Inclusive business through partnerships

Abstract

Academic and policy thought on economic growth and sustainable development in the 21st century represents a breach with traditional thinking. Traditional development approaches are getting replaced by new and more modern development thinking that adopts a contingency approach towards development. In addition to governments, multilateral organizations and NGOs, (multinational) enterprises are considered relevant agents of international development and change. This paper argues that at this stage of the discussion, managers of multinational enterprises as well as academics are in need of more sophisticated business models that can establish the link between the micro level of corporate strategies (‘inclusive business’) and macro models of development (‘inclusive growth’).