Management Information Systems for Microfinance: Catalyzing Social Innovation for Competitive Advantage

Microfinance is a double bottom line sector which is growing fast, making money and doing well in a variety of socially interesting ways. The growth of its institutions requires good strategies, good control systems and informed decision-making, all of which require an appropriate Management Information System (MIS). While a good MIS is needed in any sector, the management of a double bottom line requires systems which yield information on economic, financial and social metrics. The essays in this book explore the metrics required for success in this field. Communicating on these metrics may provide competitive advantage in fund-raising.Reaching out to the bottom of the pyramid requires low-cost catalytic innovations, disrupting the existing way of doing things. These necessitate not only social innovations, but also technological innovations to reduce costs drastically. The book presents various alternative ways of distributing software for microfinance, including case studies on open-source and cloud-based software, indicating how software providers are seeking to create competitive advantage. It offers a detailed analysis of the problems that are often faced and innovative techniques for implementing MIS in microfinance. This volume represents essential reading for anyone interested in learning about not only microfinance and MIS, but also social innovations and competitive advantage strategies. The contributors to the book are executives, consultants and academics who have considerable research experience in working and researching in these areas. Their work has been reviewed and developed by comments from both academics and practitioners to yield a book which is useful to students, academics and practitioners alike.

About the Author :
Dr Arvind Ashta holds the Banque Populaire Chair in Microfinance at the Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France, having taught microfinance in a number of universities across the world. He is the editor of Advanced Technologies for Microfinance, and has published a number of articles in international journals. Dr Bryan Barnett is an independent microfinance consultant and banking adviser to the Office of Technical Assistance of the US Department of the Treasury. He clients include USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Grameen Foundation and the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). He has worked for Microsoft, Vulcan Northwest and Apex Learning.Dr Karl Dayson FRSA is Professor of Social and Cultural Innovation at the University of Salford. He has published widely on microfinance and helped create microcredit institutions throughout England. He also worked for the European Commission on the development of a "Code of Good Practice for European Microcredit Providers".Godfrey Supka is the Global Business Development Manager of Fern Software, the microfinance information systems specialist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Godfrey has over 20 years' experience in microfinance and banking systems, mainly in the East Asian and Middle Eastern markets, and authored the IBS Intelligence review on Microfinance Information Systems.