The Market at the Bottom of the Pyramid

What I expect to learn :

I expect that the Bussiness schools are using innovative approaches to promote t
he base of the pyramid.
Review :
Global poverty exists today at a startling scale; while the exact numbers are de
bated, some estimate that four billion people worldwide live on less than two do
llars a day.1 According to C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart, both Aspen Institute F
aculty Pioneer Award recipients, companies should not ignore these traditionally
overlooked people, collectively dubbed the Bottom of the Pyramid, because of thei
r considerable combined purchasing power.2 Thus, if companies are innovative eno
ugh to create or tailor their products to the economic realities and life needs
of these people, a significant profit can be won. At the same time, this group s e
ntry into the market would hopefully better their quality of life and aid in reg
ional economic development.
Three well-publicized examples will help illustrate the base-of-the-pyramid conc
ept. First, Grameen Bank was started by Nobel Prize laureate Muhammed Yunus in B
angladesh to offer mini-loans to entrepreneurs who wouldn t qualify for traditiona
l bank loans based on collateral.3 As of May 2007, over seven million people hav
e borrowed from the Bank with incredibly high levels of repayment.4 Second, Play
Pumps is a water pump that runs on the energy created from children playing on a
merry-go-round.5 Advertising space on the pump s storage tank generates revenue t
hat covers maintenance costs. Lastly, cell phone providers have developed means
of selling relatively cheap units to remote villages, allowing farmers, as just
one example, to check grain prices at the nearest market before deciding to lug
their product into town.6
Despite the concepts critics, more business schools in 2007 are instructing Botto
m of the Pyramid material in their classrooms than in 2005, according to the Asp
en Institute s biennial Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey.7 This Closer Look attempts
to give an overview of the pioneering coursework and teaching resources being us
ed in this blossoming field of inquiry.
What I have learned
I learned that povery exists todat at a startling scale.
Integrative questions :
1.) What is the base-of-the-pyramid concept?
2.) What is Faculty Pioneer Award recipients?
3.) What are the three well-publicized?
4.) What is PlayPums?
5.) What is buttom pyramid?