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

MARCH 22, 2013

Shameran Abed, who runs BRAC's microfinance program, explains what happened: "In the first couple months, a lot of our borrowers would send the money through their mobile phones and then physically show up at the branch to check with the accountant that the money had turned up.". The promise was exciting — the details far less so.

Technology 18

Technology Microfinance Banking Document 18

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2016

” So the Seilers responded by piloting a program called the Pathway of Hope, which focuses on providing case management for families. A critical part was adapting a proven model in a related field: microfinance. . “But only 10% of the units said they were able to do anything that was close to problem solving for the family.”

Microfinance 9

Microfinance Strategic Planning Finance Globalization 9

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

But even more so, I believe that deep down, managers and executives feel that getting by on razor-thin margins is the morally correct way to do business among the poor. The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story. Given its flaws, I've often wondered why the low-price, low-margin philosophy has persisted.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 13

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2012

In January, Oxfam announced it would team with the asset manager Symbiotics to launch the Small Enterprise Impact Investment Fund (SEIFF), based in Luxembourg. Some microfinance organizations are also moving out of the purely micro and toward larger lending. But times have changed.

Entrepreneur 14

Entrepreneur Globalization Microfinance Finance 14

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 1, 2013

Sasikala, a Block Development Officer (BDO), talked to the Kodapattinam villagers about microfinance , only Shantha, of all the villagers, saw the opportunity and took action. Undeterred, Shantha persisted until she persuaded the required number of people to sign up for the microfinance project.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Innovation Committee Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 22, 2013

Shameran Abed, who runs BRAC's microfinance program, explains what happened: "In the first couple months, a lot of our borrowers would send the money through their mobile phones and then physically show up at the branch to check with the accountant that the money had turned up.". The promise was exciting — the details far less so.

Technology 8

Technology Microfinance Banking Document 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 8

Microfinance Follow-up Bureaucracy Self-aware 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

A few of these companies manage to transcend national boundaries and scale to a larger size. It has managed to combine international standards with African tastes. In addition, Neo has its own fuel station, which makes it easier to manage what can be a fitful infrastructure.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Hotels Entrepreneur Incubator 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

Watershed and natural resource management initiatives have resulted in increase in water table ranging from 3.5 Over 1,900 beneficiaries have established micro-enterprises for which microfinance has been facilitated. meters to 5 meters in the project area of over 6,000 hectares.

Innovation 9

Innovation Microfinance Parcell Technology 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Risk management processes don't — but they should. 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 11

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 11

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 8, 2015

When those in the group that had the job givers question pulled off their masks, they discovered that Muhammad Yunus , a Nobel Prize winner for his microfinance work, had been with them, listening carefully to all their suggestions. And it worked. Business conferences can be boring affairs, where few meaningful, lasting connections are made.

Conference 8

Conference Microfinance Creativity Participative 8

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

MARCH 17, 2014

Without those, the institutions managing the billions of sector dollars won’t be able accurately to assess the risks they are taking and, more important, the returns, both financial and social, they hope to generate. We allowed microfinance and the venture capital industry the time and space to develop over a few decades.

Development 8

Development Microfinance Biotechnology Exit Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Microfinance (Bangladesh), securitization of revenues (Saudi Arabia), and royalty-pay-back funding (Israel) were all invented overseas. Daniel Isenberg is Professor of Management Practice, Babson Global, and founding executive director of the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project.

Venture Capitalist 15

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Microfinance Finance 15

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. Ultimately, asset managers can develop a matrix with financial asset classes (e.g.,

Class 8

Class Microfinance Supply Chain Education 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2018

The greedy nature of our work (asking us to wear more hats, to do more, to be always on ), combined with the demands of our personal lives and social pressure to be and focus on just one thing, means we need to learn how to manage our portfolio of different identities and the expectations that come with them. Change how you relate to others.

How To 11

How To Learning-by-Doing Examples Participative 11

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 17, 2016

And if you need access to money, crowdfunding platforms and microfinance options make that easier than ever. I have written elsewhere about the need for management innovation in large firms to make work more engaging and fulfilling. To be a taxi driver, you need a car and a GPS. To be a hotelier, you need a spare room.

Drucker 8

Drucker Microfinance Licensing Entrepreneur 8