In this post in the Guardian’s “Sustainable Business Blog,” Mark Kramer, founder and managing director of the non-profit consulting firm FSG and senior fellow at the CSR Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, examines how “[g]lobal corporations are increasingly finding ways to create shared value — pursuing business initiatives that improve social and environmental conditions while earning the company a profit and conferring a competitive advantage.”  

Kramer writes, “In the past, many companies stonewalled responsibility for the fate of poor populations that are unable to pay for the medicines and medical devices that were designed and priced for U.S. and European markets. This year however, many companies have embraced the business opportunity of serving low-income populations with specialized products, new distribution models and affordable pricing.” He highlights efforts by GE, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Medtronic, and Eli Lilly & Co that address social and environmental problems (10/3).