“Very simply, in cases where private profits and public interests are aligned, the idea of corporate social responsibility is irrelevant: Companies that simply do everything they can to boost profits will end up increasing social welfare. In circumstances in which profits and social welfare are in direct opposition, an appeal to corporate social responsibility will almost always be ineffective, because executives are unlikely to act voluntarily in the public interest and against shareholder interests.”

This piece provoked energetic disagreement–examples are here, here and here–with several opposing arguments lobbed about what businesses should feel obligated to do in the name of Doing Good. But from my seat on the front lines of a social enterprise that exists to make impact, but is shaped by the imperative to be sustainable, the view is slightly different:  our success is based on twisting the question posed to for-profit companies entirely–not “will you compromise your profit margin to pay more to work with us because we’re doing something good?” but “how about we deliver the same high quality at the same cost as that for-profit player competing with us, plus use your dollars to make an impact?”

With 600+ employees relying on DDD for work and educational opportunity, we don’t have the luxury of pinning a sales strategy on corporate altruism. Regardless of what companies should do in the name of good citizenry, social enterprises such as DDD need to focus on what potential client companies will and won’t do now, and present a practical alternative.

In a way, this makes our clients’ decision “easy”, rather than forcing them to confront a more treacherous trade-off between making the right business decision or the right impact decision. But that doesn’t mean that we’re simply accepting and working within the confines of the current CSR paradigm–by successfully proving that doing well and doing good don’t have to be mutually exclusive, we continue to expand consciousness about the benefits of making an impact, shifting the paradigm toward a point where for-profit companies see social impact as something worth investing in in its own right.

Welcome to 5 o’clock rush hour in Hanoi, Vietnam!

My colleague Hue and I had just left a meeting with a successful business owner when it struck me what potential impact I could make here in Vietnam. His fast growing company is serving the financial sector here and has only just begun penetrating the potential market — picture the tip of the iceberg that befell the Titanic to get an idea. It goes to show that the landscape of opportunities to make a difference is incredible here. Vietnam’s developing economy will necessitate services that cater towards the growing middle class, as evidenced by the firm we met with.  Just as an example, something as simple as a directory to search for consumer businesses, akin to the Yellow pages in the U.S., doesn’t yet exist.  How about a website with restaurant reviews?  And how about a website to help find directions?  It seems like information is still shared via word of mouth, but wouldn’t it be much more effective to make this information available online?

And with over 60 percent of Vietnam’s population under 30, it’s going be interesting to see how the country’s development unfolds over the next few years as well.  Will the young generation here outpace their American counterparts in entrepreneurial prowess?

If you can bring your talent, overseas education, and creativity to a developing country like Vietnam, you really have a chance to be at the forefront of something exciting.  There are going to be apparent linguistic and cultural challenges, but there’s nothing like the culture of drinking beer here that gets everyone to speak the same language and do business!

I

Four project managers were already working in that office, three of whom had started at DDD as data-entry operators years earlier. Since it is part of DDD’s mission to develop and empower our staff by continuously providing training and new challenges on the job, the senior management decided to give all of the four existing project managers a chance to sit behind the wheel for a few months, before deciding to either hire internally for the open position or look elsewhere. First up in the rotation was Socheat Keo.

Socheat joined DDD in October 2001, when he was 20 years old, as part of the second batch of operators ever hired by DDD. He grew up in Phnom Penh as the youngest of three sisters and two brothers. His mother was his father’s second wife, a practice that’s not so uncommon in Cambodia, so his father never lived with the family and Socheat’s mother struggled to provide for all of them. When Socheat was in high school, he worked as a waiter at night to help pay for the household expenses.

After coming to DDD, Socheat quickly graduated from data entry operator to take on larger professional roles. As a Team Leader, and later, when he helped open DDD’s second office in Battambang, he worked fulltime while studying at the university in the evening. Eventually, working as a project manager back in Phnom Penh, he came to manage some of DDD’s biggest projects, including quality assurance for the digitization of the Royal Dutch Library’s content. When the Royal Dutch Library finally launched the first section of their digital archive, Socheat was the one who organized a celebration with cake and cheers for the operators in Cambodia, who had worked on the project.

I asked Socheat what he learned from working at DDD. “I learned a lot from DDD…. I didn’t have anything before I joined DDD. Computer, English, all kinds of skills — confidence, and management — all that I learned from DDD.” Even though Socheat says he regards DDD as his family, he can imagine a time and a career after DDD: “I would like to work for an NGO, or a company with a social mission, so I can share my experience and gain new experience.”

About a month after Socheat took on the senior project manager position on a trial basis, senior management got in touch with him again. “They said they’d decided not to rotate the position after all, and that I had their full support,” says Socheat. “I’m happy with my new position, and I’m very happy I also have the support of my colleagues. We all come from the same background, and we’re all good.”

Digital Divide Data bridges the divide that separates young people from opportunity by providing disadvantaged youth in Cambodia and Laos with the education and training they need to deliver world-class, competitively priced IT services to global clients, acquire essential business management skills, and break the cycle of poverty.

I. JOB SUMMARY:

DDD is looking to hire a freelance web developer to implement new features and general improvements on www.digitaldividedata.org. We may occasionally also need help with minor web and graphic design tasks, such as presentation materials, posters, etc. Sample tasks include substantial projects such as restructuring the organization of the pages and menu on our website, as well as more minor tasks such as adding a contact form to our ‘Contact us’ page.

The developer will supplement the day-to-day maintenance work done by DDD’s software development team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and will be reporting to the Communications Team. He/she will work on a freelance basis (5-15 hours per month) and is not expected to be on location.

Technical requirements:

• 2-5 years programming experience
• Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, SQL
• Familiarity with Database Management
• Strong knowledge of Content Management Systems like WordPress
• Experience with RSS and ATOM feeds

II. JOB INFORMATION

Job Title: Web Developer and Designer
Department: Communications Team
Employment Status: Freelance (5-15 hours per month)
Location: Worldwide
Reporting To: Communications Team
Work Level: Freelancer
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2010
Salary: Please include salary expectations in application

II. RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

Responsibilities:

It is the responsibility of the developer to respond to requests for improvements and new features on the Digital Divide Website in a timely manner.

Primary Skills:

* Ability to engulf complex technical challenges
* Effective time management and respect for deadlines
* Ability to work independently
* Excellent communication skills

III. TO APPLY:

Applicants are asked to submit a resume, portfolio with examples of prior work, and references to the attention of the Communications department at jobs@digitaldividedata.org.

Deadline: September 15th, 2010

Exiting the modest airport in Luang Prabang I looked around for transportation into town. In Southeast Asia I have rarely found myself forced to actually look for someone who would offer transportation services. I spotted a tuk-tuk just pulling up to drop other passengers off outside the building. I walked up to it, thinking I had found my ride, but as I began to engage the driver in the usual miming, intended to mean “can you give me a ride?”, he and his passengers disappeared into the airport building without a look or a word. They were gone for a long time.

Twenty minutes later, during which no other tuk-tuks had arrived, the driver returned to the parking lot and leisurely strolled back to his business that he’d parked in the sunshine. I re-assumed my miming: “You? Drive me? I pay you?” He shrugged, seemed to decide I probably wouldn’t be too much trouble, and pointed to the seating on the truck bed. I jumped in and after fifteen minutes of dirt road I had arrived in town and he had made 20,000 kip.

This is what I have come to call The Lao Way. There seems to be no need to rush in Laos. No need to overextend one self, no need to stress. There’s an immense trust that things will be ok, and even if things go wrong, it’s probably going to be ok anyway.

I see it all the time now: There’s surprisingly little honking on the somewhat chaotic streets of Vientiane, because no one is really in a hurry. In the small Vietnamese restaurant where I often have dinner, it usually takes some adamant ruffling with chairs before any staff emerges. Even dogs will take their afternoon naps in the middle of an intersection.

I asked the General Manager of DDD’s office here in Vientiane, Eric Wong, who is also somewhat new to Laos, if he sees signs of The Lao Way in the office?

“Yes. I must admit that I, and many Malaysian or Singaporean, are jealous of the way things are done here, because the staff in Laos are very friendly and are smiling most of the time in the office. Based on my previous personal experiences that is difficult to do in Malaysia or Singapore. Most of our colleagues in Malaysia will stay late in the office in order to outshine each other and they are putting a lot of peer pressure on each other to perform, but that doesn’t apply in Laos. Here, everyone is happy and relaxed in getting their assigned tasks completed. In Laos, sometimes I have been (unnecessarily) over-worried about certain things in our office, because I didn’t see my colleagues sense of urgency on their faces. I’m saying “(unnecessarily) over-worried” here because they always do get the job done in a very good manner. During dinners or gatherings I always tell my overseas colleagues about how unique The Lao Way is, and how I learn so much from them.”

Even if The Lao Way is sometimes transported into the DDD office, it is still an office that delivers world-class IT services to international clients. It’s just done without any stress. The Lao Way.

I, as do others, think that Elif Shafak touched upon it nicely in her recent TEDTalk.

While she mainly speaks of fiction, and how her ability to write fiction set her free, she also articulates the power of the story: “Stories gave me a sense of center, continuity, and coherence.”

It has been argued before that narrativity is a necessary complexity-reducing mechanism that helps us make sense of the world and of our lives. By, consciously or unconsciously, telling stories about what is happening around us, we give those events meaning.

A new study from Princeton University takes the power of telling stories even further: It reports that a person can project his or her brain activity onto another person; forcing that person’s neural activity to closely mirror that in the first person’s brain, simply by talking to the person. In essence, by telling you a story, I can make you think like me. It’s obvious how this can benefit anyone who’s trying to change the mindset of others.

And, as famously quoted from Muhammad Yunus, the greatest challenges for social enterprises are often to change the mindset of others. That’s why it’s worth telling the stories of the impact you have as a social enterprise. We’ve done it here, here, and here, and we’ll continue to do so. Not only because we hope that the stories will resonates with our audience – and be a step towards changing the mindset of others – but because they resonate with us: They give meaning to what we do.

Goyette adeptly built us an archive resource, finishing work faster than we could give it to her. (Fortunately, this helped us justify having her help us assemble the Ikea furniture that has languished in boxes for the last five months.) She added great energy to the office, beat me to work almost every morning, and was always better-dressed. We, in turn, introduced her to Southeast Asian food, taught her how to use the freight elevator, and hopefully imparted some of our excitement for what we do. Friday was Goyette’s last day, so we’d like to say a public thank you!, khop jai lai lai! awkun charon!, and bid her farewell. Goyette’s goodbye note is below.

“My experience here was one of a kind thanks to Michael, Kathryn, Eric, Linda,Vlad, Roladeth, and Jeremy: thank you all for your insights, jokes and perspectives, it got me motivated to sail my boat to it’s next destination which is school. To all of you in Cambodia and Laos: you guys and girls inspire me to keep pushing, to climb higher, and to strive and I personally appreciate each and every one of you for it.”

Good luck, Goyette! And thanks, Coro, for the opportunity.

We are introducing a new business service to the staff in our Vientiane office, and the question of how to most effectively teach someone something new was what, along with falafel sandwiches and Beerlao, was on the table last night. When exploring a new business service, you of course first have to go through research, development, testing, adjusting, trial, and more adjusting. But, once you have a blueprint, a map – how do you teach other people how to read the map?

When I was a kid, I had a very hard time learning how to read. When in the fourth grade, I could still only read a few sentences at a time, and not with great success. Because I grew up in a Denmark where solidarity and equality are predominant pedagogical principles, my teacher decided that my entire class needed to go through a four-week intensive reading course, so that I could catch up. One of the things that stuck with me from the introduction she gave to the course was that no one ever was able to figure out how children actually learn to read.

While I now know that her statement at least in part was designed to make me feel better, it is also true that there has been great debate about and many different theories on how learning happens.

I asked two of our Operations Managers, Bunhoeut in Cambodia and Amita in Laos, how they approach the challenge of teaching their data-entry operators a new workflow.

Bunhoeut makes three points:

• First you have to show the person the output, the final result, of the process.
• Then you have to show the person how the process works.
• Finally, you must develop clear instructions that include quality metrics.

Amita agrees, but adds a few pieces:

• You have to specify the tools needed.
• You must conduct training and have people practice.
• You should keep an open feedback loop and evaluate progress even after the work has started.

Between the two of them, they reach the same conclusion as we did last night: The key is to reach a saturation point.
For those four weeks in fourth grade I went through book after book after book, and suddenly it was there: I was reading a book. So here’s our best guess: If you provide information through enough channels and repeat it enough times, eventually the knowledge will transfer and you’ve taught someone something new.

Digital Divide Data bridges the divide that separates young people from opportunity by providing disadvantaged youth in Cambodia and Laos with the education and training they need to deliver world-class, competitively priced IT services to global clients, acquire essential business management skills, and break the cycle of poverty.

I. JOB SUMMARY:

Project Manager: As Project Manager your primary responsibility will be to manage a large, complex project for DDD in its start up and pilot stages. The candidate will be primarily responsible for managing all project details: scope, schedule, budget, client communications, issue resolution, managing/coordinating tasks between cross-functional teams, and communications with Sr. Management. You will work in close contact with our local project management and operations teams as well as technical project experts, and dedicated staff to build the processes for the long term execution of the project. This is a very exciting opportunity to make an impact, build/display your project management skills, develop processes and gain insight and exposure to a world class social entrepreneurship. The client is a world renowned non-profit academic scholarly content service which provides access to information for many institutions around the world. The project itself will be a pilot initially with a potential growth of up to 2 million+ USD. The position would report to the Director of Operations and Project Management.

II. JOB INFORMATION

Job Title: Project Manager
Department: Ops Group – Project Management Group
Employment Status: 6 months + (open)
Location: Phnom Penh, Asia
Reporting To: Dir of Ops
Work Level: Staff
Date Reviewed: 6 August 2010

III. RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

The Project Manager will serve as the interface between our US clients and Cambodian based operations teams.

Specifically, s/he will:

* Manage communications with all stakeholders inclusive of clients, partners, internal staff, and DDD Sr. Management
* Engage multiple stakeholders across regions, cultures, and functions in order to guarantee efficient execution of deliverables
* Translate client business requirements into production rules, set up and organize project workflow, and follow up to ensure proper execution
* Build sustainable processes for different components of the project in order to ensure long term success
* Work with Asian Operations Director to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, and on spec
* Build Quality Assurance processes by working with local team and experts
* Issue resolution with cross functional teams internally and externally
* Manage Sub Contractors/partners
* Give insight to the Account Manager and VP of Sales into the client needs and expectations

Primary Skills

* Great attitude, a team player, fun, self-motivated, good sense of humor, strong work ethic
* Likes challenges, figuring out solutions, and using creative thinking in dynamic environments
* Excellent analytical skills
* Ability to adapt and drive solutions for challenges throughout all phases of the project
* Demonstrated experience in project management
* Demonstrated proficiency with managing client relationships across cultures and regions
* Excellent written and spoken English skills
* Communicates openly and honestly when things are going well and when they are not!

Requirements

* B.A. / B.S. Computer Science, Business, Finance, English or related field or proven experience in project management
* Experience managing project deliverables, deadlines, and budgets
* Experience managing high level client relationships for complex projects
* Strong oral and written communications skills
* Preference given to candidates with technical skills
* Preference given to candidates working with diverse, international teams

IV: HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants should submit their CV with three referees’ contact details and cover letter to:
DDD Human Resources Department
samath.im@digitaldividedata.org and hetal.patel@digitaldividedata.org
Only short listed candidates will be notified and invited for interview. Qualified women are given preference.
Only applications submitted via email are accepted.
Deadline: August 31, 2010

These past four months in Phnom Penh are my first experience in Cambodia, let alone Asia. In the past, I lived in southern Africa so I thought I knew what to expect in terms of socio-economic development. But since I have been here, I have been struck by how different Cambodia is compared to what I have seen in southern Africa. When I lived there, I spent the largest part of my time in Madagascar. For a year, I conducted case studies of companies working in Madagascar, both foreign and domestic, and their community development projects. This work taught me about the human development levels in Madagascar, and the time and money companies needed to invest in their work force to be efficient and profitable.

Starting and running a business in Madagascar is a huge effort. Firstly, setting up the physical structure is a hurdle. All three companies I studied in Madagascar–Rio Tinto, Aqualama, a local shrimp company, and Telma, a local phone provider–had to bring in their own generators, water, and solid waste disposal systems. They had to pave roads. Rio Tinto even had to build a port. And this was not even in the rural provincial towns.

Infrastructure was just one hurdle. Human capacity in Madagascar is very low. Malaria, tuberculosis and syphilis are rampant. Clinics can be hard to come by and even if you can get to a clinic, there is no guarantee that there will be a doctor or medicine. According to the World Bank, only 55% of the work force has completed primary school. Companies who want to set up business in Madagascar ,have to invest time and money in the physical and human capital to make sure that they have healthy, trained employees who can work in lighted buildings.

Cambodia, on the other hand, is by no means a fully developed business environment, but the amount of time and money it takes to set up a business here is much smaller. As a result, there is greater capacity, more industry, and more job opportunities in Cambodia than in Madagascar. And from what I have seen since I have been with DDD, this opportunity shifts people’s mindset.

When I was in Madagascar, so many of the people I met and interviewed felt that they should be given a job simply because they lived in the same town as a company and could see industry growth so assumed there was available employment. They placed less emphasis on securing the proper training to equip themselves for the position. This is not what I have seen in Cambodia. We have hundreds more applicants than we can take – applicants who are serious about Data Entry training, job experience and scholarship to university so they can develop personally and help their families rise out of poverty.

In Cambodia, I have been lucky enough to work with various operators in all three offices. These operators took the training I gave seriously and worked to learn. They commit themselves to DDD. All the operators I have met are working towards a college degree and have a plan for their future. They do not take the DDD program for granted, nor expect to keep their job at DDD or their scholarship just because they show up to work. Instilling the values of a merit-based workplace system is one of the ways in which DDD makes its impact.

Malagasy youth may have the same hopes for their future as our operators, but without job opportunities, there is little motivation to stay in school. Madagascar is on a path forward, but there have been a lot of speed bumps lately, including a political coup. Private companies are scared to invest in Madagascar because of the cost of the initial investment and the political instability. As I muse about how one could ever start anything like DDD in Madagascar, I realize that though it’s these countries that most need social enterprise, it’s also here where building a sustainable business is most difficult.