Industry and the BoP (Bottom of the Pyramid)

If the BoP (Bottom of the Pyramid) market draws so much interest, it is because the dynamic behind the concept is promising: using enterprise and market forces to fight poverty. However, there is a gap between the promises of the BoP and the lack of implementation by large companies. What are the obstacles that stand in the way of a company wishing to carry out a project among disadvantaged populations in developing countries? How are the opportunities of Bottom of the Pyramid markets perceived within large groups? Are they sufficient to launch a project?

The top management of some twenty large French companies have agreed to answer these questions. Executives from strategy, corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainable development departments have shared their experiences with us and agreed to think with us about the strategic and operational implications of the BoP in their companies.

BoP projects : a challenge for the company

Obstacles to the development of BoP projects are both the lack of knowledge of this concept in companies, but also real challenges at the operational and structural levels. In particular, there is a need for :

• adapting companies' internal project selection and evaluation mechanisms, which are generally not fitted to the development of BoP projects because they focus primarily on financial profitability ;
• bringing together all of the company's stakeholders;
• creating, often from scratch, the necessary ecosystem for a commercial project in an unfamiliar environment; and then relearn how to design, present and distribute a product;
• taking special precautions in terms of communication.

BoP projects : a source of opportunities for the company

The opportunities for the company are :

• in the long term, the access to new markets;
• the consolidation of a positioning in the North, as consumers in Western countries are increasingly turning to environmentally and socially responsible products and services,
• the creation of social value within the company itself, whether it is a question of facilitating recruitment or building employee loyalty.

In the shorter term, the learnings from these radically new experiences and in particular the development of a culture of innovation.

Moving towards BoP, first steps for the company

Initial feedback has confirmed these opportunities, as well as the lessons learned from the first projects carried out. Several internal steps are essential:

• Surveying internal employees on these subjects in order to find out the motivations of the teams, the skills already present and the existence of similar experiences, whether aborted or isolated ;
• Playing the role of catalyst by creating a driving environment, conducive to these completely new types of projects, is necessary to get employees involved;
• Host the BoP project within operational entities.

Once this internal structuring work has been completed, local populations and players must be involved at every stage of the project, from design to implementation: the company cannot succeed alone at the Bottom of the Pyramid.