NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Technology: A Key to BoP Success? - Comments

Miles to go before BoP sleep

Debashish Bramha — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:14:56 -0400

It just the tip of the Iceberg, BoP has really changed the thought process of the business organizations. But enpowing the poor with the light of education ,good health has become a mandatory factor in present polarized world ie Human Capital Index. We are at the cross road of Capitalism and socialistic economy, it is ultimately the people who are going to benifit. Distribution of wealth is not so easy, empowering the poor is not so easy, and it is easier said than done. But obviously there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Regards, Debashish Brahma. http://debashishbramha.blogspot.com Calcutta. India

I wholeheartedly

Christine — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:02:09 -0500

I wholeheartedly believe that technology is essential to the success in BoP markets. We will not be able to fix the problems we have with the same technologies that we used to create the problems. Creating new products and developing new methods with technology is the answer. I recently read about SC Johnson's BoP efforts in Kenya. As you said, BoP efforts require rethinking and, often, downsizing. SC Johnson switched their focus from the traditional business focus on people at the top of the pyramid to BoP. This change involved switching from a high margin/low volume strategy to a low margin/high volume strategy. This method did require rethinking, but as can be seen by SC Johnson's continous growth, did not require downsizing. SC Johnson's BoP Protocol involves three phases, the third of which is creating the enterprise. However, SC Johnson knows that understanding the culture and networking are essential to success, which is why they perform these two tasks before actually creating the enterprise. SC Johnson has also embraced the idea of educating people in BoP markets. This task involves using technology to explain and fix problems occuring in the developing countries.

Technology: A Key to BoP Success?

Nitin Rao — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:46:40 -0500

What do Aravind Eye Care, d.light design, Ekgaon Technologies, ITC's e-Choupal, and the much awaited Tata Nano have in common?

New market segments?
Radically new paradigms?
Technology?

As the BoP discussion moves from whether-to-invest to where-to-invest, there is an increasing need to measure the impact of new ventures. I see a strong correlation between Successful Models and Technology.

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