BUSINESS LINKAGES: Lessons, Opportunities, and Challenges

Beth Jenkins, Anna Akhalkatsi, Brad Roberts, Amanda Gardiner

IFC, International Business Leaders Forum, and the Fellows of Harvard College 2007

Business linkages with SMEs offer large firms a channel by which to reduce costs, increase productivity, enhance reputation and license to operate, access local knowledge, and integrate into foreign or base of the pyramid markets - while at the same time helping to create economic opportunity in underdeveloped countries or regions. Expanding and accelerating business linkage activity should therefore be a shared priority among firms, development agencies, governments, civil society organizations and research institutes. The challenges and approaches described here warrant further study, discussion, and, most importantly,experimentation and action.

Available for download at http://www.iblf.org/resources/general.jsp?id=123929 and http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/CSRI/publications/report_16_BUSINESS%20LINKAGESFINAL.pdf