Publication database

The report starts by outlining the current state of impact measurement and management. It goes on to shed light on the BCtA’s member companies’ commitments to the SDGs, their adoption of the Inclusive Business model, their engagement with low-income populations in developing countries, and to highlight the main challenges faced by these organizations in measuring and managing impact. It also outlines how Inclusive Businesses can manage their impact on the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP), leading to enhanced quality of life and increased living standards for their stakeholders.

Over the past decade, a new wave of pioneer healthcare initiatives has emerged that aims to improve the quality of care and access to healthcare of vulnerable populations in LMICs by building commercially viable and scalable enterprises. These pioneers are developing novel delivery models – inclusive clinics and hospitals, pharmacy-based, community-based, and risk-prevention models – and are innovating to solve patient pain points by making use of mobile and digital technologies, offering financing and insurance solutions, and improving access to preventative and primary care. This report reviews the preliminary findings of a study performed by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, together with Hystra – a consultancy specialized in inclusive business solutions – to learn from pioneer organizations what underlies their early successes and what is limiting them from reaching further scale or impact. It reviews the landscape of global inclusive initiatives and identifies innovations that can strengthen the impact of businesses.

Since 2013, the G4AW programme has been supporting 25 partnerships in 15 countries in Africa and South-East Asia that have taken up the challenge to develop digital solutions, using satellite and geodata to improve food and income security at smallholder food producer level. The major lessons learned from the programme (about 8 years) are summarized in this new lessons learned publication. It focuses on the business-related decisions and the steps taken to move towards a sustainable business model and scale to other services and regions.

Increasingly, development funding is directed to programmes aiming to make market systems more favourable for smallholders and low-income consumers of food. Assessing whether a programme indeed contributed to development outcomes is challenging. Building on real-world experiences with theory-based evaluation in inclusive business programmes, this IDS Bulletin discusses approaches and methods for meaningful impact evaluation. 

Most impact investors report meeting or exceeding their impact performance metrics, but is this truly the case? Maoz (Michael) Brown, head of research at the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, collaborated with Wharton PhD candidate Lauren Kaufmann on a study that reveals it is common practice for impact investors to report metrics primarily to market their success, rather than to evaluate and understand where their impact may fall short.

This report summarises the main elements to be taken into account to measure and manage impact throughout the investment strategy and the investment process, linking each phase to the relevant steps of the EVPA five-step framework. To clarify how the EVPA five-step process and other IMM initiatives are linked and complement each other, this publication also refers to different principles or standards throughout the investment journey, such as the Dimensions of impact of the Impact Management Project, the Operating Principles of Impact Management, the Principles of Social Value and the SDG Impact Standards.

To scale successfully, you need to adapt your business model several times as you learn about your new markets, distribution networks, customer segments and other organisational challenges. In this tool we explore the use of lean startup principles such as experimentation, iteration, and learning to ensure your adaptations are based on evidence-based data.

The report also the enormous potential to invest for impact in public equity markets. According to the report, impact investing in private markets could be as large as $2.1 trillion in assets under management, but only a quarter of that, $505 billion, is clearly measured for its impact, both for development impact and financial returns. The publication includes trends in impact investing, survey results of investor practices, and 32 case stories from signatories to the Operating Principles for Impact Management on how they are implementing them.