Around the turn of the millennium it had become painfully evident that development aid, charity or ‘global business-as-usual’ were not going to be the mechanisms to alleviate global poverty. Today, there is little dispute that poverty remains the most pressing global problem calling for innovative solutions. One recent strategy is the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) concept developed by Prahalad and Hart, which relies on entrepreneurial activity tapping into the previously ignored markets of the economically most disadvantaged. It is a process requiring innovations in several disciplines: technological, social and business.

This book covers a number of areas. First, much of the current BoP discussion emphasises targeting products to the needs of the poor. But do we actually know what the real needs of the poor are? This book takes a bottom-up human-centred approach and examines examples that truly engage the poor in BoP product and service development. What types of needs assessment methodologies are indicated considering the cultural differences in BoP countries? Are the existing methodologies adequate? Do they need to be redefined and redeveloped?

Second, the book considers how we can balance poverty alleviation and stimulate economic growth without stressing the ecosystem. Tragically, the poor are hardest hit by the adverse effects of environmental deterioration such as water shortages, climate change or the destruction of habitats. While the economic welfare of the poor is critical, the BoP approach must balance its inherent paradox of encouraging greater consumption while avoiding further pressures on environmental sustainability. The link between the BoP approach and sustainable development is a key feature of this book.

Third, it looks at innovation and asks what kinds of ‘bottom-up’ innovation (open source, technological, social and business) support BoP initiatives (and sustainable development)?

Fourth, the book deals with the relationship between development assistance and BoP. Is a BoP strategy the antithesis to development aid or can these two co-exist or even complement each other?

Finally, the book raises questions about the relationship between corporate responsibility and BoP. Is BoP a new form of corporate neo-colonialism or a new form of corporate responsibility?

Although the BoP concept has unleashed an extensive and generally enthusiastic response from academics, businesses, NGOs and governments, the knowledge domain around this concept is still in the early stages of development. This book addresses that need with a focus on the needs of the end-users — the poor —  as a starting point for BoP products and innovations. With contributions from both supporters and critics, it provides a treasure trove of global knowledge on how the concept has developed, what its successes and failures have been and what promise it holds as a long-term strategy for alleviating poverty and tackling global sustainability.

Tackling the issue of poverty on a global scale, this title provides an in depth look at the requirement to consider the needs of the poor in developing products and services. The base of the pyramid (BoP) approach adopted by the authors has allowed them to investigate the markets previously ignored – those of the most disadvantaged economically. Presenting an objective review of the subject, this title contains detailed contributions from both supporters and critics of the BoP approach, suggesting not just answers to the problems, but raising vital questions regarding this new approach to sustainable development.
The Environmentalist 89 (7 December 2009)

In summary, it appears that building BoP businesses that create enduring and sustainable community value requires an entirely new strategic process and corporate capability. This wonderful collection of essays assembled by Prabhu Kandachar and Minna Halme addresses virtually all of the challenges to realising this opportunity — and more. In the pages that follow, you will find a rich set of contributions by a diverse set of highly qualified authors. Indeed, between these covers lie many answers, but also a host of new and important questions regarding the promising new approach to sustainable development called the Base of the Pyramid.
Stuart L. Hart

Read the full Foreword by Stuart L.Hart  (PDF)

The international conference "Sustainable Innovations at the Base of the Pyramid" was held at the Helsinki School of Economics, 26-27 September 2008, where this book was launched. The majority of the conference presentations are available here:
http://www.hse.fi/EN/research/programs/globalization/events/bop/materials/

The Helsinki conference also attracted some international attention: 
http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/09/29/guest-post-niti-bhan-from-the-helsinki-bop-conference-speaker-insights 
http://www.core77.com/blog/business/sustainable_innovations_at_the_base_of_the_pyramid_conference_helsinki_11305.asp
 
Read an interview with co-editor Prabhu Kandachar here:
http://www.hse.fi/EN/articles/research/article22092008 (English)
http://www.hse.fi/FI/articles/research/article22092008 (Finnish)

Part I. Inclusive markets and BoP strategies

Part II. Local enterprises at the BoP: cooperative efforts

Part III. Are BoP consumers and citizens included?

Part IV. Capabilities, opportunities and challenges for developing BoP business by MNCs

Part V. Sustainability challenges and solutions

Prabhu Kandachar is Professor of Industrial Design Engineering with a focus on Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Technology, and Chairman of the Department of Design Engineering, at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. He received his BE degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Mysore University, and ME degree and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. After a stint of five years (since 1975) at the Materials Science and Technology department at Delft, he worked for 15 years for Fokker Aerospace, in various technical and management positions. His teaching and research interests at IDE are focused on materialising design ideas. Additionally, he is extensively involved in designing products and services for the emerging markets, with many action-oriented projects in the last few years. There are about 90 publications on his work.

Minna Halme is an associate professor at Helsinki School of Economics. Her current research focuses on business models for sustainable services, sustainability implications of the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) approach and corporate responsibility. She has worked in a number of European and national research projects on material efficiency services to industry, sustainable household services, sustainable tourism and sustainable business strategies. She has published in Ecological Economics, Business Strategy and the Environment, Journal of Management Studies, Business Ethics Quarterly, Scandinavian Journal of Management and in a number of other journals. She teaches Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management at masters’, doctoral and executive MBA courses.