Companies trying to implement ‘bottom of the pyramid’ schemes should pool their efforts, not work in isolation, the Ashridge business school has said.
An Ashridge report says such efforts – aimed at alleviating poverty by developing goods and services affordable for people with low incomes – will achieve more if companies operate in coalitions.
It argues that co-ordinated efforts can allow business to tackle several problems simultaneously rather than achieving progress in just one area. And it warns: ‘To correct one serious problem in a poor community while leaving other equally life-threatening problems untouched is to develop a synergy of failure.’
The study, based on interviews with companies, non-governmental organizations and charities that are active in bottom of the pyramid programmes, says governments can play a valuable role in bringing together various businesses with ‘different core competencies’. This will create coalitions that can deal with various aspects of poverty simultaneously.
