38th St. Gallen Symposium

Nitin Rao — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:49:32 -0400

If any NextBillion.net readers will be attending the 38th St. Gallen's Symposium in Switzerland, I would look forward to meeting up.
-Nitin

Global Action, Local Responsibility: Is Development Through Enterprise a Western-Only Concept?

Nitin Rao — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:55:22 -0500

This year's topic for the St. Gallen's Symposium set me thinking...

Global Capitalism, Local Values
There has been much discussion about Bill Gates' keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he pushed for "a creative capitalism" that uses market forces to address the needs of the world's poorest countries. In his keynote, Gates told the audience that, "We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well."

Even as academics such as Prof. C. K. Prahalad at the University of Michigan and Prof. Kasturi Rangan at Harvard Business School write and research extensively on the opportunities at the base of the economic pyramid, does development through enterprise (DTE) remain by and large a Western concept? Is global capitalism a wave that originates from the West and trickles to the developed countries?

Clash in Values
Based largely upon my experiences in the development sector in India, I believe the success of global concepts (spawned in the West) ultimately lies in their implementation at a local level.

(This post continues past the break; click "Read More" to continue)

NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Global Action, Local Responsibility: Is Development Through Enterprise a Western-Only Concept? - Comments

38th St. Gallen Symposium

Global Action, Local Responsibility: Is Development Through Enterprise a Western-Only Concept?