Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 5, 2016

We recently conducted a literature review of rigorous academic studies of financial service innovations among the very poor to find out what services and products would unlock the most value for those at the bottom of the pyramid. And third, digital platforms can facilitate innovation in product and service design.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Insurance Banking Bottom-up 14

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 22, 2013

That's easier said than done in a world where most product innovations are geared toward the rich. At the program's peak, 700 pumps covered 27,000 acres, with the loans constituting 9% of BRAC's total microfinance portfolio. In that regard, social entrepreneurs should heed the following: Invest in local innovation.

Technology 22

Technology Microfinance Banking Document 22

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2012

Yet new breeds of solutions are emerging, with private and public players joining hands to find innovative answers. Standing before a brown swathe of land cut up into rectangular ditches for a World Bank-funded project just outside Liberia's capital city of Monrovia, George Howard is a beneficiary of one such innovation.

Entrepreneur 17

Entrepreneur Globalization Microfinance Finance 17

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

On my last trip to India, I witnessed an innovation experiment, National Agro Foundation (NAF) , that addresses this wicked problem. Over 1,900 beneficiaries have established micro-enterprises for which microfinance has been facilitated. Reducing income inequality is not just a matter of charity, it is a challenge for innovation.

Innovation 12

Innovation Microfinance Parcell Technology 12

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 1, 2013

Although she was poor in resources, she possessed the innovation mindset shared by many game changers: they see and act on opportunities , use "and" thinking to resolve tough dilemmas and break through compromises, and employ their resourcefulness to power through obstacles. Hopeless as her situation was, Shantha engaged in "and" thinking.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Innovation Committee Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2016

Not many would associate innovation with large, service-oriented nonprofits with decades of history. A critical part was adapting a proven model in a related field: microfinance. The fund has disbursed almost $50 million to 31 microfinance institutions in 20 countries, helping almost 50,000 families secure decent, affordable housing.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Strategic Planning Finance Globalization 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 24, 2012

Social entrepreneurship has evolved a great deal since the late 1980s, when pioneers like City Year 's Alan Khazei and Teach for America 's Wendy Kopp took great risks to prove that innovative organizations could produce transformative social change.

Entrepreneur 18

Entrepreneur Microfinance Market Segmentation Incubator 18

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Encourage financial entrepreneurship and innovation. Entrepreneurship in financial services has been given a bad rap as one contributor to the economic crisis, but we desperately need innovative financing models for start-ups. We don't innovate in entrepreneurial finance enough in the U.S.:

Venture Capitalist 16

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Microfinance Finance 16

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

When presented with a surprising idea, smart organizations will bravely listen, because what comes next might just be game-changing innovation. Six years ago, David and Donna Allman approached Opportunity with an idea that fell outside our traditional microfinance model: to build a Community Economic Development (CED) program in Nicaragua.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 18, 2013

Following Abed's twist on Schumacher — "small may be beautiful, but big is necessary" — it now touches the lives of an estimated 126 million people with healthcare, education, enterprise development, microfinance and a slew of other programs. Today it runs a sprawl of surplus-generating businesses across diverse sectors.

Microfinance 10

Microfinance Follow-up Bureaucracy Self-aware 10

Harvard Business Review

MAY 2, 2014

Or consider Kwabena Darko of Ghana, who helped found that country’s microfinance sector by forging a collaboration between global NGO Opportunity International , his national startup Sinapi Aba , and a myriad of village- and town-based trust groups. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. .

Entrepreneur 15

Entrepreneur Microfinance NGO Mission Statement 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Financial institutions must find innovative ways to understand their consumers' aspirations and actual behavior. Popular games also tend to spawn communities who share information and strategies about how to overcome hurdles, suggesting that peer to peer education is also possible (this has been seen in microfinance).

Banking 13

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 13

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 22, 2013

That's easier said than done in a world where most product innovations are geared toward the rich. At the program's peak, 700 pumps covered 27,000 acres, with the loans constituting 9% of BRAC's total microfinance portfolio. In that regard, social entrepreneurs should heed the following: Invest in local innovation.

Technology 8

Technology Microfinance Banking Document 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 21, 2013

This innovation has impact. When an organization has evidence that its innovation and model produce substantial social impact, its leaders face a dilemma: do we grow our organization continuing to provide our service directly or do we expand our impact by helping other organizations adopt the model? Conclusion?

Venture Capitalist 12

Venture Capitalist Mentor Microfinance NGO 12

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 15, 2016

.” Laudable as these may be, USAID, the State Department, and other government agencies should really be backing programs that stimulate and support scalable, innovative, job-creating businesses – the kinds of companies that are antidotes to mass unemployment and economic hopelessness, not microfinance.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Policies Entrepreneur NGO 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Fatigue may be setting in for some Western investors’ interest in African innovation, particularly those that have yet to reap rewards to brag about. Innovation in Distribution. We recently interviewed 100 entrepreneurs to find out which ventures are most likely to thrive. Top of the Pyramid.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Hotels Entrepreneur Incubator 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2018

Embracing your multiple identities can improve your ability to take others’ perspectives and engage in creative and innovative behavior. For example, one microfinance organization that is dually devoted to advancing a social mission and being commercial viable says employees are both “social workers” and “bankers.”

How To 15

How To Learning-by-Doing Examples Participative 15

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 17, 2016

In 1985 Peter Drucker argued for a shift toward an entrepreneurial society, one where “executives in all institutions…make innovation and entrepreneurship a normal, ongoing everyday activity.” And if you need access to money, crowdfunding platforms and microfinance options make that easier than ever.

Drucker 8

Drucker Microfinance Licensing Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Here are our four rules we use to evaluate the underlying business concept: Innovation. We are proud to have made early investments in the work of Andrew Youn, who founded One Acre Fund; Wendy Kopp, who founded Teach for America; and Vikram Akula, who founded SKS Microfinance. Has it been tried this way before?

Entrepreneur 14

Entrepreneur Planning Taylor Taylorism 14