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Perspectives, news, reviews and information on the intersection of management education and development from the GBSN staff and community. We encourage your comments! If you are not yet a community member, you can join by clicking on the "Join Now" link at the top right of the screen. You don't need to be a member school faculty to participate in the conversation, so register today and let us know what you think.

 

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Top tags: conference  Case Method  case studies  Business Education  Entrepreneurship  Management Education  MBAs  Association of African Business Schools  MBA Challenge  Africa  agribusiness  food security  Gazelle  Global Entrepreneurship Week  Grameen Creative Lab  innovation  Lagos Business School  mentor  MERC  NGOs  SME  social business  Sustainability  Tunisia  Women 

Food for Thought

Posted By Guy Pfeffermann, Monday, May 13, 2013

Guy Pfeffermann I came across this quote yesterday as I was reading and found it quite relevant to GBSN's mission and vision for social and economic development.  Management matters.

"[T]he winning of great wars always requires superior organization, and that in turn requires people who can run those organizations, not in a blinkered way but most competently and in a fashion that will allow outsiders to feed fresh ideas into the pursuit of victory. None of this can be done by the chiefs alone, however great their genius, however massive their energy. There has to be a support system, a culture of encouragement, efficient feedback loops, a capacity to learn from setbacks, and ability to get things done.”

Paul Kennedy, "Engineers of Victory – The Problem Solvers who turned the Tide in the Second World War” Conclusion Chapter – "Problem Solving in History” (Random House, 2013, p. 372)

 

Guy Pfeffermann is the founder and CEO of the Global Business School Network.

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Call for Papers: International Journal of Intercultural Information Management Journal

Posted By Nicole Zefran, Monday, May 06, 2013

Nicole ZefranOne of our member schools, IMT Ghaziabad, is calling for papers for their International Journal of Intercultural Information Management (IJIIM). IJIIM is a fully referred journal which publishes papers analyzing all aspects of international and intercultural issues with regard to information management. IJIIM welcomes all scholastic researches addressing how international or intercultural questions can produce information systems/information technology (IS/IT) related problems, which may involve changing management concepts, modeling, methodologies, and business process engineering/re-engineering as well as ethical and security concerns.

For decades, our cultural background, ethical stance and national considerations such as law, currency, management philosophy, security concerns, etc., affect the way we use information systems. At the same time, the use of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) changes the way we interact, do business and communicate changes which in turn may impact businesses with different cultural backgrounds in significantly different ways. Because of cultural and national differences, an information system that works perfectly in one place may not work at all in another, or identical systems may find completely different uses in different cultures.

Papers are solicited that address these issues from an empirical and/or conceptual point of view. The topics of interest to IJIIM include but not limit to:

  • Case studies of issues in different countries
  • The influence of national/corporate culture
  • Role/comparison of theories, criteria/determinants
  • Intercultural/international moralities/codes of ethics
  • Culturally divergent perceptions (ethics/privacy/security/laws)
  • Risk/project management, systems design/development
  • Changing philosophy due to cultural variation, HR practices
  • E-commerce design/development/ management
  • Supply chain/customer relationship management
  • Intercultural decision support systems
  • Business intelligence and knowledge management
  • Business process engineering/reengineering
  • Software and data engineering
  • Quality issues
  • Education/training, collaborations and partnerships, innovation

Submission for Papers:

Papers, case studies, etc. in the areas covered by IJIIM are invited for submission. Authors may wish to send an abstract of proposed papers in advance. Notes for intending authors can be found at:https://www.inderscience.com/papers

All papers must be submitted online.

Authors of accepted papers will receive a PDF file of their published paper. Hard copies of journal issues may be purchased at a special price for authors fromsubs@inderscience.com

All editorial correspondence (but not subscription orders) should be addressed to:

Professor Jayanthi Ranjan
Chairperson, International Relations
Institute of Management Technology (IMT)

Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad 201 001, India

Email:jranjan@imt.edu

Neither the editor nor the publisher can accept responsibility for opinions expressed in the International Journal of Intercultural Information Managementnor in any of its special publications.


Subscription orders:

IJIIM is published in four issues per volume. A Subscription Order Form is provided in
this issue.

Payment with order should be made to:

Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. (Order Dept.),
World Trade Centre Building II,
29 Route de Pre-Bois, Case Postale 856,
CH-1215 Genève 15, Switzerland.

You may also FAX to:
(UK) +44 1234 240 515
or Email to subs@inderscience.com

Electronic PDF files:

IJIIM papers are available to download from website:www.inderscience.com 

Online payment by credit card.


Advertisements:

Please address enquiries to the above-mentioned Geneva address or

Email:adverts@inderscience.com


 

Nicole Zefran is the Communications Intern at the Global Business School Network.


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Mentoring Opportunity: Become a Mentor to Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies

Posted By Nicole Zefran, Monday, May 06, 2013
Nicole ZefranThe Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is looking for mentors to join their June 2013 program. The foundation supports women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging economies. This mentoring program is an opportunity to make an impact on women entrepreneurs in Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, China, Pakistan, the Philippines or a host of other countries.

Through the combination of mentoring and technology, the Cherie Blair Foundation is revolutionizing a new way of supporting women entrepreneurs. All of the mentoring is done online using a specifically designed Google platform, which makes room for great flexibility and cross-country networking and learning. Over the course of a year, you will meet with your mentee online for two hours a month to work on goals that are tailored to her needs and your expertise.

To become a mentor, you need to have seven plus years of relevant experience and commit to a full year, one hour every two weeks, of mentoring.

Mentoring provides a tremendous learning and growth opportunity for both mentees and mentors. Mentoring has cultivated a global competency and enhanced skill set amongst mentors, which feeds back into their own work and can enrich the companies that employ them. In addition to building their CVs, gaining new skills and expanding their networks, many mentors reported that their mentoring relationships were truly life changing and inspirational.

To hear directly from past mentees and mentors, check out the program’s impact wall or read blogs by Shilpa, Julian or Nicola.

The application deadline is May 28, 2013. Click here to apply and support a women entrepreneur today!

 Cherie Blair Mentees

Important Information:

  • The first step is to review the selection criteria and complete the online application, which helps the Foundation find you a mentee who is a great match with your expertise and interests. If successful, you'll be invited to complete a short multimedia training online that will prepare you for being a mentor. 
  • After that, the foundation will match you with a mentee and help you kick-off your mentoring relationship, which will begin mid June.
  • The program lasts for 12 months and is all done online. You'll communicate with a mentee using Skype, Google Talk, Gchat, email or other online tools. 
  • In addition to a one-to-one mentoring relationship, you'll also have access to trainings, webinars and interactive online networking and learning platform that connects you with accomplished people from around the world. 
  • You'll want to se aside at least 2 hours a month to meet with your mentee and a bit more time if you'd like to attend webinars, trainings, etc.
  • Mentors are both men and women who are mid- to-senior level professionals and entrepreneurs from a variety of different backgrounds.
  • Mentees come from over 50 different countries and are passionate, driven entrepreneurs  who are looking for dedicated mentors to help them build their businesses, confidence and business skills. They request help in a wide range of areas, especially including (but not limited to) marketing, communications, finance, IT, strategy, sales, and HR. 
  • Mentors receive an unparalleled learning and growth experience, a title from the Cherie Blair Foundation, an opportunity to gain new professional contacts, access to networking events and trainings, a certificate from Cherie Blair and a personal relationship with their mentee.
  • You will be expected to be proactive in communicating with your mentee and available to meet according to a schedule you agree on together. 
  • Mentoring is a responsibility that requires time, dedication, but also yields a wealth of rewards. The program offers mentors a unique opportunity to develop their own leadership skills and network with like-minded professionals.

If you have any questions, contact Alicia at am@cherieblairfoundation.org.

Click here to find out more information about the Mentoring Women in Business Program.

 


Nicole Zefran is the Communications Intern at the Global Business School Network. 

Tags:  Entrepreneurship  mentor 

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Announcing the MBA+ Challenge Video Contest Winners

Posted By Nicole Zefran, Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Updated: Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Nicole ZefranThe moment you have all been waiting for is here! GBSN is proud to announce the 1st Place winner of the 2013 MBA+ Challenge is the Mama Carts - Increasing Food Security video by a team from Colorado State University Global, Social and Sustainable MBA. They produced a video on increasing food security in urban slums, now specifically targeting East Africa. 

MamaCarts is a for-profit, food cart microfranchise that powers existing supply chains to distribute complete, clean and delicious meals to lower income, urban markets. Over 200 million people living in urban slums are food insecure. MamaCarts has worked in food systems around the world, but is now targeting East Africa.

The most detrimental result of food insecurity is chronic malnutrition, otherwise known as "hidden hunger." Chronic malnutrition is perpetuated as a result of four key root causes:

      1. Broken supply chains
      2. Poor sanitation
      3. Gaps in nutritional education
      4. High prices
In recognizing these complexities, this team of MBAs developed a solution that touches on all four issues. Food security is a complete, clean, and deliciously accessible future we can all play a part in. By buying nutritional food in bulk from local suppliers, the price per meal becomes cheaper. Through the combination of their cooking center and distribution system, MamaCarts vendors complete the link between local suppliers and food insecure customers. By 2018, MamaCarts will address the root causes of malnutrition by annually delivering 1 billion affordable and holistic meals. 


 

2nd Place goes to the GIVEWATTS video by a team from the IMD in Switzerland.  The video is about installing renewable energy in marginalized schools and clinics in Kenya. GIVEWATTS uses solar lanterns as their entry point into communities. In order for children to study at night, families are forced to buy kerosene. For families who cannot afford kerosene, the children are forced to use open fire to study. GIVEWATTS uses a commercial model to increase the number of lamps placed, as well as to avoid dependency and create sustainability.

 


 

Third Place goes to the Seeking Change - UNC Kenan-Flagler and the World Around Them video by the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The video is about 12 MBA students who embarked on an 8-week journey to use their business education to make an impact in three countries: the US, Ethiopia and Kenya.

 


 

Out of 21 entries from around the globe, five finalists were chosen by a public online vote. All five finalists won the opportunity to be matched up with a prestigious business leader from around the world, and are participating in a one-hour mentoring session in the next couple of weeks. The student mentor matchups are below:

A panel of judges, with each judge submitting scores, chose the winners. This year’s panel of judges included:

  • Della Bradshaw, Financial Times
  • Gina Tesla, IBM
  • David De Feranti, Results for Development
  • David Wilson, GMAC
  • Mahmoud Triki, Mediterranean School of Business
  • Jaqueline Stein, Tuck MBA and 2012 MBA Challenge Winning Team Member

The 1st Place team has the opportunity to send one team member to our Annual Conference in Tunis, Tunisia to present their video at our Gala Dinner. They also win an opportunity to write about their work and experience that will be featured by Nextbillion’s and New Global Citizen’s blog.

Congratulations to the winners and to all teams that produced creative videos demonstrating the impact they are having in the developing world. GBSN is truly inspired by the work these students have been doing to make an impact on people’s lives. We hope all the videos inspire you to follow down this path as well. So, the answer to our original question is YES, business education can and does change the world!

 

 

Nicole Zefran is the Communications and Event Planning Intern at the Global Business School Network. 

Tags:  Africa  food security  MBA Challenge 

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How is Africa Doing? The Positives and the Challenges

Posted By Guy Pfeffermann, Monday, April 29, 2013
Updated: Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Guy PfeffermannThis month I talked about Africa at Chicago’s Booth School of Business, a GBSN member. So I thought I would put on my development economist hat and take a fresh look at the continent – meaning Sub-Saharan Africa. Nothing about management education this time around.

Things have definitely improved, especially since world commodity prices started soaring around 1995. There is so much exuberance about Africa that a recent issue of "This is Africa” is entitled "Over-hyped? Competing narratives on the African growth story”. I thought it might be interesting to compile two lists: what I see as positive factors and the challenges.

Let’s start with the list of challenges:

In spite of its enormous size and population, Africa is small economically, accounting for less than 2 percent of the world economy. Three economies – South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya – produce more than half of Africa’s GDP. On average, the other countries have small markets – the size of Albania or Cambodia or about $ 10 billion. As there is little inter-African trade, incumbent firms tend to dominate each of these small markets.

Poor infrastructure increases costs. Shipping a car from China to Tanzania costs $4,000, but getting it from there to nearby Uganda costs another $ 5,000. Forty percent of produce trucked into Lagos spoils in transport. Power shortages are daily occurrences. For businesses, energy adds up to 10 percent of total costs, compared to 3 percent in China. Labor costs are high by international standards in relation to productivity. Partly because of this, Africa has the world’s lowest share of manufacturing, and it continues to decline.

While some public institutions have improved, corruption is pervasive, as evidenced by recent Transparency International and African Development Bank surveys. This is a drag on property rights and law enforcement. Public education systems yield very poor educational outcomes.

Last, but not least, Africa’s economies are more than ever vulnerable to drops in commodity prices (i.e., the economic health of OECD and BRIC countries).

 

Map of Africa with other continents fitting in it

Source: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/the-true-size-of-africa/

 

Fortunately, there are lots of positive developments as well:

Growth has accelerated from only 2 percent a year in the 1980s (when population was growing by 3 percent a year) to 5 percent in this century. At this rate Africa’s market will double in about 12 years. Macro policies have improved greatly, and inflation is no longer a major concern. The volume of oil and other mineral exports keeps growing.

Private capital inflows, including public and private investment from China, now exceed foreign aid, putting Africa on the desirable path of "development without aid dependence”. Private capital is flowing into a whole range of sectors: telecommunications, banking, tourism, construction, health and education facilities and, importantly, because they generate a lot of employment, agri-business and retail shops.

Perhaps more than any other factor, the spread of mobile phones has transformed Africa, bringing several hundred million persons out of isolation. As internet connectivity improves, the next wave of innovation is underway with the increasing spread of smart phones. This revolution has begun to transform retail banking, health and agricultural services. Education will be next in line – including business and entrepreneurship education.

To end on a cheerful note, the University of Michigan’s World Value Surveys asked persons in some 80 countries: "Taking all things together, would you say you are: 1.Very happy, 2. Rather happy, 3. Not very happy, or 4. Not at all happy?" Nigeria topped the list! On the broader ranking of "subjective well-being”, Nigeria ranked 19th, wedged between Sweden and Norway.


 

Guy Pfeffermann is the CEO and founder of the Global Business School Network.  He served as a development economist for the World Bank Group for 40 years, including 16 years as the chief economist of the International Finance Corporation.

Tags:  Africa 

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News Release: AABS Launches Agribusiness Management Programme in LBS

Posted By Nicole Zefran, Thursday, April 25, 2013

Nicole ZefranThe Association of African Business Schools (AABS) will launch the Agribusiness Management Programme (AgMP) at Lagos Business School on May 7. 

The AgMP is developed by AABS to provide high-quality, business, management and leadership education to a range of stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Africa, especially senior executives of agro-allied, food and beverage and financial institutions. 

It will be run in six schools of the AABS Agribusiness Consortium (AAC). The schools are Lagos Business School, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania and Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA).

Others are United States International University (USIU), Kenya, University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.

The keynote speaker for the launch is the Managing Director, Doreo Partners, Mr. Kola Masha who will speak on the topic: "Building the Future Agribusiness in Africa: The Role of the Management Education." The AgMP will begin in LBS this October.

For Press information contact:

Joan Eqwuterai

Head, External Relations

Lagos Business School

Pan-African University

Km 22, Lekki-Epe Expressway

Ajah, Lagos

Tel: 234-1-8991449, 7901510, 7740280

Mobile: 0808-0990787

http://www.lbs.edu.ng

 

About Lagos Business School: 

Lagos Business School is situated in Nigeria’s commercial and industrial hub, Lagos. The School was established in 1991, and is committed to teaching management with a humanistic approach, delivering general management education to high potential professionals, across all levels in organisations, in a wide range of industry sectors. A premier business school in Africa’s largest country, LBS is uniquely positioned to develop visionary business leaders capable of maximising the high growth opportunities in key industry sectors to move Africa to economic prosperity. Over the years, LBS has collaborated with other business schools in Africa and around the world on programmes to develop responsible business leaders. LBS is a member of the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), the Global Business School Network (GBSN), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. LBS has been ranked every year since 2007 by the Financial Times of London among the top 55 business schools in the world in the area of open enrolment executive education programmes. It is the only Nigerian school to attain this world ranking. LBS is the business school of Pan-African University.

  

Nicole Zefran is the Communications and Event Planning Intern at the Global Business School Network.

 

Tags:  agribusiness  Association of African Business Schools  Lagos Business School 

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Lisa's Top 10 Reasons to Attend the GBSN Annual Conference in Tunisia

Posted By Lisa Leander, Monday, April 22, 2013
Lisa LeanderI had an amazing visit to Tunis in preparation of the upcoming GBSN Annual Conference, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship. Our team is thrilled with the plans so far, and we think you will be too! I believe a picture speaks a thousand words, so I thought I would share my experiences of the visit through photos.

Lisa’s Top Ten Reasons to Attend the GBSN Annual Conference in Tunisia

(as told from photos of her visit)


10.) Every detail, from an agenda of fascinating speakers and topics, to the logistics of the conference rooms has been given considerable thought and planning.


The team hard at work. Houda Ghouzi, MSB Faculty and Leila Triki, MSB Faculty join me in discussing the details of the agenda.

9.) After a long day of networking and learning about new innovations in entrepreneurship education, return to your balcony, have a cool drink, relax and enjoy the view.

 

View from my hotel room balcony at The Residence Hotel, the location of the GBSN Annual Conference.

8.) Visit the new modern building of the Mediterranean School of Business and learn about their programs in entrepreneurship and business management.

 

The team in front of the new MSB building in downtown Tunis.

7.) Attend the GBSN Member’s only meeting and learn about our impact over the last ten years as well as strategize for our plans for the next ten years. This will be a highly participatory meeting with breakout sessions and discussions.


View from the meeting room at the MSB campus in Tunis that will hold the member’s meeting.

6.) During the conference site visits, learn more about Axe Finance, a credit risk software company. Come discover how they have grown by 30% in this last year, and why it is so difficult to hire a business specialist, as compared to an engineer, in Tunisia.


Out in front of the AxeFinance office building in downtown Tunis.

5.) Learn about the great challenges of being an innovative entrepreneur, starting a new video gaming business in Tunis. One (of many) of his greatest challenges? Hiring creative employees.


Picture hanging on the wall of the DigitialMania. "How do you encourage individuals to be creative, when they have lived a life without freedom and are forced into conformity?”

4.) The food will be amazing.


The team worked hard to taste all of the delights of Tunisia! (A tough job). One of my favorites? The desserts with a french influence.

3.) Learn about accessing finance with a visit to Tuninvest, a private equity firm with investments throughout the Middle East and Africa. Greatest Challenge, I ask? "Viable and creative projects.” Hmm, creativity and innovation seems to be an on-going theme.


Learning about the portfolio of investments with Tuninvest Management.

2.) Opportunity to learn more about the business environment in the MENA region. Through discussions, plenaries, breakout sessions and site visits, this is the opportunity to share the greatest challenges in management education, and how business schools are using innovation and entrepreneurship education to address unemployment.


And the number one reason to attend the GBSN Annual Conference in Tunisia?

1.) Loads of networking opportunities.

As always, the audience at the GBSN Conference will be diverse. Last year in India we had over 30 countries and 60 business schools represented. We envision we will surpass those numbers this year. During tea breaks, opening receptions, lunches, site visits and breakout sessions, meet new and interesting individuals from business schools, NGO’s, businesses and the public sector.


A Tunisian tea break.

GBSN 2013 in Tunisia, it is not to be missed!

 

 

Lisa Leander is the Membership Officer with GBSN overseeing the Annual Conference, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, co-hosted by the Mediterranean School of Business and Babson College. Please feel free to leave her questions and comments about her stay. For more information on the conference and registration, please visit www.gbsnonline.org/2013.

Tags:  conference  Tunisia 

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Bringing Social Business to your University - Highlights from the Webinar

Posted By Nicole Zefran, Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Nicole ZefranYesterday GBSN hosted a webinar, "Bringing Social Business Into Your School” featuring speaker Leonhard Nima, Head of Academia at the Grameen Creative Lab.

Mr. Nima talked about spreading the idea of social business, which is what he Grameen Lab was created to do. He explains this topic in depth, but specifically highlights GCL’s ideas for incorporating social business in universities.

Some highlights from the webinar:

 

Founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Creative Lab is a small company based in Germany whose purpose is to spread the idea of social business. GCL’s vision is "to bring social business into universities and create a culture within academia, with the goal to serve society’s most pressing needs through social business.”

 

 

The Grameen Creative Lab believes that social business education is key to setting a new mindset. It associates with universities within three pillars:

  1. Seeding – GCL facilitates speeches on social business at universities and international conferences. They also hold social business labs, which are two-day workshops that are adapted to university needs. GCL supports student initiatives, giving students the opportunity to volunteer, student field trips or participate in idea competitions. They lay the groundwork down by highlighting social business best practices in case studies, literature, or student guides filled with information that should inform students with opportunities and answer any questions they might have.
  2. Network – GCL has created an environment for universities to exchange ideas. The big networking opportunity offered for universities is the Academia Meeting on Social Business, a yearly event where faculty from all over come to establish relationships, exchange ideas and establish possible projects for collaborations. They are also in the process of publishing an academia newsletter, which will highlight activities and initiatives of universities that are involved with social business.
  3. Consulting/ Joint Initiatives – By providing consulting services, GCL helps universities discover social businesses and apply courses and activities within the university. Specifically, they provide strategic and project consulting, helping universities implement institutional projects and also plan on developing centers or incubators within the university.

GCL@University is a joint initiative established to promote the concept within the institution. Together, the two will decide about the approach of incorporating activities within the pillars of research (PhD courses, publications, case studies), teaching (courses, labs, tours, conferences, e-learning) and practice (social business ideas contest, field trips, case studies, internships, local activities). GCL developed this modular approach to allow flexibility.

GCL believes that universities should start small; begin with incorporating one or two courses on social business or facilitating small social business labs, and then eventually work to create a program around it. By starting simple and laying down the groundwork, GCL hopes to spread this concept to many leading universities around the world.

Mr. Nima provided a very compelling presentation on their approach. To view the whole presentation click here.

For more information about how you can incorporate social business in your university, visit http://www.grameencreativelab.com/academia.html.

Learn about GCL’s services and opportunities at http://www.grameencreativelab.com/our-company/services-amp-activities.html.

Find GCL’s latest publications and reports at http://www.grameencreativelab.com/publications.

Learn what GCL’s network is up to and find out about opportunities at http://www.grameencreativelab.com/unity.

If you have any other questions or would like to receive more information about GCL’s activities contact Leonhard Nima at Leonhard.nima@grameencl.com.

Don’t forget to join us for our next event, a working group coming up on April 26th on "Promoting Events Through Social Media.”

 

 

Nicole Zefran is the Communications and Event Planning Intern at the Global Business School Network.

Tags:  Grameen Creative Lab  social business 

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Announcing the MBA+ Challenge Video Contest Finalists

Posted By Page Schindler Buchanan, Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Page Schindler BuchananIt was quite exciting to see the stories of impact from around the globe in this year's MBA+ Challenge Video Contest. We had 21 entries from around the globe that received thousands of votes.

Based on the online votes, the five finalists in the challenge, which will advance to the selection panel to be considered for the grand prize are:

 

 

Seeking Change: UNC Kenan-Flagler and the World Around Them, from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

GIVEWATTS, from IMD

Investing in Impact – SEI in Nicaragua from Northeastern Social Enterprise Institute of D’Amore-McKim School of Business

MamaCarts – Increasing Food Security, from Colorado State University Global Social and Sustainable MBA

Momtaz Host from Thunderbird School of Global Management

Congratulations to our finalists, and to all of you who are using your business education to make a real difference for the developing world. We hope this opportunity inspires you to continue your work.

 

Page Schindler Buchanan is the Communications Officer for the Global Business School Network.

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Kiva Fellows Program Gives MBAs a Different Perspective

Posted By Leslie Brian, Monday, April 15, 2013

Leslie BrianGuest Blogger, Leslie Brian, Kiva Fellows Program Intern

Armed with sharp business acumen and a discerning fiscal eye, Muskan Chopra has a background any MBA candidate would envy. But when Chopra graduates from Columbia Business School in May, she’ll have a secret weapon in her arsenal.

Between her first and second years of business school, Muskan spent three months as a Kiva Fellow in Kenya. There, far away from campus and classrooms, she felt her education truly take shape.

For seven years, Kiva has been a beacon of innovation for the microfinance industry. As the world’s first and largest micro-lending website, the organization has crowdfunded over $400 million in loans for more than 1 million borrowers. Today, Kiva partners with 197 field partners in 67 countries to get loans to the people who need them most. But it’s just at the beginning of a new phase for microfinance.

Kiva is launching initiatives to reach new types of borrowers with products and services tailored to their needs. Branching out, the organization is now partnering with social enterprises, universities, NGOs and others to offer loans for clean energy, tuition, medical care and much more. It’s also exploring the potential of interest-free and mobile lending through its pilot project Kiva Zip.

To sustain this incredible growth, Kiva relies on its Fellows Program.

"The Kiva Fellows Program is perfect for anyone who wants to be engaged in a dynamic community of entrepreneurs, excited to do something meaningful with their lives,” Chopra testifies. "It’s for the strong-hearted, the adventurous, and the flexible.”

Muskan Chopra

This cohort of international volunteers hails from a wide range of backgrounds – from consulting and banking to sales and marketing, journalism and digital media to business and social entrepreneurship. Yet, despite their broad range of experiences, they are bound together by a passion for changing lives through financial empowerment.

Kiva leverages the unique talents of its fellows for a wide variety of projects. They optimize partner operations, train staff, develop new products, streamline lending and repayment operations, create stunning marketing collateral, and scale new initiatives like Kiva Zip. Simply put, there’s no such thing as a typical Kiva Fellowship.

"The fellowship challenged every assumption I held and completely changed my worldview,” reports Sarah Lawson (KF6), a Kiva Fellow in Benin. "It was one of the most formative and fascinating experiences of my life.”

Increasingly, business schools are looking to supplement their curricula with exactly the type of fieldwork-based experience the Kiva Fellows Program provides. While traditional MBA programs have limited their scope to strict definitions of finance, this next century will be all about innovative business strategies that tackle the world’s biggest problems.

"The millennial students -- those earning higher-education degrees in the 21st century -- don’t just want to make money; they want to make a difference,” says Garth Saloner, Dean of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Poverty, global warming, education reform, food security. These are issues that require long-term overhauls of established systems. Not only are they technical problems, believes Saloner, they are also business, leadership, and management problems. They demand professionals that can think about and analyze global issues like poverty, and also design and implement creative solutions on the ground.

"After almost 8 months as a Kiva Fellow, I can say with confidence that I've learned more about microfinance than I could have in such a short time through any other method,” says David Gorgani (KF18) who worked in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

Taylor Whitfield echoes these sentiments from her current placement in Washington D.C., where she works to scale Kiva Zip in the U.S.

"We think of microfinance as a developing world concept, but the financial system in this country often leaves people in just as much of a mess as in the poorest nations,” she says. "What I'm finding as a Zip fellow is that our definition of ‘needy’ is far too narrow.”

The 480+ Kiva Fellows who have cycled through the program agree: 95% of all fellows would do it again, while 25% of fellows chose to extend their fellowship for an additional 4 to 8 months.

""I know that the Fellowship is sending me in the right direction, both personally and professionally,” reflects Jamie Greenthal (KF17), a Kiva Fellows alum of the Philippines. "I will never forget the amazing experiences I had and the interesting and kind people I met during the Fellowship. For that I am truly grateful.”

So, when Muskan Chopra throws her graduation cap in the air in June, the world had best be ready. An army of Kiva Fellows is waiting to lead the charge against global poverty -- one microloan at a time.

 

More about the Kiva Fellows Program:

Kiva is currently accepting applications for its Fellows Program! The deadline for the 22nd Class of Kiva Fellows is May 26, 2013. Fellows must attend a one-week training in San Francisco from August 26-30, and arrive at their assignments within two weeks of training.

To apply, visit www.kiva.org/fellows/apply. For more information on the application process, upcoming application deadlines and training schedules, visit our website, www.kiva.org/fellows or our application portal at http://kfpappsite.wordpress.com.

 

Leslie Brian is the Kiva Fellows Program Intern. Her passion for international development, specifically human rights, led her to Stanford University (Go Card!). There, she studied international relations while spearheading a wide variety of advocacy and fundraising events for the campus.

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