Organisational behaviour
Bottom of the pyramid
When the spread of purchasing power in the world is visualised as a pyramid (see the diagram below), a very small group of people have a lot to spend, and a larger group of.
Read article
keymodelsAll comparisons
Compare
Bottom of the pyramid vs The bottom of the pyramid (Prahalad and Leiberthal)
The corpus marks this as a duplicate or close editorial overlap. Use the comparison to preserve provenance and decide which public article treatment is the better starting point.
Close overlapFinanceFinanceFramework / model
Strategy
The bottom of the pyramid (Prahalad and Leiberthal)
The fifth, perhaps nudging aside contenders such as Porter’s Value Chain ([The value chain (Porter)](../the-value-chain-porter--f7da782d/index.md)), GE/McKinsey’s Attractiveness/Advantage Matrix ([The attractiveness/advantage matrix (GE/McKinsey)](../the-attractivenessadvantage-matrix-gemckinsey--c9176f0c/index.md)) or Kim and.
Read articleChoice logic
Use this when.
The intended social contribution is to reduce the money and effort required to meet basic needs or to create new income through local enterprise. A narrow strategy treats low income people primarily as consumers; a broader, more inclusive strategy also engages them as producers, distributors, employees and co designers.
Use it to search for unconventional growth opportunities by examining needs that mainstream offers overlook.
Extracted signals
Strengths, limits, and pitfalls.
Bottom of the pyramid
- Co design with local consumers, producers and distributors. Measure affordability, household benefit and local income creation alongside company revenue so the business case and social claim can be tested together.
- To be successful in BoP markets, companies must overcome:
- fragmented markets and weak data;
Watch for
- Do not treat low income communities as one vast consumer segment. Affordability, institutions, distribution and household risk differ sharply, and a commercially viable offer can still be exploitative or socially harmful.
The bottom of the pyramid (Prahalad and Leiberthal)
- Use current, local evidence to understand an underserved need, then redesign the full business model around affordability, access and customer outcomes.
- Measure customer outcomes as well as sales. Affordability, transparency, safety, durability and local economic participation determine whether the model creates durable mutual value.
Watch for
- Do not treat billions of low income consumers as one segment or assume that selling a cheaper product automatically creates social value.
Read next
Open the full model articles.
Each comparison links back to the full articles so you can inspect examples, steps, caveats, and related templates before choosing.
Application bridge
Related templates.
Benefits Realization ReportBenefits Realization Report Purpose. Use this report to show which programme benefits were realised during a defined period, which expected benefits were delayed or missed, and which new benefits have emerged. Each entry should trace to the business case and benefits-realisation plan so decision-makers can distinguish delivered value from completed activity. Application. Benefits become meaningfulKnowledge Management PlanKnowledge Management Plan Purpose. Use this plan to connect programme participants with useful knowledge, subject-matter expertise and the information created across components. Effective knowledge management reduces reinvention and duplicate work, helps people find proven answers quickly and reserves scarce expert attention for problems that genuinely require new thinking. Application. Prepare thProcurement Management PlanProcurement Management Plan Purpose. Use this plan to decide what the programme should obtain externally and how each acquisition will move from need to an awarded agreement. It covers facilities, goods, materials and external resources, together with the sourcing, solicitation, evaluation and contractual methods appropriate to each requirement. Application. Prepare the plan early because procuremProgram Benefits Sustainment PlanProgram Benefits Sustainment Plan Purpose. Use this plan to maintain the conditions that allow programme benefits to continue accruing after transition. It turns the handover commitments in the benefits transition plan into enduring operational mechanisms, measures, responsibilities and responses. Application. Treat it as a living document. Customer demand, operating capacity, technology, regulati