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The Challenges of Microfinance Innovation: Understanding ‘Private Services’

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ECSCW 2013: Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 21-25 September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus

Abstract

The organization, technology and operation of microfinance have undergone much change and differentiation. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel-prize winner first demonstrated the possible empowerment of poor people by means of microfinance. Even so, certain cases have indicated that this empowerment does not necessarily occur and that microfinance can even be damaging. In this paper, we describe a case study which describes some of the value clients do receive from an initiative of this kind but notes that this value sometimes lies in unofficial, ‘private’, advice and help. To this end, we conducted an ethnographic study in a microfinance institution (MFI) in Azerbaijan. We found a special pattern of interaction between MFI-staff members and customers, which both regarded as beneficial. Since, from the point of the organization, it was not recognizably part of their work, we call it a “private service”. We think that the identification of similar private initiatives may help to identify new possible synergies between the operation, organization and technology in the microfinance sector. All of them are decisive for the identification of promising human–computer interaction patterns and the design of supportive computer applications.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There was one exception: ABC tried to automatically send SMS to clients in order to remind them of upcoming installment deadlines. However, the clients obviously interpreted this service as disruptive and an imputation of unreliableness, which they resented. In turn, ABC stopped the service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

    Muhammad Adeel, Bernhard Nett, Turkan Gurbanova, Volker Wulf & David Randall

Authors
  1. Muhammad Adeel
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  2. Bernhard Nett
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  3. Turkan Gurbanova
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  4. Volker Wulf
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  5. David Randall
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Correspondence to Muhammad Adeel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University, Abogade 34, Aarhus, 8200, Denmark

    Olav W. Bertelsen

  2. C3RI, Sheffield Hallam University, Arundel Street 153, Sheffield, S1 2NU, United Kingdom

    Luigina Ciolfi

  3. Xerox Research Group Europe, chemin de Maupertuis 6, Grenoble, 38240, France

    Maria Antonietta Grasso

  4. Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, University Avenue 1, Aglantzia, Nicosia, 2109, Cyprus

    George Angelos Papadopoulos

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Adeel, M., Nett, B., Gurbanova, T., Wulf, V., Randall, D. (2013). The Challenges of Microfinance Innovation: Understanding ‘Private Services’. In: Bertelsen, O., Ciolfi, L., Grasso, M., Papadopoulos, G. (eds) ECSCW 2013: Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 21-25 September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5346-7_14

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