Twin honor for IIM B professors at NextBillion Case Writing Competition

Case studies authored by Prof. G. Shainesh, Professor of Marketing and Chairperson of the one year full time MBA (EPGP) & Prof. U. Dinesh Kumar, Professor of Quantitative Methods & Information Systems at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM B) have won the Second place and an Honorable Mention in the 2014 NextBillion Case Writing Competition. 

G. Shainesh

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Case studies written by two professors from IIM Bangalore have won the second place and an honorable mention at the prestigious 2014 NextBillion Case Writing Competition. IIM B Professor G Shainesh and Case Writer Suhruta Kulkarni have won Second Place in the 2014 NextBillion Case Writing Competition. Additionally, IIM B Professor U Dinesh Kumar and Case Writer Menaka Rao have won Honorable Mention.

This is the fourth NextBillion Case Writing Competition, which recognizes and publishes the best case studies about business strategies aimed at alleviating poverty, especially at the base of the pyramid (BOP). This year’s competition attracted 52 entries representing 34 universities and 15 countries.

All 2014 winning cases have been added to GlobaLens’ Base of the Pyramid Collection, one of the largest available from any publisher. These case studies will be marketed to top business schools worldwide for adoption in business courses. 

U. Dinesh Kumar

The case study that won the second place is ‘Narayana Nethralaya: Expanding Affordable Eye Care’ and has been authored by Professor G Shainesh, Professor of Marketing and Chairperson of the one year full time MBA (EPGP) at IIMB, and case writer Suhruta Kulkarni. The case study that won an Honorable Mention is ‘The Jaipur Foot: Challenges in Leading a Free Service Organization’ and has been authored by Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Professor of Quantitative Methods & Information Systems, IIMB, and case writer Menaka Rao.

Revealing the background to the case study, Professor G. Shainesh said, “Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) is an inspirational story of an IT enabled innovation initiated by Dr. Anand Vinekar of Narayana Nethralaya. Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) afflicts infants who are underweight and/ or prematurely born. The condition, if left untreated can lead to permanent blindness. The high cost of the retina camera (USD 110,00) and the shortage of ROP specialists have meant that even very large hospitals do not screen new borns for ROP.”

“Dr. Anand leverages tele-opthalmology to increase the utilization the retina camera (RETCAM) and expertise of the scarce ROP specialists by using technicians who take the RETCAM to partner hospitals on a scheduled day every week. The technicians screen infants,  store, analyze, grade and upload these images on a real time basis from the rural centre to the remote ROP expert on his or her iPhone, iPad or laptop and receives immediate instructions for treatment. About 45,000 screenings have been conducted by the team from 2008 to December 2013 and the network has expanded to 36 hospitals. Dr. Anand was very keen to replicate the success of KIDROP on a sustainable basis. Our case study evaluates potentially 4 different service delivery models for expanding the program to other parts of the country.”

Commenting on the win, Professor U Dinesh Kumar said, “(The) Jaipur foot – Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti – has been serving society through several initiatives such as providing free artificial limbs, physical aids and appliances and empowering thousands of physically disabled people to their economic capabilities.  This award is international recognition of their great work.”

Scott Anderson, Managing Editor of the NextBillion network, said: “The winning cases reflect the real-world challenges and solutions of today’s for-profit businesses and non-profit entities, investors, and government stakeholders who are harnessing business acumen to blunt poverty.”

Judges for this year’s competition were: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, co-founder and managing partner of IGNIA, based in Monterrey, Mexico; Hui Wen Chan, impact analytics and planning officer at the Citi Foundation; William N. Lanen, associate dean of global initiatives, KPMG Professor of Accounting at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and interim president of WDI; Paul Godfrey, professor of business strategy at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management.

About Citi Foundation – The Citi Foundation works in the area of economic empowerment and financial inclusion of individuals and families so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, Youth Education and Livelihoods, and Financial Capability and Asset Building.

About NextBillion – nextBillion is a blog and online resource on market-based approaches to poverty alleviation. Operated by the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, NextBillion acts as a discussion forum and knowledge base for business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers, and academics interested in business strategies that improve the lives of those at the BOP – the world’s approximately four billion low-income producers and consumers.