The Student Experience

“Doing this project was in a sense a dream, that I think any business school student would feel so lucky to have come true.”

“To me, this experience really epitomizes what it means to be a Michigan Business School student, where you’re given the tools and flexibility to pursue your dreams, and to be on the cutting edge of new fields that are really going to change the way the world thinks about business.”

“..then I found myself in a rural village [in India], talking with women about how they care for their families, and how Hindustan Lever can be vital to the success and the development of their children. That is more powerful than anything you can do sitting in a classroom and reading about it.”

“...the first year of Business School kind of grew the box, and xMAP showed me absolutely everything that was outside of that box.”

Projects

Produced by Andrew Wilson Sami Foguel
 

Casas Bahia (Brazil)
Retailing

In fifty years, Casas Bahia has grown from one man selling blankets and bed linens door-to-door to the largest retail chain in Brazil, offering electronics, appliances, and furniture. With its emphasis on serving the poor customer, its low prices, and credit determined by payment history rather than formal income (70% of CB customers have no formal or consistent income), Casas Bahia grosses over a billion US dollars a year, and has invoked deep loyalty in its customers.

Condensed Video (5 min 53 sec)
Full Video (12 min 8 sec)
Case (PDF)
Casas Bahia Web Site

Produced by
Ajit Sharma
Sharmilee Mohan
Sidharth Singh

CEMEX (Mexico)
Housing

The third largest cement manufacturer in the world, CEMEX decided it needed to move from selling materials to selling solutions. With low fixed prices, materials on credit, pre-costed housing designs, and even supervised construction services for Mexicans working abroad, CEMEX makes housing affordable and possible for the poor in Mexico.

Condensed Video (3 min 7 sec)
Full Video (9 min 13 sec)
Case (PDF)
Cemex Web Site

Produced by
Sachin Rao
Kuttayan Annamalai

eChoupal - ITC Ltd. (Secunderabad, India)
Agriculture

In setting up rural farmer-entrepreneurs with Internet access, and using modern technology to accurately weigh farmers crops (and paying them promptly), ITC's eChoupal system is transforming India's agricultural supply chain, reducing systemic corruption and giving farmers both better prices for their crops and a sense of dignity and confidence in being connected to the rest of the world.

Condensed Video (4 min 7 sec)
Full Video (16 min 18 sec)
Case (PDF)
e-Choupal Web Site

Produced by
Praveen Suthrum
Jeff Phillips

eGovernance - Andhra Pradesh, India
Government Services

Partnering with business to deliver government services electronically is fundamentally altering the relationship between government and citizens in Andhra Pradesh, the fifth-largest state in India. Government processes are more transparent; bribes paid to officials to facilitate transactions through a bureaucratic, paper-based system are eliminated. Citizens find it easy to pay bills and get answers, and easier to trust their government.

Condensed Video (3 min 30 sec)
Full Video (12 min 1 sec)
Case (PDF)
Andhra Pradesh State Web Site

Produced by Sachin Rao
Kuttayan Annamalai

EID Parry (India) Ltd. (Chennai, India)
Agriculture

Like ITC, EID Parry provides local entrepeneurs the technological backing to run Internet kiosks in rural villages. EID Parry has also created its own Internet portal, to support farmers with access to fertilizers and tools, education and crop disease diagnosis, and a direct market for their crops of rice and sugarcane. While the cases are similar, the EID Parry video focuses on the entrepeneur, and highlights how a single computer can change a whole village.

Condensed Video (4 min 12 sec)
Full Video (12 min 56 sec)
Case (PDF)
EID Parry Ltd. Web Site

Produced by George Weinmann
Scott Baron
 

E+Co & Tecnosol (Nicaragua)
Energy

By providing growth capital to local entrepreneurs, E+Co helps deliver alternative energy solutions to people around the world. In Nicaragua, where nearly fifty percent of the population is "off the grid," E+Co's investment in solar energy provider Tecnosol means people can have refrigeration, lights, running water, and jobs. The Nicaraguan government welcomes this effort, as scarce financial resources have stymied efforts to completely build out the electric grid.

Condensed Video (4 min 33 sec)
Full Video (13 min 57 sec)
Case (PDF)
E+Co Web Site

Produced by
Todd Markson
Michael Hokenson

ICICI Bank (Mumbai, India)
Microfinance

As the second-largest bank in India, ICICI Bank has led multiple initiatives to provide banking services at an affordable costs to the poor. ICICI has partnered with others to co-locate ATMs with rural Internet kiosks, and explore SmartCard technology to provide secure, low-cost transactions and loan management. More importantly, ICICI Bank has created a network of eight thousand Self Help Groups, each with twenty women, to serve as the vehicle for creating successful, micro-financed businesses. In the process, ICICI Bank has given these women the means to transform their social and economic lives, their families, and their villages. 

Condensed Video (4 min 22 sec)
Full Video (17 min 10 sec)
Case (PDF)
ICICI Bank Web Site

Produced by
Scott Macke
Ruchi Misra
Ajay Sharma

Jaipur Foot (Jaipur, India)
Prosthetics

With five and a half million amputees, there is an almost overwhelming need for an inexpensive artificial foot/lower limb prosthesis in India. Any solution also has to meet the needs of the Indian lifestyle - walking barefooted, squatting, and sitting cross-legged. With innovative design and use of materials, Jaipur Foot (a non-profit organization) has created a low-cost prosthesis that it fits on sixteen thousand patients annually, allowing their return to their chosen professions in the fields and cities without loss of income or productivity.

Condensed Video (4 min 30 sec)
Full Video (10 min 32 sec)
Case (PDF)
Jaipur Foot Web Site

Produced by
Anuja Rajendra
Tej Shah

Salt - Hindustan Lever Limited (Mumbai, India)
Health

In India, Iodine Deficiency Disorder hinders the growth and intellectual development of 70 million people, with twenty percent of the population at risk. Yet up to fifty percent of the iodine in iodized salt can be lost during storage, transportation, and Indian cooking. Using world-class technology, Hindustan Lever Ltd. has developed a more stable iodine for salt that is effective in preventing IDD and affordable; by using village-based entrepeneurs to sell products in remote areas, HLL is ensuring its availability, as well as providing jobs, income, and self-respect for the poor.

Condensed Video (4 min 3 sec)
Full Video (14 min 54 sec)
Case (PDF)
Hindustan Lever Limited Web Site

Produced by
Mindy Murch
Kate Reeder

Soap - Hindustan Lever Limited (Mumbai, India)
Health

Around the world, 2.2 million people die from diarrheal disease every year. Children are especially at risk - one child dies every 30 seconds. India alone contributes thirty percent of the world's diarrheal deaths. By teaching and demonstrating the benefits of handwashing through both UN and branded programs that reach into the villages, Hindustan Lever Ltd. is reducing infectious disease and improving soap sales.

Condensed Video (4 min 16 sec)
Full Video (13 min 57 sec)
Case (PDF)
Hindustan Lever Limited Web Site

Produced by
Cynthia Casas
Will Lajoie

Voxiva (Lima, Peru)
Health

Peru's struggle in the early 1990s to control a cholera outbreak took years, cost thousands of lives, and meant over $770 million dollars in lost productivity, trade, and tourism for Peru's economy. Voxiva's product, Alerta, is one tool Peru is using to fight back against infectious disease outbreaks. It transforms the typical village telephone into a tool for effectively reporting health conditions and disease outbreaks in rural areas, improving the speed and quality of medical responses and saving lives.

Condensed Video (3 min 33 sec)
Full Video (21 min 51 sec)
Case (PDF)
Voxiva Web Site