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Titans of Industry Turning to Social Biz : Nine former Indian head honchos who are changing the world of social entrepreneurship
At SocialStory we have scoured the universe of Indian corporate bigwigs who have scaled the heights of their chosen worlds and have now decided to make the switch to the world of philanthropy. We have left out the likes of Azim Premji and Sunil Bharti Mittal because our primary criterion is that they should have switched to the philanthropic role full-time. Read on to find out more about these ex-corporate heroes who have now assumed avatars of social investors and social entrepreneurs.
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- Uncategorized
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Avon, Amway … Africa?: Can the direct sales agent model work for health goods at the BoP? Part 2
Direct sales agent models are generating a lot of buzz in BoP health care. By recruiting local sales teams to sell health products directly to their communities, social enterprises hope to improve health, provide an income for the salespeople – and make a profit. But can they overcome the challenges of working at the BoP? The SHOPS project studied several approaches in Africa, and lead researcher Michael Kubzansky discusses what works – and what doesn’t – in part 2 of our Q&A.
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- Education, Health Care, Social Enterprise
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- public health, research
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Avon, Amway … Africa?: Can the direct sales agent model work for health goods at the BoP? Part 1
It’s not easy marketing health products to the BoP. Challenges range from remote distribution to customers’ limited awareness of the products’ benefits or correct usage. That’s why some companies are recruiting local sales teams to sell health products directly to their communities. But how can the Avon/Amway model work for low-margin goods at the BoP? The SHOPS Project analyzed five business models in Africa over 16 months. In Part 1 of this Q&A, lead researcher Michael Kubzansky describes its findings.
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- Education, Health Care, Social Enterprise
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- public health, research
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Economies of Scale or Diseconomies of Enormity: Should there be more mergers and acquisitions of international development NGOs?
In the for-profit sector, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are ways to ensure that the most effective organizations survive and achieve greater scale. This improves cost-effectiveness in the overall market and spreads best practices more widely. But with the large numbers of NGOs in international development, why don’t we see more M&A activity in the non-profit sector? In light of the recent Merlin and Save the Children merger, WDI’s Prashant Yadav explores some reasons.
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- Uncategorized
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Impact Investment and Beyond: Mapping support for social enterprises
There is a lot of excitement about social enterprise, and a lot of interest in understanding, financing and supporting these enterprises. But there has been no comprehensive data on the actual amount of capital investment and non-financial support given to social enterprises and the development of their market infrastructure. ODI undertook a study to establish existing data gaps and to see if it was both feasible and useful to compile this data. Emily Darko of ODI describes their findings.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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- impact investing, research
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The BoP Century?: The exciting (or scary) implications of demographics for global health and social enterprise (Bi-weekly Checkup, 7/20/13)
By 2100, Nigeria is projected to have a population of almost 1 billion. Other sub-Saharan African countries will also experience spectacular growth, and the population of developing countries will far surpass that of the rest of the world. We explore these possible changes and their exciting (or disturbing) implications in NextBillion Health Care’s Bi-weekly Checkup.
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- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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- public health
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NextThought Monday – An Alternative to Alternative Energy: Will microfinance embrace biogas for the BoP?
Solar was once the wild west of alternative energy. Today, microfinance banks see it as a solid investment, even for poor clients, and bio-gas may follow its footsteps.
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- microfinance, solar
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No Fortune at the BoP?: Economist Paul Clyde on the challenges of health care delivery in emerging markets – Part 2
Paul Clyde is an itinerant economic adviser and a faculty member at the University of Michigan. He has advised or run over 40 projects in 10 emerging markets, helping develop financially sustainable health care delivery models. In part 2 of this Q&A, he discusses the primary challenges BoP countries face in health care delivery, and how their health systems’ evolution could reshape their economies.
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- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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