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 not only good strategies, but also good control systems and informed decision-making. All of these need an appropriate Management Information System (MIS). While a good MIS is required 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 present the metrics required for success in this field. Communicating on these metrics will provide a competitive advantage in fund-raising. Reaching out to the bottom of the pyramid requires low-cost catalytic innovations that disrupt the existing way of doing things. This requires not only social innovations, but also technological innovations to reduce costs drastically. Experiments in designing information systems are themselves looking at socially innovative ways of distributing these systems using the latest available cloud technologies. Some of these are not without risks. 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. The implementation of a good MIS is undoubtedly the greatest challenge for time and cash-strapped Microfinance Institutions seeking an advantage in an increasingly competitive field. Understanding how others have done it is undoubtedly reassuring. This book goes into the details of problems faced and innovative techniques of implementing MIS in microfinance. The interest in this field has stemmed from its distinctions in solving problems such as asymmetric information and transaction costs. Some of these problems are common to the sector as a whole, such as determining the credit risk of the poor who are sourcing loans from multiple lenders. This book provides information on experiments in distributing information on credit risks through collaborations between competitors for the advantage of all. The book is, therefore, essential reading for anyone interested in learning about not only microfinance and MIS, but also social innovations and competitive advantage strategies. The authors of this book are executives, consultants and academics who have considerable research experience in working 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 both students, and, indeed, academics and practitioners.