scholarly journals Lowering Investment Risk at the Bop Using Network Innovation Fundación pro Vivienda Social (Fpvs) Case

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 04-29
Author(s):  
Marìa Griselda Lassaga ◽  
Gabriel Lanfranchi

More than 2 million people from the outskirts of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region live in neighborhoods with restricted access to education, credit, healthcare, and basic services (Goytia and Lanfranchi, 2009). With nearly 4 billion people now living in poverty world wide, this situation is not unique to Buenos Aires. The size of this “Base of the Pyramid” (BOP) economic market makes it impossible to ignore in the 21st century (Prahalad and Hart, 2002). Unfortunately however, most private businesses have overlooked this population and thereby denied it the opportunity to participate in the global economy. This article describes how Fundación Pro Vivienda Social (FPVS) seeks to rectify this situation by facilitating economic engagement with the BOP. This case study, based on the testimony and experiences of participants, details the effort to create financially sustainable business opportunities for both the BOP and private sector. Specifically, this study deals with FPVS‟s role as a facilitator between businesses and poor communities in doing business with the Base of the Pyramid, (BOP). Testimony from this real case study in addition to the experience of the researchers and current business literature was the chosen path. As a longitudinal study, the case looks at how perceptions and relationships change over time. Based on the Developing Business Network Model, this article looked at the co-creation of value for all the parties within a sustainable framework. Specifically, the FPVS case deals with the foundation‟s leverage function in developing mutually beneficial infrastructure solutions. Since 1995, FPVS has focused on housing improvements and infrastructure development. Through its projects, FPVS has demonstrated that working with low-income communities is not high-risk, but rather good business. The foundation believes that by organizing communities around mobilizing events related to standard of living improvements, it can create the social capital necessary to break the poverty cycle (Lanfranchi 2005). In the areas where it operates, FPVS has developed strategies to organize community demand for goods and services and match it with suppliers. These types of strategies have been described by Granovette (1983) as „solving structural holes‟. An important aspect of this study is that it illustrates the necessity of transcending traditional business models when developing successful enterprises with the BOP. It also highlights how the FPVS approach is consistent with recent advances in BOP literature (Prahalad, 2006). For example, the report shows how FPVS strategies incorporate the concepts of business management innovations (Kandachar, 2008), business networks (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995), and radical transactivity (Hart and Simanis, 2005; Simanis and Hart, 2008). Most significantly, this study demonstrates how to create a sustainable and mutually beneficial economic exchange between private businesses and the BOP.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Norol Hamiza Zamzuri ◽  
Khairil Wahidin Awang ◽  
Yuhanis Abdul Aziz ◽  
Zaiton Samdin

The growth of the event sector is underpinned by the demand of organizing a business event.  Thus, it leads to an increase in economic and social impact. However, the problems from the growth of this sector potentially results from the use of several event materials, transportation and infrastructure development.  Organizing a green event is seen as one of the strategies to reduce the environmental impact.  Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the issues involved throughout the process of greening an event by applying Mair and Jago Model.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with event managers from six Malaysia business event companies that encourage green practices during their event.  Findings suggest that impact, initiative, support and performance motivates event organizers in organizing a green event.  It has also been found that knowledge, resources and behaviour are the barriers faced by event organizers throughout the process of organizing a green event.  Based on the findings it appears that two important factors have emerged from the data collection and analysis that showed a deviation from the Mair and Jago Model, namely “impact” for the motivation element and “support” for the barrier element.  The main limitation of this study was the scope of the study; as it only focuses on business events.  However, as the main purpose of this study is to explore the issues of organizing a green event, it has been found that there are other issues need to be explored in other contexts and geographical area.  Apart from this, as this is a case study, it can only replicate according to the circumstances of this case study. However, this study can be generalized in terms of the theory that has emerged from it.  It is suggested that further research should explore more issues in other contexts and geographical areas. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Reynoso ◽  
Jay Kandampully ◽  
Xiucheng Fan ◽  
Hanna Paulose

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into indigenous, solution-based business models and their relevance for inclusive service innovation within specific social contexts in emerging economies, with particular emphasis on the role of culture and technology. Design/methodology/approach – A proposed framework illustrates four factors that nurture socially driven service innovation in emerging economies: solution, inclusion, culture, and technology. Extant literature from studies in India, Latin America, and China illustrates distinct indigenous innovations and service relationships that exist at the base of the pyramid (BoP), which provides a foundation for a better understanding of socially inclusive service innovations. Findings – A conceptual model of inclusive service innovation reflects an integrated, virtuous cycle, composed of service relationships that stem from the BoP at various levels of analysis across different income segments. These findings suggest notable research directions. Practical implications – This study reinforces the importance of a solution orientation as a competitive business model to gain customer engagement. Social implications – Researchers and practitioners in emerging and advanced economies can use the approach suggested by this paper in their efforts to build sustainable business cultures and improve the well-being of society. Originality/value – Previous research has not addressed the social or communal roles of service innovation; this study proposes an innovative switch from a traditional strategy of selling services toward a proactive approach that involves low-income customers as active resources to co-create social and business value.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1219-1240
Author(s):  
Aleksander Janeš ◽  
Roberto Biloslavo ◽  
Armand Faganel

The aquaculture sector stands at a crossroad because of the important changes in the business environment. Demand and competition for food is growing worldwide, fishery sector reached its limits and in this regard farmed fish sector represents a viable solution for food supply. A sustainable development of small business is recommended in order to develop knowledge and skills to support the growth of world population. In this view knowledge management for innovation is crucial to promote sustainable business models (BM) that can achieve a solid economic performance and at the same time take care of the natural environment. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the literature about sustainable BMs by an in-depth case study of a small fish farming company which developed competitiveness based on own tacit knowledge. The exemplary case study of a sustainable BM in aquaculture has been analyzed by use of an enhanced BM canvas that links various market oriented elements of a BM with the needs of society.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000765032097345
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Dembek ◽  
Jodi York

Base of the pyramid (BoP) ventures seek to create “mutual value” for themselves and poor communities, but often use business models unadapted for the BoP context, and have been less successful than hoped. Sustainable business models’ (SBMs) multi-stakeholder lens offers a promising alternative path to mutual value, but BoP-based SBM studies are scarce. This single case study explores whether and how SBM characteristics manifest in the business model and value outcomes of Habi, a Manila footwear company successfully creating mutual value with BoP suppliers. We find SBM characteristics underpin Habi’s dual-structure business model (value chain/shop) and success in four ways: viewing profits as a tool for community development resulted in designing both product and business model around community strengths; understanding communities as systems helped Habi address the complexities of poverty; balancing short-term business needs with a long-term, slow-growth approach led to their choice of investors; and implementing community value capture mechanisms ensured enduring community benefit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Li ◽  
Jiarou Cao ◽  
Zhenggang Liu ◽  
Xinggang Luo

Sustainability and digitalization have become the main direction of transformation of enterprises. Building a digital twin platform network can provide enterprises with a comprehensive view of products, manufacture, supply chain, customer experience, and profitability, which is conducive to the construction of a sustainable business model. The purpose of this paper is to study how enterprises use digital twin platform networks to generate economic, social and environmental benefits in various dimensions and their coupling relationships. Based on the literature review, this paper constructs a five-dimensional framework of a sustainable business model, and analyses the coupling relationship between dimensions. Using Haier as a way to verify the five-dimensional framework, it explores the dynamic mechanism of the Haier digital twin platform network, constructs an integrated framework based on coupling perspective and compares it with other two home appliance enterprises. The study shows that, through the digital twin platform network, enterprises can remove the disadvantage of focusing on a single product life cycle, and form a comprehensive network, so as to promote overall sustainable upgrades. This paper draws generic strategies and digital transformation suggestions for enterprises to innovate the sustainable business model. The conclusion enriches the research on sustainable business models both theoretically and practically and provides a feasible reference for the transformation of enterprises in digital economy environment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kohler ◽  
Marco Nickel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to sustain crowdsourcing business models. Emerging companies are innovating their business model to rely on a crowd of participants and involve contributing users in value capture. While some organizations demonstrate initial success, sustaining a crowdsourcing business model is challenging. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a comparative case study of the prominent crowdsourcing communities Threadless and Quirky. Participatory observation resulted in over 380 analyzed comments. Findings Seven lessons from Threadless’s success and Quirky’s failure are discussed to derive implications for sustaining crowdsourcing business models. Research limitations/implications Because both cases are integrator platforms build around contests, other crowdsourcing platform types should be studied to enrich the findings. Practical implications Managers receive guidance on how to design a sustainable business model that involves the crowd in creating value and lets the crowd participate in value capture. Originality/value Current research primarily addresses the question of how companies can take advantage of crowdsourcing and mainly considers corporate value capture. The original contribution of this article is a set of strategies to sustain crowdsourcing platforms by taking a platform’s entire business model into account.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Gebauer ◽  
Caroline Saul ◽  
Mirella Halidmann ◽  
Sasha Kramer

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate how managing multiple business models can become a key factor for succeeding in base-of-the-pyramid markets. Design/methodology/approach Case study was conducted through an engaged scholarship approach. Findings The authors highlight that companies can manage multiple business models, if they are following these three steps: recognition of costs-and-benefits, improvement and growth and creation of synergies. Practical implications The study provides guidance on how to manage multiple business models. Social implications This paper discusses Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods, a social enterprise, which provides basic sanitation in bade-of-the-pyramid markets. Originality/value Operating more than one business model could cause often strategic failures. Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods explored the advantages of having multiple business models in following three steps: recognition of costs-and-benefits, improvement and growth and creation of synergies.


Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e04517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pamela Flores ◽  
Leandro Giordano ◽  
Carlos Alberto Ruggerio

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