Innovation and Creativity Used by Private Sector Firms in a Resources-Constrained Environment

While innovation has become a popular topic when advocating for technology advancement and enhancing innovative processes in firms in both developed and developing economies, innovation in the context of micro-enterprises in emerging economies, such as Vietnam is not well understood nor has the topic been examined thoroughly. This chapter, in addition to looking at innovation within a micro-entrepreneurial context, includes a review of the academic literature on innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, competitive advantages, and knowledge as some of the main drivers for social and economic development. Based on the field observations and interviews, it appears business owners of micro-enterprises in Vietnam might often use innovation by depending on their own individual adaptability and creativity to advance business opportunities by building upon existing knowledge as opposed to creating an entirely new business model or concept. Awareness of the nature of innovation within micro-enterprises could be helpful in designing governmental policies which are intended to create conditions which foster innovation and reduce throughout all levels of society and could have a role in reducing poverty.

Pros and Cons of Integrating Non-Financial Services in Microfinance

Microfinance as argued in recent literature is not a panacea for poverty reduction as it was expected. The poor may need support from various ranges of non-financial services including business development services and social services alongside microfinance services. The main aim of this chapter is to provide policymakers and practitioners some discussions on the pros and cons of integrating non-financial services together with microfinance services. This chapter proposes a framework of both positive and negative effects of providing non-financial services on microfinance institutions and clients. A case study of offering non-financial services in a microfinance institution in Vietnam provides both quantitative and qualitative evidence of effects on the microfinance institution and its clients.

Changing the Boundaries of Expectations

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, incorporating the Business and Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC), has stated more rapid attention needs to be directed to implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (also known as Global Goals) by 2030, and this is particularly the case in developing countries. Strategy with this type of inclusion is at the forefront of the solution to current global climatic change and escalating social problems such as poverty, hunger, and inequality. This chapter argues that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are in an excellent position to implement Social Initiatives (SIs) as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework and incorporate this into their CSR strategy. This will allow MNEs to be key instigators of SDG implementation and collaboration across sectors, governments, and public and private entities. This chapter provides an explanation of the various frameworks that support MNEs to implement SDGs, and describes the requirements for implementation, followed by a summary of 15 case studies where SDGs have been successfully implemented within a Shared Value and CSR context.

How the Human Resource Practices of Chinese MNEs in Africa Create Economic Growth and Livelihood Options

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the economic development impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in developing countries. In particular, the relationship between MNEs' developmental effect on economic growth and poverty reduction and their use of human resource management (HRM) practices will be examined. The regional focus will be on Chinese MNEs in Africa. The paper is conceptual in nature by analyzing relevant key literatures, investigating cases of Chinese MNEs in Africa, and finally deriving a systematic conceptual framework.

Bribery and Its Implications on Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy

This chapter argues that while informal entrepreneurship is important in transition economies (for economic growth, job generation, and welfare improvement), it opens informal entrepreneurs to bribery requests because of their non-official status. With empirical evidence from Vietnam, this chapter demonstrates that the likelihood of bribery is determined by a firm's attributes. Building on a unique dataset of 352 entrepreneurs in informal firms in Vietnam, this chapter is able to quantify bribery at the firm level and measure key concepts. The empirical findings confirm the key assumption that entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector of the same country may vary in their propensity to pay bribes due to pressure resulting from (a) factors that are specific to the firms, or (b) factors specific to their perceptions of the environment.

Internationalization, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Poverty Alleviation

The aim of this chapter is to describe how the MNCs can contribute to alleviate poverty and improve the well-being of the workers and communities, focused in two issues: job creation and CSR practices. For this purpose, the authors analyzed the case of the Mexican MNC FEMSA in Latin America. The results show that FEMSA plays an important role in job creation, with around 250,000 direct jobs in 2015 being created with Mexico and Brazil the most benefitiated with around the 84% of the jobs. In the case of CSR, 40 programs were identified under three main headings: “our people”, “our community” and “our planet”. Most of the programs are focused in “our community” (25) and the major receiver is Mexico with the 31 programs, the results of these programs show some benefits in the level of life and well-being of the people that has used these.

Ease of Doing Business and Wealth Creation

This chapter is written as a conceptual document, trying to explain how the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) and the regulatory framework developed by governments can help to decrease poverty or to increase wealth in a given country. It explains the 10 most important variables analyzed by the World Bank in its EDB research project. This chapter also cites and provides comments on the journal papers that support the research methodology used by the World Bank. It also provides the reader with a conceptual literature review on EDB, it analyzes separated data by geographical regions and suggests conceptually country factors which could influence on the Ease of Doing Business in the future, being this factor of capital importance for governments interested in wealth creation and economic growth. The main goal of the chapter is to help the reader to identify the most crucial issues when evaluating EDB and its impact on economic performance and consequently on poverty reduction.

Human Rights, Poverty Reduction, Opportunities, and the Multinational Enterprise

There is near universal agreement the human rights of all individuals should be respected. Yet in practice, there are differences of opinions over the universality and application of human rights in specific situations. Instead of advocating excessive scrutiny and regulation of human rights based on a single set of values, thus discouraging FDI in the least developed countries of the world; it is argued multinational enterprises can have the most positive impact on human rights by actively seeking out opportunities to operate in the areas of the world most affected by poverty. By concentrating on doing what the private sector does best, creating livelihood and purchasing options which individuals have the right to choose or reject, the private section can have a significant impact on creating wealth and reducing poverty.

Advancing Global Business Ethics in China

This chapter presents China's global business outlook within an analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to reduce poverty through human welfare improvement. The chapter examines human rights within China's social, environmental, and economic resources domestically and globally. Although China's economic acceleration has been substantial, its inability to consistently observe and enforce international human rights laws and norms detracts from its economic success. This is not something that China can easily achieve due to challenges of social instability and increasing demographic problems stemming from a large population with diverse needs. The authors suggest ways to enhance human rights conduct according to the UN Guiding Principles in China and in other countries through responsible management education.

Responsible Tourism and Poverty

The chapter provides a review of the principles of responsible tourism and its propensity to alleviate poverty. It presents a case study on the responsible tourism initiatives by Sandals Resorts International, a hotel company operating in a small developing island state in the Caribbean. The aim is to determine how these practices can help to alleviate poverty; both relative and absolute poverty in the countries in which they co-exist. Analysis of the case indicates that Sandals Resorts International through the Sandals Foundation embraces responsible tourism. This is manifested through its corporate social responsibility thrust to educate, build and protect the Caribbean, under the three pillars of community, education, and environment. According to the literature, the successful delivery and implementation of responsible tourism has the propensity to alleviate poverty in communities in which hospitality / tourism businesses operate. This is supported by the normative approach of the stakeholder theory which explains the moral and philosophical guidelines of an organization.