Alexis Sampson's Page

I found Gates' speech from the World Economic Forum to be a good synthesis of what should be considered in the growth of business engagement in poverty reduction--the need to revamp the system of the way businesses interact with impoverished markets, the innovation that needs to be fostered, and shifting to a system with two equally weighted missions: profit and serving the poor.

Gates also stressed the need for profit incentives. This makes me wonder about consumer awareness--could some of those incentives come from consumers who want to hold businesses accountable--or is that a dead concept from the early days of CSR? (Would more educated consumers choose responsible business over price margins?)

Gates pointed out another incentive already in place and growing for companies trying to justify this kind of shift--recruitment. I've heard time and time again from large company CSR representatives that attracting talent is one of their top reasons for beefing up their responsible practices. Business schools are under growing pressure from students to offer course matter on these topics--and new MBAs emerge eager to join the movement of 'good companies', which are also often praised in rankings of 'best companies to work for'.

See for yourself, the full text and video of the speech are here on the Gates Foundation site.