The concept of ''The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid'' originally appeared as an article by

C. K. Prahalad Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad (8 August 1941 – 16 April 2010) was an Indian-American entrepreneur and author. He was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the University of Michigan Step ...

and

Stuart L. Hart Stuart L. Hart is an American academic, writer and theorist and the founder of Enterprise for a Sustainable World, a non-profit dedicated to helping businesses make the transition to sustainability. A Fortune 100 consultant, Hart is one of the ...

in the business journal ''

Strategy+Business Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

''. The article was followed by a book with the same title that discusses new business models targeted at providing goods and services to the poorest people in the world. It makes a case for the fastest growing new markets and entrepreneurial opportunities being found among the billions of poor people 'at the bottom of the inancialpyramid'. According to

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

, it "offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability." The book consists of a number of case studies, one to a chapter, about businesses that have thrived with such models. These include the businesses Casas Bahia, Patrimonio Hoy, Bank of Madura,

Aravind Eye Hospital Aravind Eye Hospitals is a hospital chain in India. It was founded by Govindappa Venkataswamy, Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy (popularly known as Dr.V) at Madurai, Tamil Nadu in 1976. It has grown into a network of eye hospitals and has had a majo ...

, Jaipur rugs and Project Shakti and how they were founded. In January 2019, C.K. Prahalad's daughter Deepa Prahalad published an update to the piece in ''strategy+business'', asserting that profound changes are closing the gap between the world’s poorest consumers and others, offering an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to create—and share in—prosperity.

Footnotes

Business books 2004 non-fiction books {{business-book-stub Sustainability books

See also

Footnotes