Lots of base-of-pyramid discussions the past few days. On Tuesday I heard the creator of this concept, C.K. Prahald, lecture on the topic in his Distinguished University Professorship acceptance. This idea is so widespread that our favorite South American dictator (Mr. Chavez) now refers to himself as the base of pyramid president; such unilateral acceptance of the theory indicates that Prahalad is probably as close as I'll see to a Nobel Laureate. However, even in utilizing the BOP framework to create business solutions that help everyone, there is a certain amount of leverage/power exerted by the creator over those being helped. Thus there is an excruciating balance to be struck between exploitation and empowerment. Does selling a dual-fuel clean stove compare to the loss of jobs after Bhopal? I'm not sure, but Prof. Ahuja summed it up like this: 3.5 billion people's lives depend on the way you behave.

posted at 1:27 PM - comments