Foreign Policy Blogs

The Case for Business Cases about Global Health

The Case for Business Cases about Global HealthThis week, the European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD) announced the winners of its annual business case competition.  In addition to a bit of shameless self-promotion, I am pleased to see that business cases about global health and emerging markets are getting recognition.  The winners were selected in 14 categories, and then a panel of judges selected a “best of the best” case.  Two cases tied for the “best of the best” – and surprisingly both, including the case written by myself and Roger Strang, were about issues in global health.

For too long, business cases have largely focused on western companies and developed markets.  But as management education has matured, and admittedly, as emerging markets have indeed emerged, this has changed.  MBA programs now have extensive course offerings focused on issues of development and conducting business in less-developed markets.  Many MBA students have also come to see their education as a broader one of allocation of scarce resources, rather than more narrowly on commercial activities.

The case that I wrote about mothers2mothers drew upon my experience with nonprofit organizations, but it also drew upon my education in issues that I believe are relevant across the public and private sectors: cost-efficiency, business development, scaling, financial governance, and sustainability.  It also focused on issues that are more unique to the public sector, but which are increasingly relevant for companies: reaching under-accessed communities and working in collaboration with governments to achieve quality services.

I’ve increasingly come to believe that the lines between profit-seeking and non-profit-seeking activities are blurry – rendering the study of bottom line profits a mere academic exercise.  In the real world, all organizations must consider the social and environmental implications of their activities.  Since MBA programs boast that the case study method allows students to learn from the complexity of real-world issues, it is a welcome evolution that cases about public policy issues are being recognized from the academic community.

 

Author

Cynthia Schweer Rayner

Cynthia Schweer Rayner is an independent consultant and philanthropy advisor specializing in public health, social entrepreneurship and scalable business models for positive social change. As a recovering management consultant, she spent several months living in South Africa, and later co-founded the US branch of an organization providing support to orphaned and vulnerable children. In 2009, she was an LGT Venture Philanthropy Fellow, working with mothers2mothers (m2m), a multinational non-profit organization employing mothers living with HIV as peer educators to positive pregnant women. She currently works with individuals, companies and nonprofits to finance and develop models for positive change. Cynthia has an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in English Literature from Georgetown University. She currently lives in Cape Town and visits New York frequently, where she co-owns a Manhattan-based yoga studio, mang'Oh yoga (www.mangohstudio.com).