Define microfinance, then explain how it works towards alleviating poverty
Microfinancing has emerged in response to the lack of financing for entrepreneurial opportunities in many developing countries. Microfinancing involves lending small sums ($50-$300) used to start small businesses with the intention of ultimately lifting the entrepreneurs out of poverty. Entrepreneurs can then use these loans to make capital investments, such as fishing poles, milk cows, or mobile phones (to be used as pay phones by the entire village).
The poor tend to have neither assets nor credit history, making traditional lending risky. Most microloans tend to be given to women, often in the form of village collectives. While interest rates can be high, they are generally much lower than the rates of local loan sharks. By 2011, more than 7,000 microfinance institutions (MFIs) had served 120 million borrowers around the world.
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A disadvantage of the product-management organization is that ________
A) it marginalizes a company's smaller brands B) it reduces organizational responsiveness to new products in the marketplace C) product managers generally exercise authority outside their areas of responsibility D) it prevents product managers from gaining sufficient expertise in their product areas E) it fails to build long-term strengths as brand managers normally manage brands for only short periods
No laws are on the books to protect whistle-blowers
Indicate whether the statement is true or false