Financial Citizenship

by Isaac Salem

We spend a lot of time at Darden discussing the optimal financing mix for a business to utilize. This consideration of tax shields and risk tolerance takes for granted though the complex and interconnected mechanisms developed economies have established in order to allocate capital. In developing economies, the ways savings are channeled to productive uses is still evolving and there are big differences between economies. These efforts to improve access to financing in emerging markets were a frequent focus of International Development panel at the Sustainability and Innovation conference.

Shital Shah of ShoreBank International and Rosita Najmi of the World Bank discussed why it is so important for individuals and businesses to have access to credit as well as some of the new methods being used to help improve financial access for underserved populations. Though several for profit development institutions have come under criticism recently for the high interest rates these institutions, microfinance lenders in particular, charge their customers, Najmi made a convincing argument for why financial inclusion is so important. For consumers around the world, savings is very important for planning. However, in economies with underdeveloped financial markets, too often this savings is forced to take the form of cash, which is insecure and inefficient. By providing savings alternatives for middle and low income workers, a virtuous cycle can begin whereby the purchasing power of consumers is increased and business can tap local savings to fund investment, bringing the cost of capital down. Further, such savings vehicles encourage more transactions to occur in the formal economy, which provides protection, dependability and lowers the cost of operating businesses.

Toward this end, Shah described one project ShoreBank has been involved with promoting mobile banking in Bangladesh. By partnering with the world’s largest NGO, BRAC, ShoreBank has provided mobile banking services to millions of people in Bangladesh. http://www.bkash.com/ShoreBank.php They leveraged BRAC’s large customer base in order to speed adoption. Now customers are able to receive and repay their BRAC microfinance loans through their phones as well as conduct an increasing variety of other transactions. Such low cost alternatives to traditional banks are gaining traction in much of the developing world as a way to integrate previously underserved populations into the financial system.

The role of technology in this process helps highlight the panel’s parting message. The challenges and opportunities in international development remain great. However, what is needed now are not international development experts. What are needed are experts in a particular field, such as telecommunications or remote banking. Students interested in pursuing careers in development were encouraged to develop a concrete skill set, rather than studying development itself. Increasingly, development financial institutions are relying on locals for strategic, political, and cultural expertise. Outside human capital can still be tremendously powerful, but it needs to be specialized.

Innovation and Transformation in Government

by Laura Durity

As a licensed lawyer, self-proclaimed political junkie and a first year Darden student who is interested in the intersection between government, business and law, I was particularly pleased to see a panel of senior government officials addressing the “business” of government, a topic too infrequently addressed at Darden. The panel offered a different perspective on how the management skills Darden teaches can be applied (and where they are desperately needed).

Although I agree with panelist Robert Motyka, a Darden alum and Senior Manager at the Federal Reserve Board, that the United States government is not a business, as the panelists made clear modernizing how our government’s operations with ideas and innovations from the private sector is essential. Darden alum and panelist Pat Nicklin, Executive VP & COO of Partnership for Public Service emphasized the need to improve federal government operations and , perhaps more importantly, inspire agencies to hire mission critical talent who can improve agencies’ ability to do more with shrinking dollars. Panelist Eric Schweikert, Director of Compliance Analytics at the Internal Revenue Service, agreed that the biggest hurdle facing government agencies is a lack of resources, both money and staff. As a result, he said, the IRS can “do something of everything but not all of anything.” The panelists also emphasized other challenges of government leadership: how to function when strategic goals are lacking or amorphous and how to motivate employees to improve performance when poor performance rarely leads to job loss.

However, I found the panelists concluding remarks to be the most salient. Eric summarized that whether Americans desire a small or large government, all Americans should want a government that operates efficiently and with greater professionalism. I agree. Why not demand higher standards of performance from our government instead of concluding it cannot improve? Why can’t this politically-neutral goal be a unifying point for Americans? Moderator Roberta Mourao of Accenture’s Federal Government Practice and the panelists illustrated several recent innovations in government leadership but in general, these seem few and far between. Ultimately, I agreed with Robert’s conclusion: Darden should offer more coursework concerning what it means to be a government manager in contrast to a for profit manager. Maybe then more accomplished MBAs will be interested in fostering innovation in both the private and government sectors.

Entrepreneurship in Education

by Hillary Lewis

Moderator: Aaron Tang, Founder, Our Education

Panelists:

Joe Andrasko, Sankaty Education

Brandon Krueger, K12

Pam Moran, Superintendent, Albermarle County School System

“Schools are like vineyards. You grow the same grapes, but not the same wine,” said Pam Moran, Superintendent of Albermale County School System, while discussing the various techniques and methods to not just recreate, but reinvent the education system.

Entrepreneurship in Education focused on the concept of new and innovative ways to educate students outside the confines of the traditional classroom. In 2002, the U.S. government dedicated an office for innovation and improvement to bring creativity to classroom content and practices, but teachers face a problem. There is a clear distinction between innovation and recreation. For example, a smartboard is just a recreated chalkboard. Entrepreneurship in education focuses on the need to not only recreate, but also, to innovate and invent creative solutions to address a changing world and nurture entrepreneurial thinking in youth.

Wherein does the responsibility lie? From teachers to parents and policymakers to private industry, the stakeholders involved in revitalizing American schools are endless. Joe Andrasko, an entrepreneur who started a private tutoring company in Nantucket that eventually evolved into Sankaty Education, argues that there is money to be made in learning.

He has a valid point. Education is the second largest industry in the United States, accounting for 13.5 million jobs. Our challenge, as business leaders, is making education effective and profitable.

Brandon Krueger, VP Marketing Operations at K12, specializes in bringing virtual learning to students all over the United States. His entrepreneurial approach to bringing a classroom environment to students anywhere at any time has demonstrated the endless possibilities to transcend geographic boundaries and to make profit in education.

Furthermore, Pam Moran taught us that it’s possible to embrace entrepreneurship in education by her ability to find creative solutions to the Albermale County school bus services. Driving over 12,000 miles a day, Moran worked on improving routes and technology, generating savings of over a million dollars, allowing her to preserve jobs.

As we think about our education at Darden, we embrace the case method that forces us to develop content knowledge in relatable ways, not just digest T-Accounts and Crystal Ball outputs. How do we generate creative content in elementary schools?

My take away from this panel was the need to take learning in the classroom further than just consumption of facts and numbers to hands-on involvement that will allow students to take ownership of their education and grow into the leaders that America needs.

The mentality of ownership does not only rest in students’ hands, but the panelist made the point that educators must see themselves as entrepreneurs. As a teacher, success should not be measured by test scores. It should be measured by the lives that you touch and the ability to produce students who want to positively impact the world.

As Andrasko stated, we must look at socioeconomic issues. Education varies not only within the United States, but also within cities and counties. Entrepreneurship should not be limited to the classroom. It should be expanded into support systems for children as well as after school programs. I would argue that entrepreneurship in education should also transcend into legislation development for forward thinking thought.

Pam Moran mentioned that “One school in Albermale County has the economic potential to raise more than enough money in one night to cover the deficit that would take another school in Albermale County 12 years to raise.” This to me is troubling. My challenge to Moran is to make that known to students, parents, voters, and be a leader to inspire change. Maybe there is opportunity for creative entrepreneurship to raise money for education in Albermale County?

Whose responsibility is it to change the education system? Maybe you want to change health care or tax reform. My challenge to the Darden community is find an inspiration aside from yourself that will allow you to facilitate change and foster innovation. Believe it or not, the ability to generate revenue exists in all aspects of the economy – You don’t have to work on Wall Street.

All in all, entrepreneurship doesn’t just start with a government department or words. As Thomas Jefferson said, “ACT! Action will delineate and define you.” As leaders at Darden and as future leaders of the free world, we should start thinking about ways we can implement change and foster growth in not only education, but in all aspects of our communities.

(P.S. Keep your eyes open for a potential BVIP opportunity with Joe Andrasko and Sankatay Education listed on the CDC portal)

Green Supply Chain Panel

Blog Post – Alison Mosle, MBA 2013

Michael Mistry – Greenblue/Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Drummond Lawson – Method Products

Jacob Madsen – Deloitte

Tim Kraft – Moderator

A recent New York Times article discussed the poor labor conditions at Apple’s manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China. We often perceive products as green or socially aware, but the impact can go much further than just the product’s ingredients. At the front line of the Green Supply Chain movement is Method Products (http://methodhome.com/behind-the-bottle/biodiesel), a consumer home products company with which we are all probably familiar. They are the fastest growing cleaning product company in the US and today most grocery chains carry their products. For Method, green supply chain includes a focus on the company’s transportation methodologies, labor practices, ingredients within everything from the soaps to the plastic bottles, and packaging efficiency.

In order to take the first step towards greening a supply chain, a company usually starts with a product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). We must be able to measure the impact of our production in order to set a benchmark for improvement. However, as Jacob Madsen from Deloitte pointed out, it is complicated and expensive to conduct a full LCA on an existing product because your suppliers don’t usually want to provide proprietary information about the contents of their own products. So how do we push businesses to provide better information such that we can conduct LCAs? The panel suggested three incentives:

1. The opportunity to build and grow your relationship with your business partners who are very successful in the industry and the threat that they may turn to other partners.

2. The prospect to leverage your partner’s green supply chain knowledge to develop better products for yourself.

3. Non-profits are able to act as intermediaries between a supplier and manufacturer.

An easier approach to green supply chain creation is to start from product design. Innovate and create products designed to be sustainable. This is not only a cheaper way of “greening” your supply chain, but also creates additional product cost savings realized through decreased utility costs, waste reduction and efficiency in materials.

There was a large marketing push for green products in the mid-2000s as the economy was experiencing significant growth and firms were looking for a way to differentiate their products. Drummond Lawson said that it reminded him of what Greenspan said in 1996 referring to the dot-com bubble, “The economy definitely impacts sustainability preferences. In 2007 there was a little bit of ‘irrational exuberance’ about green products.” With the recession, there has been a reality check, creating change in the industry. Now companies are must ensure that products aren’t just marketed with “green” branding, but are also financially sustainable and can stand up next to non-green options.

We are taught at Darden, and through Net Impact, that it is possible to be a profitable business and a responsible, respectful world citizen. Sustainability used to be a type of product differentiation, but as we improve our technology and benchmarking processes, we find that sustainability can be a precompetitive option. This leads us, as business leaders, to choose innovation in our product design, to not only create more profitability, but also to create a positive impact to our society.

Business in Society Conference 2012

Please join us next week for the annual Business in Society Conference. We will be blogging and tweeting (@DardenNetImpact) throughout so please stay tuned in!

Details on the conference are listed below and a more detailed schedule can be found on the Net Impact website.

Register Now!

The Darden Business in Society Conference is an annual event co-organized by the student-led Net Impact, Energy, Business & Public Policy, and Education Clubs, with support from the Initiative for Business in Society. This year’s theme of “Sustainability and Innovation” will explore how leaders are using business principles to develop innovative solutions to social and environmental challenges.

Agenda

Thursday, February 2, 2012

KEYNOTE 1:30pm – 2:30pm

Martha Johnson, Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

Friday, February 3, 2012

PANEL 1
8:30am – 9:45am	TRACK 1: Energy Efficiency
8:30am – 9:45am	TRACK 2: Social Entrepreneurship
PANEL 2
10:00am – 11:15am	TRACK 1: Clean Energy Policy
10:00am – 11:15am	TRACK 2: International Development
PANEL 3
11:30am– 12:45pm	TRACK 1: Renewable Energy Financing
11:30am– 12:45pm	TRACK 2: Technology: New Tools to Enact Education Reform
PANEL 4
2:30pm – 3:45 pm	TRACK 1: Corporate Sustainability
2:30pm – 3:45 pm	TRACK 2: Innovation and Transformation in Government
PANEL 5 4:00pm – 5:15pm	TRACK 1: Green Supply Chains
4:00pm – 5:15pm	TRACK 2: Entrepreneurship in Education
RECEPTION 5:30pm – 7:00pm	Closing Reception

Register Now!