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Incalculable Impact, Please?
When is impact legitimately ?incalculable?? Is a limited ability to wrap metrics around your impact ever acceptable or desirable? While we work on qualitative and quantitative ways to assess the resulting impact on lives at the BoP, it?s ultimately that incalculable kind of shift in ?business as usual? for which we all should take aim.
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Understanding Competition at the Base of the Pyramid (Part 1)
Business targeting BoP consumers might fail if they neglect a key feature of business life: competition. Entering the market, business will find out that BoP consumers are normally not "unserved." They drink water, they eat, they treat illnesses, etc. Competition at the BoP can be a barrier - or a source of learning and collaboration.
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NextThought Monday: A Perspective from Egypt – Iman Bibars of Ashoka Arab World
The events in Egypt have been unfolding quickly and it is hard to tell what the outcomes will be, particularly when judging from afar. We had the opportunity to talk to Iman Bibars, founder and head of Ashoka Arab World. She is enduring in Cairo and offers her perspectives on the historic uprisings - what led to them and what could be next.
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- Education
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- NGOs
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Friday Roundup ? 2/4/11: Spring Fever Starts Now
In addition to a warm thaw, there are several reasons to look forward to spring - namely - several important forums and competition prize opportunities for social entrepreneurs, development knowledge events and for enterprising students eager to join the ranks of professionals, it’s time to start looking out for summer internships.
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Participative Innovation: The Transition to a New Model of Social Capitalism (Part 2)
In some ways, we are moving to a version of Capitalism 2.0. If the goal of capitalism 1.0 was to maximize profit, in 2.0, it is to generate the maximum social, economic and environmental value. If in 1.0 the process of decision-making was hierarchical and behind closed doors, 2.0 proposes participative and inclusive decision-making.
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Hat Tips, New Hands and January?s Top Posts
I?m happy to announce that two NextBillion contributors, Martin Herrndorf and Lisa Smith, have signed on as Staff Writers. Their recent articles are among our top five most-read posts in January. Martin and Lisa, as well as a couple of unsung heroes who deserve some recognition today, have contributed to a strong start in 2011 for NextBillion.
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Less Sodium, More HIV Tests: Nudging Consumers Toward Smarter Choices
The private sector has done a good job of nudging behavior: think of opt-out magazine subscriptions after a free trail or default employer 401(k) plans. But can some insights into the psychology of decision-making be used to tackle pressing social problems? How can behavioral strategies help address the challenges facing practitioners at the BoP?
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Impact Assessment Is Easy … If You Know Your Objectives
Ten years since I joined the social sector, ten years of countless discussions on impact assessment. Initially, I thought it would be impossible to effectively rate impact. But my background as an engineer led me to understand that everything can be assessed and virtually everything can be measured - for a price, that is.
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- Impact Assessment
