Determine the impediments to working in Myanmar for an international humanitarian NGO. Identify the programming opportunities for an organization like MC. Prepare a preliminary plan of action for Mercy Corps to operate in Myanmar. Deliverables: Specific list of legal requirements for working in Myanmar. Review of organizations already working in Myanmar. Recommended management steps for opening a program in Myanmar. List of potential project and development needs of the country that are relevant to Mercy Corps core competencies. Critical analysis of the political sensitivities and risks in operating in Myanmar
Dalberg Global Development Advisors is looking for a team of MBAs to research and evaluate the potential to use financial tools and approaches from the private sector in international development. Improving the way that funding is managed and financial structures are designed provides a significant opportunity for better delivery of aid to developing countries– be it for economic development, health, education or emergency relief. As aid flows are growing – and expected to increase even further in coming year (e.g. $25bn for Africa announced at the G8 summit) – funds will need to be spent rapidly, and at the same time managed effectively. However, currently, there is a high degree of inconsistency around how development projects are structured and managed financially.
Deliverables
Review
and evaluation of past NGO mergers and lessons learned. Assessment of each
major sector in international development to determine attractiveness of merger
opportunities in that sector. Review of major reporting and process standards
in the private sector – and evaluation of how standards in the private sector
have evolved. Assess potential to various standards to be applied to the
development sector.
FATE has decided to conduct a feasibility study to ascertain the suitability of setting up a business incubator in Nigeria. The business incubator is aimed at ensuring increased survival and growth rates of businesses in the Incubator as well as fostering the growth of small businesses in Nigeria.
Consequently,
FATE needs to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on setting up a
business incubator to determine the viability of setting up the business
incubator in Nigeria. Conduct research on the suitability of setting up a
business incubator in Nigeria. Conduct a focus group meeting of FATE Alumni,
particularly those formerly in the business incubator, Administer questionnaires
to graduates of the FATE Entrepreneurship Programmes, Administer questionnaires
to other start up / small business owners, Analyse collated data.
Deliverables
Detailed
feasibility study report. Depending on the outcome of the feasibility study,
prepare an implementation plan for setting up the business incubator.
LEAP currently utilizes mindset surveys and feedback forms to measure the impact of its leadership training programs for entrepreneurs and young leaders in Africa. However, it has not yet developed creative tools for tracking the performance of its alumni and to monitor the impact of their change projects. LEAP is seeking a team of MBA students to develop simple, but comprehensive performance measurement tools for tracking the impact of its Business and Youth Leadership Programs. Specifically, students will assess LEAP’s performance measurement tools and to create new tools for tracking the impact of LEAP’s programs.
Deliverables
Benchmark
leading leadership development organizations to determine best practices in the
area of performance measurement. Performance measurement and tracking tools for
alumni of LEAP’s programs.
The Wildlife Conservation Society seeked a team of MBA students to develop business, marketing and communication plans that can be used by WCS and Wildlife Management Leases in developing the Tiger Friendly Certification Program and sales of non-timber forest products to international markets. We believed that businesses that buy “Tiger Friendly” products will obtain added value of those products due to the certification, and we need, among other things, a mechanism to control use and sales of Tiger Friendly products to ensure final products are a fair representation of program objectives.
Deliverables
Fundamental
needs include defining business objectives and having a clearly defined
business plan. The main outcome is the development of business, marketing
and communication plans for sales of Tiger Friendly non-timber forest products
in the international market.
Prisma Microfinance and MicroCapital seeked a team of MBA students to create a 100-300 slide deck explaining 'What Works in Microfinance'. This deck targeted business professionals who have interest in microfinance, but little knowledge. The purpose of the presentation was not to publicly/orally present so many slides, but rather, to provide a reference book to support the white paper by the same name. The whitepaper itself included a range of topics that are geared towards summarizing the microfinance industry as a whole and which are of interest to the target audience. The main project objective was to provide simple, visual information for a sophisticated business audience on “what works in microfinance.”
Deliverables
A
deck of 100-300 PowerPoint slides of the highest quality.
Tarsian & Blinkley seeked a team of MBA students to find the right means by which to consistently and uniformly sell its apparel to appropriate end buyers in the U.S. Students will determine how best to establish a wholesale market in the United States when the routine means of doing so are not entirely applicable. Required product familiarity and quite a bit of researched knowledge of the fashion industry and possible alternate techniques of selling apparel goods. Other techniques included alternate channels or alternate ways of selling through existing channels. Students explored various business models, such as an “Amway”, to determine how to get this model organized and functioning properly.
Deliverables
A
detailed and systemized step-by-step approach, or “map”, to tackling the U.S.
and possibly European markets. This would include actual names with physical
places and contact information included. Rather than provide a high-level
strategy with theoretical advice such as “you should have a booth at a trade
exhibition”, the team will include actual data on which exhibition or showroom,
contact information, when, and why. This would also include a step-by-step plan
for how to manage inventory, commissions, and risk when distributing products
to different independent sales people in the trunk show model.
The Columbia team’s worked ultimately help Civil Society Organizations run successful social enterprises, thus diversifying their funding base, increasing financial sustainability, and furthering mission impact. The project created and tailored three business development tools for CSOs in the later stages of business plan implementation: (1) financial tool, (2) market plan tool, (3) human resources tool.
Deliverables
Record
of research, findings, and recommendations. Tool descriptions and details for
NESsT staff (electronic and paper format). Workbooks and exercises on tools for
CSOs (electronic and paper format) to go alongside NESsT workshops and
one-on-one consultancies. Final report summarizing project methodology,
findings, challenges, and future ideas. PowerPoint presentation for NESsT staff
highlighting project findings.
EcoSecurities (www.ecosecurities.com), the leading greenhouse gas advisory firm, has been contracted by the United Nations Environmental Programs’ Financial Institutions group and Bank of America to complete a consulting project on the impact of climate change on the fixed income markets in the US and Canada.
Deliverables
Report
including:
1.)
the four major risks posed by climate change to debtors, the macro impact of
climate change on financial risk, and, the specific debt sectors which will be
most impacted. measure the likely impact in the short-term versus the
long-term, and the impact of perceived risk versus actual risk.
2.)
The impact of future environmental liabilities on specific debt products, and
how this is likely to affect the financial institutions that offer these debt
products. The many strategies available to mitigate the risks of environmental
liabilities on debt products.
3.)
Make practical recommendations as to actions that can be taken by financial
institutions to address the impact of environmental liabilities on their debt products.
The objective of the project is to help MOL to further develop and refine its already completed business plan in preparation for potential equity investment from Agora Partnerships Venture Fund. The objective is to help the entrepreneurs to come up with a marketing and operations strategy that will make it suitable for investment and otherwise improve its chances of success. Creation of a new business plan, including financials, (plan can be in original Spanish but executive summary should be also in English) and with recommendations to the entrepreneurs going forward.
Deliverables
Recommendation
to the Fund as to whether it should consider investing in MOL. (A recommendation
template will be provided).
Follow up on our 3 day workshop by exploring: its impact on the participants – if and how it has led to changes in the participants’ own business-social ventures. Further developing the model of self-sufficiency and scaling-up, by engaging with fellows to identify trends in social enterprise development. Integrating these insights with the growing literature on the topic, and communicating it in a paper (or papers) and presentation.
Deliverables
Analysis
of major changes in fellows’ business-social approach and practice. Related
paper(s) mapping the present and future of business-social ventures.
Presentation document (including new models) for use by Ashoka of near-to-final
results, to be used at the Social Enterprise Alliance conference; Final written
report to be written the next month.
New venture creation in Nicaragua to focus on the production and distribution of organic tea to “bottom of the pyramid” consumers. There are two main product lines planned: “anti-stress” and “anti-flu”. The project currently has an extensive business plan with significant market research already performed.
Deliverables
Create
a new company that focuses on the production of the tea.