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5. Can We Ever Overcome Above Weaknesses? The Answer is YES

The SWOT analysis has thrown a long list of weaknesses. In order to enable e-commerce become a rural growth vehicle these weaknesses need to be overcome? The examples presented in this section are live, tried and tested. They try to exemplify that
e-commerce can be successfully used to fuel rural growth if companies are willing to reengineer their businesses and products appropriately.

The examples discussed may sound too idealistic and difficult to achieve, but then there is no easy way to success.

5.1. Lack of Credit / Finance to Buy Computers - Bangladesh Shows the Way

The microcredit / microfinance² revolution in Bangladesh, heralded by Prof. Yunus³, founder of Grameen Bank is well known. The Grameen Bank started off experimenting with giving loans to poor people. At that time, the idea was that the poor people are not credit worthy. Prof. Yunus first tried giving micro loan in one village back in 1976 and it worked, and with that experience they expanded to the second village and the third village. Grameen Bank became a formal bank in 1983.

2 Micro Finance program extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects. Technically, microfinance is defined as provision of thrift, credit and other financial services and products of very small amounts to the poor in rural areas, semi-urban and urban areas. Any one availing micro-finance has to engage in some productive activities that will generate some income.
There is a slight difference between microfinance and microcredit. Microfinance is much more holistic than microcredit as it includes savings, credit, insurance, etc. In microcredit, more emphasis is on loans. Microcredit financial requirements are generally not meant for economic development activities, but for consumptive needs like education of a child, medicinal requirements, etc. Here quantum are quite low, needs are very emergent, and there is hardly any difference between the consumptive purpose and productive purpose.

3 Prof. Yunus received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1969 from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Fulbright scholar. Yunus was appointed as a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China (1993-1995). He is the recipient of several humanitarian awards for his work, helping the poor in the developing world.

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* Contributed by -
Rohit Garg,
Final Year, PGDM,
S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai.