NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Did Unilever get its Rural Communications Right?

A new book from Wharton School Publishing is critical of Hindustan Unilever?s advertising strategy. Chennai, Aug. A new book from Wharton School Publishing is critical of Hindustan Unilever?s advertising strategy. HUL missed an opportunity for increased marketing productivity when they repositioned, retargeted, and relaunched Lifebuoy, write Leonard M. Lodish, Howard L. Morgan and Shellye Archambeau, the authors of ?Marketing that Works? (www.pearsoned.co.in). Though the c...

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The Hindu (link opens in a new window)

In Praise of Usury

Ignore credit snobs. It is no sin to profit from lending to the poor. IN DANTE’S ?Divine Comedy?, usurers are consigned to a flaming desert of sand within the seventh circle of hell. Attitudes have since softened a bit. Microcreditors, who offer small loans to self-employed poor people, enjoy hallowed reputations. One has even ascended to the rank of a Nobel laureate. But lending to the poor is still considered distasteful whenever it is pricey, short-term and profitable. In America, f...

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The Economist (link opens in a new window)

Life at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Are Environmental Technologies the Way Out?

VANCOUVER, August 1, 2007 (GLOBE-Net) ? Roughly four billion people, mostly in developing countries, subsist at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid. Here they are vulnerable not only to the risks associated with poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, but also to a host of environmental threats including poor air quality, contaminated water and climate change. Even though they live on less than US $2 per day, these people represent a huge potential market. Linking their entrepreneu...

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Globe-Net (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Environment, Technology

Tags

Base of the Pyramid, clean cooking

?No es fascinante?

LA pobreza es, para algunos agudos analistas socioecon?micos, la riqueza del futuro y empieza a transformarse de problema en oportunidad. Ha empezado a surgir un creciente inter?s alrededor de un tema trascendente para la humanidad: la posibilidad de crear masivamente modelos de negocios rentables que permiten a la vez, generar utilidades y lograr la superaci?n de las comunidades m?s pobres. Lo que es m?s, crear oportunidades de negocio con y para la poblaci?n m?s pobre no ...

Source

El Universal (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

On Campus, a Different Pyramid Scheme

Classes that explore the controversial base of the pyramid economic development theory are proliferating at B-schools around the world. More B-school students than ever will be taking courses in base of the pyramid theory when they go back to campus this fall?an indication that the idea that economic development can come from selling products to the world’s poor has gone from buzz to curriculum staple. The base of the pyramid concept, which is not universal...

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Business Week (link opens in a new window)

Cornell Professor Builds on His Base

Stuart Hart, founder of base of the pyramid economics, talks about terrorism, poverty, and the next big corporations. As one of the founding fathers of the base of the pyramid economic theory, Stuart Hart plays a crucial role in reshaping the way companies view the 4 billion people who live in poverty. The Cornell B-school professor is the founder and chair of the school’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and an authority on the implications of sustainable dev...

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Business Week (link opens in a new window)

The Business of Ethics Remixed

Corporations have to integrate ’social responsibility’ into their business agenda to protect environmental, social and human rights of the vast majority. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a highly misunderstood and misinterpreted term in India. The core of CSR is what a company essentially does in terms of philanthropy or charity in the community in which it operates. This understanding of ’India Inc.’ has traditionally been continued, practised and modelled vis-?-vis the ...

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Hardnews Media (link opens in a new window)

India Rides the Venture Capital Wave

The base of the pyramid is often ignored, but offers a tremendous opportunity, says Katie Hill, the India representative of Acumen Fund, an fund backed by the Cisco Systems Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Acumen has put $1.5 million into Ziqitza, a Mumbai-based ambulance company that offers deep discounts for residents of the city. The fishermen from the Indian village of Chidambaram live a hard life. They sleep most of the day, then spend the night out on the water...

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CIO Today (link opens in a new window)