Creating Social Value for the ‘Base of the Pyramid’: An Integrative Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

A growing body of research looks into business-led efforts to create social value by improving the socio-economic well-being of Base of the Pyramid (BoP) communities. Research shows that businesses that pursue these strategies—or BoP businesses—face distinct sets of challenges that require unique capabilities. There is, however, limited effort to synthesize current evidence on the mechanisms through which these businesses create social value. We systematically review the literature on BoP businesses, covering 110 studies published in business and management journals. We start by using bibliographic analysis to map the broad contours of the literature in terms of its common theoretical and empirical approaches, intellectual core, and evolution in time. We subsequently conduct a qualitative content analysis on the identified articles to synthesize their main findings. The analysis leads to a conceptual framework that explicates the antecedents, constraints, capabilities, and contingencies that drive social value creation. In addition to providing a rich and systematically organized account of the evidence, our analysis provides a critical reflection on the ethical dilemmas of social value creation efforts for the BoP, and outlines promising avenues for future research.

Sustainable Business Model Innovation: An Umbrella Review

“…Access to resources such as organic and other sustainable raw materials [41], capital [60], knowledge [61], skilled labour [59] and technologies [62] emerged as significant antecedents. The size and nature of existing markets ready to embrace sustainable business model innovations further determine the extent to which they can be scaled up as well as the time frame within which the scaling up can occur [63]. Similarly, the economic situation of a country emerged as an important factor.…”

“…Further, the availability and quality of infrastructure [64] and the extent of inequalities in a given country [20] relate to its level of economic development. Related to this the ease and cost of doing business in a given country, which is shaped by factors such as updated and consistent legal frameworks [65], credible government procedures and systems [66], the protection of intellectual property rights [63], the availability of information and the relative stability of markets [60]. Moreover, in certain sectors such as the energy sector, market liberalisation and privatisation appear to be prerequisites for sustainable business model innovation [59].…”

“…Favourable attitudes are shaped by an increasing awareness of sustainability issues [68] and continuing education on how individuals can contribute to tackling them [9]. Increasing consumer demand forms the basis of the increasing market potential for solutions such as recycled products, second-hand products, green products [42], shared consumption [26] and fair-trade products [63]. Further, the level of resident and organisational trust in national and supranational institutions emerged as an important enabler of transformation [63].…”

“…Increasing consumer demand forms the basis of the increasing market potential for solutions such as recycled products, second-hand products, green products [42], shared consumption [26] and fair-trade products [63]. Further, the level of resident and organisational trust in national and supranational institutions emerged as an important enabler of transformation [63]. Although policymakers may have the best of intentions, if they do not succeed in achieving buy-in from all relevant stakeholders, the transformation process will be slow and interventions will be ineffective.…”

“…The increasing complexity of value chains in terms of both input-output structure and geographical spread increases the risk of supply chain disruptions cf., [50]. Further, a high level of complexity is also paired with governance challenges, especially in the context of global value chains [63].…”