Multinational corporations' strategies for serving bottom-of-pyramid markets
The emphasis on how to create a profitable business model for those countries and entire regions of the world with per capita incomes below $10,000 a year is typically referred to as marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). There are several thought leaders who have intensively the business and market development, pricing, product development and services in nations and regions of the world who have low per capita incomes. The foremost expert in this field was the late C.K. Prahalad, who was the most prolific researcher and writer of many of the experts and thought leaders covering this area of global commerce (Prahalad, 2004). In striving to create business models for the BOP nations and regions of the world, C.K. Prahalad and others found that the critical success factors that multinational corporations (MNCs) can use to better serve customers in this market include using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-based strategies and initiatives; support for direct Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); the ability to tailor not only products but also the processes that deliver product design, services and support; and a willingness to create a more unified, locally-focused supply chain (Gouillart, 2008). These four factors are what differentiate the companies that attempt to capitalize on the massive amount of growth in the BOP-based nations and regions of the world relative to those that succeed. (Varadarajan, 2009). One of the main take-aways of the research completed for this analysis is the critically important role the attitudes and beliefs of governments are to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the ability these governments to nurture and foster investment in infrastructure in conjunction with partners, and the presence of advanced learning & Research & Development (R&D) centers including university research (Gouillart, 2008) (Kennedy, 2004). All three of these factors also emerged as the catalyst of BOP growth and market formation in the extensive research Dr. Prahalad completed in his native country of India, and also through the Asian region (Prahalad, 2004).