Blog of Q's

Press Release from Lifeworth.com, 31st January 2005

Review of 2004 examines corporate contributions to poverty reduction,
and maps out future agenda for corporate social responsibility.

…  The shape of this new [poverty] agenda and the potential and
drawbacks for both business and society is analyzed in the 4th ‘Annual
Review of Corporate Responsibility’, published today, by the
progressive careers service Lifeworth.com. …

… Leading business strategists such as CK Prahalad report that some
companies have seized opportunities by designing products and services
that can be consumed by the world’s poor. …

The Review argues that business engagement with poverty and development
is essential but is currently poorly informed and over-hyped. Much of
the profitable business with lower-income markets involves products
such as mobile phones, not the provision of basic nutrition,
sanitation, education and shelter, so the current expansion of
profitable business in the global South does not necessarily imply
poverty reduction. The type of ‘development’ that is promoted by
marketing consumer products to the poor is also questioned. The
environmental impacts of changing consumption patterns need to be
looked at, as well as the potential displacement of local companies and
increasing resource drain from local economies, as larger foreign
corporations become more active.

The Review argues that future work on how corporations can aid poverty
reduction and development must address exploitative supply chains, tax
avoidance, and anti-competitive practices, as these currently undermine
corporations’ economic contribution to development. …

A good contribution to the debate about “business at the bottom of the pyramid.”