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Putting Numbers on Multinationals’ Impact is Even Harder Than it Looks
Multinational companies like to describe their presence as a boon to developing countries. In a remarkable joint study, Oxfam International and Unilever Indonesia found such claims are valid—sometimes. The British antipoverty NGO and the Anglo-Dutch consumer products company were looking for new ways to help the world’s poor—and new ways to talk about the things they were already doing. Was Unilever’s Indonesia operation improving the lives of Indonesia’s poor and wider economy? If so, how much?
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Are you an Intrapreneur? : Take our four-point test
How is an intrapreneur different from an entrepreneur? In a corporate setting, the ‘ventures’ they lead are not always products or services, but could be other kinds of initiatives that advance organizational objectives while having social or environmental benefits. These come in many shapes or sizes. Intrapreneurs have a wider field of vision than most people when it comes to opportunities for social or environmental impact. We have found it useful to think of this in terms of four Ps: Products, Practices, People, and Public.
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Of Bank Accounts and Behavioural Economics: Will adaptive learning improve money management interfaces for the poor?
One of the biggest financial challenges anyone faces is the interrelated tasks of budgeting, paying, and saving from income. The rich and poor alike need help in this regard and there has been plenty of work by behavioural economists showing how reminders to follow through on savings behaviours, commitment accounts, account labelling, automatic deposits, formal commitments to friends, and other features.
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Weekly Roundup: Help Us Pick the Most Influential Post of 2012: Vote early and often
OK, if you’re like me you’re probably getting tired of the “Best of 2012” lists. But I hope you can handle just one more, especially because this is one list that you can influence.
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Impact Career Paths: Making your own luck
Much of the talk around intrapreneurship has centered on aligning to strategy: the triple bottom line, metrics, KPIs, cause marketing, business drivers and social value, and so on. The importance of this conversation is undeniable. But the debate goes deeper than large-scale projects when the question becomes “how can you we encourage a culture where every employee is a changemaker?”
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10 Resolutions For Social Entrepreneurs In 2013
Momentum for social entrepreneurship is exploding. Every year, more and more people are working on businesses and organizations designed to improve the world. As we look forward to the rest of 2013 and the continued expansion of the field, here’s a list of resolutions that social entrepreneurs should be thinking about.
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Citi Foundation: Investing in products, access and people for financial inclusion
For many years, the Citi Foundation made many small grants. In 2008, we made 2,600 of them, some for just $2,500. They focused on activities accomplished rather than impact and results. Our objective was to disburse grants to as many community-based organizations as our financial resources would allow, with programs in many areas. We realized we needed to focus and set measurable impact targets that reflected sound investment thinking and responsible use of financial resources.
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Where social problems and business solutions meet
Israeli entrepreneurs seek to lure companies into the nascent field of development technology.
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- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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