Concepts and Tools
The Value Chain Approach & Jobs
IB/IGB companies work through the value chain they actually run. They do not claim impact that arrives indirectly.
Most IB/IGB companies work through direct value chains. They avoid indirect impact claims. A relevant business solution is not the same thing as merely engaging people at the base of the pyramid. The engagement has to be designed, and it has to produce a systemic change.
People at the base of the pyramid take part in one of five ways: as suppliers, distributors, laborers, consumers, or shareholders. The mode is recorded when a company is accredited, because the route to impact depends on it.
Income opportunities, not a headcount of jobs
Creating employment is not the focus of these companies. The focus is income opportunities, or better living standards, so that people can leave poverty over time. An income model is expected to pay more than the market rate, more than the household earned before, and more than other companies pay, at the margins set out under what an IB business line is.
The same discipline rules out trickle-down assumptions, indirect impact reporting, and impact washing. If the result cannot be tied to the business line, it is not counted as IB/IGB impact.