This book shares proven, “on-the-ground” insights for building “Base of the Pyramid” businesses that really are sustainable and green, will help alleviate social ills, and can scale to significant size and profitability. Its “second-generation” techniques reflect crucial lessons learned by “BoP” pioneers: lessons that dramatically increase the likelihood of success.
Around the turn of the millennium it had become painfully evident that development aid, charity or "global business-as-usual" were not going to be the mechanisms to alleviate global poverty. Today, there is little dispute that poverty remains the most pressing global problem calling for innovative solutions. One recent strategy is the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) concept developed by Prahalad and Hart, which relies on entrepreneurial activity tapping into the previously ignored markets of the economically most disadvantaged. It is a process requiring innovations in several disciplines: technological, social and business.This book covers a number of areas. First, much of the current BoP discussion emphasises targeting products to the needs of the poor. But do we actually know what the real needs of the poor are? This book takes a bottom-up human-centred approach and examines examples that truly engage the poor in BoP product and service development. What types of needs assessment methodologies are indicated considering the cultural differences in BoP countries? Are the existing methodologies adequate? Do they need to be redefined and redeveloped? Second, the book considers how we can balance poverty alleviation and stimulate economic growth without stressing the ecosystem. Tragically, the poor are hardest hit by the adverse effects of environmental deterioration such as water shortages, climate change or the destruction of habitats. While the economic welfare of the poor is critical, the BoP approach must balance its inherent paradox of encouraging greater consumption while avoiding further pressures on environmental sustainability. The link between the BoP approach and sustainable development is a key feature of this book. Third, it looks at innovation and asks what kinds of"bottom-up" innovation (open source, technological, social and business) support BoP initiatives (and sustainable development)?Fourth, the book deals with the relationship between development assistance and BoP. Is a BoP strategy the antithesis to development aid or can these two co-exist or even complement each other?Finally, the book raises questions about the relationship between corporate responsibility and BoP. Is BoP a new form of corporate neo-colonialism or a new form of corporate responsibility? Although the BoP concept has unleashed an extensive and generally enthusiastic response from academics, businesses, NGOs and governments, the knowledge domain around this concept is still in the early stages of development. This book addresses that need with a focus on the needs of the end-users – the poor – as a starting point for BoP products and innovations. With contributions from both supporters and critics, it provides a treasure trove of global knowledge on how the concept has developed, what its successes and failures have been and what promise it holds as a long-term strategy for alleviating poverty and tackling global sustainability.
As economic growth slows in the developed world, the base of the pyramid (BoP) represents perhaps the last great, untapped market. Of the world's 7 billion inhabitants, around 4 billion live in low-income markets in the developing world. These 4 billion people deserve—and, increasingly, are demanding—better lives. At the same time, the business community seeks new opportunities for growth, and the development community is striving to increase its impact. With these forces converging, the potential for mutual value creation is tremendous. This book provides a roadmap for realizing that potential. Drawing on over 25 years of experience across some eighty countries, Ted London offers concrete guidelines for how to build better enterprises while simultaneously alleviating poverty. He outlines three key components that must be integrated to achieve results: the lived experiences of enterprises to date—both successes and failures; the development of an ecosystem that is conducive to market creation; and the voices of the poor, so that entrants can truly understand what poverty alleviation is about. London provides aspiring market leaders and their stakeholders with the tools and techniques needed to succeed in the unique, opportunity-rich BoP.
This book on two-dimensional geometry uses a problem-solving approach to actively engage students in the learning process. The aim is to guide readers through the story of the subject, while giving them room to discover and partially construct the story themselves. The book bridges the study of plane geometry and the study of curves and surfaces of non-constant curvature in three-dimensional Euclidean space. One useful feature is that the book can be adapted to suit different audiences. The first half of the text covers plane geometry without and with Euclid's Fifth Postulate, followed by a brief synthetic treatment of spherical geometry through the excess angle formula. This part only requires a background in high school geometry and basic trigonometry and is suitable for a quarter course for future high school geometry teachers. A brief foray into the second half could complete a semester course. The second half of the text gives a uniform treatment of all the complete, simply connected, two-dimensional geometries of constant curvature, one geometry for each real number (its curvature), including their groups of isometries, geodesics, measures of lengths and areas, as well as formulas for areas of regions bounded by polygons in terms of the curvature of the geometry and the sum of the interior angles of the polygon. A basic knowledge of real linear algebra and calculus of several (real) variables is useful background for this portion of the text.
Managing Business Ethics: Making Ethical Decisions teaches students how to navigate ethical issues they will encounter using the weight-of-reasons approach applied throughout the book. This decision-making framework’s goal is not to faithfully apply particular philosophical perspectives on what is right, but rather to solve ethical problems. Authors Alfred A. Marcus and Timothy J. Hargrave underscore the need for employees at all levels to carefully consider the ethical implications of their actions using this approach and it can be applied at the individual, organizational, and stakeholder levels. Each chapter provides a case to walk through application of the framework and mini-cases allow students to practice applying this framework on their own. A wide range of real-world case studies are presented, featuring companies such as Facebook, Google, Wells Fargo, Volkswagen, and Amazon. This practical, down-to-earth text also delves into topics not covered extensively by other books such as slow and fast thinking, the inherent conflict between the individual and organization, conformity, and the difficulties of speaking truth to power. Students are offered ample opportunity to engage in thoughtful reflection, discussion, and application as they grapple with ethical issues big and small.
This book reveals that the mind automatically sorts information into distinctive pyramidal groupings. However, if any group of ideas are arranged into a pyramid structure in the first place, not only will it save valuable time and effort to write, it will take even less effort to read and comprehend it
The Innovation and Sustainability in Base of the Pyramid Markets series comprises four volumes, covering theoretical perspectives, themes, and various aspects of interest across four key geographical regions where Base of the Pyramid (BOP) markets are located – Latin America, Asia, Africa, and affluent countries. This book focuses on the BOP markets in Asia, and in particular the challenge of how to address the needs of deprived population groups in a sustainable manner. Base of the Pyramid Markets in Asia deals with, amongst other topics, the innovation and innovativeness that is necessary to better the life of resource-poor population groups. The book covers various themes and aspects of BOP markets in Asia and their embeddedness in socio-cultural settings, and adopts a variety of theoretical angles for analysing the phenomena. Thus, this book aims at furthering our understanding of BOP markets in Asia and at deriving valuable recommendations for managers and policy makers. BOP markets face unique challenges and private sector actors alone cannot ensure sustainable value creation activities. Multidimensional elements and factors are needed to alleviate poverty and create economic development aligned with principles of sustainable development. Therefore, the book comprises critical and empirical studies as well as conceptual papers on the challenges linked to BOP markets in Asian countries. This book is recommended reading for managers and policy makers, as well as students and academics interested in Base of the Pyramid markets.
Effective communication requires a common language, a truth that applies to science and mathematics as much as it does to culture and conversation. Standards and Standardization: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications addresses the necessity of a common system of measurement in all technical communications and endeavors, in addition to the need for common rules and guidelines for regulating such enterprises. This multivolume reference will be of practical and theoretical significance to researchers, scientists, engineers, teachers, and students in a wide array of disciplines.
