SSRN , 2005
The D case concerns Eskom's commitment to provide employment in rural areas by training residents to work on local electrification projects. The company discovers, however, that its employees, for a small fee, often help customers make illegal connections to power lines, thus avoiding payment for service. In some communities, as much as 80 percent of the electricity is illegally obtained. How should Eskom deal with this problem? See also the A, B, C, and E cases (E-0162, E-0163, E-0164, and E-0166).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Eskom and the South African Electrification Program E
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0166-SSRN , 2005
Eskom produces the world's cheapest electricity by using coal-fired plants, most of which have not been retrofitted to meet World Bank standards. Moreover, most South Africans without electricity burn wood, which creates even more air pollution than coal. Should Eskom retrofit its coal-fired facilities and raise the price of electricity or continue to expand its inexpensive electrification program? See also the A, B, C, and D cases (E-0162, E-0163, E-0164, and E-0165).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
The Volta River Project
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0161-SSRN, 2005
In 1998, Ghana was considering new ways to generate electricity to solve the recurring problem of power shortages due to droughts. This case discusses the Volta River Project, which was conceived by Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of Ghana. Built in 1963, the Volta River Dam was a joint project between Ghana and Valco, a multinational aluminum company that was to be the largest consumer of the dam's electricity. Various difficulties, including repeated droughts and a long-term low negotiated price for Valco's electricity, have created a shortage of electricity in Ghana. The case poses the following question for students: What is the best long-term solution - should Ghana build another dam or develop other solutions to this recurring problem?
>> More Details | created on: 01/20/2006
SELF A
By Patricia H. Werhane & Scott B. Sonenshein, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0112-SSRN, 2005
This series of cases (see also the B case, UVA-E-0113) describes the choices facing Neville Williams, founder and president of SELF, in his attempt to provide environmentally friendly electricity to rural China. SELF is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve the standard of living in developing countries. The A case encourages students to choose among three alternative-energy sources - hydropower, photovoltaics, and clean coal - that are technologically sufficient and environmentally sustainable. Students are not told what the acronym SELF stands for until the end of the A case.
>> More Details | created on: 01/20/2006
Eskom and the South African Electrification Program B
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0163-SSRN , 2005
After Eskom implemented a viable plan for providing electricity to more than 1.75 million South African households, many of its customers failed to pay for service, which resulted in a debt of approximately $400 million by 1997. This negative consumer behavior, however, was not necessarily unjustified, as South Africa's black citizens had historically used consumer boycotts as a means of protest against the apartheid state. Consequently, the country's consumer base had evolved in an environment where nonpayment was often seen as a social norm rather than negative behavior. Recognizing that consumers' behavior was the result of living under an oppressive regime, Eskom needed to address this seemingly intractable situation. See also the A, C, D, and E cases (E-0162, E-0164, E-0165, and E-0166).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
SELF B
By Patricia H. Werhane & Scott B. Sonenshein, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0113-SSRN. , 2005
The main purpose of the B case is to demonstrate that corporate and managerial ideologies play a role in determining how to finance projects. Williams must decide how to fund rural-electrification projects in such developing countries as China. Given SELF's ideology, students must evaluate the alternatives of government subsidies for energy development, partial subsidies, and individual payment plans for energy. See also the A case (UVA-E-0112).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Serving the Poor: Do Embedded Ties Matter?
By Pablo Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez & Joan Enric Ricart , IESE Business School, January 1, 2005
In the past, the 4.6 billion people living in poverty were considered anything but a market. Recently, however, several authors have suggested that by stimulating commerce and development in low-income segments, multinationals could radically improve the lives of billions of people and help create a more stable and inclusive world. In order to succeed at this challenging goal, companies need not only to innovate strategies, business models and products, but also to better understand the market and local customer needs.
>> More Details | created on: 04/18/2006
Mobile sales contribute to poverty reduction: GrupoNueva's Amanco
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, January 1, 2005
AMANCO is a Latin American leader in the production and marketing of integrated solutions for the construction, infrastructure and irrigation industries. AMANCO is part of GrupoNueva, a holding company operating throughout Latin America for more than 60 years, with more than 30 firms and factories located in 13 countries and some 7,000 employees.
AMANCO bases its leadership on the quality of its products, service excellence and a firm commitment to sustainable development within a profit-oriented framework.
>> More Details | created on: 04/11/2006
Social Entrepreneurs: Correcting Market Failures
By Phillis, James A. & Lyn Denend, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2005
This case examines the insights, aspirations, and impact of three leading social entrepreneurs, their organizations, and their efforts to correct a diverse array of classical market failures: • David Green, of Project Impact, who developed an innovative approach to manufacturing low-cost, high-quality medical supplies to treat and prevent blindness and deafness in the developing world; • Victoria Hale, of OneWorld Health, who worked to develop new medicines for infectious diseases that killed millions of people in the poorest parts of the world; • Jim Fruchterman, of Benetech, who created technology-based projects that ranged from reading machines for the blind to innovative software to protect information (and the people who collect it) in the human rights field.
>> More Details | created on: 04/03/2006
Solar Energy in Rural South Africa
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No. UVA-E-0145-SSRN, 2005
This case describes Solar Electric Light Fund's pilot project to deliver solar-energy units to a rural, nonelectrified village in the Maphephethe region of South Africa. What appears to be an innocuous project with positive social dimensions ends up causing social stratification in the village's poorer class. The case presents students with some interesting ethical dilemmas as traditional community values of equity and social class are challenged by an attempt to improve living standards. It may also be taught as an environmental-ethics case concerning alternative-energy options (see also "SELF (A)" [UVA-E-0112] and "SELF (B)" [UVA-E-0113]).
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Eskom and the South African Electrification Program A
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0162-SSRN , 2005
Eskom, a South African electric-utility company, is currently spending $400 million annually (roughly 30 percent of its annual profits) to implement a national social-initiative project. This project is a countrywide infrastructure-development program to provide electricity to the citizens of South Africa, who were often denied access to basic services under apartheid; thus, the company is hoping to fulfill its goal of becoming a "model corporate citizen."
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Exploring the Links between International Business and Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Unilever in Indonesia
By Jason Clay, Oxfam and Case Place, January 1, 2005
Oxfam GB, Novib (Oxfam Netherlands), Unilever and Unilever Indonesia (UI), have collaborated on a research project to increase their understanding of the impacts of business on the lives of poor people and to explore the potential links between international business and poverty reduction.
>> More Details | created on: 05/29/2007
Helping small-scale pyrethrum farmers in Kenya: SC Johnson
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, December 15, 2004
A unique partnership between SC Johnson, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya and ApproTEC is helping Kenyan farmers to improve their livelihoods by efficiently farming pyrethrum, a unique daisy that is the source of a naturally occuring insecticide.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) and Project STING
By Werhane, Patricia H. & Gorman, Michael E., et al, December 7, 2004
This series of cases concerns the attempts by the Unilever division Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to create, market, and distribute a detergent for India's rural poor. In this war of laundry powders, HLL must revise its traditional practices in manufactur
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Partnering for mutual success: DaimlerChrysler – POEMAtec Alliance
By Yerina Mugica, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, November 10, 2004
DaimlerChrysler formed an alliance with the Poverty and Environment in Amazonia Research and Development project (POEMA) to reforest previously cleared land to produce continuous yields year-round and process these harvests within the region.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Concrete Innovation with Mi Casa: Holcim Apasco
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, October 12, 2004
Holcim Apasco helps people self-build concrete homes to an acceptable standard and improve the availability of affordable construction materials through its Mi Casa distribution centers.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Project Employability: Lafarge India
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, October 6, 2004
Lafarge is working to alleviate high unemployment in rural areas combined with a lack of skilled and qualified masons in the construction markets through its "Project Employability" program.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
A sustainable livelihoods approach to industry challenges: The South African Sugar Industry
World Business Council for Sustainable Development/ National Business Initiative, October 5, 2004
The South African Sugar Industry is involved in pilot projects using the sustainable livelihoods approach to doing business with these growers.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Enabling Rural India with Information and Communication Technology Initiatives
By Ashok Jhunjhunwala & Sudhalakshmi Narasimhan, Anuradha Ramachandran, International Telecommunications Union, Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, October 1, 2004
Discusses the impact of digital capabilities throughout rural villages in India.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Smart Communications, Inc. , Philippines
By Sharon Smith, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, September 1, 2004
Discusses how Smart Communications is providing telecommunication services to low-income markets in the Phillipines.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Distributed solar energy in Brazil: Fabio Rosa’s approach to social entrepreneurship
By Yerina Mugica, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, August 2, 2004
Approximately 25 million people in Brazil do not have access to electricity. Fabio Rosa, a local social entrepreneur, is aiming to fill this need through innovative distributed solar energy systems.
In the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, for example, about 150,000 people remain isolated from the electric power networks. There are no plans in place to provide these people with access to conventional electrical services.
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
Socially assisted connections in Morocco: Veolia Water
WDCSD, July 1, 2004
The main obstacle to providing quality water and sanitation services to the poor is their cost. To assist Moroccan communities obtain these essential services, Veolia Water is working to provide socially minded connection fees in order to reduce access inequalities.
In 2002 Veolia Water, a division of Veolia Environment, started tackling the tough issue of providing quality water and sanitation services to the poor in Morocco by servicing informal neighborhoods through its subsidiaries La Redal and Amendis
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
Combating "Hidden Hunger": Procter & Gamble takes up the fight
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, June 11, 2004
Procter and Gamble is taking up the fight against "hidden hunger" with NutriStar, a low cost powdered drink mix containing all the vital micronutrients growing children need.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Electrification for all: Eskom
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, May 27, 2004
Eskom's pre-payment systems keep a customer from going into debt as it provides automatic credit control - as opposed to the billing system where the utility has to do this itself - manually.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
The forestry partners program: Aracruz Celulose
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, May 11, 2004
Aracruz's partnerships with local farmers to develop new, sustainable timber plantations that provide alternative planted sources of timber for the company’s pulp mill, and a new source of income for the farmers and local communities.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Sustainable upstream development: BP Trinidad and Tobago
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, April 16, 2004
BP enables capability development among the local supplier community in a way that enhances their ability to support its growth agenda and enlisting the support of other operators, suppliers, state agencies, financial and learning institutions to create maximum socio-economic impact.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Insuring fair prices for farmers in developing countries: Rabobank International
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, April 16, 2004
This partnership between private and public sector organizations explores new market-based approaches for assisting small-scale producers in developing countries to better manage their vulnerability to commodity price fluctuations.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
A development bank’s success with micro-finance: Banco do Nordeste’s CrediAmigo
By Yerina Mugica, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, April 16, 2004
An estimated 15.7 million people in Brazil work in the informal economy as micro-entrepreneurs, outnumbering formal sector entrepreneurs by more than three to one. Of these informal micro-entrepreneurs, 93% run profitable businesses. However, 84% of these micro-entrepreneurs do not have access to credit.
In November 1996 at a meeting in Fortaleza, the World Bank and Banco do Nordeste, a development bank formed to support growth in northeastern Brazil, decided to initiate a collaborative process to jointly implement a local development program based on the idea of micro-credit. Motivated by the fact that small informal companies – family owned and small properties - were not being served by the Bank's financing activities due to the restrictive regulation of Brazil's Banking Systems, Banco do Nordeste and the World Bank decided to develop and launch a pilot low-income bank, targeting micro-entrepreneurs from informal sectors.
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
ABN AMRO's Real Microcredito: A Multinational Bank’s Entry into the Micro-credit Market
By Yerina Mugica & Federico Moura , April 15, 2004
An estimated 15.7 million people in Brazil work in the informal economy as micro-entrepreneurs, outnumbering formal sector entrepreneurs by more than three to one. Of these informal micro-entrepreneurs 93% run profitable businesses, 84% of whom do not have access to credit. It is estimated that 50% of these micro-entrepreneurs would apply for a micro-credit loan if they had access to banking services. This figure represents a potential of US$ 3.7 billion per year in loans.
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
Shell Solar in Sri Lanka: Improving lives with the flick of a switch
World Business Council on Sustainable Development, April 1, 2004
Shell Solar Lanka, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell, intends to target these market segments where potential customers will be able to save money over the lifetime of a solar home system by moving away from the inconvenience and recurring cost of kerosene lanterns and battery charging, while receiving better service.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Simputer: Bridging the digital divide
WBCSD, February 27, 2004
Digital technologies have the potential to tackle social and environmental problems, but for half the world’s population the learning curve will be steep. The Simputer Trust is helping to bridge the "digital divide" with a new computer aimed at people previously excluded from modern communications.
India has approximately 20 million telephones and 500,000 Internet connections for a population of over one billion people. The challenge is to introduce technology for large numbers of people at a low enough cost and at a level suitable for users with little or no formal education.
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
Vodacom: Extending telecom services to South Africa’s poor
World Business Council on Sustainble Development, February 2, 2004
Vodacom has confronted the enormous challenge of providing subsidized public cellular telephones in under-serviced and rural areas by seting up stationary phone shops or kiosks with multiple lines, all connected to Vodacom's existing infrastructure through a wireless link.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Aravind Eye Care System, India
By C.K Prahalad, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, January 1, 2004
Discusses how a world class clinic in India has brought relatively free eye care treatment to the poor in India.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Businesses Are Helping to Overcome Global Poverty
By Stern N, Richard Ivey Business School, January 1, 2004
The facts today point to a decline in global poverty and to the reality that global economic development is working. These positive developments are due to policies pursued by both public organizations and the international business community. But as the Chief Economist of the World Banks says, business can do even more to help the world's poorest countries.
>> More Details | created on: 04/18/2006
Promoting Fair Trade and Increasing Profits
By Rochlin, Stephen & Janet Boguslaw, 2004
The partnership between Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a leader in the specialty coffee industry based in Waterbury, Vermont and TransFair USA, a nonprofit fair trade certification organization, has resulted in increased profits for Green Mountain Coffee, a significant boost in fair trade coffee sales in the United States, and fair compensation and direct access to international markets for poor coffee growers.
>> More Details | created on: 04/03/2006
CrediAmigo , Brazil
By Yerina Mugica, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, 2004
Highlights the overwhelming success of CrediAmigo at serving almost 70% of the rural and industrial loans in it region of Brazil.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) and Project STING B
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0267-SSRN, 2004
Set in India in the 1980s and '90s, this series of cases concerns the attempts by the Unilever division Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to create, market, and distribute a detergent for India's rural poor. The upstart, low-priced Nirma detergent, manufactured by a former chemist, has overtaken HLL in the detergent market primarily because Nirma is being distributed and sold to this previously ignored segment of India's population. In this war of laundry powders, HLL must revise its traditional practices in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution pursuant to C. K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond's theory of the worldwide four-tiered market, in which the bottom of the pyramid is an untapped and potentially lucrative market.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) and Project STING C
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0268-SSRN, 2004
Set in India in the 1980s and '90s, this series of cases concerns the attempts by the Unilever division Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to create, market, and distribute a detergent for India's rural poor. The upstart, low-priced Nirma detergent, manufactured by a former chemist, has overtaken HLL in the detergent market primarily because Nirma is being distributed and sold to this previously ignored segment of India's population. In this war of laundry powders, HLL must revise its traditional practices in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution pursuant to C. K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond's theory of the worldwide four-tiered market, in which the "bottom of the pyramid" is an untapped and potentially lucrative market.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
Real Microcredito , Brazil
By Frederico Moura & Yerina Mugica, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2004
ABN AMRO Real Microcredito is providing self-sustaining micro-finance programs to help Brazil's poor:
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Solar Energy Distribution in Brazil
By Yerina Mugica, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, 2004
Approximately 25 million people in Brazil do not have access to electricity. Fabio Rosa, a local social entrepreneur, is aiming to fill this need through innovative distributed solar energy systems.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) and Project STING D
By Patricia H. Werhane & Michael E. Gorman, Darden Case No.: UVA-E-0269-SSRN, 2004
Set in India in the 1980s and '90s, this series of cases concerns the attempts by the Unilever division Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) to create, market, and distribute a detergent for India's rural poor. The upstart, low-priced Nirma detergent, manufactured by a former chemist, has overtaken HLL in the detergent market primarily because Nirma is being distributed and sold to this previously ignored segment of India's population. In this war of laundry powders, HLL must revise its traditional practices in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution pursuant to C. K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond's theory of the worldwide four-tiered market, in which the "bottom of the pyramid" is an untapped and potentially lucrative market.
>> More Details | created on: 02/02/2006
eGovernance - Andhra Pradesh, India
By Praveen Suthrum & Jeffrey Phillips, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
An e-governance experiment in Andhara Pradesh is using business to deliver government services electronically and is fundamentally altering the relationship between the government and its citizens.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
EID Parry (India) Ltd. (Chennai, India)
By Kuttayan Annamalai & Sachin Rao, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Organizing rural farmers through the use of internet kiosks provides a way to improve efficiency of selling and buying while empowering the poor.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Jaipur Foot , India
By Scott Macke, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Jaipur Foot has been able to create a low cost highly durable prosthetic foot that has enabled many of the poor in India to sustain their livlihoods inspite of a handicap.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
E+Co's , Nicaragua
By Scott Baron & George Weinmann, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Discusses the success of Technosol in providing clean and affordable energy to the poor in Nicaragua.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Hindustan Lever Limited , India
By Mindy Murch & Kate Reeder, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Discusses how Hindustan Lever Limited created a unique public private partnership while simultaneously making a public helath issue an integral part of their business.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
ICICI Bank , India
By Todd J. Markson & Michael Hokenson, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Reviews how the ICIC bank experience made customers out of the poor and empowered them at the same time.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Casas Bahia , Brazil
By Sami Foguel & Andrew Wilson, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Through a unique business model, Casas Bahia has developed an innovative way to bring consumer products to the poor in Brazil.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
CEMEX , Mexico
By Ajit Sharma & Sharmilee Mohan, SidharthSingh, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Discusses how Cemex profitably provides housing for the poor in Mexico.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Voxiva
By Cynthia Casas & William LaJoie, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, December 12, 2003
Voxiva is bringing critical healthcare information to rural villages by using the already in place telecommunications systems.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Suez aims to bring water to all in Brazil
World Business Council on Sustainble Development, December 2, 2003
Suez’s subsidiary Aguas do Amazonas has successfully teamed up with French development NGO ESSOR and Brazilian NGO ADEIS to put in place the “Water for All” pilot project, demonstrating that Suez can serve poor communities and grow its formal customer base at the same time.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Procter & Gamble – PuR Water Purification Sachets
World Business Council on Sustainble Development, October 21, 2003
A complementary approach to providing piped-treated water is through treatment of drinking water directly in people’s homes. This point of use (POU) model has the advantages of cost, immediate availability and ease of distribution to reach rural areas
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
CARE Kenya
By Ewart, Tom and Pratima Bansal, Richard Ivey School of Business, October 13, 2003
On October 14, 2003, George Odo was finally asked the question he most feared: "What will happen to the farmers when CARE leaves?" George was the sector manager for Commercialization of Smallholder Agriculture for CARE Kenya. His vision had seeded the Rural Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Promotion (REAP) project. By securing export contracts, financing and training farmers, REAP had successfully pulled farmers in Kibwezi, Kenya, over the poverty line. However, CARE financed the projects with grants from Western governments, and George knew that CARE's donors would ultimately withdraw their support. Without the subsidies, the farmers risked returning to their old lives. George had spent many long hours and sleepless nights dwelling on how CARE's involvement in REAP could be commercially viable. George had to identify and implement a business model that was economically sustainable in order to prevent the farmers from falling back into poverty.
>> More Details | created on: 03/31/2006
Aptech's Vidya
By Mayank Dhanuka, Daniel Price, and Warren Teichner, NextBillion.net, August 1, 2003
Vidya, Hindi for "knowledge," is a computer literacy program run by Aptech Ltd., one of the two largest computer education and training companies in India. As a part of its corporate citizenship effort, Aptech launched the Vidya program in 1999 to expand its course catalog beyond the company's core offerings targeted at computer professionals and corporate markets.
>> More Details | created on: 10/31/2007
Afrique Initiatives, Senegal
By Luis Castro & Sharon Smith, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, August 1, 2003
Analyzes the success two social development organizations in Senegal.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
AKASHGANDA, India
By Ajay Sharma & Akhilesh Yadav, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, August 1, 2003
This case dicussess the work SKELPL, a small bussiness in India, which has used innovative solutions to automize the milk collection process at local dairy cooperatives.
>> More Details | created on: 04/13/2006
HealthNet Uganda , Uganda
By Keisha Phipps & Genevieve Sangudi, Steven Woolway, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, August 1, 2003
Analyzes Healthnet Uganda's evolution from NGO to sustainable enterprise but bringing portable healthcare service to Uganda's rural areas.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
e-Choupal , India
By Kuttayan Annamalai & Sachin Rao, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, August, 2003
Highlights the success of e-Chopals at connecting subsistence farmers with large firms and the global market through internet information centers.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
PRODEM FFP's Multilingual Smart ATMs for Microfinance , Bolivia
By Roberto Hernandez, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, August 1, 2003
Discusses how PRODEM FFP is delivering financial services to rural populations in Bolivia.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Vodacom's Community Cell Phones , South Africa
By Jennifer Reck & Brad Wood, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, August 1, 2003
Discusses how Vodacom is providing telecommunications to poor communities in South Africa.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
ASAFE: Strategic Challenges for E-Commerce Promotion in Central Africa
By Andreas Ernst and Dr. Maximilian Martin, NextBillion.net, June 30, 2003
ASAFE empowers entrepreneurial women in Cameroon to take advantage of the opportunities that private enterprise and initiative can provide for economic betterment. Founded in 1989, ASAFE began to promote e-commerce and e-readiness in 1999.
>> More Details | created on: 10/31/2007
Vodafone , Poland
By James Goodman, Digital Europe, April 1, 2003
Addresses the use of mobile phones to create social capital in Poland.
>> More Details | created on: 07/10/2006
Coca-Cola: The entrepreneur development program
World Business Council on Sustainble Development, March 20, 2003
Coca-Cola’s Southern Africa division, in conjunction with local bottling companies, have developed the Entrepreneur Development Program in South Africa to help new entrepreneurs enter the supply chain and profit from new sustainable business ventures.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Gerling: Providing clean drinking water for a small Mediterranean island
WDCSD, August 1, 2002
Gerling Sustainable Development Project GmbH (GSDP) is a project development company of the Gerling Group, based in Cologne, Germany, with branches in Marseille (France) and Athens (Greece). GSDP was established to make sustainable development principles operational. That is, to develop and implement practical, business-oriented solutions to community needs. These solutions take the form of concrete, innovative, European and international projects and programs. These projects directly contribute to the implementation of the Corporate Environmental Policy and positively contribute to the corporate culture of Gerling.
>> More Details | created on: 07/14/2006
Expanding the Playing Field: Nike's World Shoe Project, Asia
By Ted London & Heather McDonald, World Resources Institute, 2002
The case analyzes Nike's international expansion and highlights strategic and internal challenges faced by multinational companies attempting to create a foothold in emerging markets, and investigates the sustainability issues surrounding market entry into the bottom of the pyramid.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Infocentros , El Salvador
By Yacine Khelladi, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, July 1, 2001
Discusses the El Salvador based Infocentros's model that empowers the poor by giving them access to telecenters in order to gain access to a variety of information and services.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
TARAhaat , India
By Dr. Andrew Lawlor & Vivek Sandell, Caitlin Peterson, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, July 1, 2001
Discusses TARAhatt how internet portal is providing information and services to many of the rural poor in India.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
ViaSebrae , Brazil
By Jason P. Hekel & Carlos Waack, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, June 1, 2001
ViaSebrae e-commerce model subsidizes the business to consumer segment with the profits from the businesses to business segment providing the business to consumer segment with e-commerce they could not otherwise afford.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Educar's Strategy for a Nation Connected & Learning
By Norissa Giangola, NextBillion.net, June 1, 2001
A novel public-private partnership centered around connectivity and the Internet, Educ.ar could transform education in Argentina.
>> More Details | created on: 10/31/2007
Safeco's Urban Marketing Initiative
By Rochlin, Stephen & Janet Boguslaw, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, The Wallace B. Carroll School of Management, Boston, MA , 2001
Like most in the insurance industry, SAFECO hears the call of activists and officials to support low-to-moderate income (LMI) community development by writing more policies that promote individual security, and by investing in LMI economies. At the same time, the company is seeking new, profitable market opportunities. As the two seemingly divergent pressures intersected, an idea emerged. Could the company satisfy the call to support community development in a way that would create new business opportunities?
>> More Details | created on: 07/05/2006
Corpomedina: Social and Economic Development, Venezuela
By Luis Sanz & Lawrence Pratt, World Resources Institute, 2000
As part of its strategy to develop tourism in an economically depressed zone of Venezuela, Corpomedina formed an independent foundation aimed at improving the quality of life for the local population through health, cultural, and educational programs, and through the creation of micro-enterprises.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005
Rick Surpin, United States
By Penelope Rowlands, David Bollier & Kirk O. Hanson, Business Enterprise Trust, January 1, 1992
A long-time community development worker creates hundreds of jobs for low-income women and minorities by forming a for-profit home health care cooperative, Cooperative Home Care Associates.
>> View Article | created on: 11/22/2005