A Microfinance Approach to Healthcare Distribution

Microfinance has become a global tool in providing financial support for the world’s most vulnerable. Unfortunately, a lack of stable income sources for these populations results in high rates of default, and thus, high interest rates attached to microfinance loans to compensate. Social enterprises and large corporations alike have launched micro-distribution initiatives that seek to provide local communities with means of transportation along with commercial products through microfinance loans, and in turn, these ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ distribute finished goods in order to overcome the high cost of last-mile distribution for the corporation. While this model has been typically utilized for retail businesses, given the drastic need for healthcare and the lack of existing infrastructure in many rural places across the globe, we propose incorporating this model to improve healthcare access. Specifically, we propose the creation of a platform that mobilizes and trains the large population of unemployed youth in South Africa to become community health-workers and complete deliveries of chronic medicines from pharmacies to individual households. This model has the potential to not only make a large impact in improving healthcare outcomes but can also be financially sustainable and profitable if deployed correctly

Achieving a Greater Buffalo

This policy report argues that improving the quality of life for residents of all backgrounds living in Buffalo’s urban neighborhoods should be a central objective of any economic revitalization plan for the region. In the process of strengthening housing and employment opportunities in the urban core, Buffalo should strive to become a premiere destination for innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs seeking a low-cost, culturally vibrant place in which to live and work. The priorities outlined below are drawn from successful revitalization strategies employed by cities such as Minneapolis, MN, Portland, OR and Toronto, ON. These and other regions have been revitalized not by constructing commercial waterfront attractions, or by envisioning Disney-esque developments to attract tourists, or even by heavily subsidizing corporations to site temporary operations in their respective regions, but by concerted and coordinated efforts to stabilize neighborhoods, improve schools, strengthen immigrant communities, cultivate and protect natural resources, address the crisis of inner-city unemployment, elevate the arts, support small business development, create integrated transportation networks, and break down barriers separating wealthy suburban populations from poor urban communities

Supply-chain research opportunities with the poor as suppliers or distributors in developing countries

Many social enterprises and some companies have developed supply chains with the poor as suppliers or distributors to alleviate poverty and to create revenues for themselves. Such supply chains have created new research opportunities because they raise issues fundamentally different from those examined in the existing operations management literature. We report this phenomenon of supply chains with the poor as suppliers or distributors in developing countries and identify operations management (OM) research opportunities. We also provide some stylized models to serve as potential seeds for modeling-based research in this area

Innovating within Institutional Voids: A Digital Health Platform in India

Most of the literature on digital innovation assumes availability of resources and access to markets and intermediaries. Institutional voids – lack of formal and informal arrangements – are generally seen as detrimental to digital innovation. While the extant literature provides insights about how some innovation can take place within institutional voids, it largely ignores the role of digital platforms. Based on field work in India, we examine how digital platforms can interface with institutional voids to create social and economic impacts. We find that platforms can address socio-economic challenges by framing, aggregating, and networking within institutional voids. Using an illustrative case study in rural India, where voids and constraints are prevalent, our research highlights how platforms can take strategic actions to develop socio-digital solutions to serve marginalized populations while earning sustainable revenues. We highlight dynamic interactions among physical, social, and digital layers that help platforms reframe constraints and address institutional voids

From Seed to Impact: Building the Foundations for a High-Impact Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

In this paper GSEN has collaborated with its global network of intermediary organisations to conduct one of the first dedicated investigations into support for early-stage social entrepreneurs. It draws on the data and experiences of 33 GSEN members to uncover the methodologies they use, as well as the opportunities and benefits of joining forces within a network

An explorative study of the synergy between social enterprises and local micro-entrepreneurs in the provision of off-grid clean energy access

Alleviating energy poverty requires innovative and sustainable business models for delivering energy access. Social enterprises have entered off-grid clean energy access markets, pioneering innovative energy access business models, many of which involve the participation of local micro-entrepreneurs. This research study explores the synergy between social enterprises and local micro-entrepreneurs, specifically in terms of the business models used to incorporate local micro-entrepreneurs into off-grid clean energy value chains and the stages of the value chain in which the local micro-entrepreneurs participate. It furthermore identifies key enabling enterprise ecosystem conditions. A qualitative research methodology and a multiple case study design was used. The sample consisted of 11 respondents, selected through purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview served as the primary data collection instrument and a thematic within-case and cross-case analysis was carried out. This research study represents a pioneering effort, contributing to a growing body of knowledge on innovative participatory business models for energy access

Hardware Pioneers: Harnessing the Impact Potential of Technology Entrepreneurs

Billions of households across the world live without conveniences such as electric lighting, flush toilets, and sanitary sewerage systems. Products such as milk chilling machines and solar home systems can have a significant impact on lives and livelihoods of people living in poverty in developing countries. Hardware pioneers—inventors and entrepreneurs creating breakthrough products tailored to the needs of these populations—are pushing the frontiers of technology and business to create and scale innovative hardware technologies.Numerous case studies within the report illustrate how these pioneers face many of the same challenges of any entrepreneur but with the added complexity of developing hardware and scaling in remote areas with scarce resources. There is a significant opportunity for actors across sectors to strategically leverage their resources in order to support the journeys of these hardware pioneers, from initial inspiration to ultimate impact at scale.Top TakeawaysHardware pioneers lack the right supports in the critical Pioneer Gap stages when they are blueprinting, validating, and preparing their models. In the early stages, these needs range from patient capital to prototyping facilities. Later on, issues such as distribution, financing, servicing, and quality standards become more important.Critically, because the success of hardware pioneers depends on the successful blending of both business and technology skills, those working closely with pioneer teams also need to bring the right combination of these skills, and this unfortunately is rare in the impact enterprise ecosystem.There is need to not just support hardware pioneers directly but also to assemble the other needed parts of the ecosystem, from last-mile specialist companies that help pioneers reach and serve their target markets to the programs and institutions that are helping to spark the initial impulse that gets pioneers started on their journey in the right way.New ideas can have an ultimate impact that is much greater than that of the original pioneer alone through a transfer of the idea to a more scale-ready partner or just through adoption and adaptation of the idea by follower entrepreneurs. We believe that there is great impact potential in supporting these more networked pathways for scaling

: General Electric's Research Approach and Findings

Accepted in California Management Review. Soon available in JSTORInternational audienceIn 2010, General Electric launched an investigation into how multi-national corporations (MNCs) were adapting to rural emerging markets. A team of 33 executives and three academics examined models ranging from Toyota's vehicle servicing program in East Africa to Nokia's localized mobile handset financing in India to Egis Pharmaceuticals' worker retention incentives in Eastern Europe. The project included 15 case studies from India, China, Africa and Eastern Europe. This article presents common tactics that these MNCs have used to successfully adapt to rural markets in emerging regions across five key organizational functions: product development, distribution, service, financing, and human resources

The Last Mile: Gateway to rural empowerment in India

This article focuses on exemplary projects conducted by organizations who are providing access to key services and goods by creating new markets in rural India. Reaching “the last mile” is a key issue in India, which complexity is often overlooked by multinational firms. This article aims at providing a framework to help understanding innovative strategies to reach low-income consumers in India through innovative partnerships.Cet article porte sur des projets exemplaires menés par des organisations qui fournissent l'accès à des produits et services essentiels grâce à la création de nouveaux marchés dans les zones rurales de l'Inde. Atteindre "le dernier kilomètre" est un problème clé en Inde dont la complexité est souvent négligée par les multinationales. Cet article vise à fournir un cadre facilitant la compréhension des stratégies innovantes afin d'atteindre les consommateurs indiens à faible revenu par le biais de partenariats novateurs.El presente artículo se centra en proyectos ejemplares desarrollados por organizaciones que proporcionan acceso a servicios y bienes esenciales a través de la creación de nuevos mercados en la India rural. Alcanzar «el último tramo» es un tema clave para la India, cuya complejidad suele ser obviada por las multinacionales. Este artículo tiene como objetivo la provisión de un marco que ayude a la comprensión de estrategias innovadoras para alcanzar a los consumidores con bajos ingresos de la India a través de asociaciones innovadoras