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Hugo Chavez and the Bottom of the Pyramid: Overcoming “Utopia”
Usually, I stand by the belief that bringing politics into development discussions is a recipe for disaster for anyone ? be they journalist, blogger, development planner or, above all, the target “beneficiary.” Today, however, I can?t resist pointing to the political events in...
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- academia
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SMEs Redefining Innovation: Insights on the New Ventures India Investor Forum
At first glance, the lineup of products and services on display at this year’s New Ventures India Investor Forum seemed to reflect traditional Indian knowledges and practices. Banana-leaf materials, light posts, and packaged Indian foods were some of the offerings on display by entrepreneur...
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- Education
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- academia
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CK Prahalad – The Greatest Management Thinker
NextBillion joins in congratulating Prof. C. K. Prahalad. Prahalad, India-born management guru and academician, has been voted the world’s most influential living management thinker in the Thinkers 50 biennial poll.A professor at the University of Michigans’ Stephen M Ross School of...
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The Tradeoff Between Growth and Innovation Part 2
This post is the continuation of my previous one last Monday. Just as it was posted, Robert Katz sent me an email with the following question:"That BOP firms, to be competitive, don’t have to be innovative in the same way that Western firms do makes sense. But what about Western firms...
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Conference Report: The Private Sector’s Role in Latin America
On Tuesday, I went to Georgetown University to attend a high-profile panel on “The Role of the Private Sector in the Competitiveness of the Latin American Region.” The line-up of panelists included three former presidents (Vicente Fox - Mexico, Alejandro Toledo ? Peru, Jose Maria...
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A Lesson for BoP Technologists: Put the Business Model First
A recent Wall Street Journal article documents the demise of Nicolas Negroponte?s dream of a $100 “one laptop per child” for millions of schoolchildren in the developing world. (Thanks to Ethan Zuckerman for pointing it out.)? To give Negroponte his due, the idea stimulated...
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Are Pedicabs a Bottom of the Pyramid Business Model?
Over on The City Fix, author Benjamin de la Pena discusses? what a post-car future might look like - and he thinks it looks like a pedicab. Also called cycle rickshaws, pedicabs are green (human-powered) alternatives to motorbikes and cars, to be sure. But are they a “bottom of the...
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The Tradeoff Between Growth and Innovation at the BOP
Businesspeople tend to prefer predictable business environments to work in. However, in developing countries, business environments tend to be more unstable than in Western markets because of various unpredictable social, economic and political changes. Since business plans depend on...
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