Skip navigation

Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept

Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept

Joncourt, Simon, Gebauer, Heiko, Reynoso, Javier, Cabrera, Karla, Valdes, Ana and De Vita, Katharina ORCID: 0000-0002-5030-5588 (2019) Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept. Service Science, 11 (3). pp. 241-261. ISSN 2164-3970 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2019.0247)

[img] PDF
35460_DE_VITA_Extending-the-base-of-the-pyramid-concept.pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (907kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) concept plays a prominent role among the market-based perspectives for poverty alleviation. Previous literature reviews discuss the evolution of the BoP concept as a research domain; however, several major research streams that approach the phenomenon from distinct angles have been overlooked. To address these shortcomings, we continue these reviews and formulate recommendations for theoretical and empirical advancement by considering emerging research domains. We use the problematization method to identify in-house and field assumptions shared across research domains and test them through critical empirical and theoretical interrogation. Therefore, we extend the original BoP concept by considering emerging research domains that have been neglected in earlier studies, including corporate social responsibility, inclusive business, microfinance, nonprofit expansion, social entrepreneurship, and subsistence marketplaces. We also revise the BoP business model idea and develop a framework that highlights key dimensions for management research in BoP markets. These dimensions include business ecosystems, financial viability, innovativeness, resource scarcity, role of the poor, and scalability. For each dimension, we develop future research questions.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Base-of-the-Pyramid, poverty alleviation, literature review, inclusive business, business ecosystems, innovativeness, scalability.
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Business
Faculty of Business > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC)
Faculty of Business > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) > Centre for Business Network Analysis (CBNA)
Faculty of Business > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) > Connected Cities Research Group
Last Modified: 14 Mar 2022 10:49
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/35460

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics