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Project Pyramid founders Nat Robinson, Sharran Srivatsaa and Asif Shah Mohammed talk about the results of the Project Pyramid Case Competition how it will continue to serve businesses helping to alleviate global poverty.
Technorati Tags: Bottom of the Pyramid, Case Competition, Enjuba, MBA, Nashville, Net Impact, Project Pyramid, Project Pyramid Case Competition, Vanderbilt
At Net Impact last weekend, Project Pyramid chose the three winners of its groundbreaking case competition. Here are the clips of the winning teams:
1st place winners - York University
2nd place winners - Georgia Tech
3rd place winners - Chicago GBS
Congratulations to all the teams who participated!
Technorati Tags: Bottom of the Pyramid, Case Competition, Chicago GBS, Georgia Tech, Net Impact, Project Pyramid, York University
A fun, quirky wrap-up of the volunteers and mayhem of pulling off Net Impact, 2007.
Look for:
PodSafe Music Courtesy Of: The Mob Stories (Single - Risky Business) - http://www.mobstories.be/
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Technorati Tags: fun stuff, MBA, Owen, humor, Vanderbilt, Vidcast
OwenBloggers discusses global warming and health with the Honorable Jim Cooper, Democratic Congressman from Tennessee's 5th District.
OwenBloggers gets reaction from Net Impact participants on the Chad Holiday (CEO of Dupont) Keynote presentation. Filmed at the Ryman Auditorium.
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OwenBloggers chats with Dr. Mark Albion, one of the founders of Net Impact about the evolution of the organization and the growth of CSR around the globe.
Technorati Tags: MBA, Net Impact, Owen, Mark Albion, Vanderbilt
The Health Care panels that I have been able to attend and be a part of have been great. Today I went to a panel that talked about alternative solutions to the health care problem, the behavioral problems of those using the system and putting incentives in place to change people's behaviors. The panelists were Adam Long, Bill Paul, Bonnie Pilon and Herb Fritch who each shared their experiences from different backgrounds, from the service side to the government side, and what they thought needed to be changed. They gave examples of how negihborhoods are being restructured, what companies are doing to encourage employees to change their behaviors and what incentives we have to put in place for people to do that. It was very interesting and everyone who attended seemed to really enjoy it and have a lot of questions. My experience with the panels have been gerat and I feel really lucky that I've been able to see so many. Hope you are all doing well!
Green Branding: Engaging the Consumer
We, the consumer, are not idiots! Seventy percent of us don’t really know what it means, nor do we trust, when a product claims to be green. More and more, companies are trying to understand how to not just look green, but incorporate the idea of “360 degrees of green” into their operation by requiring vendors to be green also.
The speaker panel was a diverse group of people who are energized and passionate about green issues and the way they will shape our future. Green is the hottest trend in consumer brands and it really started with events like Hurricane Katrina to show consumers the global climate crisis was upon us. That being said they admitted that Green is a passing fad and will be gone in 4-5 years. . . but the underlying issue of the systemic need for “something” will be around much longer.
At the heart of the entire matter of green in the CPG business is the company's commitment to the triple bottom line. The triple bottom line is the idea of measuring success in terms of profit but also in terms of environmental and social success. A company can talk the talk all they want but only when they begin to walk the walk is when they are truly moving towards making a meaningful long term difference, instead of a short term profit.
Overall, we have a long way to go. The speakers were full of passion but that's not enough to make a lasting change. We need to work to change the habits of the global business structure as we know it. We need to incorprate CSR into our MBA curriculum and we need to be encouraged to make a difference instead of make a buck.
There are more companies with incentives tied to short term profit goals than there are companies being measured on reducing their carbon footprint. Imagine if the CEO was paid based on not only profits but how much they reduced their in store cardboard display waste last year. Business plans would look a lot different
Jack Johnson says it best, "We’re just human, amusing but confusing. We’re trying, but where is this all leading?." The just human excuse doesn't cut it anymore. Everyone is aware of the massive environmental issues we are facing and will continue to face. Everyone has a part to play,even musicians. I went to a GREAT session on how the music industry is leading the charge for a green lifestyle and using the industry as a platform. The panel included Chris Baumgartner of Music Matters, John Esposito President and CEO of WEA Corp., Richard Goodstone of Superfly Productions and Henry Juszkiewicz CEO of Gibson Guitars.
Some of the key issues they discussed
1. Carbon offsetting: My favorite speaker was Richard Goodstone of Superfly (they put on Bonnaroo, maybe you have heard of it!) The festival came out of the needs of consumers who were looking for great music by performers who were interested in environmental issues and wanted to do something about it. One of the cool things Bonnaroo does is a Carbon Offset program, encouraging concert attendees to purchase offsets for their travel to the show.
Big Issues: How to get these small efforts by a select group of people to spread.
2. The Future of the CD: John Esposito, President and CEO of WEA Corp., discussed what the future holds as far as how and where we get our music. From the discussion it became quite apparent that the music industry knows their products and packaging need to undergo a transformation, but the main holdup seems to be the cost of transforming your entire supply chain and packaging operations. Short term costs are too much of a deterrent for achieving a long term solution. Also, we discussed online music downloading as an option to reduce waste. Maybe the artist should quit complaining about illegal music downloads and chock it up to helping the earth!
Big issue: How to get rid of jewel cases. Is online music downloading saving the environment?
3. Guitars and the Rain Forest: Gibson Guitar CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, discussed how Gibson is incorporating environmental consciousness in to their supply chain. Gibson works with The Rainforest Alliance to work towards conserving biodiversity. Rainforest Alliance assists Gibson by helping them understand how to use their wood conservatively and incorporating recycling into their production operations. I felt a bit unconvinced as far as the validity of this alliance and if their wood is truly not from virgin forests. I think Gibson needs to work harder to validate their wood and the credibility of the organizations they associate with.
Big issue: How do we create the best product without damaging our limited natural resources?
Music is a great platform to inspire people to be and do something greater. net Impact is a great platform to get that message across and inspire the future industry leaders attending the conference.
01:45 PM Good afternoon and welcome to the final showcase for the Project Pyramid Case Competition. This afternoon we'll get to hear presentations from the top 3 teams before the Great Big Checks are handed out.
01:50 PM Sharran Srivatsaa is going through the basics - why are we here? What are we trying to accomplish with Project Pyramid?
01:53 PM The three pillars of Project Pyramid - education, collaboration, and sustainable action.
01:54 PM "There are 3 modes of a business school student's life: you're either studying real hard, looking for a job, or checked out." Or so says the guy that helped set up an academic and social network around poverty.
01:59 PM Asif Shah Mohammed s now going to tell us about the case competition, the question, and why we're all here.
02:03 PM The teams - York (Canada), University of Chicago, and GA Tech.
02:03 PM GA Tech takes the stage - Growing Opportunities, Graduates Against Poverty. The thrust of their presentation is to form a reasonable framework for evaluating potential projects.
02:06 PM Alleviating poverty requires a system-wide approach. Foreign exchange drives local activity that drives good things to happen.
02:08 PM They've outlines a fee schedule and a work structure that charges corporations, breaks even on governments/SWO, and is free of charge to entrepreneurial clientele. Interesting, but I wonder how well this might be received by larger corporations.
02:23 PM GA Tech is off stage and we're getting set for the next team While they're getting ready, Sharran is up introducing Deans Bradford and Scudder, the keystones of the administration support for this initiative.
02:28 PM Jessica Jackley-Flannery from Kiva.org is up saying a few words about her organization and what they're up to. Jessica was recently on Oprah, "sharing tears," as we were told. She's showing a clip from the show. Kiva is a website dedicated to micro-loans. Anyone can go on the site, search through the people looking for help, and make a loan. Once the loan is paid back, it goes back into the fund and you get to loan it out to someone else.
02:45 PM Most of Kiva's work in upgrading and moving the system forward is in their interface with Microfinance Institutions, or MFI's - making it easier for them to plug in to the system and upload data more quickly.
02:56 PM And now for the next team on the slate - University of Chicago GSB's "Thinkers and Movers".
03:00 PM Project Rachna is tasked with generating income opportunities and providing education.
03:12 PM Now they're going through the action plan of how to implement the idea. Basically they're advocating establishing a sales force that can go out to rural India and sell consumer products.
03:16 PM UChicago is done and into the Q&A. Q: What are the benefits to the NGO's and which ones are you targeting? A: No added revenues, but the ability to make a greater impact throughout the world. Their target NGO is one that focuses on women's issues, helping women get out of bad situations through entrepreneurship.
03:22 PM Will and Henry from Enjuba.com are up giving a bit of background. These are two undergrads who, during their freshman year, decided they wanted to make a different. So they import artistic work from Uganda, sell it here in the US, and use the profits to make socially relevant change.
03:42 PM And now for the final team to present to day - York University School of Business.
03:46 PM These guys have a good point when they say that local ideas, local talent, and local decision making is very important, actually moreso in the earlier days than later on. So they're proposing a much more collaborative model than we've heard this far.
04:07 PM York is wrapping up. They're proposing a social venture capital model, focused and implemented locally through a phased roll-out process.
04:08 PM The prizes are about to be handed out.
04:09 PM Third place - U of Chicago.
04:09 PM Second place - GA Tech, which means ...
04:09 PM First place - York University.
Well, that's it for us, folks. Its been a lot of fun seeing this entire thing unfold from an idea to a team holding a big cardboard check. Check back for interviews with the winning team.
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