Muhammad Yunus Case Study
Muhammad Yunus: Lifting People Worldwide out of Poverty: Knowledge@Wharton
(http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2243)
Muhammad Yunus: Lifting People Worldwide out of Poverty
Published : May 27, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton
What began with a loan of $27 to 42 women in a small village 33 years ago has grown into a global microcredit movement that has changed the lives of millions of poor people around the world. Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, was the guest speaker at
Wharton's MBA commencement on May 17 and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree during the University of Pennsylvania's commencement on May 18. Yunus spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about his successes, challenges and upcoming initiatives.
An edited version of the transcript follows.
Knowledge@Wharton: Our guest today is Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the microcredit movement -based on the idea of making very small loans to the world's poorest people, thereby giving them the opportunity to raise themselves and their families out of poverty. Thank you for joining us.
This is a single/personal use copy of
Knowledge@Wharton. For multiple copies, custom reprints, e-prints, posters or plaques, please contact PARS
International: reprints@parsintl.com P.
(212) 221-9595 x407.
Yunus: Thank you.
Knowledge@Wharton: People often associate good works and worthwhile causes with non-profit institutions. But you have emphasized that your model is a for-profit one, not a non-profit one. Can you briefly describe that model and tell us why the distinction is so important to you?
Yunus: We are not trying to create a non-profit. That was not our intention. Our intention was to persuade the bankers to lend money to poor people, so my struggle was always with the bankers.
Initially, I offered myself as a guarantor, and then took the money from the bank and gave it to people. So it
(http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2243)
Muhammad Yunus: Lifting People Worldwide out of Poverty
Published : May 27, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton
What began with a loan of $27 to 42 women in a small village 33 years ago has grown into a global microcredit movement that has changed the lives of millions of poor people around the world. Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, was the guest speaker at
Wharton's MBA commencement on May 17 and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree during the University of Pennsylvania's commencement on May 18. Yunus spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about his successes, challenges and upcoming initiatives.
An edited version of the transcript follows.
Knowledge@Wharton: Our guest today is Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the microcredit movement -based on the idea of making very small loans to the world's poorest people, thereby giving them the opportunity to raise themselves and their families out of poverty. Thank you for joining us.
This is a single/personal use copy of
Knowledge@Wharton. For multiple copies, custom reprints, e-prints, posters or plaques, please contact PARS
International: reprints@parsintl.com P.
(212) 221-9595 x407.
Yunus: Thank you.
Knowledge@Wharton: People often associate good works and worthwhile causes with non-profit institutions. But you have emphasized that your model is a for-profit one, not a non-profit one. Can you briefly describe that model and tell us why the distinction is so important to you?
Yunus: We are not trying to create a non-profit. That was not our intention. Our intention was to persuade the bankers to lend money to poor people, so my struggle was always with the bankers.
Initially, I offered myself as a guarantor, and then took the money from the bank and gave it to people. So it