Business Linkages: Enabling Access to Markets at the Base of the Pyramid: A Report of a Roundtable Dialogue

Abstract

Ever since the early thought leaders began to speak and write about doing business with the poor, they have looked to India as a source of innovation and experimentation in products, services, and business models intended to reach new markets at the base of the pyramid (BOP). Hence it was natural that following the launch of the Business Linkages roundtable series in Washington DC in 2007, and subsequent roundtables in Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, the fourth roundtable was held at the heart of the BOP action in Jaipur, India. The Business Linkages roundtable dialogues, held in partnership with the International Business Leaders Forum and the CSR Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School, explore business models that incorporate those at the BOP as consumers, producers, and entrepreneurs, with special emphasis on producers and entrepreneurs. This emphasis was particularly pronounced in Jaipur, with the effects of the financial crisis making themselves felt throughout the economic pyramid around the world. Now, more than ever, we must find sustainable ways of reducing vulnerability and expanding opportunity for all.