These sample project descriptions illustrate the typical scope and level of depth used to solicit student applications. Project descriptions should be submitted using IDC_Client_Application_Form.doc. Project 1: Grameen Foundation USA, Philippine Microfinance Initiative Project Title: Analysis of the Competitive Environment in the Philippine Microfinance Industry and its Impact on MFIs and their Clients Brief Description of Organization: Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) is a global non-profit organization that combines microfinance, new technologies, and innovation to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. Founded in 1997, GFUSA s global network includes 52 microfinance partners in 22 countries. The network has impacted an estimated 5.5 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. For more information on Grameen Foundation USA, please visit www.gfusa.org. The Foundation sprang from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank began in 1976 by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who was convinced that women could break through poverty by taking tiny loans to start or expand tiny businesses. Today, Grameen Bank serves over 6 million borrowers, with 10,000 families escaping poverty every month. Dr. Yunus is a founding and current board member of GFUSA. Background: Grameen Foundation works with 4 of the largest microfinance institutions (MFI) in the Philippines which have committed to expand their outreach to 1 million poor borrowers by the end of 2008. Currently, the MFIs have an outreach of 480,000 clients. In recent years, the MFIs are finding it difficult to expand their outreach because of increasing competition in the microfinance market. Microfinance NGOs face competition from one another as well as from microfinance banks and credit cooperatives. Increasing competition has also led to many MFIs experiencing higher client drop out rates, increasing default rates, and clients borrowing from multiple programs leading to over indebtedness. Reliable studies, however, have shown that the total outreach of all MFIs do not cover more than one third of the total number of poor families in the country that require microfinance services. Project Description: The project team is expected to review the literature on microfinance industry studies and analyze the microfinance market in the Philippines using data from PCFC (a microfinance wholesale fund), the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Rural Bank Association of the Philippines, Federation of Cooperatives, and others. They will work closely with at least two of Grameen Foundation s MFI partners, to do an in-depth analysis of a sample of typical markets they serve, in terms of their current competition structure and how this structure has changed in the last 3 to 5 years. Analysis should focus on the central issue of how increased competition has impacted the range and quality of products and services provided by the MFIs, product/service pricing, costs of product/service delivery, and client behavior. The team is expected to provide recommendations on how MFIs should best respond to increasing competition in a way that benefits them and their clients, while enabling those MFIs to 1
continue to expand their outreach into the unserved two-thirds of the poor population currently without access to microfinance services. Main Outcomes and Deliverables: Final Report: Analysis of the competitive environment of the Philippines which would include: Executive Summary Detailed review of participating MFIs Detailed microfinance industry review and mapping of the current microfinance market in terms of key MFIs, their sizes (number of clients and loan portfolio), where they operate, and the nature and extent of the unserved/underserved portion of the market. Detailed analysis of sample markets of participating MFIs that looks into changes in the competitive environment and its impact on MFI performance, their clients, and the range, quality and pricing of products/services being offered. Recommendations on how best MFIs and the industry respond to increasing competitive environment. Approximate Length of Project (number of months) and number of teams: 3-4 months (~ 80-100 hours/member) for two teams of two members each. Desired Relevant Skills / Team Profile: A mixed team of MBA-students with strong market structure analytical skills, business development, marketing and international development skills would be optimal. 2
Project 2: Aquaculture/Ornamental Plant Industry Analysis Organization offering the assignment: TechnoServe El Salvador Through a market driven, business oriented approach to economic development, TechnoServe seeks to bring business solutions to rural poverty. Since 1968, TechnoServe has helped entrepreneurial women and men to participate and benefit from the global economy by promoting businesses with the potential to generate economic growth, employment and income in rural areas of the developing world. Working directly with small and medium size businesses, TechnoServe provides strategic management and marketing services: identification of market opportunities, supply chain management, capital and financing, training and capacity building, as well as the development of business plans. Headquartered in Connecticut, TechnoServe currently has projects in eight country offices in Latin America and Africa Project needs explanation and background: Based on the opportunities and challenges identified in industry analyses, TechnoServe develops projects with financing from the Multisectoral Investment Bank (BMI). However, it is difficult to find local consultants in El Salvador with the skills, training and experience needed to carry out a good industry analysis. Therefore, our office would like to set a standard for local consultants for future industry analyses in El Salvador. Main objectives Conduct in depth research on chosen industry at international, regional and national levels Determine whether the sector has potential for generating rural employment, income and economic growth in El Salvador (why or why not) If yes- Identify opportunities, bottlenecks, needs, etc. in the sector If yes-develop recommendations for initiatives / outline pilot project to strengthen the participation and competitiveness of local actors Provide a standard for local consultants for future industry analyses Deliverables Industry analysis report PowerPoint presentation to HQ office outlining the key findings and recommendations General template for future industry analyses Training session for local consultants on industry analyses (optional) Need traveling? When? What expenses will be paid by whom? Based on student interest, travel funds can be obtained by TechnoServe for team members to come to El Salvador. Travel can be arranged either over spring break for research on local industries or May/June for presentation of final report. Additional information: We are flexible in the project scope and would be happy to incorporate any student suggestions into the project. Depending on student interest the project could involve: A student trip to El Salvador to conduct field research on local industry capacity Student trip to present findings to TechnoServe and Multisectoral Investment Bank representatives Supervision / management of a group of local consultants to conduct national research Training session for local consultants on industry analyses Visit to the HQ office in Connecticut to meet with Regional Directors/ discuss employment opportunities within TechnoServe (e.g. opening of Brazil office) 3
Project 3: LifeSpring Hospital / Acumen Fund LifeSpring is a chain of small-sized maternity hospitals focused on low-income clients. The organization is based in Hyderabad, India. It is one of the newest investments of Acumen Fund, a global venture philanthropy fund that works in the fields of Health, Housing, Water, and Energy. To provide context on the organization: More than 100,000 women die in India every year from pregnancy-related causes, and an equal number suffer moderate to severe morbidities. Significantly, a majority of these deaths can be averted with proper maternal care, effective referral, and institutional delivery. The poor are disproportionately hit; almost a third of the Indian population lives in poverty. Until the creation of LifeSpring, available options for institutional delivery included government hospitals and private hospitals whose pricing strategies made them out of reach for low-income families. In December 2005, LifeSpring was created to meet the needs of: (1) high-quality clinical care focused on maternal and child health; and (2) affordable care focused on the base of the pyramid. By specializing exclusively on maternal and child health and leveraging operational efficiencies, LifeSpring prices its services between 30-50% of the prevailing market rates. For instance, LifeSpring charges only Rs. 1499 (~$37) for a normal delivery, compared to an average prevailing market price of Rs. 5450 (~$136). By charging for its services, LifeSpring is able to provide high-quality healthcare in a sustainable and scaleable fashion. In its first two years of existence, LifeSpring has not had a single mortality. Project Description: LifeSpring is looking for a team of Columbia MBA students to help it scale up from one hospital to five by year s end. This will serve as the foundation of LifeSpring s growth, as it continues to scale up to 30 hospitals in three years. More specifically, the team of MBA students will help LifeSpring through two parallel work streams: (1) Benchmarking high-quality, low-cost business models around the world, in the fields of social enterprise, healthcare, and service / hospitality. In particular, LifeSpring would like to benchmark itself in the areas of: (a) quality; (b) people / attracting talent; and (c) social marketing / customer relationship management (CRM). (2) Develop an Activity-Based Costing strategy for LifeSpring based on LifeSpring s current financials and cost tracking (note: the students will be asked to sign an NDI, as LifeSpring will be sending its financials). Main Objectives: For the first work stream, the main objective is to identify best practices and key organizations/corporations that excel in providing high-quality, low-cost services in a customer-centric way. The students time in NY will be research and interview-focused. The students time in India will be focused on how these best practices can be customized and leveraged for LifeSpring. For the second work stream, the main objective is to help LifeSpring better identify its main costs and develop a strategy that will enable it to keep its costs and prices low. Main Outcomes and Deliverables: (1a) Benchmarking report on high-quality, low-cost business models around the world, in the areas of: (a) quality; (b) people / attracting talent; and (c) social marketing /customer relationship management (CRM). (1b) PowerPoint presentation or report with recommendations for how LifeSpring can customize / leverage best practices to help it scale up. 4
(2) Costing strategy for LifeSpring. Language Requirement, if any: No language requirements, although Hindi and/or Telugu a plus. Approximate Length of Project (number of months): 3 months, including one week in Hyderabad, India. Desired Relevant Skills / Team Profile: General MBA skills. In particular, team should be composed of members who demonstrate: Familiarity of social enterprise and/or healthcare space, particularly high-quality, low-cost business models Comfort and proficiency with Activity-Based Costing Experience in service and/or hospitality industry, particularly regarding Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives Is travel required? If so, when? Yes, travel to Hyderabad, India is required by either the entire team or a sub-segment of the team. The best time for travel is over Spring Break in early March, but if that is not possible, the students can come in mid-may, after final examinations. The latter option will be much busier for the students, as they will be expected to research, incorporate findings, and present final analysis / strategy during their visit. However, we want to work with students schedules to find a mutually-beneficial time for travel. What are the associated expenses, and how will these be funded? While the students are in NY, there should not be any associated expenses related to benchmarking studies. The students should leverage access to publications through the Business School library. If the students find relevant reports that require payment, the students should ask LifeSpring about purchasing LifeSpring can reimburse students for applicable reports. Can your organization cover a few non-travel related costs, such as phone calls or housing for the consultants if/when they travel to the project location to present final deliverables? Yes. While the students are in New York, LifeSpring will cover phone charges (by reimbursing phone cards and/or Skype charges). This will include phone charges to LifeSpring, as well as benchmarking interviews to other organizations/corporations. If and when the students travel to India, LifeSpring will cover housing and ground transportation costs. Have you worked with MBA consultant teams before? Yes. LifeSpring has recently worked with two MBA consultant teams from the Indian School of Business (ISB), related to Pricing Strategy and Franchising. Additionally, Tricia Morente (CBS 06; currently an Acumen Fellow working at LifeSpring) has been engaged in a number of IDC projects from the student-side. 5