TSB:  How did you come to work in this field? 

Bryan: I did a joint MBA law degree, and my favorite class was a business ethics class, so I asked the teacher, I really like this stuff, how can I do it, and he really recommended that I go back and get a PHD... that the best way to make an impact was through social science research.

TSB:  Can you provide a quick overview of what Corporate Social Responsibility actually means? 

Bryan: I think ideally CSR should be about 1 of 2 things, 1: internalizing all the negative social impacts of firms.  Firms have negative environmental impacts and they have negative social impacts.  They contribute to social inequity; they can have harmful impacts on communities and community structures.  You have harmful companies like Wal-Mart that will go in and displace local mom and pop type business. Corporate Social Responsibility at a minimum should be about reducing or eliminating these negative social impacts.

TSB: Couldn't it be argued that some of those impacts are just the result of a free market economy?

Bryan: I understand, these actions create a benefit for the consumer, but there's a bad for the competitor.  Now you could say that that's just market economics, but I think that CSR should think ok, look, let's go in this community, how can we do it in such a way that we can create new options for these people.  Unfortunately many companies have gone in and not thought about their social impacts.

TSB:  What kind of research are you currently working on?

Bryan: I am working a lot in an area called Corporate Social Strategy and also working on a book with a co-author that will try to give some form to this, its pretty new, I don't think people have thought about it. It is kind f looking at Corporate Social Responsibility strategically, and I think this book will make an important contribution

TSB:  Could you give us an executive summary? 

Bryan: If you look at environment management, it is much more developed than CSR management, in fact there is very little written on how you manage CSR.  The environmental side has the advantage of clear indicators such as zero emissions, which makes it more manageable. You can see what the impacts are, there are health impacts as a result of pollution, and all this is a little bit clearer.  So the people on the environmental side have made a lot of progress, but on the social side we haven't done a very good job figuring out what we are trying to do.  A company might have school lunches for kindergarten kids, but what am I really trying to accomplish, so very often CSR projects are good feelings, but aren't really tied to a specific goal, a specifics development goal or something like that.  If you are going to think strategically about CSR, you have to be very clear about what your social objectives are, and what are your economic objectives, so the book tries to help managers think clearly about CSR. 

TSB:  What kind of shifts have you seen in Mexico in the last 5 - 10 years?

Bryan: I think they are probably where Canada and the US were 20 years ago. There are a few programs, take ISO 14000, as of 2004 there were 400 Mexican firms that were certified, where as you compare that to Spain, 11000 Spanish firms certified with ISO 14000.  Most of those firms have customers outside of Mexico which have been the driver behind that.  There's a Mexican program similar to ISO 14000 in connection with the Mexican GOVT that certifies that firms are compliant with Mexican Environmental Law, called Clean Industry, and that's been a bit more popular. There are about 1100 firms that have been certified under the clean industry program. 

Some of these high profile multinational firms are doing things mainly to be noticed, such as Cemex, a cement company in Mexico that has done a couple of sustainability things and bottom of the pyramid stuff.

TSB:  Can you elaborate on what "the bottom of the pyramid" refers to? 

Bryan: The idea is that 2/3 of the worlds population lives on less than say 1000$ a year, this is the bottom of economic pyramid; it constitutes about 4 billion people. And the argument is that they have a lot of wealth, and multinational corporations have sort of overlooked the needs of this group, and have ignored them as customers, have ignored them as suppliers, and that the multinationals really need to figure out how they can engage effectively with people at the bottom of the pyramid. So companies are developing these different projects.

There was a guy named Muhammad Yunus that won the noble peace prize a couple years ago for his Grameen Bank that specialized in micro credit.  What he does is arrange people in small groups of 4 or 5 people, lends them money, and the group becomes responsible for repayment.  It was a great innovation... so that kind of concept is now being imitated by firms to figure out how they can reach these people.  For example Cemex has a program where it takes people at the base of the pyramid and organizes them into small groups to help them save money to be able to buy construction materials. Cemex provides technical assistance in terms of construction and as a result of this program, they are able to help these people increase the size of their dwellings and shorten the time of construction compared to people who don't participate in this program. This program has been broadly published in the press and academic circles and is a great example of base of the pyramid, and is an important sustainability initiative.

But if you look at Cemex, they also have a project north of Monterrey that is protecting natural habitat at a reservoir that's on the US - Mexican boarder, but Cemex is located in the middle of Monterrey and is a source of all sorts of dust.  Cement is very fine, and so if you live in downtown Monterrey your car is covered with this fine film of dust every morning, and they are doing all these high profile projects that are getting a lot of press around the world, but in Monterey where they originated, this small particulate mater is very damaging to your health.  It creates small tears within your lungs and stuff like that.  So while they are doing some things, there are some pretty basic things they are ignoring.  Unfortunately CSR very often acts like a bribe that companies pay society so that society will accept some bag stuff, and companies approach this as a quid pro quo.

TSB: We are hearing about sustainability a lot more now in NA, is that just more awareness in the public, or are firms really upping there game in that area?

Bryan: I think that there are a couple things that are maybe causing firms to wake up and take this stuff a little but more seriously.  One is climate change, it is very tangible, it's very concrete, and we are constantly being reminded with the ice sheets, and the Arctic, and hurricanes and all sorts of things like that.  The evidence is stronger and stronger and that starting to wake companies up, especially to the sustainability side.  On the CSR side I think in Latin America, companies are awaking to the fact that there is just huge social inequity. So that's driving some awareness in Latin America.  US and Canada, I think there is some corporate scandals like Enron and that sort of thing that has woken companies up to the issues of Business Ethics, but in terms of CSR and causing firms to focus on social impacts I am not sure what the driver is behind that, but it certainly has become a popular topic.

TSB: Do you see this trend continues, or is this going to peter out in a couple years when something else comes along?

Bryan: If climate change stops, then maybe people's interest in sustainability will, I just don't see that happening.  Our carbon emissions just continue to increase and that's only going to cause temperature to increase even more with all the consequences.  So I don't see it going away.    

TSB: For people that want to get involved in Sustainability and CSR either in a business role in a personal role, what would you recommend? 

Bryan: Well I think there are just all sorts of opportunities out there. For example right now in NA, carbon emissions are not regulated, but I think we are looking at regulation very shortly. With the possibility of these cap and trade systems and carbon trading, in a sense that creates all sorts of business opportunities for companies that are going to be able to provide goods and services with a lower carbon impact than other competitors, and they will be able to sell those carbon reductions on a market and make money.  There will be a revenue stream available for people who just plant trees that was not there before.  If you think about things like the bottom of the pyramid, and really engaging these marginal groups that have sort of been forgotten, even in Canada we have these people.  We need to wake up, how do we as firms engage these people, how can we meet their unmet needs.  So people who can creatively look at these problems as opportunities, that's the real beauty of this, it requires a great deal of imagination but there is so much to be done.  Every once in a while you get an idea like micro credit that is just revolutionary.  I don't think the micro credit idea has even been fully exploited, I think it can be applied to all sorts of situations beyond lending money.  Finding an opportunity requires that you become aware of the problem, that you understand business and this usually happens by immersing yourself in a problem and all of a sudden its like hey, maybe we can do this another way.

Beyond Microfinance: Opportunities for Change

Microfinance, as demonstrated by Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus, provides disadvantaged entrepreneurs with small loans to run their businesses and eventually help lift them out of poverty. This has become a wide spread phenomenon all over the world encouraging millions of families out of poverty.

What's next? There is a huge business opportunity for both, investment in the MFIs and providing other business services to these micro-enterprises at the bottom of the pyramid.

While commercial banks are satisfying the demand for capital to the MFIs , the social entrepreneurs with social business ideas will hopefully fill the gap by providing services to the poor entrepreneurs to run and scale their businesses successfully. Prof. Yunus' has exemplified this concept of a social business with a collaborative effort with Dannon in Bangladesh, that brings low cost nutritious meals to the poor while employing local farmers and citizens. This is a win-win situation where the commercial banks, MFIs, social businesses and the aspiring entrepreneurs all profit!

As a distinct example of this is the real story about Senegal that follows by George Mondiot about the fisheries treaty EU is negotiating with African states presently. For the Americans amongst you...do not worry; the present day bush-chenney white house administration has already locked the Africans into onerous fishing agreemements. It's all sewn up. Your fish will appear promptly as part of a healthy diet in your local whole food-whole paycheck organic store.

In his book Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis tells the story of the famines that sucked the guts out of India in the 1870s. The hunger began when a drought, caused by El Nino, killed the crops on the Deccan plateau. As starvation bit, the viceroy, Lord Lytton, oversaw the export to England of a record 6.4 million hundredweight of wheat. While Lytton lived in imperial splendour and commissioned, among other extravangances, "the most colossal and expensive meal in world history between 12 and 29 million people died. Only Stalin manufactured a comparable hunger.

Now a new Lord Lytton is seeking to engineer another brutal food grab. As Tony Blair's favoured courtier, Peter Mandelson often created the impression that he would do anything to please his master. Today he is the European trade commissioner. From his sumptuous offices in Brussels and Strasbourg, he hopes to impose a treaty which will permit Europe to snatch food from the mouths of some of the world's poorest people.

Seventy per cent of the protein eaten by the people of Senegal comes from fish. Traditionally cheaper than other animal products, it sustains a population which ranks close to the bottom of the human development index. One in six of the working population is employed in the fishing industry; some two-thirds of these workers are women. Over the past three decades, their means of subsistence has started to collapse as other nations have plundered Senegal's stocks.

The European Union has two big fish problems. One is that, partly as a result of its failure to manage them properly, its own fisheries can no longer meet European demand. The other is that its governments won't confront their fishing lobbies and decommission all the surplus boats. The EU has tried to solve both problems by sending its fishermen to West Africa. Since 1979 it has struck agreements with the government of Senegal, granting our fleets access to its waters. As a result, Senegal's marine ecosystem has started to go the same way as ours. Between 1994 and 2005, the weight of fish taken from the country's waters fell from 95,000 tons to 45,000 tons. Muscled out by European trawlers, the indigenous fishery is crumpling: the number of boats run by local people has fallen by 48 percent since 1997.

In a recent report on this pillage, ActionAid shows that fishing families which once ate three times a day are now eating only once or twice. As the price of fish rises, their customers also go hungry. The same thing has happened in all the west African countries with which the EU has maintained fisheries agreements. In return for wretched amounts of foreign exchange, their primary source of protein has been looted.

The government of Senegal knows this, and in 2006 it refused to renew its fishing agreement with the EU. But European fishermen -- mostly from Spain and France -- have found ways round the ban. They have been registering their boats as Senegalese, buying up quotas from local fishermen and transferring catches at sea from local boats. These practices mean that they can continue to take the country's fish, and have no obligation to land them in Senegal. Their profits are kept on ice until the catch arrives in Europe.

Mandelson's office is trying to negotiate economic partnership agreements with African countries. They were supposed to have been concluded by the end of last year, but many countries, including Senegal, have refused to sign. The agreements insist that European companies have the right both to establish themselves freely on African soil, and to receive national treatment. This means that the host country is not allowed to discriminate between its own businesses and European companies. Senegal would be forbidden to ensure that its fish are used to sustain its own industry and to feed its own people. The dodges used by European trawlers would be legalised.  (George Mondiot is the author of 'Heat: How to stop the planet from Burning).

Organized By: E-Cell IIT-Kharagpur

Key dates:
The online submission starts- September 15,2008.
First round submission deadline- 25 October 2008 .
Final round submission deadline- 31 December 2008 .
Final results- 18 January 2009.

For whom:
The contest is open to all Indian Citizens. Plans that have got Startup registered cannot participate. More.

Eclairez 2008-09 is a Social Entrepreneurship Challenge directed towards the empowerment of the poor citizens. This event upholds the spirit of Social Entrepreneurship by creating a platform where students, NGOs, incubators, social entrepreneurs, venture-capitalists and corporations share their ideas or views related to Social Entrepreneurship. The event includes mentorship program, field visits which spans over years. The competitors will propose a business plan which will be fine tuned by Venture Capitalist, Social Entrepreneurship before the venture takes on a full scale.

Complete event details can be obtained here.

For Details Contact:
Subhendu Panigrahi
Coordinator
+91 (99325) 74332
subhendu.panigrahi@gmail.com

Gaurav Khare
Student Manager
+91 (99325) 71917
gaurav1.iitkgp@gmail.com

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Some innovative uses of cell phones in poor countries are cited. Customers are charged by the second instead of by the minute to keep costs low. Money transfer through mobile phones is also quite common. Then ofcourse, the importance of information flow is highlighted. Farmers use cell phones to find the best prices of their commodities in nearby markets. I have written about this in an earlier post as well.

Bill Gates also mentions product red. Red Branded products from a company have the same features as the standard product, but the companies donate a percentage of their profits from these products to fight AIDS. This creates added brand value for customers, who might choose such a product over a competitors standard product because of the charitable cause associated with a red-branded product.

Some interesting innovations that have come out of Microsoft Research are highlighted. Visual interfaces that enable the illiterate people to use a PC instantly, with minimal training is one. Another interesting project is one that lets an entire classroom full of students use a single computer using software that lets each student use his/her own mouse to control a specially colored cursor so that as many as 50 kids can use one computer at the same time. These projects not only help in educating the poor, it also serves in creating new markets for Microsoft.

I strongly believe that creative captilism has a lot of potential, not just for social upliftment but for companies to exploit untapped markets. Such projects, along with efforts like microcredit will definitely go a long way in helping to improve the lives of the poor.

“Amazon.com?”, the owner almost got out of his seat yelling. “You guys have put all of us out of business”, he lowered his tone just for the fact that we just had a friendly 30 minute discussion. I could clearly how I had upset him. Sensing the cold air, I softly signaled to my wife that we should get going. We soon left the place after some quick pleasantries.

I spent the rest of the few hours debating with my wife and introspecting. Is Amazon just another American “retail chain” type of a company that puts small timers out of business? Clearly that’s not the motto of the company. Has the company mastered the art of providing the lowest prices and the widest selection? -- Sure. Does that mean we are putting the small timers out of business? No.

Amazon has an interesting business model. More than 80% of Amazon’s selection comes from big and small sellers that power their businesses through sales on Amazon.com. Amazon has the best prices because it allows for people to compete for the “buy box” (a term used for being the default merchant of record for an item on the web site), on it’s own web site. In the interest of the company motto “take the customer’s side, no matter what” has turned Amazon.com into a free and fair marketplace for any kind of business. Take a closer look at Amazon’s balance sheet, and you will find that more than 60% of the gross margin sales of Amazon is through sales outside of Amazon’s own inventory. This includes sales of inventory from retail giants like Target to small and medium businesses at the bottom of the economic pyramid like a merchant on the corner of your street.

A great example of the success of Amazon’s marketplace model is a seller on Amazon.com called ‘Novica’: a social entrepreneurship promoter that sells artifacts from small and big artists in underdeveloped and developing countries.

An orthogonal example of how online business mobilizes the bottom of the pyramid: Could you have imagined competing for a TV ad with Wal-mart to sell the interior decoration that you sourced from Peru? Now you can; you can buy Google Adwords and spend more than Wal-mart in a smart fashion competing with the biggest of giants by reaching out to the most customized manner.

Internet business has many differences from brick-and-motor ones. Humanizing the business by mobilizing the bottom of the pyramid is one of them.

I strongly believe that the concept of Profitability from social entrepreneurship is the best thing that has happened this decade. The following anecdote captures the need for an entrepreneurial model in the socially backward and downtrodden:

The real Africa needs increased trade from the West more than it needs more aid handouts. A respected Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda, made this point at a recent African conference despite the fact that the world’s most famous celebrity activist — Bono — was attempting to shout him down. Mwenda was suffering from too much reality for Bono’s taste: “What man or nation has ever become rich by holding out a begging bowl?” asked Mwenda.”

Yet the BoP folks haven't been able to enjoy the fruits of the new growth economies as inequality of income spreads. The monumental shifts in income inequality have been one sided effects of the rapid technological change in an increasingly global economy. While the monstrous income inequality has risen within countries, boosting demand for luxury goods across the world, it also produces manifest tensions and food riots. Still the real incomes have been growing for most – but not all – income groups, especially in emerging markets, boosting mass consumption.

While the outlook for the near term consumer spending in the next five years, especially in the US and UK, is highly uncertain, I suspect that the structural patterns identified with explosive social changes are set to continue, with faster income inequalities growth and the diminishing of the prospects for uplift lower down the ‘economic pyramid’. Thus the BoP folks have to fight harder than before to rise up. So what explains their hapiness?

The states and governments catering to the wealthy of their societies are continuing to do just that as is eveidenced by the massive economic baileouts of the US and the UK governments towards their economicly unfit corporations that are rescued in heroic injections of the public capital juice. Charity for the rich is really what they perform...but there is another example. ‘Plutonomy’ may not be over but, from a global perspective, we expect an ongoing convergence of inter country incomes, driven by China & India.

Whilst, in absolute purchasing power terms, the BOP (currently c. 5 trillion international dollars) and tiers directly above it will continue to be small relative to markets in higher income bands, technological change has enabled the corporate  sector to profitably provide goods/services to these part of the pyramid, so far little served by market-based solutions. Crucially, this gives companies the opportunity of creating ‘entry-level’ brand loyalty as consumers then move up the pyramid, as well as enhancing their own reputation through helping eradicate poverty through sustainable, market-based solutions.

corporate restructuring  to play a significant role as companies adapt and profit from  these shifts to fit the realities of the emerging BoP economy.

Yet still the Hapiness pyramid is inverted with the BoP folks being the happiest social segment on this earth.

God has been luxuriously showering the meek and the poor with a paradise of hapiness on this earth this life go round. Thank You.

Yours,

pano

Von allen Institutionen und Instrumenten zur Armutsbekämpfung war die Grameen Bank mit ihren Mikrokrediten an (mittlerweile fast 7 Millionen) mittellose bangladesische Frauen, die erste, für die ich mich begeisterte. Ina und ich beschrieben ihre Arbeit in Tanz der Kulturen und seit Mitte der 1990er verfolgen wir nicht nur die weltweite Verbreitung von Mikrokreditinstitutionen, sondern auch die vielfältigen anderen Aktivitäten von Muhammad Yunus.

Als ich jetzt Yunus neues Buch Die Armut besiegen in die Hand nahm, packte mich wieder die gleiche Begeisterung für die Ideen des ehemaligen Wirtschaftswissenschaftlers und Bank-Pioniers. Ausgehend von dem Joint Venture Grameen Danone, welches seit 2007 in Bangladesch lokal produziertes, nahrhaftes Jogurt an arme Kinder zu erschwinglichen Preisen verkauft, beschreibt Yunus sein Konzept des Sozialunternehmens.

Für Yunus, ein Befürworter des freien Unternehmertums und der (regulierten) Globalisierung, sind die herkömmlichen Instrumente – von profitorientierten Unternehmen, über Nichtregierungsorganisationen und multilaterale Institutionen bis hin zu Staaten - zur Bekämpfung der vielen gravierenden sozialen Probleme nicht geeignet. Stattdessen entwirft er das Bild einer neuen Art von Unternehmen, dem Sozialunternehmen:

Was ist ein Sozialunternehmen?

Die Organisationsstruktur dieses neuen Unternehmens ist im Grunde dieselbe wie die des herkömmlichen gewinnorientierten Unternehmens. Nur verfolgt es andere Ziele. Wie andere Unternehmen beschäftigt es Arbeitskräfte, erzeugt Güter oder erbringt Dienstleistungen und stellt diese seinen Abnehmern zu einem Preis zur Verfügung, der sich mit seiner Zielsetzung deckt. Aber sein grundlegendes Ziel – und das Kriterium, an dem seine Leistungen gemessen werden sollten – besteht darin, den sozialen Bedürfnissen jener zu dienen, deren Leben es berührt. Das Unternehmen selbst kann Gewinne erzielen, aber die Investoren, die es mit Kapital ausgestattet haben, nehmen keinerlei Gewinne aus dem Unternehmen heraus, die über die Rückerstattung ihrer ursprünglichen Investition hinausgehen. (25)

Yunus tritt für eine Trennung zwischen Sozialunternehmen und sozialem Unternehmertum ein. Letzteres bezeichnet jede innovative Initiative zur Unterstützung hilfsbedürftiger Menschen, z.B. wenn ein Pharmakonzern kostenlos Medikamente an bedürftige Personen verteilt. Auch wenn in der Theorie Mischformen zwischen gewinnorientierten und sozial nützlichen Unternehmen denkbar sind, sieht Yunus in der Praxis die Gewinnmaximierung immer über den sozialen Nutzen obsiegen. Da die beiden Ziele fast unweigerlich miteinander konkurrieren und unsere vorhandenen Kennzahlen (wie Buchführungsmethoden und -standards) ausschließlich um wirtschaftlichen Profit kreisen, während die Messung sozialen Nutzens noch in den Kinderschuhen steckt, spricht er sich für eine klare Trennung der beiden Unternehmensformen aus.

Ein weiterer Vorteil eines klar abgegrenzten Modells ist, dass es schwierig ist, durch vorgeschobene Zwecke in der Öffentlichkeit einen falschen Eindruck zu erwecken. Von einem Sozialunternehmen werden die Investoren keinen Ertrag erwarten, sollte es Einnahmen erzielen.

Sozialunternehmen werden auf demselben Markt tätig sein wie die herkömmlichen gewinnorientierten Unternehmen. Sie werden mit diesen (und untereinander) konkurrieren und versuchen, sie zu überflügeln und ihnen Marktanteile abspenstig zumachen. Sie werden das Unternehmensspektrum vergrößern und den Markt zu einem interessanteren, komplexeren und wettbewerbsintensiveren Ort machen.

Wer wird Sozialunternehmen gründen?

Im Laufe des Buches beschreibt Yunus nicht nur die mittlerweile 30jährige Geschichte der Grameenbank und ihrer vielen Tochterunternehmen, wie Grameen Phone und Grameen Health Care Services, sondern entwirft darüber hinaus einen Strategieplan für zukünftige Sozialunternehmen. Manche werden von bestehenden Unternehmen gegründet werden (wie die Kooperation zwischen Grameen und Danone), andere werden von Stiftungen, einzelnen Unternehmern oder wohlhabenden Personen im Ruhestand ins Leben gerufen, die mit gewinnorientierten Unternehmen Erfolg gehabt haben und sich nun entschließen, ihre Kreativität und Managementkenntnisse an einem Sozialunternehmen zu erproben.

betterplace ist ein Sozialunternehmen

Bei der Lektüre wurde mir zum einen bewusst, dass betterplace genau in die Definition des Sozialunternehmens fällt: auch wir haben ein Unternehmen mit einem sozialen Ziel gegründet, welches nachhaltig sich selbst tragen soll. Mögliche Gewinne werden in das Unternehmen selbst re-investiert

Zum anderen wird deutlich, wie hartnäckig und lange (3 Dekaden) Yunus an seinem Modell gearbeitet hat, bis es die heutige, mit dem Friedensnobelpreis ausgezeichnete, Erfolgsgeschichte werden konnte. Immer wieder wurde das System verändert und im Dialog mit Mitarbeitern und potentiell Begünstigten verändert. In vielen Bereichen, wie zum Beispiel der Gesundheits- oder Energieversorgung, laufen bis heute mehrere Programme nebeneinander, um herauszufinden, welches System am besten funktioniert.

Anhand des ausführlich skizzierten Fallbeispiels der Kooperation zwischen Danone und Grameen wird deutlich wie die Expertise eines konventionellen Unternehmens für ein innovatives Sozialunternehmen fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Innerhalb eines einzigen Jahres erforschten Danones Marktexperten gemeinsam mit Grameen Managern den bangladesischen Markt, bauten eine innovative kleine Yogurt Produktionsanlage, von der lokale Milchproduzenten proftieren und erschlossen mit Hilfe des gigantischen Netzwerks von Grameen-Kreditnehmerinnen eine völlig neue Vertriebsstruktur für den Verkauf des kostengünstigen, mit Nährstoffen angereicherten Yogurts, welches an arme, unterernährte Kinder vertrieben wird.

Nach der Lektüre dieses Case Studies möchte man am Liebsten von Unternehmen zu Unternehmen gehen und mit ihnen gemeinsam eine Reihe von zu ihnen passenden Sozialunternehmen gründen!

Yunus Traum eines Sozialaktionsforum gibt es schon: betterplace.org

Zum Schluss seines Buches entwirft Yunus einen Aktionsplan für jeden Einzelnen, der von einer besseren Welt träumt. Er sieht ein so genanntes Sozialaktionsforum im Internet, auf dem Menschen sich zusammentun um ein lokales Problem in Angriff zu nehmen.

Ich habe vor, eine Website einzurichten, auf der Sie Ihr Sozialaktionsforum regisitrieren können. Sie können Ihren Jahresplan erläutern, Ihre Vorstellungen festhalten, über enttäuschende und ermutigende Erfahrungen berichten, ihre Fortschritte schildern und Fotos zu Ihrem Projekt präsentieren. ... Die Website steht allen interessierten Personen jederzeit offen, damit sie Kontakt zu den aktiven Foren aufnehmen können. ... Gibt es in Ihrer Nachbarschaft ein verlassenes Grundstück auf dem Abfall abgeladen wird, der ein Infektionsherd ist? Gründen Sie ein Forum für die Sanierung dieses Grundstücks, um es als öffentlichen Park, Spielplatz oder Recyclingzentrum nutzbar zu machen. Wenn Sie in einem Entwicklungsland leben, kann das Aktionsprogramm für Ihr Forum darin bestehen, einem Bettler bei der Suche nach einem Arbeitsplatz ... einen Schulabbrecher zur Fortsetzung seiner Ausbildung zu bewegen, einem kranken Menschen Zugang zu medizinischer Versorgung zu verschaffen oder ... die Wasserqualität in Ihrem Dorf zu verbessern. ... Manche Sozialaktionsforen werden klein bleiben ... andere werden stetig wachsen, und einige werden sich in erfolgreiche Sozialunternehmen verwandeln ...(277)

Diese Vision deckt sich in vielem mit der von betterplace. So musste ich bei Yunus’s Satz, manche Ideen könnten „weltweiten Einfluss ... erlangen, indem sie innovative Ideen für die Bewältigung eines gravierenden Problems entwickeln,“ an unser WTO-Projekt denken, welches nach marktbasierten Lösungen sucht, dem weltweiten Sanitärnotstand entgegenzuwirken.

Fazit: Ein gut lesbares, eindrucksvolles Buch, dem man wünscht, dass es möglichst viele Menschen inspiriert ihr Geld und ihre Expertise in den Aufbau von Sozialunternehmen zu stecken.

GrameenPhone is the brainchild of Iqbal Quadir, an American educated Bangladeshi who, while working as a venture capitalist in New York City, realized that "connectivity is productivity." Thinking back to his home country, Quadir recognized a missing web of connectivity due to the lack of information communication technologies (ICTs). His battler to bring cell phones to Bangladesh provides fascinating insight into development and international finance.

Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries, was already home to an innovative development approach. Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Prize in 2006, is widely credited with starting microfinance, the approach which gives small loans (less than a couple hundred dollars) to people without a credit history or much collateral. The amazing success (hardly any defaults and increased income) of microfinance has seen the system spread income to the historically ignored 2 billion people who live on less than $2 a day.

The typical example of Grameen Bank, Yunus's venture, is a loan given to a rural woman to buy a cow who sells milk to pay off her debt. Quadir's insight was that a cell phone could function as a cow. Pushing past dissenters who though cell phones were only for the rich, Quadir developed a model through which village "phone ladies" would sell minutes to others and, in turn, make a profit and provide an important service to people who otherwise had no conectivity. The phone calls are used to check market prices, connect with expatriate family or check the availability of medicine 5 miles away.

As mobile phones have spread like wildfire through developing nations, an entire ecosystem of advanced applications, many financial, have created even new opportunities. Sullivan's book is filled with wonderful examples and statistics showing just how revolutionary the cell phone can be.

In discussing development, the author uses what he calls the "external combustion" model which relies on introducing ICTs, through native entrepreneurs, with the backing of foreign investors. The exogenous shock of this combination is what made GrameenPhone so successful (as of 2006, had more than 10 million subscribers, revenue pushing $1 billion and profits above $200 million). And, while many worried that foreign capitalists would suck out value like modern day colonialists, the opposite has been true: the mobile phone industry in Bangladesh has created $812 million in value and GrameenPhone has reinvested $1 billion in Bangladesh. When the African telecom CelTel sold for $3.4 billion, it created 50 new millionaires, many of them Africans. What Sullivan calls "inclusive capitalism" creates both external income (development) and internal profits.

Quadir is now exploring energy options for the developing world through his start-up Emergence Bio-Energy which is using adaptable engines to power villages. Energy is a big problem not only in the developed world, but in the global South where it is unreliable and halts economic growth. In Brazil, the Sun Shines for All has used solar power and microfinance to electrify the countryside. Grameen Shakti is apparently trying a similar approach. A major obstacle that Quadir points out is that, unlike telecommunications, Moore's Law doesn't apply to energy production.

"I like to call this new system creative capitalism – an approach where governments, businesses, and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities."

Creative capitalism would use dual incentives to solve hunger and disease: profits and altruism. Profit-driven firms would be more accountable while focusing on traditionally under-served markets. Take the example of "a Dutch company, which holds the rights to a cholera vaccine, retains the rights in the developed world, but shares those rights with manufacturers in developing countries. The result is a cholera vaccine made in Vietnam that costs less than $1 a dose – and that includes delivery and the costs of an immunization campaign."

In response to Gates's call to action, a number of prominent economists and lawyers have developed an online conversation about creative capitalism's promise and its weaknesses. Participants include Nobel laureate Gary Becker, Judge Richard Posner and aid skeptic William Easterly. Many of the essays are critical.

Easterly writes, "Mr. Gates’ speech attacks the system that has historically done the most to alleviate poverty—traditional capitalism—in favor of an untried and implausible alternative—an illusory Third Way that mixes profits and altruism." Posner opines that creative capitalism is nothing more than traditional PR-based charity which actually fits nicely with traditional capitalism.

After browsing the critiques, I think much of the trouble comes down to Gates's nomenclature. The examples in his speech or C.K. Prahalad's wonderful book, "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" are not truly a new system. Prahalad demonstrates the massive profits and opportunities open to firms which are willing to understand and enter the market of the poor.

The problem comes down to capitalism's tendency to lead to thoughtless profit pursuit. What is needed is not creative capitalism (as Greg Mankiw said "I though capitalism WAS creative."). What is needed is conscious capitalism. Mortgage brokers, borrowers and Wall Street investment bankers got a taste of unconscious capitalism with the subprime fiasco.

Part of the problem comes down to the way corporate governance is conducted: being under pressure to out-perform the last quarter every 3 months places an insane focus on short-term thinking. Judgement Day for those corporate officers with fidicuary responsibility to shareholders comes not once a lifetime, but 4 times a year. Accountability is good, but long-term thinking often falls by the wayside.

Joi Ito, a Japanese venture capitalist and CEO of Creative Commons, noted something similar at a recent panel. Money makes people short-sighted and when coupled with the Internet's efficiencies, he believes "fluctuation amplification occurs." His hope is that capitalism will be injected with long-term thinking about issues like the commons.

As it relates to the Internet, Joi worries that a rush to mobile-based connectivity will promote carriers who do not reinvest in the ecology of the Internet and who swallow profits for short-term gain.

The same could be said of Gates's goal. The same wholistic approach which must be taken to defend the Internet's openness is the approach which must be taken to invest in the poorest in our world. It requires awareness of the difficulties and opportunities of capitalism. By recognizing that today's poor are next decade's consumers, capitalism will continue to lift out of poverty millions, but only if it is done consciously.

[Image credit]

Anda mengenal nama Ahmad Zahir? Beliau adalah seorang ahli akuntansi dari Pakistan yang hidup di abad ke-16 dan merupakan penemu sistem double-entry debet-kredit dalam sistem akuntansi. Sistem ini yang kemudian menjadi acuan dalam akuntansi modern yang kita kenal saat ini. Memang ada sejarah lain yang mencatat bahwa sistem tersebut ditemukan oleh seorang ahli matematika Italia, Luca Paciolo. Tapi yang jelas adalah nama Ahmad Zahir ternyata lebih menarik seorang teknopreneur di Indonesia dibandingkan nama Luca Paciolo.

Adalah Fadil Basymeleh, seorang teknopreneur asli dalam negeri yang menjadikan kata Zahir sebagai merek dagang produk hasil inovasinya sekaligus nama perusahaannya. Fadil merupakan pendiri PT Zahir Internasional yang menciptakan perangkat lunak akuntansi dengan merek Zahir Accounting. Perusahaan ini baru saja memperoleh penghargaan Teknopreneur Award 2008, sebuah penghargaan untuk perusahaan yang sukses menghasilkan inovasi dan sukses juga membawa inovasi tersebut ke pasar sehingga menciptakan pertumbuhan bisnis yang baik bagi perusahaan tersebut.

Selain keunikan yang mereka ciptakan yaitu perangkat lunak akuntasi yang bukan ditujukan untuk akuntan atau ahli keuangan tapi justru untuk jajaran manajemen atau bahkan pemilik perusahaan sehingga dapat digunakan sebagai bahan pengambilan keputusan, Saya menilai salah satu kunci sukses perusahaan teknologi yang satu ini adalah ketepatan membidik segmen pasar. Mereka membidik pasar konsumen utama produk mereka adalah UKM (usaha kecil menengah) yang membutuhkan manajemen keuangan secara rapi dan mudah tetapi memiliki keterbatasan anggaran.

Gambaran umum yang muncul tentang UKM sampai saat ini adalah bisnis yang dijalankan secara tradisional karena kondisi keuangan mereka tidak memungkinkan berinvestasi dalam penggunaan alat bantu teknologi. Namun Zahir berani melawan arus pemikiran tersebut. Yang mereka lakukan adalah menciptakan produk berkualitas yang dapat disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan masing-masing perusahaan sehingga harganya pun cukup menarik bagi UKM.

Membidik Konsumen Berpenghasilan Rendah

Saya jadi ingat pesan salah satu mentor bisnis saya, “Pak Zaky, biarpun untungnya kecil tapi kalau faktor pengalinya besar maka bisnis itu adalah bisnis yang menarik”. Waktu itu saya hanya manggut-manggut, tapi sekarang saya sudah melihat sendiri contohnya.

Jika rakyat Indonesia dikelompokkan berdasarkan jumlah penghasilan dan belanjanya kemudian disusun dalam sebuah piramida, maka piramida terbawah dengan jumlah paling banyak adalah rakyat dengan jumlah penghasilan dan belanja yang rendah. Rakyat yang berada di dasar piramida (bottom of the pyramid) ini bagaimana pun merupakan pasar yang potensial.

Lihat saja kesuksesan kartu pra bayar di Indonesia yang menyediakan nominal pengisian ulang pulsa hingga ke bilangan ribuan rupiah. Atau fenomena larisnya sampo dan deterjen dalam kemasan sachet yang dijual ratusan perak di sini. Begitu juga yang terjadi di dunia bisnis, kredit-kredit nominal kecil yang memang ditujukan bagi UKM makin menjadi primadona bagi perbankan nasional.

Memperhatikan kesuksesan para pemain di pasar menengah ke bawah tersebut, ada beberapa kesamaan di antara mereka. Pertama adalah produk yang mereka tawarkan ke pasar memang betul-betul dibutuhkan dan secara signifikan memberi manfaat bagi konsumen mereka. Yang kedua adalah skema harga yang “bersahabat”. Meski pun mereka akan lebih hemat jika membeli dalam jumlah besar, tapi konsumen di kelas ini akan memilih membeli dalam satuan yang lebih kecil meski pun jika dihitung secara total akan lebih mahal.

Ukuran dasar piramida di Indonesia begitu besar, jauh lebih besar dari bagian di atasnya. Hal yang sama juga terjadi di negara-negara berkembang lainnya. Ragam kebutuhannya pun masih sangat banyak termasuk kebutuhan teknologi, misalnya saja internet murah, modem murah, ponsel murah, dan lain-lain. Ini berarti ruang bagi Teknopreneur Indonesia menguasai segmen ini masih sangat besar. Tertantang?

• For large, publicly traded firms, patent portfolios are net losers. To defend a corporation's patents typically costs more for non-pharmaceutical patents than the intellectual property makes.
• This disincentive for innovation has risen sharply since the 1990s when courts loosened restrictions on patent granting and litigation.
• Patents suffer from the lack of notice they offer. It often isn't clear until costly litigation occurs what the patent covers (in contrast to both real property and trademarks and copyrights).
• A number of proposed fixes could help the excruciatingly complicated task of reforming the patent system including raising patent fees, increasing stringency of granting patents, providing a safe-harbor for good-faith, accidental infringement and ending software patents.

Secondly, via White African, a New York Times article on the Kenya technology scene provides a glimpse into the burgeoning technical industries in Africa. Although the article develops into a discussion about Google opening an office in Nairobi, it provides an insightful look at the ingenuity which is required to innovate in a city where Internet is slow and expensive, people cannot afford the most advanced gadgets and mobile phones are the primary means of connection.

[Photo via NYT]

Noa, Fionn and Holger in the Berlin WTO-project headquarters at UdK, Berlin

Just before I left for my summer vacation I met Noa and Fionn, the two design students of Axel Kufus, who are going to devote their final design thesis to our WTO sanitation project.

Also present were Prof. Axel Kufus, Christian Zöllner, his assistent, and Holger Schmitz, a branding and marketing expert turned betterplace volunteer, who is researching possible business models. Noa and Fionn presented the first draft of their concept, which revolves around the idea of a mobile toilet production unit, which travels from location to location, offering a modular kit of toilet designs, some of which are standardized, globally produced parts, while others are locally produced. The kit should be modular, i.e. starting with very basic parts and ending with very aspirational additions.

In mid July, just before the end of the summer term, the Berlin students are going to meet the Karlsruhe students to exchange ideas and concepts, as some have started to look more into technology, while others have focused on possible sales and distribution mechanisms etc.

The young designers are now in the process of connecting to a local "Southern" NGO/organisation to jointly develop ideas, enriching and localising their conceptual ideas. Thus we have been turning to Jack Sim for advice.

Later this summer the design group is going to connect with Sören Rüd (from the Gtz ecosan team) to discuss technological questions, majorly effecting the design process. Meanwhile Holger wants to get in touch with local santiation entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia to find out which approaches work and which don't. 

I find it extremely stimulating to witness the project from the sideline, here and there adding my 2 cents worth of wisdom. The first results should be in by early autumn and I will keep you posted.

From the back cover: The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new market? It's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. You can learn how to serve them and help millions of the world's poorest people escape poverty.

An example of this are the telecommunications companies that thrived in Somalia as far back as 2004 without any form of central government, providing the "cheapest web access in Africa". This is alive and well today despite the country continuing to be a 'failed state' following the invasion of the country at the beginning of the year by US-backed Ethiopia (to drive out the Muslim Sharia-court government which had formed after years of chaos). Cell-phones are now being used in innovative ways by poor people in Africa such as transfering money.

Some companies have already made great money out of the poor people of the world by the age old fundamental of bringing them what they need at a price they can afford.

Then there is Visionspring a global social enterprise which trains low-income men and women as "Vision Entrepreneurs" to start microfranchises that conduct vision screenings within local communities, sell affordable reading glasses, and refer those who require advanced eye care to reputable clinics.

The World Bank estimates that there is a $17 billion African market in off-grid lighting.

A company has tried to address this in India with solar lighting systems aimed at people surviving on less than $4 a day.

Having a for-profit development firm means, according to some, that when you have corporate investment in the very poor in India, you have it as a revenue-seeking device, not a "marketing" device. And if the investments turn a profit, it means that people won't jump ship when times get tough. Many NGOs start, last a couple of years, and fizzle out (if they don't have a deadline, say, an election or a campaign, or a permanent funding source, it's REALLY hard)--so people believe that the capital inflows and investment will be HUGE if there are reasons other than simple change-the-world mindsets going on. I am sure I'll expand more on this later. I am still thinking through what I think.  Your thoughts?

This weekend was a blast. I am glad that I have had this time to get settled--I feel "adjusted" now. The streets are packed with people, moto-rickshaws, cars, scooters, bikes--anywhere you can fit a person or a vehicle, there they are. Hyderabad is known for biryani, as I said--I tried it today, and it was very good. Hyderabad also has the largest Muslim concentration in India, and we went and visited two of the biggest mosques; a beautiful part of the city. I met this one street-kid who was brilliant. He was eight and spoke about 7 languages. I mean, he knew how to say "Hello," "How are you," and "Goodbye" in all the languages I knew, and he was proficient at the languages I knew better (English, Spanish). He said he followed foreigners around all day when they came through and asked questions. I wanted to talk to him all day.

There is a ten-year-old in my neighborhood that runs a convenience-store stand. He is learning English and he also wanted to talk, so we chatted for an hour today. He goes--you guessed it--to a school that charges $6 a month in the neighborhood. This afternoon, I played soccer with Pratham, my roommate, and a bunch of guys my age from Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote d'Ivoire on a dusty vacant lot. And that's the weekend.

I visit my first school tomorrow afternoon. Till then, stay dry--monsoon season starts this week.

ERB

In parallel with this shift towards sterility has been a push-back by those with the technical skills to hack their devices for additional functionality. With Linux or Wikipedia, the user is encouraged to hack, edit and create. With the iPhone or TiVo, the opposite is true and we are expected to accept what Steve Jobs or another executive decides. This has not been accepted happily by all and many are unlocking their iPhones or other sterile devices.

This "forced generativity" might seem like a protection against sterility - no device can be fully locked down and users are bound to open them incrementally. When I asked JZ this during a Washington Post discussion, his answer pointed out an important qualification: this forced generativity is increasingly contingent upon avoiding centrally controlled updates which can re-sterilize freed iPhones or TiVos.

Zittrain also laments that not everyone has the technical skill to force generativity, saying "I don't want a world where only the hackers get Get Out of Jail Free cards, and where everyone else risks serious crossfire to break out of a sterile platform." I think this is an important point, but not necessarily the entire truth. Of course, technically-inclined folks are more likely to be able to avoid sterility, but aren't they the people who can take advantage of generativity in the first place? Hackers are the ones adding to Linux and using the neutral Internet to create new web services.

However, anecdotal evidence would suggest that more than just hackers force sterility. For example, Jan Chipchase (NYT profile), a cultural anthropologist who studies the use of mobile phones in the developing world, has written about "cultures of repair." If you travel around the developing world (and to a lesser extent, richer nations), you will encounter a massive industry dedicated to mobile phone augmentation. Chipchase writes, "Aside from the scale of what's on sale there is a thriving market for device repair services ranging from swapping out components to re-soldering circuit boards to reflashing phones in a language of your choice , naturally." These are not just repairs; at times they come very close to doing what American hackers do with the iPhone - they add functionality and opportunity. And it isn't just the technically minded, its the poorest of the poor:

"The informal repair services that are offered are quite simply driven by necessity - highly price sensitive customers cannot afford to go through more expensive official customer care centers and even if they could their phones are unlikely to be covered by warrantee - having been bought through grey market channels, been sent as gifts from friends and relatives abroad, or were locally bought used, second or third+ ownership."

What is happening is a broad effort to force generativity upon an industry which is woefully sterile. The warrantees, contracts, networks and devices of the mobile telecommunications sector reek of sterility. People, and not just hackers, are pushing back.

Perhaps the real conclusion from this small quibble is that people do want and are capable of utilizing generativity. Efforts to control too much will be rejected or augmented. 

+++ Over 20.000 Euro within a few days for surviving victims of cyclone Nargis in Burma. German/Swedish energy group Vattenfall will match every Euro donated by an employee. The money is used to buy survival packs, containing a plastic cover, clothes, kitchen and hygiene articles, a blanket and a petrol canister, for 35 Euro each. CARE have been present in Burma for over 20 years with mainly local staff, the packs get distributed directly to the victims of Nargis. +++ Why can't we do the same to help the victims of the earthquake in China? Big discussions here in the team. We don't have a partner organisation with that amount of experience on location, and that we know to be trustworthy, like the case with CARE in Burma. That's the problem. +++ Toilet collabo kick-off: past Tuesday we welcomed Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation (with the great acronym WTO) from Singapore, German designer Werner Aisslinger, and a group of design students from Berlin's Universität der Künste (UdK) and Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Karlsruhe. Assisted by their professors Aisslinger and Axel Kufus, the students will design the toilet for "the other 90 %" of humanity - those 2.6 Billion people without access to sanitary facilities at the bottom of the pyramid and mostly neglected as potential customers. +++ It's everybody's business - we got covered by Germany's reputable newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The smart article by Johannes Boie was both published on jetzt.de, and as printed version in the newpaper's "young" supplement. +++ to be continued...

Jack Sim, Joana Breidenbach und Werner Aisslinger mit Designstudenten beim WTO-betterplace Workshop

Die letzten drei Tage hatten wir Besuch aus Singapur. Jack Sim, Gründer der World Toilet Organisation war nach Berlin gekommen, um zwei Workshops zu bestreiten.

Nachdem ich im Februar die WTO bei einem Besuch in Singapur knapp verpasst hatte, waren wir per email in Kontakt geblieben. Deepa, Jacks Mitarbeiterin hatte zwei gute Projekte auf betterplace veröffentlicht, von dem uns besonders das Projekt Toiletten für 2.6 Milliarden Menschen begeisterte und anspornte es besonders zu unterstützen.

Das Problem
2.6 Milliarden Menschen leben ohne Toiletten. Als Tabu-Thema findet es jedoch nicht die nötige Beachtung. Massive soziale und gesundheitliche Probleme sind die Folge: Mädchen gehen nicht nur Schule, da sie dort keine Toiletten vorfinden, in tropischen Ländern stellen Frauen 24 Stunden bevor sie auf den Markt gehen, Essen und Trinken ein, um unterwegs nicht in unangenehme Situationen zu kommen. Zudem sterben jährlich mehr als 5 Millionen Menschen an Krankheiten, die auf unzureichende Sanitäranlagen zurückzuführen sind, während Flüsse und Grundwasser durch einfließende Fäkalien verseucht werden.

Ein Markt für Toiletten
Da der Sanitärnotstand nicht über Spendengelder und die herkömmlichen Instrumentarien der Entwicklungshilfe gelöst werden kann, verfolgt die World Toilet Organisationen einen marktwirtschaftlichen Ansatz, d.h. sie betrachtet die 2.6 Milliarden toilettenlosen Menschen als potentielle Kunden. Bis vor kurzem wurden die Menschen am sogenannten „Ende der Wohlstandspyramide“ (Bottom of the Pyramid, d.h. Menschen, die zwischen 1-2 US$ am Tag verdienen) als Kunden ignoriert. Mittlerweile jedoch interessieren sich immer mehr Unternehmen, ebenso wie Hilfsorganisationen für diese Bevölkerungsgruppe, die zwar wenig individuelle Kaufkraft haben, durch ihre Masse aber als Marktsegment auch unter wirtschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten von Interesse ist. 

Der WTO-Ansatz sieht die Produktion und den Vertrieb von erschwinglichen, anspruchsvoll designten öffentlichen Toiletten vor, die den Betreibern durch Außenwerbung und Nutzungsgebühren einen Verdienst einbringen. Durch eine geschickte Verbindung aus zentralen und dezentralen Produktions-, Vertriebs- und Unterhaltungsformen soll es möglich sein, sowohl lokale Besonderheiten und Standortvorteile mit einzubeziehen, als auch von globalem Knowhow und Massenproduktionsvorteilen zu profitieren.

Der Projekt-Inkubator
Unsere Idee war es die WTO mit dem Designer Werner Aisslinger und seinen Studenten an der Hochschule für Gestaltung zusammenzubringen, um preiswerte aber gut designte Toiletten zu gestalten. Zu dem Workshop kamen dann neben den 8 Studenten aus Karlsruhe auch noch eine Handvoll Studenten von Axel Kufus von der UdK, Berlin. Während der dreistündigen Orientierungssession mit Jack Sim erhielten die Studenten nicht nur einen grundlegenden Einblick in die vielen negativen Folgen des Sanitärnotstands, Jack erklärte auch, wieso Design so wichtig ist.

Warum müssen Klos sexy sein?
Denn Toiletten können für viele Arme keine Priorität haben und rationale Argumente für deren Erwerb und Nutzung laufen oft ins Leere. Deshalb ist Jacks Strategie Klos als Statussymbole zu vermarkten und den Armen zugleich mit Außenwerbung und Benutzergebühren die Möglichkeit geben, mit ihnen Geld zu verdienen.

Ich fand die Diskussion mit den Studenten extrem anregend und interessant. Sie diskutierten über reisende Toilettengussformen ebenso wie über religiöse und kulturelle Besonderheiten und Copyrightstrategien (die Klos sollen nach Jack share ware und nicht rechtlich geschützt sein). Um die Diskussion fortzuführen und die benötigten Produktdesigns zu konkretisieren trafen sich die Studenten am nächsten Tag nochmals mit Jack in Werners Studio.  

Dort fand auch der abendliche Workshop mit Vertretern aus der Industrie (Daniel Wall, Wall AG), Entwicklungszusammenarbeit(Sören Rüd, gtz) und Politik (Dr. Uschi Eid) statt, bei dem Jack nochmals seine Vision erläuterte. Ullrich Krauss vom Zagreus Projekt hatte sich bereit erklärt den Abend kulinarisch zu begleiten und Lotta, Jakob, Philip, Vico und Amos von betterplace junior legten einen perfekten Service hin. Euch allen vielen Dank!

Der Kickoff ist getan, nun geht es darum, die vielen gesponnenen Fäden und Pläne weiterzuentwickeln. Jack, wieder in Singapur, füttert uns mit konkreteren Informationen zu möglichen Geschäftsmodellen für ein Toiletten-Ikea und sucht best practice Beispiele. Werner und betterpace bauen eine Kommunikations- und Arbeitsstruktur für die Designstudenten auf. Man hört Berichte über einen neuen Toiletten-Designpreis und erste interessierte Investoren für ein neues Toilettenbusiness für "die anderen 90%" haben sich gemeldet. 

Last week, the fifth edition of metropolis' next generation® design prize was awarded to architect and professor, eric olsen. The 2008 prestigious design prize was based around the theme of water. Olsen's project, a solar water disinfecting tarpaulin, was awarded 10,000 USD for coming out on top of a very competitive field. Created for transporting and purifying water, his design can be used in a variety of areas were potable water is inaccessible. the design is a lightweight and flexible bag which is created through digital manufacturing and cleans water through passive solar radiation (thanks to Stefan Legner and Werner Aisslinger for pointing me to this) 

Direct from the e-mail:

Special collection: The biggest market on Earth
In one country, as part of a ubiquitous custom called “five–six” lending, poor people borrow five pesos from informal lenders and repay six, usually within a week. The annual interest rate works out at roughly 13,000 percent.

This is hardly the only place where low-income people suffer from a lack of choices and information. Their options have been limited because legitimate companies have been reluctant to enter the markets that serve them.

These articles from the archive show that large and reputable financial and retail businesses are now finding ways to do so profitably.

A grassroots approach to emerging-market consumers
November 2006

Extending financial services to Latin America's poor
March 2007

The following three premium articles are available to nonpremium members for a limited time through this e-mail.

Financing Latin America's low-income consumers (Guest passed until May 16)
March 2007

The CEO as CIO: An interview with the head of India's top private bank (Guest passed until May 16)
March 2007

Succeeding in Latin American banking: An interview with Banco Itaú's CEO (Guest passed until May 16)
November 2006

A Front Page story in the WSJ by Rob Guth on Jan. 24, 2008 explored details of Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ “Call for kinder Capitalism.” It detailed Mr. Gates’ speech that was to be delivered at the Davos World Economic Forum speech (Click here for link to speech transcript and video).

“We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well,” his speech said. The "curtain-raiser" WSJ story of the speech outlined the thematics about the new kind of capitalism Gates is suggesting. Gates' speech did give many examples of world-changing behavior by corporations and individuals.

I'm guessing one reason for Mr. Gates’ to give the speech to the WSJ ahead of time, in addition to his good rapport with reporter Guth, could be that few participants in the World Economic Forum actually listen to speeches but banter with each other in hallways. Mr. Gates’ was, perhaps, trying to spread his ideas more widely or, at least, to attempt to establish himself as the figurehead of these ideas. I don't know if he accomplished that task yet. The non-profit and development community still does not seem to view him as "the Pope" despite the cash he has on hand.

Gate's speaks well on these topics. His positions are laudable. It is interesting, however, that most of the ideas he spoke of came from other minds and books before him. He acknowledged CK Prahalad's book, “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid during the speech and several individuals in the space. How innovative will he be in this space? Or will he borrow (better word than "steal") the best ideas from others and take credit for them?

Several other notable economists and thinkers, who attended Davos, said they appreciate Gates' focus on this area but they did hear some talk in hallways at Davos about the irony of Mr. Gates talking of making capitalism kinder after a career of building monopoly positions in the tech industry with a bent on destroying competitors and, at times, violating anti-trust laws.

Will Mr. Gates end as the figurehead of social enterprise and what he terms "creative capitalism." If so, it will be partly thanks to Warren Buffet's $40 some billion gift (link to details) to the Bill and Melinda Gate's foundation. Will Bill Gates' - with some $60 billion in his foundation wallet - hold a monopoly on social enterprise ideas/poverty reduction/international development/global health ideas?

I'll be interested in your comments and thoughts about this.

My initial thoughts: It will be much more difficult to do so as the non-profit and development world is wild and diffuse. In fact, perhaps it needs a good monopolist to come along and force mergers/acquisitions and greater efficiency? Or, conversely, does a dominant player in development ideas hinder competition and development by controlling too great a pool of money, which actually goes to fewer non-profits and for-profits - causing them to be less efficient? Does the philanthropic world need an allied coalition like Steve Jobs-Ted Turner-Lakshmi Mittal-Richard Branson to rival the financial and charitable heft of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett?

Please comment below. We'll revisit this question and Bill Gates actions in the future. It's clear he is the guy to watch in the future. We will be watching.

-0-

Extra, Extra ... Here's another quote from Gate's speech at Davos that indicates his shifting perspective:

"Thirty years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, my focus was totally on how the magic of software could change the world. I saw that breakthroughs in technology could solve key problems. And they do, increasingly, for billions of people.

But breakthroughs change lives primarily where people can afford to buy them, only where there is economic demand, and economic demand is not the same as economic need.

There are billions of people who need the great inventions of the computer age, and many more basic needs as well, but they have no way of expressing their needs in ways that matter to the market, so they go without."

In der gerade erschienenen Ausgabe von Red Herring, dem amerikanischen Technologiebusiness-Journal, findet sich ein interessantes Interview mit Jacqueline Novogratz, Gründerin des Acumen Fund. Acumen ist ein weltweiter Venture Fund, der in Unternehmen und Technologie investiert, die das Leben armer Menschen - an der Bottom of the Pyramid – verbessern.

Ziel des Funds ist es bis zum Jahre 2001 $US 100 Millionen einzusammeln und mit diesem Geld das Leben von 50 Millionen Menschen nachhaltig zu verbessern. Siebe Jahre alt, hat Acumen bislang $ 32 Millionen aufgebracht – meist von wohlhabenden Individuen und Stiftungen – und in Unternehmen in Kenya, Indien, Pakistan und Tanzania investiert. Ein Investment in Tanzania ist beispielsweise A to Z Textile Mills, die Insektizit-imprägnierte Mückennetze vertreiben und mittlerweile mit 7000 Angestellten, den meisten davon Frauen, der zweitgrößte Arbeitgeber im Land ist.

Die Investitionen des Funds belaufen sich zwischen $300,000 und $2 Million, immer mit dem Ziel Geschäftmodelle zu entwickeln, die kopiert und skaliert werden können.

Das Interview greift einige der Fragen auf , die uns auch schon bei betterplace beschäftigt haben: so zum Beispiel, ob der Markt ein effizienterer Hebel zur Armutsbekämpfung ist, als der non-profit Sektor. (Novogratz sagt: Ja.)

Interessant ist auch, nach welchen Kriterien Acumen sich für oder gegen eine Investition entscheidet. Von größter Bedeutung ist dabei die Person des Sozialunternehmers selbst. Er muß nicht nur schon einen Vertrieb vorweisen können, sondern auch intime Marktkenntnisse besitzen.

Jaqueline Novogratz zitiert Bill Drayton (von Ashoka), das nur einer von einer Millionen Sozialunternehmern das Format von Mohammed Yunus, dem Gründer der Grameen Bank, hat. Um ihm dann aber auch gleich zu widersprechen, da sich mit der zunehmenden Präsenz und Professionalisierung immer mehr begabte Menschen für den Sektor interessieren. „Als wir im April 2000 anfingen, schauten wir uns 700 potentielle Investments an und wir konnten uns für keines begeistern. Mittlerweile sehen wir jedes Jahr qualifiziertere Sozialunternehmer."