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The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
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Product Description
The last couple of decades have seen great increases in sales, now multinational corporations are seeing markets with sluggish or no growth. One market that's been overlooked is also the fastest growing market in the world, and it's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's 5 billion poor have vast untapped buying power. They represent enormous potential for companies who learn how to serve this market by providing the poor with what they need. This creates a win-win situation: not only do corporations tap into a vibrant market, but by treating the poor as consumers they are no longer treated with indignity; they become empowered customers. Corporations who service this market form an economic infrastructure, which creates real jobs for the poor, and finally an end to the vicious cycle of poverty. This book is a 3-part manifesto: passionate argument; detailed case studies from India, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela, and range from salt to soap, banking to cellphones, health to housing; and lastly, a CD with digital videos shot on location, designed to bring these innovations alive. CK Prahalad shows why we can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid"(BOP) markets.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #337506 in Books
- Published on: 2004-08-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 432 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect,Microsoft"The Bottom of the Pyramid belongs at the top of the reading list forbusiness people, academics, and experts pursuing the elusive goal ofsustainable growth in the developing world. C. K. Prahalad writes withuncommon insight about consumer needs in poor societies andopportunities for the private sector to serve important public purposes whileenhancing its own bottom line. If you are looking for fresh thinking aboutemerging markets, your search is ended. This is the book for you."
Madeleine K. Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State"Prahalad challenges readers to re-evaluate their pre-conceived notionsabout the commercial opportunities in serving the relatively poor nations ofthe world. The Bottom of the Pyramid highlights the way to commercialsuccess and societal improvement--but only if the developed worldreconceives the way it delivers products and services to the developingworld."
Christopher Rodrigues, CEO, Visa International"An important and insightful work showing persuasively how the privatesector can be put at the center of development, not just as a rhetoricalflourish but as a real engine of jobs and services for the poor."
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
From the Back Cover
The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new market? It's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. You can learn how to serve them and help millions of the world's poorest people escape poverty.
It is being done—profitably. Whether you're a business leader or an anti-poverty activist, business guru Prahalad shows why you can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid" (BOP) markets.
In the book and accompanying CD videos, Prahalad presents...
Why what you know about BOP markets is wrong
A world of surprises—from spending patterns to distribution and marketing
Unlocking the "poverty penalty"
The most enduring contributions your company can make
Delivering dignity, empowerment, and choice—not just products
Corporations and BOP entrepreneurs
Profiting together from an inclusive new capitalism
Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect,Microsoft"The Bottom of the Pyramid belongs at the top of the reading list forbusiness people, academics, and experts pursuing the elusive goal ofsustainable growth in the developing world. C. K. Prahalad writes withuncommon insight about consumer needs in poor societies andopportunities for the private sector to serve important public purposes whileenhancing its own bottom line. If you are looking for fresh thinking aboutemerging markets, your search is ended. This is the book for you."
Madeleine K. Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State"Prahalad challenges readers to re-evaluate their pre-conceived notionsabout the commercial opportunities in serving the relatively poor nations ofthe world. The Bottom of the Pyramid highlights the way to commercialsuccess and societal improvement--but only if the developed worldreconceives the way it delivers products and services to the developingworld."
Christopher Rodrigues, CEO, Visa International"An important and insightful work showing persuasively how the privatesector can be put at the center of development, not just as a rhetoricalflourish but as a real engine of jobs and services for the poor."
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
About the Author
C.K. Prahalad is Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan Business School. He is a globally recognized business consultant who has worked with senior management at many of the world's leading companies. Prahalad's groundbreaking article, "The End of Corporate Imperialism," won the 1998 McKinsey Prize as the year's best Harvard Business Review article. C. K. co-authored several important papers and articles, including "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid," which have helped launch a global movement towards private-sector solutions for global poverty. His research focuses on corporate strategy and the role of top management in diversified multinational corporations. With Gary Hamel, he co-authored the global business bestseller Competing for the Future.
Customer Reviews
How to eradicate poverty with profits
As Prahalad explains in his Preface, he wrote this book to suggest and explain a new approach by which to solve the social and economic problems of 80% of humanity. His approach would mobilize the resources, scale, and scope of multinational corporations (MNCs) -- their investment capacity -- in a co-creative partnership with localized nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in order to formulate and then implement"unique" solutions to the problems of 4 billion people who live on less than $2 a day at the bottom of the "pyramid" to which the book's title refers. "The process must start with respect for Bottom of Pyramid consumers as individuals. The process of co-creation assumes that consumers are equally important joint problem-solvers....New and creative approaches are needed to convert poverty into an opportunity for all concerned. That is a challenge."
Prahalad carefully organizes his material within three Parts. First, he provides a framework for the active engagement of the private sector and suggests a basis for a profitable win-win engagement. He identifies all manner of adjustments, accommodations, and (yes) sacrifices each of the "players" - MNCs, NGOs, and the poor themselves -- must be willing to make to ensure the success of the process. Next, he carefully and eloquently examines 12 case studies which involve a wide variety of businesses, each an exemplar of innovative practices, "where the BOP is becoming an active market and bringing benefits far beyond just products to consumers." All of the companies share the same concern: "They want to change the face of poverty by bringing to bear a combination of high-technology solutions, private enterprise, market-based solutions, and involvement of multiple organizations." As for Part III, it is provided as a CD which consists of 35 minutes of video success stories filmed on location in the BOP in India, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela.
Of special note is the fact that the various stories are told almost entirely from the perspective of BOP consumers, the so-called poor. As Prahalad points out, they get products and services at an affordable price, "but more important, they get recognition, respect, and fair treament. Builting self-esteem and entrepreneurial drive at the BOP is probably the most enduring contribution that the private sector can make." As this book's subtitle correctly suggests, the ultimate objective is to eradicate poverty through profits...initiating and then sustaining what will be in fact, a win-win-win engagement of MNCs, NGOs, and the poor themselves.
Of special interest to me is what Prahalad has to say about innovation for BOP markets which must become "value-centered" from the consumer's perspective. He identifies and then rigorously examines 12 principles for innovation in those markets such as "creating a new price performance envelope" and "education of customers on product usage." The BOP focuses attention on both the objective and subjective performances of the given product or service. Moreover, it must "also focus on the need for 30 to 100 times improvements in price performance. Even if the need is only for 10 to 20 times improvement, the challenge is formidable."
To his great credit, Prahalad has a compelling vision but he also has neither illusions nor delusions about the difficulty of fulfilling that vision by taking the "new approach" he recommends in this book. His vision is bold, indeed of global proportions,. However, his feet are planted firmly on the ground at the bottom of an enornmous pyramid, one whose complexities are exceeded only by entrepreneurial opportunities to help solve the social and economic problems of 80% of humanity. Given the importance and the urgency of the various issues which Prahalad explores so brilliantly in this book, there seem to be no acceptable alternatives to the approach he proposes.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Vijay Mahajan and Kamini Banga's The 86 Percent Solution : How to Succeed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the Next 50 Years and Kenichi Ohmae's The Next Global Stage: The Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World.
Unperceived Profits and Business Models for Serving the Poor
Poor people in developing countries are at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy. They are often focusing on scratching out the most fundamental needs for food, clean water, shelter and a chance to earn a living to provide for those same needs. Economic statistics suggest that they have no money to spend, and many companies act as though the poor don't exist.
C.K. Prahalad and his graduate student collaborators strive to make a different case. Large companies can earn good profits by providing solutions to those problems the poor have that are most costly to them economically. Solving the problems then generates spendable income that will find its way to the large company. A good example comes in creating reasonable cost credit and access to futures markets to farmers so they earn more profits. The inefficient system that most go through now simply clips them like the feudal lords did on their domains.
The strength of the book comes in its detailed case histories which I found to be much more revealing than the primary text. In fact, the text seemed sometimes almost to be at odds with the main points of the case histories. If you find you are pressed for time, read the case histories and skip the text. There is also a brief CD to help illustrate the cases. Some of the cases are only on the CD so be sure to watch it.
I especially found the cases of Aravind Eye Care, CEMEX, Jaipur Foot, ITC e-Choupals and Voxiva to be interesting. These are essentially business model innovation stories, something that interests me very deeply. I learned from these cases how using local people can eliminate unnecessary overhead and that adapting the business model to the situation requires the local perspective of the poor . . . not that of the executives of a large company.
One reason that the main text reads a little strangely is that if everyone focused just at the bottom of the poorest consumers you would have too many companies working on the same problems (clean water, hygiene, overcoming simple forms of disease, etc.). It looked to me like the best business areas were ones that catered to those further up the ladder economically . . . but who were still poor. I was especially fascinated by how the Aravind solution is so powerful that people will be coming to India from the developed world to have their cataracts treated . . . and will save money even after paying for the travel costs! In this way, poor countries could become laboratories for better business models that could be transferred at least in part to wealthier people and countries.
I was also surprised not to see any material in here about Philip Morris, Coca Cola and Gillette who have been selling their products to the poorest people around the world for decades. When I first wanted to learn about the problem defined by this book, I went to visit those countries and learned many helpful answers that are only partially captured by this book.
Finally, I felt like the book makes a mistake in primarily looking at cases involving quite large companies. The bulk of innovation comes from much smaller firms. What role can these organizations plan in partnering with poor consumers around the world to create better business models and products? Genius isn't determined by whether you are born rich or poor. How can we tap into the potential of genius in more ways?
gives a different perspective to the poor
I have visited the aravind eye hospital described in this book and I am from India. This book opens your mind to the possibilites that are available to anyone investing in an upcoming economy like India. This is surely a must read for multinational companies hoping to sell in markets like India.
Higher levels of technology are needed and not lower; though costs should be lower- for eg if you are a bank manager and want to provide a ATM machine in rural areas where people are illiterate - introduce retina scans or fingerprint scans rather than PIN numbers. This way you can get the poor to use your bank. In large enough numbers this will be profitable(india and china can benefit from these innovations as they have strength in numbers)The trick is to create a robust scanner with minimal costs.
The future is in these markets for most big companies as the growth oppurtunities in the developed world are stagnating- ignore these markets at your peril. These poor peple will over time become middle class and if they know your company now - in 10-20 years time they will stay loyal to your company. In addition prahalad shows how you can be profitable in the immediate term as well.
