New Thinking and New Forms of Microfinancial Service Provision in Bangladesh: A Comparative Study of ASA, SAFESAVE and GONO BIMA

There is growing evidence of innovation in product design and organisational arrangements amongst the MFI industry, however not much is known about these initiatives, especially the processes and challenges faced.

This paper examines these issues through case studies of three microfinance providers in Bangladesh all of which experimented with different types of microfinance products. The author argues that:

• The process of innovation is far more complex than the tool-centric approach suggested in recent market research in microfinance literature, particularly when innovations imply significant departures from dominant organizational culture;
• Viewing the organisation as a contested space of dominant values and culture can yield useful insights into the innovation.

[from author]