The Nobel Prize winner, Mohammed Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, is an excellent example of a System Leader. A former Economics Professor at Chittagong University, he chose to study the lives of rural Bangladeshis living in extreme poverty close at hand. The result is the Grameen Bank Group of companies that provide micro-credit and other critical services to over 2.5 million poor people in Bangladesh. His insights into the realities of the lives of poor people have inspired others all over the world to engage in various forms of microlending and microfinance. By understanding the structural barriers that create and perpetuate poverty, he has been able to develop new attitudes and new opportunities for needy people around the world.

Yunus's story begins in 1974 with is identifying forty-two people who owed less than Rs. 2000 to greedy moneylenders in the village of Jobra. This micro amount of debt kept the borrowers enslaved to the rules and demands of those from whom they borrowed. Yunus took over these loans and thus began his venture into small loans to aid people in self-employment. IN 1983, Grameen Bank was born which specialized in microcredits.

In 2005 Yunus entered into a joint venture with Group Danone. Danone in a large French corporation, one of the world leaders in dairy products known for its nutritious foods and its brand-named Danone yogurt. Yunus and Danone committed their organizations to creating health foods to improve the rural diet of children in Bangladesh. Millions of the poor in Bangladesh suffer from malnutrition. The challenge for the Grameen-Danone joint venture was how to create a product affordable yet nutritious and accepted by the local people.

The outcome was brilliant. After a considerable amount of investigations and research, an idea was launched. Yogurt is a popular food in Bangladesh and Danone has expertise in producing yogurt. Yogurt has nutrients that are good for the intestines and help reduce the effects of diarrhea. It was decided that the target market of the yogurt product would be rural villages and their children who live on less than $2 per day. The challenge was how to launch a fortified yogurt product at a price poor people could afford regularly. Further, as there were no refrigerated trucks or fridges in the villages, there was the challenge of how to get a fresh product to the consumer before it turns sour and becomes inedible. Distribution had to be fast to get the yogurt into the children's stomachs within forty-eight hours.

The solution was as follows.

Food production, retailing of product, and consumption to be as close to one another as possible.

A micro-factory would be built close to the community buying the product.

Local people would work in the factory.

Local farmers who had cows or who borrowed from the Grameen Bank to buy cows would supply milk to the factory.

Milk prices were guaranteed to the farmers for one year so that they could have some certainty regarding their incomes.

Molasses from date palm trees particular to Bangladesh would be added to the yogurt to make it tastier for children.

Biodegradable corn starch containers, which, when discarded, could turn to compost, would be used as packaging for the yogurt.

The ladies of villages near the factory would be distributors of the product.

Distributors would be trained in nutrition and in the value of selling the yogurt fresh.

The factory would provide insulated cooler bags to the distributors of the yogurt.

Limited supplies would be delivered every day to ensure freshness of the product and minimize the loss of the yogurt through becoming stale and inedible.

The project was a success and made all its participants happy.

Which one of the following could be termed as an example of new realities before Dr. Yunus. (The 'new reality" could be one which was being ignored earlier but has become important at the time of discussion.)

Select one:

a.The usage of molasses to sweeten yogurt.

b.The millions of people in Bangladesh who were suffering from malnutrition.

c.The building of new micro-factories.

d.The ladies of the village being appointed as distributors of the product.