Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 1, 2011

Microfinance has come under fire in the past 18 months, triggered in part by SKS Microfinance's IPO. Critics complain that the institutions supporting microfinance have become too greedy, and many are using this as an argument to deeply regulate or, even more, cut support to microfinance operations. I hope not.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance IPO Bottom-up Finance 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2016

Not many would associate innovation with large, service-oriented nonprofits with decades of history. Based on this insight, Habitat sought to address the deficit in more systemic ways. A critical part was adapting a proven model in a related field: microfinance. Using Models Proven Elsewhere.

Microfinance 9

Microfinance Strategic Planning Finance Globalization 9

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

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 15

Entrepreneur Microfinance Market Segmentation Incubator 15

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 9

Venture Capitalist Mentor Microfinance NGO 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Bank marketing materials focus on the dreams, anxieties and goals of consumers. A better understanding of the drivers of behavior is needed for both banks and consumers to understand risk, and for the financial system to provide timely and targeted interventions. Risk management processes don't — but they should.

Banking 10

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

And we are often happy to review these start-up plans — which include the typical elements such as a product description, competitive analysis, estimate of market size, and projected financials. Here are our four rules we use to evaluate the underlying business concept: Innovation. Has it been tried this way before? Importance.

Entrepreneur 10

Entrepreneur Planning Taylorism Taylor 10