The role of social value creation in business model formulation at the bottom of the pyramid – Implications for MNEs?

doi:10.1016/j.ibusrev.2013.12.004

International Business Review

Volume 23, Issue 4, August 2014, Pages 692-707

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2013.12.004 Get rights and content

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open access

Highlights

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The paper shows how social value creation and business models are interrelated in the context of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) business formation.
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The paper explores constraints that Indian firms face in their institutional environment.
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The management of overcoming these constraints and implications for the development of economic and social outcomes is discussed..
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Implications are drawn from the performance of business models in the BOP.
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The paper outlines what MNE may learn for firm strategies by engaging with BOP.

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory study of how social value creation and business models may be interrelated in the context of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) business formation. We develop our analysis around five case studies of actual businesses set up in rural India by people in the BOP. We attempt to draw implications from the performance of the business models in the BOP for what MNE strategies of engagement with the BOP may learn from the processes we analysed.

Keywords

Bottom of the pyramid (BOP)

Business models

Rising powers

Social value creation

Cited by (0)

Noemi Sinkovics is a lecturer in International Business and Management at Manchester Business School, UK. She received her PhD from The University of Manchester. Her research focuses on International Entrepreneurship, ICT, and Economic Development issues and she contributes actively to research projects in the MBS-CIBER. She has contributed book chapters to editions of International Business books and published in International Business Review, International Marketing Review and Journal of Business Research. She is Hungarian and now lives in Manchester, UK.

Rudolf R. Sinkovics is a professor of International Business at Manchester Business School, UK, where he is currently head of the Comparative and International Business Group and Director of MBS-CIBER. He has worked and published on inter-organisational governance, the role of ICT in firm internationalisation, and research methods in international business. Recent work is focused on Rising Powers and drivers of economic change. He received his Ph.D. from Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU-Wien), Austria. His work has been published in International Business and International Marketing journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, Management International Review, Journal of World Business, International Business Review, and International Marketing Review. Born in Austria, he now lives and works in Manchester, UK.

Mo Yamin is a professor of International Business at Manchester Business School, U.K. His research focuses on the organisational and managerial aspects of the multinational enterprise. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manchester. He has published in international business and international marketing journals such as International Business Review, Journal of International Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of World Business, Critical Perspectives of International Business and Advances in Consumer Research. Originally from Iran, he lives in Manchester.