The internet of everything will help address four fundamental corporate responsibility challenges. This blog is a summary of the 2015 Davies Award winning entry on the Internet of Everything, sponsored by the Althea Foundation, Cisco and the University of Oxford Said School of Business. Applications of the internet of everything (IOE) range from the gimmicky … Continue reading How the Internet of Everything can jumpstart CSR
Most literature implies that the successful intrapreneur needs most of the same attitudes and tools as the entrepreneur; in other words, that the intrapreneur is just an entrepreneur who happens to work within an established company. In fact, beyond the drive to innovate, there are arguably more differences than similarities between the two. Here are … Continue reading Three differences between social intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs that people don’t talk about
Reframing the problems of big data: When the implications of big data are debated the problem most often presented is that of data surplus. Questions of what applications produce what data, or what companies have access to it, all rest on the assumption that a great deal of data is available for analysis. These questions … Continue reading Data poverty: How the rise of big data risks marginalizing the world’s poorest
Recently I had the honor of presenting at the PowerShift Conference on Women in the World Economy, hosted by the Oxford University Saïd Business School. PowerShift was hands down the most inspiring conference I have ever attended, largely because it drew together companies, NGOs and academics in a way which not only gave participants a … Continue reading Towards an ecosystem for women’s financial inclusion- what next?
This year’s Skoll World Forum on Social Enterprise only confirmed the accelerating levels of interest in social business. The event brought together representatives from the private, public and non-profit sectors, all of whom agreed on one point: inclusive business is the future. However, there is one point which lacked any degree of accord: namely, what … Continue reading Demystifying social enterprise and inclusive business
Social enterprise has made it to the main stage. Companies from Unilever to Coke are embracing the concept and even starting their own enterprises. Speakers at last year’s Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship included representatives from Marks & Spencer, Cisco, Pepsico and Nike. But is this burgeoning interest a good thing? Social enterprise and … Continue reading Is big business appropriating social enterprise?
I've written about the business case for empowering women producers before; but the financial justification for inclusive business goes much further than that. Today, CARE International published "A Different Cup of Tea: The Business Case for Empowering Workers in the Sri Lankan Tea Sector" which demonstrates that companies investing in one worker empowerment model, the … Continue reading The business case for worker empowerment: Evidence from the Sri Lankan tea sector
This week American stakeholders announced the formation of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and signatories to the European Fire and Building Safety Accord released their Implementation Plan. While both agreements represent steps in the right direction, to address the root causes of the Rana Plaza disaster, both initiatives must take further measures to build … Continue reading Preventing another Rana Plaza: Mapping the path forward
Everyone has something to say about millennials, the generation born from 1980 to the present, including how they will shape the future of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. Depending on who you ask, the coming of the millennials will mean either a new era of robust and transparent approaches to corporate responsibility, or the … Continue reading Will millennials change the face of corporate responsibility? One millennial weighs in.
Miners in Liberia: Photo credit Cristina Villegas Human rights remains a topic that companies may reference perfunctorily in their codes of conduct, but few really seem to understand. In their defense, this is in part because, first, best practice standards on business and human rights are often nascent at best, and, second, human rights tend … Continue reading The 3 most common misconceptions about business and human rights
This blog was originally posted on Business Fights Poverty. It is based on the findings of the Strengthening the Dairy Value Chain project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by CARE International Bangladesh and US. Debate on the possibilities at the base of the pyramid (BOP) is ubiquitous; nonetheless, too often regulated to a … Continue reading What your BOP strategy is missing: A gender lens
The best, scariest, most surprising, and most inspirational updates in inclusive business this month. #1: The (non) surprise update: Businesses are still ignoring the fact that women exist, losing money because of it Closing the “gender gap represented a $13 billion missed market opportunity for the mobile industry”, finds research from USAID, Aussie Aid, … Continue reading Inclusive business roundup: June 2013
There is a strong business case for sustainable and inclusive business; however, advocates should acknowledge that transitioning to this model will not always come without cost. There are three ways we can overcome these obstacles. Everyone is talking about the benefits of sustainable and inclusive business. In a recent speech, UK Minister for International … Continue reading Two reasons to ignore the business case for sustainability- and what we can do about it
