Product Description

Poor people in developing countries could make excellent suppliers, employees and customers but are often ignored by major businesses. This omission leads to increased risk, higher costs and lower sales. Meanwhile, businesses are asked by governments and poverty activists to do more for economic development, but their exhortations are rarely based on a proper business case. Make Poverty Business bridges the gap by constructing a rigorous profit-making argument for multinational corporations to do more business with the poor. It takes economic development out of the corporate social responsibility ghetto and places it firmly in the core business interests of the corporation, and argues that to see the poor only as potential consumers at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) misses half of the story. Make Poverty Business examines the successes, failures and missed opportunities of a wide range of global companies including Wal-Mart, BP, Unilever, Shell and HSBC when dealing with the poor and with development advocates in the media, NGOs, governments and international organisations. It includes a discussion on how to use a poverty perspective to provoke profitable innovation - not only to create new products and services but also to find new sources of competitive advantage in the supply chain and to develop more sustainable, lower-cost business models in developing countries. Make Poverty Business will be essential reading for international business managers seeking to increase profits and decrease risks in developing countries, development advocates who seek to harness the profit motive to achieve reductions in poverty, and academics looking for practical strategies on how business can implement BOP initiatives in developing countries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #156308 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 190 pages

Review
Entertaining, well written and refreshingly free of management jargon, this is an engaging contribution to the debate on development. William Keegan, Senior Economics Commentator, The Observer --The Observer

Make Poverty Business will revolutionise how people think about corporate social responsibility. No CEO should be without this book. Alex Singleton, Director-General, The Globalisation Institute --The Globalisation Institute

This is a savvy, eminently useful book that should be in the hands of global business managers and development agency staff alike. Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson go beyond the anecdotal evidence for tapping the consumer and outsourcing potential of the poor. In clear, no-nonsense language, they provide a roadmap of new angles, hidden pitfalls, and profitable shortcuts. They blend their first-hand, hard-won experience in developing nations with nuanced research by some of the world's leading development thinkers. Page for page, this book represents a very good deal - both for the poor harried managers in today's globalizing enterprises, and for the poor themselves, who will benefit from its impact. Joseph S. O'Keefe, writer in residence, The Brookings Institution --Brookings Institution

From the Author
We wrote Make Poverty Business because we saw no shortage of
books exhorting business to contribute more to society, but very few books
making a rigorous profit-making case and suggesting practical ways to do
it. C K Prahalad's "Bottom of the Pyramid" made a good start but saw the
poor only as consumers whereas we also see them as potential employees,
partners, distributors and suppliers.

Drawing on business strategy, economic theory, long experience and common
sense we try to identify the "inefficiency traps" that stop multinational
companies doing mutually-beneficial business with the poor and we suggest
low-cost, low-risk ways of overcoming the barriers.

Our book has captured some people's imagination already. Michael Strong,
Chief Executive of Flow, described it as "wonderful" and added: "Make
Poverty Business will be read by business leaders, but it should be read by
everyone who cares about global poverty. It contains dozens of specific,
practical suggestions for corporate managers interested in increasing the
stability and profitability of their operations in poor nations - and,
quite remarkably - the authors make a solid, level-headed case that their
suggested business practices will reduce global poverty and improve the
reputation of global business. A must read for corporate managers and NGO
leaders who realize that ethical business can serve the best interests of
all."

William Keegan, Senior Economics Commentator at the Observer, describes
Make Poverty Business as: "Entertaining, well-written and refreshingly free
of management jargon, this is an engaging contribution to the debate on
development".

About the Author
Craig Wilson, an economist, works for the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group. He has extensive economic policy and business experience in developing countries. He is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he is managing a program which seeks to improve investment climates in South Asia and will shortly be taking up a post as Executive Director of the Foundation for Development Cooperation, an independent think tank based in Brisbane, Australia. He has worked for numerous international organizations and for five years from 2000 he consulted to the World Bank. Throughout the 1990s he served in the Australian diplomatic service. He has a BA in economics from Griffith University, and a master's degree in economic policy from Columbia University. Along with Professor Emeritus George C. Lodge of Harvard Business School, he recently co-authored A Corporate Solution to Global Poverty: How Multinationals Can Help the Poor and Invigorate Their Own Legitimacy, published by Princeton University Press in March 2006. Peter Wilson is a director of Libra Advisory Group Ltd, which advises Governments and businesses on strategy and reform. He has worked in a wide range of developing countries including Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq and Yemen. He is a former consultant with Strategos and McKinsey and has worked with a wide range of multinational clients including Danone, Masterfoods, Shell and two international banks. Throughout the 1990s he served in the British Diplomatic Service. He was, very briefly, UK press adviser for the boxing promoter Don King. He has a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD in France and a Masters in Economics from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on the role of foreign direct investment in economic development.

Customer Reviews

Win-win
At last a book that describes a real win-win for businesses interested in serving the world's poor. "Make Poverty Business" discusses the people at the "bottom of the pyramid" not just as consumers of big business products and services, but also as prospective suppliers and employees. Peter Wilson and Craig Wilson put forward an engaging proposition for companies who are interested in working with and helping the poor, but which, at the same time, need to take risk out of their endeavours. This book shows us how business can make profits, not at the expense of the poor, but to their benefit.

An important book, long overdue
There has been far too much noise, recently, and not enough action to relieve the incredible poverty still endured in much of Africa. The solution must come not from charity but business, and this book is a fine starting point for any CEO wishing to address this huge challenge in a profitable manner. Well-argued and comprehensive, the authors' case for a holistic approach to the poor - as employees and stakeholders, as well as customers - must resonate with anyone who has observed the rapid development in S.E. Asia, China or India.