Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

cents for a sachet that could purify 10 liters, Pur achieved penetration rates of 5% to 10% in its test markets — strong by almost any yardstick — but in 2005 the company gave up on Pur as a business, because the numbers simply hadn't worked. The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

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. We know that microfinance alone will not break the poverty cycle. Today, Roger is president of the school, elected by his peers.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 22, 2015

” Microfinance and other market-based interventions don’t generally reach them. It costs less than $500 per person for the full two years in Bangladesh. At BRAC , where I work, we call this subset the “ultra-poor.” If we’re to end poverty, we can’t ignore them. 5% of GDP over six years.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance BHAG NGO Participative 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 21, 2013

An organization that can scale without directly doing the work or incurring the costs will ultimately have far bigger impact than one trying to do it by growing big. The organization recognizes that its impact could be greater than the size of its loan portfolio or its direct footprint; it could build a new lending market.

Venture Capitalist 9

Venture Capitalist Mentor Microfinance NGO 9

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 4, 2013

This makes sense to Milaap.org , a social enterprise in Bangalore that crowdsources low-cost capital for microfinance institutions through its online platform. Similarly, Twitter followers are more numerous when the venture is active on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Microfinance Media Follow-up 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Bank marketing materials focus on the dreams, anxieties and goals of consumers. The use of gaming has the potential to provide win-win solutions for both consumers and financial institutions in the following ways: Consumer Insight: The most obvious benefit to gaming is the ability for both banks and consumers to learn at low cost.

Banking 11

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 11

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2014

An estimated 250 funds are actively raising capital in a market that the Global Impact Investing Network estimates at $25 billion. As the sector grows through this period of creative destruction, models that don’t work will die out, models that survive will attract copycats, operating costs will go down, and winners will rise to the top.

Development 8

Development Microfinance Biotechnology Exit Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 20, 2012

However, as I discussed in my last post , the model has a fatal flaw: It inevitably requires an impractical penetration rate of the target market — often 30% or more of all consumers in an area. The company saves on labor costs because local wage rates are low. At the bottom of the pyramid, it's a losing proposition.

Bottom-up 10

Bottom-up Microfinance Price Banking 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 9, 2011

Second, the marketing pitch for focusing on women and girls increasingly is stereotyping men in the effort to combat the stereotyping of women. Consider the undeniable costs of a caricatured bias toward women.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Globalization Long-term Class 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2016

According to the Global Impact Investing Network, the market for impact capital, currently sized at $60 billion, could grow over the next decade to $2 trillion, or 1% of global invested assets. Everyone agrees that impact investing is on the rise. Intensity and immediacy of impact.

Class 8

Class Microfinance Supply Chain Education 8