MGT 559a - Special Topics: Project Pyramid

This is the class page for the Project Pyramid survey class. If you have any questions about the course or content, please e-mail Prof. Bart Victor or O’Neill Crist-Fulk.


Announcements

Please check here for new information for the class.

Monday, 8/27/07

  • Speaker Change: Cal Turner will be coming on 9/17 instead of 9/10. We will discuss supply chain issues using the Lwala Clinic as an example.
  • Syllabus clarification: The syllabus has been updated to clear up the confusion around the readings for each class. The readings are also listed out correctly down below.
  • Discussion sessions: If you are interested in having a discussion session on Sunday afternoons, please e-mail Mark Shuster. Remember to also use the blog to post questions or make comments about the classes.

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Syllabus

Download the syllabus.

As our schedule may change due to speaker availability, please check back for updated versions. Any changes will always be announced to the class as well.

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Personal Reading Reactions

To help prepare you for each class, students will write and e-mail a one to three paragraph-long reflection on the reading for each class by 10 p.m. the Sunday night before class. The write-up should include some element of the reading and include your own personal thoughts and experiences.

The e-mails should be sent to Mark Shuster.

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Blogging and Discussion Space

After each class, we will put up an entry on the Project Pyramid blog with some comments about the class and some potential questions for your reading reaction. This should also be a space that you can use to discuss your ideas and take-aways from the class.

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Class Documents and Readings

All class documents, including slides and handouts, will be posted under the relevant section. The required readings will also be listed under that class.

Class 1 - 8/20/07 - Introduction: What is Poverty? What is Project Pyramid?
Led by James Foster, Professor of Economics, Vanderbilt University

Class 2 - 8/27/07 - Lives Of The Poor: How The Other Two-Thirds Live
Panel moderated by Woodrow Lucas, MBA 2007

  • Readings for class

    • Prahalad: Ch. 1 and 2

    • BusinessWeek - August 17, 2005: For the Poor, Help From MBAs

      They’re bringing microfinancing, business development — and eventually a consumer economy — to many impoverished Third World areas

    • BusinessWeek - August 20, 2007: Up Front - BOP Theory Makes The Grade

      This fall more B-schools than ever will offer course work in “base of the pyramid” theory–the idea that corporations can help eradicate global poverty by turning the poor into micro-consumers and small-scale entrepreneurs. According to Aspen Institute, a Washington nonprofit, it’s a sign that BOP theory has gone from buzz to B-school staple.

    • Financial Times - June 24, 2007: A divine perspective on global poverty

      God and Mammon are not generally seen in each other’s company, let alone in a business school classroom. But as more MBA students become interested in the potential for the private sector to foster growth in some of the poorest parts of the world, one student-led initiative has led to a most unusual alliance – a partnership between Vanderbilt University’s business school students and its divinity students.

  • Class slides: Lives of the Poor - Lucas

Class 3 - 9/3/07 - Microfinance: Getting Beyond Charity
Discussion with:
Suma Reddy, MBA Candidate 2009 at Wharton, and former staff member of SKS Microfinance
Christophe D. Ringer, Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Religion at Vanderbilt