Womentrepreneurship
Goldman Sachs created the 10,000 Women Initiative to help women entrepreneurs in emerging economies grow their SMEs. Professors Marquis and Rangan (Harvard) guide their readers through the initiative.
The 10,000 Women Initiative grew out of a number of events that unfolded during and after 2005. Goldman Sachs had been active in civic engagement, notably through the Goldman Sachs Foundation, created in 1998. From the company’s desire to consolidate its philanthropic efforts, a big idea gradually emerged.
Internal research had been indicating that incremental aid dollars had the greatest impact when they were invested in education and women. A 2007 Goldman report entitled “Women Hold Up Half the Sky,” drawing upon the research of the Nobel Economics Prize winner Amartya Sen, showed how investment in the education of girls and women could add 0.2% to GDP growth rates in the BRICs countries and 11 other emerging economies.
Development experts pointed to entrepreneurial training for SME enterprises as a new frontier. In developing countries, microenterprises were receiving increased attention, but the SME sector was considered to be the missing middle. The idea of helping women in emerging economies grow SMEs took hold and the initiative’s guidelines were set up.
Finding partners
A first hurdle was to build a partner base. This meant finding local institutions that had the appropriate know-how to assist women entrepreneurs and it also meant helping these institutions build capacity to provide educational assistance to all the women enrolled. The Initiative’s solution took the form of partnerships between business schools based in the emerging countries and committed business schools in developed countries.
To build these institutional partnerships, Goldman Sachs worked with the Global Business School Network (GBSN) and with the deans of various business schools from which it recruited students. As an example, the case cites the partnership established between the Wharton School (Pennsylvania) and the American University of Cairo.
Another example of a partner is Pan-African University in Nigeria. The schools enterprise development services arm (EDS) had created a simplified program called the Certificate in Enterprise Management. After having verified the impact of the program (number of employees and volume of revenue multiplied by up to six in the companies of the program’s graduates), the Initiative signed on EDS as a partner.
To build up capacity, Goldman Sachs funded in-country faculty exchanges, case-method faculty training initiatives and case-writing initiatives. The goal was to build a lasting legacy of trained faculty and locally-relevant, SME-level case studies. As an example, Indian professors were funded to come to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend case teaching sessions at Harvard.
While schools were held to a core curriculum (in 150 credit hours) and to the case method, there was latitude in designing the program to fit local conditions. This translated into diversity among the programs, for example with regard to the scheduling of classes (evening or weekend, an introductory period of extensive classwork or not…).
The 10,000 Women Initiative was officially inaugurated in 2008, with a $100 million commitment over 5 years. Dina Habib Powell, a former US Deputy Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, headed the program which fell under her purview as Managing Director of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs.
The first program got underway in Nigeria in May 2008 with the first cohort of 23 women taking in 30 days of schooling spread over three months and graduating in September 2008.
Results measurement
Measuring results is part of Goldman Sachs mindset and in the case of the 10,000 Women Initative the company has partnered with Bridgespan, a nonprofit strategy consulting firm that works with philanathropic leaders to accelerate social change. With Bridgespan, the Intitiative has developed a measurement framework.
The academic partners are required to report periodically on inputs and outputs of the program as well as on job creation and revenue growth of graduates’ businesses. The idea of using a randomized control trial (RCT) is also being considered. Here, applicants not selected for the programs would serve as a control group, with the ultimate aim of separating the causal effects of the program from extraneous, incidental effects.
While the initiative is still too young for any strong measurement conclusions to have been drawn, its appeal is clearly great. The number of applicants to the various local programs is often so high that only about 10% of applicants can be accommodated.
Another discussion question is that of geographical extension. The case offers the example of the situation in Liberia.
Finally there is the question of year 6, when Goldman Sachs’ five-year commitment will have technically expired. Will what started out as a limited initiative become an ongoing movement? Can 10,000 be multiplied by factors of 10? The 10,000 Women Initiative looks like a highly successful startup. How can one go from incubating an initiative to managing a movement?
Reference:
Harvard 9-509-042
“Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Women Initiative”
Professors Christopher Marquis and V. Kasturi Rangan, Catherine Ross
Harvard Business School
Published June 2010
