The last couple of decades have seen great increases in sales, now multinational corporations are seeing markets with sluggish or no growth. One market that's been overlooked is also the fastest growing market in the world, and it's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's 5 billion poor have vast untapped buying power. They represent enormous potential for companies who learn how to serve this market by providing the poor with what they need. This creates a win-win situation: not only do corporations tap into a vibrant market, but by treating the poor as consumers they are no longer treated with indignity; they become empowered customers. Corporations who service this market form an economic infrastructure, which creates real jobs for the poor, and finally an end to the vicious cycle of poverty. This book is a 3-part manifesto: passionate argument; detailed case studies from India, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela, and range from salt to soap, banking to cellphones, health to housing; and lastly, a CD with digital videos shot on location, designed to bring these innovations alive.C K Prahalad shows why we can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid"(BOP) markets.
C.K. Prahalad was Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Strategy at the Ross School of Business, The University of Michigan. He was a globally recognized management thinker. Times of London and Suntop Media elected him as the most influential management thinker alive today in 2007. He coauthored bestsellers in management such as Competing for the Future, The Future of Competition, and The New Age of Innovation. He won the McKinsey Prize for the best article four times and received several honorary doctorates, including one from the University of London and the Stevens School of Technology. He worked with CEOs and senior management at many of the world's top companies and was also a member of the Board of NCR Corporation, Pearson PLC., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., The World Resources Institute, and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).
