Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, The: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits

The world's most exciting, fastest - growing new market is where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense untapped buying power. They represent an enormous opportunity for companies who learn how to serve them. Not only can it be done, it is being done - very profitably. What's more, companies aren't just making money: by serving these markets, they're helping millions of the world's poorest people escape poverty. C.K. Prahalad's global bestseller The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, now available in paperback, shows why you can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid " (BOP) markets. Now available in paperback, it offers a blueprint for driving the radical innovation you'll need to profit in emerging markets - and using those innovations to become more competitive everywhere.

= 0) {slash = '\\';} else {slash = '/';}openLoc = figLoc.substring(0, figLoc.lastIndexOf(slash) + 1);while (pPage.substring(0,3) == '../') {openLoc = openLoc.substring(0, openLoc.lastIndexOf(slash, openLoc.length - 2)+ 1);pPage = pPage.substring(3, pPage.length + 1);}popUpWin =window.open('','popWin','resizable=1,scrollbars=1,location=0,toolbar=0,width=525,height=394');figDoc = popUpWin.document;zhtm= ' ' + pPage + ' ';zhtm += ' ';zhtm += ' ';zhtm += ' ';zhtm += '' + pPage.substring(pPage.lastIndexOf('/') + 1, pPage.length) + '';zhtm += ' ';figDoc.write(zhtm);figDoc.close();}// modified 3.1.99 RWE v4.1 --> Preface Preface This book is a result of a long and lonely journey for me. It started during the Christmas vacation of 1995. During that period of celebration and good cheer, one issue kept nagging me: What are we doing about the poorest people around the world? Why is it that with all our technology, managerial know-how, and investment capacity, we are unable to make even a minor contribution to the problem of pervasive global poverty and disenfranchisement? Why can't we create inclusive capitalism? Needless to say, these are not new questions. However, as one who is familiar with both the developed and the developing world, the contrasts kept gnawing at me. It became clear that finding a solution to the problems of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid around the world should be an integral part of my next intellectual journey. It was also clear that we have to start with a new approach, a "clean sheet of paper." We have to learn from the successes and failures of the past; the promises made and not fulfilled. Doing more of the same, by refining the solutions of the past--developmental aid, subsidies, governmental support, localized nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based solutions, exclusive reliance on deregulation and privatization of public assets--is important and has a role to play, but has not redressed the problem of poverty. Although NGOs worked tirelessly to promote local solutions and local entrepreneurship, the idea of large-scale entrepreneurship as a possible solution to poverty had not taken root. It appeared that many a politician, bureaucrat, and manager in large domestic and global firms agreed on one thing: The poor are wards of the state. This implicit agreement was bothersome. The large-scale private sector was only marginally involved in dealing with the problems of 80 percent of humanity. The natural question, therefore, was this: What if we mobilized the resources, scale, and scope of large firms to co-create solutions to the problems at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), those 4 billion people who live on less than $2 a day?