Harvard Business Review

MARCH 8, 2011

On this 100th International Women's Day , it is right to reflect on how women have become the heart of the microfinance industry. It is easy to forget that the initial motivation for microfinance roughly 30 years ago was, to a great extent, gender neutral. Microfinance is about much more than extending credit.

Microfinance 15

Microfinance Banking Globalization Insurance 15

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story. Microfinance banks, which provide desperately needed loans to low-income consumers, draw mainstream investors because of their attractive returns. The result has been explosive growth.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 13

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.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

It is unthinkable, for instance, to imagine a social entrepreneur treating research on the health effects of tobacco use the way the tobacco industry, market analysts, and investors did in the 1960s and '70s. They can be more analytical. Prahalad's " bottom of the pyramid ," that began life as academic research.

Entrepreneur 9

Entrepreneur Microfinance Supply Chain Prahalad 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Here, the protocols from other industries can provide some insight. The pharmaceutical industry also creates products with complex interactions and potentially dangerous side effects. The gaming industry has created much of the infrastructure required for both the learning and monitoring required.

Banking 10

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 8, 2015

“The idea was to match people not on their industry or the city they’re from but on something that can help them get more out of the conference,” Lakhdari says. But consider spending more time sharing, as the C2 app users did, the industry questions you’d like answered. And it worked.

Conference 8

Conference Microfinance Creativity Participative 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2014

We allowed microfinance and the venture capital industry the time and space to develop over a few decades. In impact investing, we need to find a way to place that same premium on social impact by valuing the public good being created – just like we do in early stage R&D in science, IT, health, and biotechnology.

Development 9

Development Microfinance Biotechnology Exit Strategy 9

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2016

Currently, impact can mean anything from venture investments in new health technologies to microfinance loans in Peru; from affordable housing in the US to renewable energy in India; from social impact bonds to private equity funds that create jobs. Or third, and more common, is that they sit on the impact-investing sidelines.

Class 8

Class Microfinance Supply Chain Education 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 17, 2016

But in the post-industrial world, most of us are knowledge workers at least in part — the means of production is our brainpower, which we retain ownership of no matter what our job is. And if you need access to money, crowdfunding platforms and microfinance options make that easier than ever. What about motive ?

Drucker 8

Drucker Microfinance Licensing Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2018

Shonda Rhimes, with four television shows simultaneously in production, is an entertainment industry titan. She became more outspoken about being a woman, a mother, and an African American in the entertainment industry: “Work’s hum is still a piece of me, it is just no longer all of me,” she said.

How To 11

How To Learning-by-Doing Examples Participative 11

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

But he also understood that while a career as a professional athlete was extremely unlikely, sports itself was a multi-billion dollar industry with great opportunity as coaches, trainers, even youth camp organizers. But his authentic presence and open attitude have given him access to the insular industry and geography where he now works.

Entrepreneur 10

Entrepreneur Planning Taylorism Taylor 10