Changing poverty and inequity through business
Date
2008
Authors
Tanner, Matthew R.
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Volume Title
Publisher
Bachelor of Commerce Best Business Research Papers
Abstract
Business has the capacity to positively change the global problem of poverty and inequity but traditional ways of doing and thinking about business must be transformed and revolutionized. This paper will illustrate how business can become an innovative tool for social change by focusing on the pioneering principals of microfinance and the market Base of the Pyramid (BOP). These two business models will be examined in a macro and micro context to allow the reader to fully envision how the concepts can be used to change the brutal reality of the World’s demographics. Latin America is focused on throughout the paper because it is saturated with poverty (nearly 1/4 of Latin Americans live on under $2 US per day) and has the highest rate of inequity in the World. This paper proves that if business does not harness the ideas of Microfinance and the market of the BOP, economic and social consequences have the potential to become more devastating. These two business models enforce that there is an opportunity to make a profit while providing much needed services and products to the poor. The prospects of using business to fight poverty and inequity are vast and the results can be extraordinary.
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Citation
Tanner, M. R. (2008). Changing poverty and inequity through business. Bachelor of Commerce Best Business Research Papers, 1, 47–55. https://business.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/bcomrp/article/view/94