V. Kasturi Rangan, John Quelch, Gustavo Herrero, Brooke Barton (editors). 433 pages. Hardback. Jossey-Bass. £30.99/$55
Ever since C. K. Prahalad, Stuart Hart and Allen Hammond proposed the
bottom of the pyramid model five years ago – calling on business to tap
the under-served markets of the world’s four billion poor – we’ve had
to be content with a handful of the same examples endlessly cited to
illustrate the idea.
Now, finally, here is a book that gives us many more case studies to
ponder. A collection of papers presented at a Harvard Business School
conference in December 2005, the chapters of Business Solutions are almost all case-based – and together cover around 20 countries.
However, more than half of these are in Central and South America and
one of the weaknesses of the book is its poor coverage of Africa (other
than South Africa) and Asia (other than India).
Also notable is the lack of any deep questioning on the part of the
authors as to the value of the Bottom of the Pyramid model, which
others have criticized for its economic neoliberal philosophy,
potential environmental impacts and implications for governance and
accountability.
Despite these limitations, any practitioners or academics working in
the area of business in society – and looking at the role of companies
in alleviating poverty – will find this an invaluable source of new
ideas and fresh examples.
Wayne Visser
