A new paradigm for the “Bottom of the Pyramid”

• Do social entrepreneurial initiatives work in the real world?
• Can they compete with purely profit-driven business?
• Can they even collaborate with them?

Corporations are struggling to find unsatisfied needs that might be the basis for developing their future customers and product/service offerings in their existing markets. The concept of the "Bottom of the Pyramid" (BOP) was initially regarded as a potential solution to this problem. The BOP concept claims that the group of lowest income people constitute a potential but overlooked market for corporations.

Established companies often lack the resources and capabilities to act in nascent or often lacking market systems and their cultural particularities and institutional ambiguities. A large number of nimble and creative entrepreneurs apply business skills successfully at the BOP to build new organizational structures that supply to basic human needs and often act as social change agents. However, what they lack is managerial expertise and the resources necessary to scale up, stabilize and further develop their ventures.

This research, led by IESE Business School from March 2005 until June 2006, inquired into the potential synergies between those entrepreneurs and companies willing to create new markets that are distinct from their current customers. This could be a novel way of looking at corporate renewal and innovation enacted at the fringe of the market system.

The deliverables of the project can be viewed and downloaded.
You are also invited to check other research done in the area by the IESE team as well as relevant external links .

A practitioners workshop took place in Barcelona on 19 September 2005 with as theme: "Social Entrepreneurs as Competitors and Partners in Global Markets". 

EABIS members can visit the project space of this project on the EABIS Intranet where you can download all project deliverables and other useful information. If you are not a member yet of this project space, click "Bottom of the Pyramid to join. Following approval of your request to join, you can access the project space through the link above. For further intranet assistance, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

For more information, please contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Research Manager, EABIS or  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  (Assistant Professor)& This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  (Visiting Lecturer, Senior Researcher), IESE Business School

This project is part of the  EABIS corporate funded programme sponsored by founding partners IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell and Unilever.