The rise of entrepreneurial start-ups focusing their attention on the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) is good news. So is the renewed interest from large companies that are learning how to compete in emerging markets. The bad news is that so many of them fail. Why do they fail, and how can we minimize these failures? For most […]
With the historic 1991 economic reforms in India, the Tata group embarked on a new era, transforming itself from a respected domestic business house into a global competitor comprising nearly 100 companies with combined revenues of more than $100 billion and over 600,000 employees. Yet the rise to prominence in automobiles, hotels, communications, power, steel, […]
Hennie Botes founded Moladi in 1986, after building a global business as an entrepreneur and inventor. His ability to think outside the box has led him to found a company that is revolutionizing the affordable housing market through design, innovation, and good-old fashioned ingenuity. Can you tell us about how Moladi came about? How did you come up […]
For more than 25 years, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) has worked to deliver solar power to rural villages in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At SELF, our belief is that energy is a human right, and that without access to clean, modern energy, community development becomes virtually impossible. Our Solar Market GardenTM (SMG) project […]
There is a long-standing narrative in the field of management that goes something like this: Executives are hired to maximize profits, not social welfare: Spending shareholders’ money on socially responsible but unprofitable endeavors is irresponsible. Indeed, as stated in a Wall Street Journal editorial: “In cases where private profits and public interests are aligned, the idea of […]
Today, there are major changes happening inside a select group of the world’s largest corporations. In response to the Earth’s most pressing environmental problems, a growing number of the most recognizable multinational companies are transforming the way they do business. These new developments hold great potential for our future. Using a process known as biomimicry, […]