William Davidson Institute Review, Summer 2013

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Kennedy to Leave WDI to Become Dean at Ivey WDI Executive Director Robert Kennedy, who has been at the helm of the Institute since 2004, announced in April that he is leaving to become the new dean of the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. His last day at WDI will be Aug. 31. Kennedy joined WDI in September 2003 as associate director and became executive director in May 2004. He said the opportunity to lead Ivey – a top-rated international business school – was too good to pass up. But he admitted that it was hard to leave “an organization that I love.” “This is my 10th year at WDI and I am really proud of the organization we have created,” he said. “I believe the Institute is having the impact that Bill Davidson envisioned when he established it in 1992. We have had a large effect on various communities with an interest in emerging market economies – including academics, business practitioners, policymakers, development agencies, students, and many others.” One of the first things Kennedy did after becoming executive director was shift the Institute’s research focus from transition economics to economic development in emerging markets. He also changed the philosophy of WDI’s research activities – the Institute’s core work – to focus on bridging theory and practice instead of academic articles. Kennedy saw WDI’s research as a link between academics and practitioners on the ground. Co n t inued o n pag e 25 >

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Business Knowledge for Emerging Economies

Tackling Today’s Challenges Charting Tomorrow’s Path WDI Senior Fellow Ted London

WDI Summit Looks to Improve, Grow BoP Domain

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he development of the BoP domain may be at a crucial stage. Over the past decade, strong evidence exists that there is great potential for economically viable ventures to generate positive poverty alleviation outcomes. Yet, there are opportunities to do even more. “It is time to push the boundaries of our thinking on strategies for both building more successful BoP enterprises of today, and co-creating a stronger and healthier BoP community of tomorrow,” said WDI Senior Research Fellow Ted London. With that in mind, London and some of the leading BoP practitioners and thinkers have organized the “BoP Summit 2013: Creating an Action Agenda for the Next Decade.” The summit is sponsored in part by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. The summit, Oct. 21-23 at Michigan’s Ross School of Business, is the fourth major BoP event hosted by WDI. (You can register here: bop2013.org/registration/. Attendance is limited to 200 guests.)

“At WDI, we strive to be at the forefront of the evolution of the BoP field,” London said. “We see the missing BoP community and the lack of a roadmap for the domain’s development as key gaps that need to be addressed.” As such, people coming to the BoP Summit 2013 should not expect to hear a bunch of “feel good” stories from speakers. “This isn’t a motivational conference,” London said. Instead, the summit is designed to generate objective, forward-looking conversations. “We’ve developed a set of sessions that are not focused on people telling us how great they are, but rather focused on getting leaders in their sectors talking about where they’ve had success and where they’ve encountered challenges,” he said. “If we want to move the BoP domain forward, we really need to have these honest conversations.” Unlike other conferences at which participants might listen to a set of speakers trying to impress the audience, exchange a few Co n t inued on page 11 >


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