Years of Advice on Social Performance Did Not Help Indian MFIs When the Need Arose

I am really appalled at the pathetic thought leadership provided to organizations in the name of social performance advice! I feel sorry for investors who thought that this leadership will help them mitigate reputation related risks in socially sensitive sectors. I find it ironical how MFIs are now being blamed for indulging in bad practices, after having received years of tutoring on what constitutes social performance management. This is also an example of how bad thought leadership can put an entire industry at risk. Rather than ensuring that MFIs view sound client relationships as being central to this ecosystem, they were made to focus on select client groups on which social performance could be demonstrated. How foolish!