The World Bank Institute is hosting an executive development program titled "Inclusive and Sustainable Business: Creating Markets with the Poor", aimed at business executives interested in the design of business strategies with the BoP.

The curriculum includes various interesting topics, including strategies to reach the 4 billion at the base of the pyramid, the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships, aligning business strategies with the development agenda, and more.

From the program's website:

"The program is designed for business executives from larger companies responsible for managing business in emerging and developing economies, as well as public sector leaders, donor agency executives, civil society organization representatives, and staff from international development agencies who are actively interested and engaged in involving the private sector in meeting development goals."

It's interesting to hear about this kind of programs, yet another sign that BoP business models are increasingly becoming mainstream. The program will be hosted between the 9th and the 13th of June, and early registration is encouraged.

Via WBCSD

"N=1, R=G" is purportedly the equation that summarizes C.K. Prahalad's new contribution to business management literature. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but there are good synopses online already, such as this one - all of which report that the new book by C.K. and co-author M.S. Krishnan, The New Age of Innovation, urges companies to become at once more global and more personalized.

The authors essentially argue that the world businesses will have to adapt to is one in which they increasingly co-create value with customers, connecting products and services with their needs on an individual basis (N=1). At the same time, they will have to dramatically strengthen and streamline their global supplier networks to meet these personalized demands (Resources=Global).

The examples I've seen floating around so far seem to relate mostly to MNCs, but I can't help but imagine how many of these ideas C.K. may have extrapolated from his BoP work and of course what these trends mean for smaller BoP businesses. C.K. writes in a recent post on his book that:

"The sources of value are rapidly shifting from products to personalized experiences; from dependence on a firm to a network of suppliers; and from firms deciding unilaterally what consumers can have and should expect to cocreating value with the active involvement of consumers"

This deep listening approach expressed in the notion of cocreating value is the same sort of advice BoP champions have been giving to companies for years.

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