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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(406)
- People (2)
- News (34)
- Research (169)
- Multimedia (1)
- Faculty Publications (123)
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- October 1999 (Revised October 2000)
- Case
Women's World Banking: Catalytic Change Through Networks
By: James E. Austin and Susan Hamerling
Describes the evolution of Women's World Banking, an international microfinance nonprofit promoting financial access for poor women. Explores the organization's development of different types of networks to achieve its mission. View Details
Keywords: Mission and Purpose; History; Networks; Microfinance; Nonprofit Organizations; Gender; Growth and Development Strategy
Austin, James E., and Susan Hamerling. "Women's World Banking: Catalytic Change Through Networks." Harvard Business School Case 300-050, October 1999. (Revised October 2000.)
- March 2004 (Revised July 2005)
- Case
ACCION International: Maintaining High Performance Through Time
By: Michael Chu
ACCION International has been a major innovator in microfinance for 30 years. Reviews organizational context under which key industry-shaping concepts were developed (from peer group lending, guarantee funds, equity investment funds, and regulated commercial banking... View Details
Keywords: Joint Ventures; Equity; Microfinance; Employee Relationship Management; Non-Governmental Organizations
Chu, Michael. "ACCION International: Maintaining High Performance Through Time." Harvard Business School Case 304-095, March 2004. (Revised July 2005.)
- April 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Supplement
BANEX and the No Pago Movement (B)
By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Microfinance; Investment; Government and Politics; Crisis Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia
Cole, Shawn, and Baily Blair Kempner. "BANEX and the No Pago Movement (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 211-102, April 2011. (Revised March 2013.)
- March 2019 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Accion's Fintech Strategy
By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Michael Chu and Tricia Gregg
Accion, an NGO, had been a pioneer in microfinance since its entry into that sector in the early 1970s. Its investments in Banco Compartamos paid off, when the microfinance bank went IPO in 2007, leaving an influx of $138 million for Accion. Under a new CEO, Michael... View Details
Keywords: Fintech; Impact Investing; Financial Inclusion; Technological Innovation; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Non-Governmental Organizations; Microfinance; Financial Institutions; Business Growth and Maturation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Industry Growth
Rangan, V. Kasturi, Michael Chu, and Tricia Gregg. "Accion's Fintech Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 319-091, March 2019. (Revised March 2023.)
- March 2010 (Revised April 2013)
- Case
Equitas Microfinance: The Fastest-Growing MFI on the Planet
By: V.G. Narayanan and V. Kasturi Rangan
Founded as a for-profit microfinance company, Equitas had acquired nearly a million clients in the short two years since it was founded. The founder, Vasu, and his management team wished to accelerate the already impressive spurt to three million clients in the next... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Microfinance; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; India
Narayanan, V.G., and V. Kasturi Rangan. "Equitas Microfinance: The Fastest-Growing MFI on the Planet." Harvard Business School Case 510-104, March 2010. (Revised April 2013.)
- September 2012 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
micro Home Solutions: A Social Housing Initiative in India
By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell
mHS is a social enterprise for the provision of affordable housing in India. After India's microfinance industry collapses, mHS needs to reposition itself for continued operations and long-term growth. View Details
Keywords: India; Loans; Development; Micro Finance; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Social Enterprise; Poverty; India
Kerr, William R., and Alexis Brownell. "micro Home Solutions: A Social Housing Initiative in India." Harvard Business School Case 813-092, September 2012. (Revised February 2013.)
- 12 Sep 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Liability Structure in Small-Scale Finance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
- 14 Apr 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Contractual Restrictions and Debt Traps
- February 2008 (Revised July 2008)
- Case
Banco Compartamos: Life after the IPO
By: Michael Chu and Regina Garcia Cuellar
After an international IPO yielding extraordinary returns to original investors, Banco Compartamos, Mexico's leading microfinance institution, contemplates its future strategic and competing priorities: maintaining growth, defending industry, leadership, preserving... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Microfinance; Initial Public Offering; Non-Governmental Organizations; Competition; Value Creation; Banking Industry; Mexico
Chu, Michael, and Regina Garcia Cuellar. "Banco Compartamos: Life after the IPO." Harvard Business School Case 308-094, February 2008. (Revised July 2008.)
- Article
Liability Structure in Small-Scale Finance
By: Fenella Carpena, Shawn Cole, Jeremy Shapiro and Bilal Zia
Microfinance, the provision of small individual and business loans, has experienced dramatic growth, reaching over 150 million borrowers worldwide. Much of the success of microfinance has been attributed to attempts to overcome the challenges of information asymmetries... View Details
Keywords: Microfinance; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; Legal Liability; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; India
Carpena, Fenella, Shawn Cole, Jeremy Shapiro, and Bilal Zia. "Liability Structure in Small-Scale Finance." World Bank Economic Review 27, no. 3 (2013): 437–469.
- February 2007 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
BASIX
By: Shawn A. Cole and Peter Tufano
BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details
- September 2012
- Case
BASIX (Abridged)
By: Shawn Cole and Peter Tufano
BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Household; Risk Management; Insurance; Banking Industry; India
Cole, Shawn, and Peter Tufano. "BASIX (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 213-035, September 2012.
- 18 Sep 2007
- First Look
First Look: September 18, 2007
and Brooke Barton, 309-320. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007 Abstract After thirty years of development, commercial microfinance in the developing world—the provision of financial services to low income populations on a... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- April 2020 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
CredEx Fintech: Business Model Transformation During the Digital Era
By: Laura Huang, Raphael Amit and Xu Han
Founded in 2010, CredEx has been a fast and constant innovator in the microfinance industry in China. Tang Xia, CEO and co-founder of CredEx, has led the company through a number of profound business model innovations in response to external environment changes, which... View Details
Keywords: Digitization; Fintech; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Microfinance; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Huang, Laura, Raphael Amit, and Xu Han. "CredEx Fintech: Business Model Transformation During the Digital Era." Harvard Business School Case 420-080, April 2020. (Revised August 2020.)
- 2009
- Working Paper
Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin
Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a... View Details
Keywords: Saving; Microfinance; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Microeconomics; Gender; Power and Influence; Philippines
Ashraf, Nava, Dean Karlan, and Wesley Yin. "Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-100, March 2009.
- March 2010
- Article
Female Empowerment: Further Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin
Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a... View Details
Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Product; Microfinance; Decision Making; Policy; Welfare or Wellbeing; Gender; Power and Influence; Philippines
Ashraf, Nava, Dean Karlan, and Wesley Yin. "Female Empowerment: Further Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines." World Development 38, no. 3 (March 2010): 333–344.
- November 2004 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Patrimonio Hoy
By: Arthur I Segel, Michael Chu and Gustavo Herrero
Patrimonio Hoy is a program targeting the housing needs of the low-income population by CEMEX, a major Mexican company and a leading global cement producer. Originally conceived as a project to understand the customers in the self-construction segment better, a major... View Details
Keywords: Housing; Construction; Product Design; Globalized Firms and Management; Microfinance; Income; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico
Segel, Arthur I., Michael Chu, and Gustavo Herrero. "Patrimonio Hoy." Harvard Business School Case 805-064, November 2004. (Revised July 2006.)
- March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk
By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell
The notable success of insurance products for low-income clients of its microfinance network leads Opportunity International to launch the first global specialized microinsurance company, the Micro Insurance Agency (MIA). Building on the experience in 10 countries... View Details
Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Cost Management; Microfinance; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America
Chu, Michael, and Jean Hazell. "Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk." Harvard Business School Case 307-089, March 2007. (Revised April 2007.)
- 31 Jul 2007
- First Look
First Look: July 31, 2007
search processes that shape networks, cognition, and capabilities. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-106.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsBanca Regional Andino: Facing the Globalization of Microfinance Harvard... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- 2007
- Chapter
Microfinance: Business, Profitability, and the Creation of Social Value
By: Michael Chu
The chapter examines the development of microfinance from its NGO origins to the present stage in which it is characterized by regulated commercial institutions capable of superior financial returns. It then looks at the creation of social value under these... View Details
Keywords: Microfinance; Investment Return; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Perspective; Value Creation
Chu, Michael. "Microfinance: Business, Profitability, and the Creation of Social Value." Chap. 28 in Business Solutions for the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic Value, by V. Kasturi Rangan, John A. Quelch, Gustavo Herrero, and Brooke Barton, 309–320. John Wiley & Sons, 2007.