Tom Harrison

Following a number of management roles in NGOs and the tea sector, Tom became an independent consultant focussing on private sector development and cross-sector partnership. He has completed assignments for, among others, DFID, GIZ, the World Bank and UNDP. For a decade Tom had a lead role in management of the Business Innovation Facility (BIF) for which he was Technical Director for which he supporting BIF’s work in Myanmar he was involved in supporting large companies to develop innovative business models that benefit people on low incomes. This year Tom has led new partnership development for the Work and Opportunities For Women (WOW) Programme and has undertaken a review of a market-systems programme in Zambia and an evaluation of a partnership between Oxfam and Unilever.

Inclusive Business and Partnerships - Prospects for Bangladesh

25. May 2011

Chief executives from leading Bangladeshi companies met with NGO leaders in Dhaka on Wednesday 12th May. The meeting, convened by CARE Bangladesh and the Business Innovation Facility, was the culmination of the Responsible Business Program Bangladesh (RBPB). The aim of the evening was to talk about how partnerships can contribute to successful inclusive business (or co-profiting, as Nick Southern, Country Director of CARE-Bangladesh, referred to it in his presentation).

 

I was on the panel with Nick, to introduce the Facility and give some feedback from our successful prior workshops and partnership training. Joining us on the panel was Niaz Rahim, Group Director of Rahimafrooz, a leading Bangladeshi business. Niaz gave a compelling account of how partnership and an inclusive approach had helped Rahimafrooz, which for me was the highlight of the evening. First he explained how he had realised as Nick and I were speaking that, despite not being familiar with the terms, when we talked about such things as ‘inclusive business’, ‘co-profiting’, partnering for ‘mutual benefit’ with a ‘partnering mindset’, we were actually describing what for many years has been the cornerstone of his company’s success.

 

The first example he gave was Rahimafrooz’s battery business. By developing mutually dependent partnerships with their many small distributors, the company was able to first thrive, and later survive strong competition from a powerful competitor that had entered the market offering better terms to the SMEs. This failed, because of the ‘unbreakable links in the chain’ forged by the respect and trust and sustained their partnerships with Rahimafrooz.

He then went on to describe how a newer Rahimafrooz business, the Agrora retailer, was now developing similar ‘unbreakable links’ with its suppliers, large and small, which extend to the many small farmers and small-scale food processors who make up Agora’s supply base. Niaz explained how, without these inclusive partnerships, the retailer could not keep its promise to always have available stocks of high quality, fresh and safe foods.

Later, during a lively Q&A, Niaz went on to suggest how NGOs and donors can support businesses like Agora in Bangladesh. He issued a challenge to help entrepreneurs to provide useful products for companies such as Agora, pointing out that inclusivity is a two way street, with the right kind of support needed to small farmers and other producers in the value chain.

 

The meeting was a successful end to the RBPB events (see also Parveen Huda’s blogs on the workshops and training). Participants left with a wealth of reading material, including a specially produced publication on will be inspired to lead their own companies towards an inclusive business approach.