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Base of the Pyramid

  • 1.  Base of the Pyramid

    Posted 06-05-2007 07:44
    Dear Colleagues,

    Greener Management International Issue 51 is a special issue on:

    AN EXPLORATORY JOURNEY TOWARDS THE RESEARCH AND PRACTICE OF THE ‘BASE
    OF THE PYRAMID’

    Edited by Prabhu Kandachar, Delft University of Technology, The
    Netherlands
    *********************************
    A limited number of individual copies of this special issue are
    available for purchase at the price of GBP25.00/USD45.00/EUR37.50.
    Postage worldwide is gratis.
    All papers from Greener Management International since 1999 are now
    available to download or buy as PDFs.
    You can also save between 30% and 50% on subscriptions.
    To place an order, view all paper abstracts or view the "Introduction"
    by Prabhu Kandachar and Minna Halme
    Go to:

    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/greenleaf/journaldetail.kmod?
    productid=2561&keycontentid=8

    *********************************

    ABOUT THIS ISSUE

    Today, there is little dispute that poverty is one of the most pressing
    global problems calling for innovative solutions. One approach
    currently attracting much attention is the so-called
    base-of-the-pyramid (BOP; also referred to as "bottom-of-the-pyramid")
    concept, a novel approach that, it is suggested, can deliver at least a
    partial solution to poverty.

    The pioneering work by Prahalad and Hart in this area suggests that
    there is a fortune to be made for entrepreneurs in BOP initiatives,
    while at the same time great opportunities for the world’s poor to
    escape from poverty. The book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid
    (Prahalad 2005) proposes a framework for the active engagement of the
    private sector and suggests a basis for a profitable win–win
    engagement. He argues that all that is stopping business from designing
    products and services to meet the needs of the world’s poor, and then
    efficiently manufacturing and distributing them, is human ingenuity —
    innovation. The topic has unleashed an extensive and generally
    enthusiastic response from academics, businesses, NGOs and governments.

    The BOP issue is a new knowledge area, and consequently there is an
    urgent need to broaden the knowledge base. The aim of this special
    issue is to contribute to BOP knowledge not only in general terms but
    particularly as regards the needs of the users – the poor - as a
    starting point for BOP products, services and innovations.

    This special issue brings together leading research in this nascent
    field. The majority of the papers included are based on empirical case
    studies from several countries in Asia, Africa and South America. The
    issues that the articles deal with include social embeddedness of firms
    or innovations in low-income markets, multi-stakeholder collaborations
    in facilitating the development of BOP product-service concepts, or
    tensions between different stakeholders involved in the introduction of
    potentially disruptive innovations to BOP markets. One of the more
    provocative papers is a conceptual critique of the BOP approach.


    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Introduction
    Prabhu Kandachar, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, and
    Minna Halme, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland

    Influential Factors in Becoming Socially Embedded in Low-Income Markets
    Pablo Sánchez, Joan Enric Ricart and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, IESE
    Business School, University of Navarra, Spain

    Small-scale Farmer Access to International Agri-food Chains: A
    BOP-Based Reflection on the Need for Socially Embedded Innovation in
    the Coffee and Flower Sector
    Myrtille Danse, Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), The
    Netherlands, and Sietze Vellema, Technology and Agrarian Development
    Group/Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), The Netherlands

    Bridging the Divide: A Third-Sector Approach to Health and Development
    Jessica Marter-Kenyon, University of California, Berkeley, USA

    A Base-of-the-Pyramid Approach in Argentina: Preliminary Findings from
    a BOP Learning Lab
    Miguel Angel Gardetti, Centre for Study of Corporate Sustainability,
    Argentina; Argentina Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab

    Tensions between Venture Capitalists’ and Business-Social
    Entrepreneurs’ Goals: Will Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Strategies Offer a
    Solution?
    Liisa Harjula, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland

    The Scramble for BOP Penetration in Telecommunications
    Richard Cooper and Andrew Boye, Cactel Communications, UK

    Misfortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid
    Aneel Karnani, University of Michigan, USA

    *********************************
    ALSO AVAILABLE

    MAKE POVERTY BUSINESS
    INCREASE PROFITS AND REDUCE RISKS BY ENGAGING WITH THE POOR

    Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson

    190pp | 234 x 156 mm
    Hardback: ISBN 1 874719 96 9 | GBP21.95 USD40.00

    *********************************
    To place an order for this title at a discount of 10%,
    or to view/download ‘The Introduction’
    go to:
    http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/productdetail.kmod?productid=683
    *********************************

    ‘Make Poverty Business’ examines the successes, failures and missed
    opportunities of a wide range of global companies including Wal-Mart,
    BP, Unilever, Shell and HSBC when dealing with the poor and with
    development advocates in the media, NGOs, governments and international
    organisations. It includes a discussion on how to use a poverty
    perspective to provoke profitable innovation - not only to create new
    products and services but also to find new sources of competitive
    advantage in the supply chain and to develop more sustainable,
    lower-cost business models in developing countries.

    Entertaining, well written and refreshingly free of management jargon,
    this is an engaging contribution to the debate on development.
    William Keegan, Senior Economics Commentator, The Observer

    Make Poverty Business will revolutionise how people think about
    corporate social responsibility. No CEO should be without this book.
    Alex Singleton, Director-General, The Globalisation Institute

    For more information and assistance, contact:


    Jayney Bown
    Greenleaf Publishing Ltd
    Aizlewood Business Centre
    Aizlewood's Mill
    Nursery Street
    Sheffield S3 8GG
    UK

    +44 (0)114 282 3475 - Telephone
    +44 (0)114 282 3476 - Fax
    sales@greenleaf-publishing.com

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