This evaluation of ten matching grant funds for enterprise development concludes that matching grant funds address the need to build domestic capacity to support businesses. Performance has been mixed, however, and best practice models are needed. Grant funding may be justified for technical knowhow, but support should be temporary and should be phased out as soon as the main objective, market take-off, is achieved.

This publication is a product of the experiences and lessons learned while implementing agroenterprise projects in eastern and southern Africa. A Market Facilitator's Guide is based on a resource-to-consumption framework, which is the central theme of the "enabling rural innovation" approach for rural development. This approach seeks to empower farmer groups with the necessary skills to make informed decisions for their economic development, based on an analysis of their surroundings, assets and skills. The methodology also aims for outcomes that are equitable, gender focused and participatory.

Fears of job loss and changes in employment status have often led workers and unions to oppose privatization and to take actions that delay or block reforms. Many developing country governments have been reluctant to undertake reforms because of labor opposition and the political costs involved. Such difficulties are often compounded by concerns about the social impact of reforms, particularly in countries where social safety nets and labor markets are lacking. The objective of the Toolkit, which includes a CD-ROM, is to provide practical tools and information to help policy makers and practitioners deal with these sensitive issues. The Toolkit helps governments identify and select appropriate strategies and approaches, offers guidelines for design and implementation based on best practice and actual experience, and indicates the factors influencing the choice of strategy and options. The Toolkit is illustrated with examples, checklists, and templates that walk decision makers through best practice methodologies.

Examines government efforts to support and promote small business.

“Development Without Aid” opens up perspectives about foreign aid to the world’s poorest countries. Growing up in Malawi the author developed a sense of the limitations of foreign assistance and from this evolves a critique of foreign aid as an alien resource unable to provide the dynamism that could propel the poorest countries out of poverty. The book aims to help move the discussion beyond foreign aid. It examines the rapid growth of the world’s diasporas as a quasi-indigenous resource of increasing strength in terms of both financial and human capital, and considers how far such a resource might supersede aid. It uses extensive research findings to explore the possibilities for a resumption of sovereignty by poor states, especially in Africa, over their own development with the assistance of the world’s diasporas.

In a large sample of East Asian nonfinancial corporations, firms using foreign currency derivatives had distinctive characteristics, such as larger size and foreign debt exposures. Unlike in studies of U.S. firms, there was only weak evidence that liquidity-constrained firms with greater growth opportunities hedged more. Firms appeared to use foreign earnings as a substitute for hedging with derivatives, and to engage in "selective" hedging. There was no evidence that East Asian firms eliminated their foreign exchange exposure by using derivatives. And firms using derivatives before the crisis performed just as poorly as nonhedgers during the crisis.

"The authors address Agile/Virtual Enterprises as a new organizational paradigm, highly dynamic reconfigurable agile networks of independent enterprises sharing all resources, including knowledge, market, customers, etc., and using specific organizational architectures that introduce the enterprises' true virtual environments"--Provided by publisher.

Pricing can truly transform organizations. The impact of pricing on organizations is a result of two factors: pricing strategy development and the implementation of these strategies. Implementation is arguably the most difficult part in the pricing strategy process where even seasoned practitioners demand guidance. Pricing strategy development requires creativity, analytical rigor, and an ability to master the internal political competition for scarce resources, but it takes place in a well-defined environment. Fast forward to strategy implementation: competitors that stubbornly fail to behave according to assumptions, new entrants, internal resistance, new opportunities, changing customer preferences, leadership changes, regulatory interventions, or market growth rates that change unexpectedly are some of the intervening variables between the pricing strategy originally developed and the strategy actually implemented. This book provides the theories and best practices that enable the effective implementation of pricing strategies. It offers: a best practice overview on how to convert a pricing strategy into superior results insights from current academic research on driving profits via pricing strategy implementation examples on how to deal with digital transformation in the context of pricing tools and insights into how to overcome internal resistance, align the organization, and forge win-win relationships with customers Taking a new approach, Pricing Strategy Implementation is a critical and practical tool for practicing executives and managers, as well as academics and researchers in pricing, marketing strategy, and strategic management.