Bottom Of Pyramid Market Business Essay

Bottom Of Pyramid Market Business Essay This paper traces the development of concepts related to the Bottom of the Pyramid which are described as a poverty alleviation perspective. The BOP thesis states that multinational companies (MNCs) can reach profitability and help to eradicate poverty, at the same time, by designing and implementing sustainable solutions for the BOP consumers. At the same time, numerous academics and business managers have suggested that rather than focusing on the poor as consumers, MNCs have to view the poor as producers, and started by increasing their income to reduce poverty. The number of people who occupying the lowest tier in the worlds economic pyramid has been estimated to be between 3 and 4.5 billion. However, multinational companies are currently unfamiliar with the BOP market and the tendency is that MNCs ignore the BOP market and prefers to focus on markets already developed. This gives an indication of the existence of a weakness that can potentially disrupt innovations in the BOP market. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to identify the particular challenges that companies found in the BOP market and in what forms innovation thrives in BOP markets. The literature review of this paper is mainly based on journal articles published in peer-reviewed journals related to innovations at the BOP and on case studies of companies which have implemented BOP projects. Keywords: Bottom Of Pyramid Market Innovations at Bottom Of Pyramid Sustainable Product Design Declaration I declare that I have personally prepared this article and that it has not in whole or in part been submitted for any other degree or qualification. Nor has it appeared in whole or in part in any textbook, journal or any other document previously published or produced for any purpose. The work described here is my own, carried out personally unless otherwise stated. All sources of information, including quotations are acknowledged by means of reference. C:UsersSà ©bastienPictures3 Identità ©Signature (2).JPG Sà ©bastien Escalier Nottingham Trent University, UK Introduction (700 words) General Area This paper explores the theological roots of the BOP market theory and the current trends in multinational company to venture into these markets. Influenced by some ideas drawn from the work of Prahalad on Bottom of Pyramid, the author has tried to put in perspective the issue of innovation in developing countries. Since the mists of time many people have reflected and worked on the issue of poverty, Mandela (2005, p.3) argues that like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is manmade and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Even earlier it has been argued (Ghandi 1940) that poverty was the worst form of violence. But the sentence Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) was first introduced by Roosevelt, on the 7th of April 1932 in his radio address: The forgotten Man. Later, in the late 1990s Prahalad and Hart from the University of Michigan have suggested that multinational corporation companies (MNCs) can help to reduce the poverty. They defend the idea that if multinational companies create suitable and affordable product for the low-income people, they can both help reduce poverty and generate new benefits. Then, they have introduced the concept of Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP), which refers to the 4 billion people living on an income of 3 US $ or less per day in purchasing power parity (PPP) (Prahalad, 2004). However, although this concept has generated a strong interest in the corporate world and in lot of academia, the reality of this idea remains controversial (Karnani, 2007). During the last twenty years, the economic debate on solutions to the problem of poverty in developing countries has left an increasingly important role for the private initiatives (like NGOs, microfinance or social entrepreneurship for example). But poverty stays at an unacceptable level across the globe with over 1.4 billion people living below the poverty line of 1.25 dollars per day in purchasing power parity (PPP) (Chen Ravaillon, 2008) and it exists a big contrast with the approximately 500 million people who live at the top of the Economic Pyramid with an average purchasing power of more than US$ 10,000 per year (see Rocchi 2006). Specific Area Nowadays, the context in which the MNCs operate experiences very important changes and the idea of the BoP as virgin market, easy to conquer by the company, has disappeared. Issues related to environmental sustainability or social responsibility of companies is more and more ubiquitous (Diamond 2005). Whether through consumer pressure or through government regulation, companies can no longer ignore these trends. In this context of questioning of the conventional business models, ideas of Prahalad and Hart around the wealth at the base of the pyramid have interested many multinational companies, and we have seen a proliferation of initiatives of these ones to attempt to penetrate this market set aside. These initiatives have as the main objective to obtain knowledge of the market and generate long-term benefits, but they are also part of the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR), because they incorporate social aspects to developing countries. Thus, in most cases the BoP initiatives use a social partner. However, we can separate the social businesses and the projects managed as usual projects of the company. On one side, in Bangladesh, the Grameen Danone Food and Limited (GFDL) project aims to reduce poverty by providing access to healthy food, an innovative business model that relies on the creation of health yogurt micro-factories. The company Veolia have also created a project which consists in the selling of clean water in Bangladesh, where the water is naturally enriched in arsenic. Both projects are focused on the reputation of the business in question, and are directly related to consumers (B2C). They are defined as social businesses and they have received the support of Yunus, Nobel Prize for Peace in 2006 and known for having founded the first microcredit institution: the Grameen Bank. On the other hand, some companies have developed new business models with local contractors. These projects are slightly more discreet, because companies are addressed to an intermediary and ask him to go out of his usual scope of action (B2B). In India, in 2004, the optical firm Essilor has established partnerships with local hospitals by financing other ophthalmic test series in landlocked regions, the company also offer eyeglasses for less than 5 euros in this area. In 2009, Schneider Electric, the world specialist in energy, has developed the BipBop Program (Business, Innovation People at the Base of the Pyramid). This program aims to provide access to green energy to billions of people who use kerosene lamps, in developing more local and more individualized solutions. Research question However, as they still know little about the BOP market, large companies are few to engage in this type of large-scale projects and must continually learn to succeed in developing appropriate solutions. This subject of innovation at the bottom of the pyramid will be the focus of this journal article. The starting point is the paradox which can be observed at the BOP between the real creation of suitable products and the return to more basic products. Thus, on the one hand, Schneider Electric has succeeded in developing a new LED lamp: In-Diya, for poor people who have little access to electricity in India, an innovative lighting solution which is reliable and affordable. But on the other hand, the Grameen Danone production unit in Bangladesh is based on plans that are no longer used since a long time in developed countries, therefore a solution that was not designed exclusively for the BOP market. The company Essilor doing the same thing because it also reserves its most basic eyewear models for the projects in India. The reality is more complex than this first observation. However it highlights the issue of the place and the form of innovation in the BOP strategies, topic that will be studied here. To investigate this question, the author begins with some background by describing the key concepts of the base of the pyramid market and its main characteristics. The specific challenges that companies face which approach this market will lead the author to consider what forms of innovation are developed in this market. Having consider this, and to demonstrate that innovation is possible in these parts of the world, the author will draw on case studies of multinational companies, such as Danone or Schneider Electric which have implemented BOP projects. To put in perspective the issue of innovation in developing countries, the link between innovation in developed and developing countries will be addressed. Having shown this interplay between innovation in developing countries and developed countries the author will explain in a conclusion the issue of innovation in the global economy of the world.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Essay -- Health Mental Disorders OCD Ess

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly known as OCD, is a type of anxiety disorder and was one of the three original neuroses as defined by Freud. It is characterized by "recurrent, persistent, unwanted, and unpleasant thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive, purposeful ritualistic behaviors that the person feels driven to perform (compulsions)." (1) The prime feature that differentiates OCD from other obsessive or compulsive disorders is that the sufferer understands the irrationality or excess of the obsessions and compulsions, but is unable to stop them. What differentiates people with OCD from other usually healthy people with milder forms of obsession and compulsion is the fact that the obsessions and compulsions serve to interfere with the person with OCD's life to the point where they are extremely distressed, the obsessions and compulsions take a large proportion of their time, and serve to interfere with the their routine, functioning on the job, normal social activities, and relationships with others. (1) (3) Some of the typical compulsions that someone with OCD may exhibit include an uncontrollable urge to wash (especially the hands) or clean, to check doors repeatedly to make sure that they are locked, confirming that appliances are switched off multiple times, "to touch, to repeat, to count, to arrange, or to save." (1) Obsessions that one with OCD may display can include fixation on dirt and contamination, the fear that one may act upon destructive or violent urges, having an overdeveloped sense of responsibility for the welfare of others, objectionable religiously blasphemous or sexual disturbances, other socially unacceptable behavior, and an overbearing concern with the... .../server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/Encyclopedia/0/04/Est_042250_pg2.html 3) Neurotic Disorders, An article on neurotic disorders by Marshal Mandelkern on McGraw-Hill's Access Science site, an online encyclopedia of science and technology. http://www.accessscience.com/server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/Encyclopedia/4/45/Est_450300.html 4) Ancient Gene Takes Grooming in Hand, An article by Bruce Bower found through McGraw-Hill's Access Science site, an online encyclopedia of science and technology. http://www.accessscience.com/server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/News/45/4483.html 5) Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), An informational site about OCD, from the makers of Zoloft, which is used in the treatment of OCD and other anxiety disorders. http://www.zoloft.com/zoloft/zoloft.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=default_home&pageid=14&o=7779976%7c5101527%7c0 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Essay -- Health Mental Disorders OCD Ess Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly known as OCD, is a type of anxiety disorder and was one of the three original neuroses as defined by Freud. It is characterized by "recurrent, persistent, unwanted, and unpleasant thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive, purposeful ritualistic behaviors that the person feels driven to perform (compulsions)." (1) The prime feature that differentiates OCD from other obsessive or compulsive disorders is that the sufferer understands the irrationality or excess of the obsessions and compulsions, but is unable to stop them. What differentiates people with OCD from other usually healthy people with milder forms of obsession and compulsion is the fact that the obsessions and compulsions serve to interfere with the person with OCD's life to the point where they are extremely distressed, the obsessions and compulsions take a large proportion of their time, and serve to interfere with the their routine, functioning on the job, normal social activities, and relationships with others. (1) (3) Some of the typical compulsions that someone with OCD may exhibit include an uncontrollable urge to wash (especially the hands) or clean, to check doors repeatedly to make sure that they are locked, confirming that appliances are switched off multiple times, "to touch, to repeat, to count, to arrange, or to save." (1) Obsessions that one with OCD may display can include fixation on dirt and contamination, the fear that one may act upon destructive or violent urges, having an overdeveloped sense of responsibility for the welfare of others, objectionable religiously blasphemous or sexual disturbances, other socially unacceptable behavior, and an overbearing concern with the... .../server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/Encyclopedia/0/04/Est_042250_pg2.html 3) Neurotic Disorders, An article on neurotic disorders by Marshal Mandelkern on McGraw-Hill's Access Science site, an online encyclopedia of science and technology. http://www.accessscience.com/server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/Encyclopedia/4/45/Est_450300.html 4) Ancient Gene Takes Grooming in Hand, An article by Bruce Bower found through McGraw-Hill's Access Science site, an online encyclopedia of science and technology. http://www.accessscience.com/server-java/Arknoid/science/AS/News/45/4483.html 5) Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), An informational site about OCD, from the makers of Zoloft, which is used in the treatment of OCD and other anxiety disorders. http://www.zoloft.com/zoloft/zoloft.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=default_home&pageid=14&o=7779976%7c5101527%7c0

Language Teaching And Application Of Communication Technologies Education Essay

CALL – short for Computer-assisted linguistic communication acquisition is a signifier of computer-based acquisition focused on bettering individualised acquisition as it is a student-centered accelerated larning tool intended to ease the linguistic communication larning procedure. The beginning of the word CALL comes from the abbreviation CAI ( Computer-Accelerated Instruction ) and is a term viewed as an assistance for instructors. Some describe CALL as an attack to learning and larning foreign linguistic communications via the computing machine and different computer-based resources such as the Internet. However CALL is neither designed nor intended to replace face-to-face linguistic communication instruction but instead to better the self-study 1. The Computer-assisted linguistic communication acquisition can really good be used to supplement the group instruction. Since every bit early as the 1960s computing machines have helped linguistic communication instruction. Early in the yearss CALL developed into a symbiotic relationship between the development of engineering and pedagogy.The development of CALL can be divided into three phases: Behavioristic CALL, Communicative CALL and Integrative CALL. The first stage of CALL was based on the then-dominant behaviourist theories of larning. Programs of this stage entailed insistent linguistic communication drills and can be referred to as â€Å" drill and pattern † . In â€Å" drill and pattern † the computing machine serves as a vehicle for presenting instructional stuffs to the pupil. The 2nd stage of CALL was based on the communicative attack to learning which became widely used during the 1970s and 80s. This attack felt that the plans of the old decennary did non let adequate communicating and could non be of much value. The communicative CALL avoids stating pupils they are incorrect and is flexible to a assortment of pupil responses and uses the mark linguistic communication entirely and creates an environment in which utilizing the mark linguistic communication feels natural. The 3rd stage of CALL, the Integrative CALL, tries to incorporate the instruction of linguistic communication accomplishments into undertakings or undertakings to supply way and coherency. It coincides with the development of multimedia engineering. Name in this period is used for widening instruction beyond the schoolroom and reorganising direction. The design of modern CALL lessons by and large takes into consideration rules of linguistic communication teaching method derived from larning theories. Recent researches in CALL are in favor of a learner-centered exploratory attack where pupils are encouraged to seek different possible solutions to a job. Call and computational linguistics are separate but mutualist Fieldss of survey. The intent of computational linguistics is to learn computing machines to bring forth grammatically right sentences utilizing natural and fluid English. Since the computing machines have become so widespread in schools and places and they have become such valuable portion of people s mundane life that it obliged teaching method to develop in new ways to work the computing machine ‘s benefits and to work around its restrictions. A huge figure of pedagogical attacks have been developed in the computing machine age including the communicative and integrative attacks. Others include constructivism, whole linguistic communication theory and sociocultural theory. Using the constructivism theory pupils are urged to build new cognition based on experience so they can integrate new thoughts in their already-established scheme of cognition. Whole linguistic communication theory insists that in position of linguistic communication larning focal point alterations from the whole to the portion and instead than constructing sub-skills like grammar pupils should concentrate on higher abilities such as reading comprehension the manner to larn to utilize linguistic communication is the opposite.The sociocultural theory provinces that acquisition is a procedure of going portion of a desired community and larning through communities regulations of behaviour. Although all attacks are different in general they all take the focal point of larning off the instructors and province that pupils larning experiences has more to make with eloquence over truth in order to let pupils to collaborate, instead than vie. In malice of altering the function of the instructors in the educational system CALL does non extinguish the demand for a instructor wholly. In position of being the centre of pupils attending, instructors now become ushers as they help the pupils complete the assigned undertakings instead than merely educating them. Restricting the instructors presence has been shown to take to better quality of communicating such as more fluidness and more sharing of pupils personal egos. On the other manus, the pupils instead than passively absorbing information now they must absorb new information through interaction and coaction with each other. This should raise their self-esteem and assist their cognition to better linguistic communication scholars four accomplishments – hearing, speech production, reading and composing. Most CALL programmes are geared toward these receptive and productive accomplishments because of the current province of technological progresss. And those programmes h ave helped for the development of talking abilities a batch. Using confab has been shown to assist pupils routinize certain often-used looks to advance the development of talking accomplishments. The usage of engineering inside or outside the schoolroom tends to do the category more interesting. However, certain design issues impact merely how interesting the peculiar tool creates motive. Some ways to actuate the pupils is to personalise information, to hold animated objects on the screen or to supply a context that is non straight language-oriented. One benefit of increased motive is that pupils tend to pass more clip on undertakings when on the computing machine. Without computing machines, pupils can non truly act upon the patterned advance of the category content but computing machines can accommodate to the pupil. This normally means that the pupil controls the gait of the acquisition and that pupils can do picks in what and how to larn. With existent communicating Acts of the Apostless, instead than teacher-contrived 1s, pupils feel empowered and less afraid to reach others. Students believe they learn faster and better and larn more about civilization with computer-med iated communicating. The impact of CALL in foreign linguistic communication instruction has been modest. The restrictions of the engineering, due to the job with cost have been debatable. Computer engineering has improved greatly in the last three decennaries and demands placed on CALL have grown even more so. However, most of the jobs that appear in the literature on CALL have more to make with instructor outlooks and apprehensivenesss about what computing machines can make for the linguistic communication scholar and instructor. The most important factor that can take to the failure of CALL, or the usage of any engineering in linguistic communication instruction is non the failure of the engineering, but instead the failure to put adequately in teacher preparation and the deficiency of imaginativeness to take advantage of the engineering ‘s flexibleness. As active tool making positive motive in linguistic communication instruction and larning CALL is rooted in visual image as establishing rule in methodological analysis. Verbal and ocular are the two faces of the same coin.

Communication And Silence In Maxine Hong Kingstons The...

A member of the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society once questioned Gandhi, â€Å"Why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone† (Cain 189). Though the world today certainly knows of Gandhi, his peers once saw him as a drone as a result of his silence. Cultures linked with silence can conflict with other, more vocal cultures: a prominent example is the silence of Asia in contrast with the openness of America. Maxine Hong Kingston delves into this clash in her 1976 memoir The Woman Warrior, throughout which a young, insecure girl develops a voice of her own, gaining an increased appreciation for her Chinese-American heritage in the process. The world that she lives in values open communication, often†¦show more content†¦Two items are not the same—they are not comparable. Employing the word â€Å"different† to describe the countries of America and China demonstrates Maxine’s mother’s awareness of t he numerous dissimilarities between them. In her 2012 nonfiction book, Quiet, Susan Cain writes, â€Å"Westerners value boldness and verbal skill [†¦], while Asians prize quiet, humility, and sensitivity† (Cain 189), the same cultural differences that Maxine’s mother recognizes in The Woman Warrior. America prefers â€Å"verbal† communication, whereas China places more value on silence. In particular, American residents who straddle both Chinese and American cultures must face these two conflicting ideals. Maxine simultaneously lives in these two opposing cultures. Stemming from her Chinese upbringing, Maxine’s silence makes it hard for her to accept herself in the Western world. While reminiscing about her school life, she thinks, â€Å"It was when I found out I had to talk that school became a misery, that silence became a misery† (Kingston 166). The word â€Å"misery† generally indicates sadness or distress; furthermore, misery commonly causes debilitating symptoms—a person in a state of misery tends to be unable to function appropriately. Thus, when Maxine refers to silence becoming a â€Å"misery,† she means that it upsets her and that it prevents her from being fully present. When her school forces her to talk, Maxine becomes uncomfortable with her own silence. Consequently, herShow MoreRelatedThe Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston Essay1557 Words   |  7 PagesHathman 1 Rachele Hathman Professor Richard Potter ENC 1939 16 November 2016 The Woman Warrior Language is a system of communication used by humans either written or spoken to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings we want to communicate to our loved ones, to our friends, to people we work with or go to school with and even to strangers. Maxine Hong Kingston in her memoir The Woman Warrior explores language and the use of language to express what Kingston finds as severalRead MoreThe Woman Warrior: A Tale of Identity1972 Words   |  8 PagesThe Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston is a collection of memoirs, a blend of Kingston’s autobiography with Chinese folklore. The book is divided into five interconnected chapters: No Name Woman, White Tigers, Shaman, At the Western Palace, and A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe. In No Name Woman, three characters are present: Kingston, Kingston’s mother, and Kingston’s aunt. This section starts off with Kingston’s mother retelling the story of her aunt and herRead MoreAsian American Narratives Defined By The Intergenerational Model1120 Words   |  5 Pagesstyles and character interactions, Asian American novels, in particular Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and Tao Lin’s Taipei, uphold this intergenerational model, to some extent, whereby a structured series of events effectively portray the personal ethnic difficulties many second generation Asian Americans face within the American context. Strictly following the intergenerational model, Kingston’s The Woman Warrior explicitly details all three steps of the model in resolving her Asian AmericanRead MoreLiterary Analysis of No Name Woman6151 Words   |  25 PagesA short literary analysis of Maxine Kingstons classic â€Å"No Name Woman† As part of the first generation of Chinese-Americans, Maxine Hong Kingston writes about her struggle to distinguish her cultural identity through an impartial analysis of her aunt’s denied existence.   In â€Å"No Name Woman,† a chapter in her written memoirs, Kingston analyzes the possible reasons behind her disavowed aunt’s dishonorable pregnancy and her village’s subsequent raid upon her household.   And with a bold statement