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The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which social intermediation influences access to financial services in Uganda's microfinance industry.

The paper adopts analysis of moment structures (AMOS), a form of structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses.

It was established that social intermediation together with antecedents of social capital and managerial competence, account for 32 percent of the variance in access to financial services in the microfinance industry.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the social intermediation and its effects on access to financial services across time.

In order to boost the wealth of the active poor and microfinance institutions in Uganda, Uganda should always endeavor to build the human and institutional capacities through social intermediation so as to encourage the marginalized people to fully participate in formal financial intermediation in the microfinance industry.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the influence of social intermediation on access to financial services in Uganda's microfinance industry.

The purpose of this paper is to measure and track the evolution of market concentration and competition in the microfinance industry in Bangladesh by employing both the structural and non-structural measurement techniques.

By using a unique panel data set generated from the microcredit regulatory authority (MRA) annual reports, the sample includes 169 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and covers the period 2009-2014. The authors employed the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) and concentration ratio (CR) (largest 3, 8 and 20 MFIs) as structural measurement techniques and the Lerner index as a non-structural measurement technique. In addition, four different market indicators are used as representatives of deposit and credit markets to better explain the evolution of market concentration.

The results of HHI indicate that the sector is moderately concentrated and currently transitioning to an unconcentrated market. However, based on CR, the industry is still dominated by a few large MFIs. The Lerner index (non-structural approach) also confirmed that the level of competition is relatively high and likely to follow an inverted U-shape during the study period.

The findings of this study will enhance our understanding of the market structure in the Bangladesh’s microfinance industry so as to inform important policy prescriptions. The results also provide impetus to the relatively young MRA to nurture competition in the market; simultaneously, the findings prompt management of the MFIs to cope with a competitive market environment.

This study is one of the first of its kind that includes a large data sample of microfinance market for a single country by employing both structural and non-structural measurement approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly examine sources of mission diffusion and mission drift in the microfinance industry and to identify consequences of and remedies to these problems.

Extensive field experience relating to individual microfinance institutions (MFIs) and industry trends provides the grounding for a review of the trade and academic literatures in microfinance and social enterprise management.

Mission diffusion arises from pursuing diverse approaches to poverty alleviation and addressing disparate and changing stakeholder interests. Mission drift arises from commercialization and conversion activities aimed toward enhancing ratings and achieving scale. Mission clarity can be regained through clarification of the mission along with more effective corporate governance and performance management systems.

The tension between financial and social performance is not merely ideological – economic realities make it almost impossible to stay on mission. Understanding these realities can help MFIs maintain and regain clarity of mission.

The paper sheds new light on reasons the microfinance industry has not been able to deliver on promises of poverty alleviation during a period of heavy demand rapid scaling.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. It aims to explore the extent to which intellectual capital elements can explain competitive advantage in Uganda's microfinance industry.

Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.

This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account up to 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. Their order of importance in explaining the variance in competitive advantage (basing on their standardized beta values) is: structural capital, human capital and relational capital.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of these variables across time.

The managers of microfinance firms need to appreciate that the rise of intellectual capital in the industry is unavoidable, given the competitive and technological forces that are sweeping the twenty‐first century.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the individual influence of intellectual capital elements on competitive advantage in Uganda microfinance industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of intellectual capital elements and how they fuse to affect financial performance in microfinance institutions. The major purpose is to explore the appropriate blend or mix of intellectual capital elements that explains the source of value creation – hence performance – in microfinance institutions.

The paper adopts the ModGraph program (Excel version) along with the Kenny and Boran approach to test conditional hypotheses.

The magnitude effect of human capital on performance depends on any of structural or relational capital; hence the assumption of nonadditivity is met. However, no significant interaction effects were established between relational and structural capital.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional – future research should be undertaken to examine the multiplicative effects studied in this paper across time

In order to boost the wealth of microfinance institutions in Uganda, managers should always endeavor to find a viable intellectual capital mix or blend that can add value to the firm.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the interactive effects of intellectual capital elements on financial performance in Ugandan microfinance institutions.

The paper's aim is to thoroughly examine solutions to mission diffusion and mission drift in the microfinance industry.

Extensive field experience relating to individual microfinance institutions and industry trends provide the grounding for a review of the trade and academic literatures in microfinance and social enterprise management.

Mission diffusion arises from pursuing diverse approaches to poverty alleviation and addressing disparate and changing stakeholder interests. Mission drift arises from commercialization and conversion activities aimed toward enhancing ratings and achieving scale. Mission clarity can be regained through clarification of the mission along with more effective corporate governance and performance management systems, and a research function.

The tension between financial and social performance is not merely ideological – economic realities make it almost impossible to stay on mission. Understanding these realities can help microfinance institutions maintain and regain clarity of mission.

The paper sheds new light on solutions for challenges of mission drift and diffusion in the microfinance industry. Addressing this would enable the industry to deliver on promises of poverty alleviation during a period of heavy demand rapid scaling.

The global recession has strongly affected the credibility of the international banking system, damaging also the real economy.

Developing countries, not fully integrated with international markets, seem less affected and local microfinance institutions might also allow for a further shelter against recession, even if foreign support is slowing down and collection of international capital is harder and more expensive.

Intrinsic characteristics of microfinance, such as closeness to the borrowers, limited risk and exposure and little if any correlation with international markets have an anti-cyclical effect. In hard and confused times, it pays to be little, flexible and simple.

Despite being a Muslim-dominated country, Bangladesh has widely embraced traditional microfinance since its inception in the mid-1970s. However, Islamic microfinance, which has a lot to offer to the poor, is still in its infancy and has yet to gain momentum in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of Islamic microfinance and propose alternative Shariah-compliant microfinance models in Bangladesh.

This study is based on the desk research method, which relies on existing literature to collect secondary data on key concerns of traditional microfinance programs. In addition, institutional-level secondary data were also collected from the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh. Guided by the Maqasid-al-Shariah, this study then proposes several Islamic microfinance models to overcome selected challenges faced by the microfinance industry in Bangladesh.

This study suggested three composite Shariah-compliant microfinance models, which are likely to help the underprivileged and thus ensure the achievement of the sustainable development goals in Bangladesh. The first model explained how the operational strategy of incumbent microfinance institutions (MFIs) could be restructured, while the second proposed the organizational strategies for establishing a new MFI. The third model used the notion of Sadaqah (charity) to address the multiple borrowing issues of the industry. Meanwhile, the successful transformation of the conventional microfinance industry to an Islamic one is dependent on the effective collaboration between the regulatory authorities, practitioners and MFIs.

Albeit the paucity of literature on the topic, the findings of this study will guide policymakers/practitioners in designing relevant microfinance models to help transform conventional microfinance into Islamic microfinance in Bangladesh.

Small firms in developing countries continue to experience difficulties in accessing finance from formal financial institutions. This paper argues that regulating microfinance operations and activities is likely to strengthen microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) financial sustainability. This in turn could provide an important source of finance to small firms. Using the case of the microfinance industry in Tanzania, the paper aims at moving the microfinance regulation debate forward by generating a number of relevant inputs towards the formulation of a regulatory framework. This contribution probably comes at an opportune moment when the Tanzanian government is in the process of formulating a framework to regulate and supervise microfinance institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of a mobile network system for an Islamic microfinance institution, made in collaboration with a commercial bank in Malaysia. It also intends to highlight any emerging issues pertaining to the implementation of technology into the disbursement and repayment system of an Islamic microfinance institution from their clients’ perspectives. As Islamic microfinance industry is still growing in Malaysia, findings gathered throughout the course of study are also intended to boost further knowledge relating to this area.

By using a case study method, interview sessions were conducted separately with clients of the Islamic microfinance institution. The purpose of interview sessions is to identify the benefits and problem that surrounds the usage of mobile banking into the repayment system for Islamic microfinance products. Data triangulation with various public documents was conducted to enhance the credibility and reliability of data, also to support the claims that were made by the respondents.

It was found that clients are quite satisfied with the disbursement process through a mobile solution. However, the same cannot be said with the repayment process. The difficulties in using the mobile solution pose a major threat to its success. As most clients are not born to be technological savvy, the lack of easiness in methods for the usage of a mobile solution for their transactions pushes them away from further exploring the benefits that can be brought in by the function. Other risks which were highlighted include concerns towards breach of trust and risks of robbery. Clients of the case study, on the other hand, are concerned that the transfer of cash between their meeting venues to the bank would expose them to the public who might try to take advantage from the situation.

As the current study had only focusses on mobile banking aspect of the repayment system for one Islamic microfinance institution, a multiple case study could be adapted to investigate various banking channels being implemented by different Islamic microfinance institutions in Malaysia and their current success.

By highlighting several issues through this study, it is hoped that this Islamic microfinance institution would consider applying other means of payment that are available in the market that is not only cost-efficient, but also beneficial for clients of the institution.

This study highlights the setbacks in the usage of technology by clients of Islamic microfinance institution in Malaysia. Although many approved to the diffusion of innovation in Malaysian banking sector, the same has yet to be achieved in the Islamic microfinance industry, which clients are mostly technology illiterate.