”Base of the Pyramid” (BOP) beskriver de fyra miljarder människor som lever i extrem fattigdom. Även om de är fattiga har de tillsammans stark konsumentkraft, vilket gör BOP till en marknad som inte ska förbises. Företaget Emerging Cooking Solutions (ECS) tillverkar pellets av överbliven biomassa i Zambia som kan användas som bränsle i matlagningsspisar de säljer. Fallstudien på ECS avser att undersöka hur ett innovationsnätverk har möjlighet att påverka etablering av en innovation, i detta fall pellets, på en BOP-marknad. Från befintlig forskning kring BOP, innovationsprinciper samt de 4 A:na identifierades de fyra kategorierna: funktion, kostnad, distribution samt miljö som ett företag bör arbeta utifrån när de utvecklar och etablerar en produkt. Därefter analyseras kategorierna efter innovationsnätverkets nivåer. Studien visar att ifall en innovation är anpassad efter BOP-marknadens krav, samtidigt som den har tydligt koncept, är företaget mer benäget att attraherar rätt aktörer som kan påverka deras etablering. Ifall konceptet har andra värdefulla påföljder, såsom positiv miljöpåverkan, istället för bara ekonomiska kan företaget gynnas ytterligare av nätverket.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toledo, 2010. / Typescript. "Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters of Musical Performance Degree." "A thesis entitled"--at head of title. Title from title page of PDF document. Bibliography: p. 84-86.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1998. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-225).

This research study investigates the requirements or factors that will influence the acceptance and impact of mobile phone advertising to the urban Bottom of Pyramid (BoP). The framework incorporated awareness, availability, acceptability and convenience as factors for effective mobile phone advertising. Mobile phones have received unprecedented penetration rates across all markets, including LSM 1-4. This presents companies targeting this market with an excellent advertising medium with which to communicate to consumers. Companies have begun advertising via mobile phone and this research investigates the impact of this advertising, in relation to other more established mediums, as well as the most optimal mobile phone service to be used in delivery of the advertising message. The type of advertising being sent to BoP via mobile phone advertising is analysed, along with the type of advertising the urban BoP market would like to receive and possible differences identified. The research examines the recall of advertising message across various advertising media and comparisons are drawn. The research found that all aspects of the framework were applicable. Convenience and acceptability were seen as the highest drivers for effective mobile phone advertising to the South African urban BoP. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Prahalad has started a debate in the last decade regarding the opportunities of doing business towards the low-income consumers of emerging markets, which he called Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) markets. The purpose of this study is to investigate how companies adapt their marketing mix strategies in order to target this type of market. The research is developed as case studies within the Brazilian telecom market in order to offer a new BOP setting as previous research has been focusing on Asia and Africa. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews are conducted with managers of the prepaid segment of three telecom companies. The study shows that price strategies are most important to adapt towards affordability in order to target BOP markets because of consumers’ limited budget. While adaptation in product and place are also seen, they are not as substantial as in price. The strategy that was not adapted was promotion as traditional channels are most common within the Brazilian BOP market. Moreover, companies with a strategy that traditionally have been upper-segment-centric do have to make larger and more innovative adaptations in order to market this segment.

A majority of the world’s population can be classified as Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP), which means that they earn less than USD 3,000 per year. In addition, it is estimated that 12 % of the worlds BoP population live in Africa. Due to the vast economic growth in Africa - which will boost the African consumers income level -we have decided to write a dissertation that regards the African BoP consumers.The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate iffive BoP market barriers exist in the African countries Tanzania and Kenya. In order to answer the research question, we conducted interviews with two different companies established in the Tanzanian respectively Kenyan BoP market. It was possible to answer the research question through the primary data collected during these interviews.Our main findings from the empirical analysis indicated that four out of five market barriers in the Tanzanian and Kenyan BoP markets are accepted, and that both of the companies had to adapt to the different barriers. In addition, Company A and Company B also find solutions to these accepted market barriers in their respective BoP markets.This dissertation will be of value since Africa’s economy is steadily growing, which will attract more companies in the near future. Furthermore, research in how toovercome market barriers in order to establish successful business in low-income markets will also be valuable.

No description available.

The Subsea blowout preventer (BOP) which is latched to a subsea wellhead is one of several barriers in the well to prevent kicks and blowouts and it is the most important and critical equipment, as it becomes the last line of protection against blowout. The BOP system used in Subsea drilling operations is considered a Safety – Critical System, with a high severity consequence following its failure. Following past offshore blowout incidents such as the most recent Macondo in the Gulf of Mexico, there have been investigations, research, and improvements sought for improved understanding of the BOP system and its operation. This informs the need for a systematic re-evaluation of the Subsea BOP system to understand its associated risk and reliability and identify critical areas/aspects/components. Different risk analysis techniques were surveyed and the Failure modes effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) selected to be used to drive the study in this thesis. This is due to it being a simple proven cost effective process that can add value to the understanding of the behaviours and properties of a system, component, software, function or other. The output of the FMECA can be used to inform or support other key engineering tasks such as redesigning, enhanced qualification and testing activity or maintenance for greater inherent reliability and reduced risk potential. This thesis underscores the application of the FMECA technique to critique associated risk of the Subsea BOP system. System Functional diagrams was developed with boundaries defined, a FMECA were carried out and an initial select list of critical component failure modes identified. The limitations surrounding the confidence of the FMECA failure modes ranking outcome based on Risk priority number (RPN) is presented and potential variations in risk interpretation are discussed. The main contribution in this thesis is an innovative framework utilising Multicriteria decision making (MCDA) analysis techniques with consideration of fuzzy interval data is applied to the Subsea BOP system critical failure modes from the FMECA analysis. It utilised nine criticality assessment criteria deduced from expert consultation to obtain a more reliable ranking of failure modes. The MCDA techniques applied includes the technique for order of Preference for similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Fuzzy TOPSIS, TOPSIS with interval data, and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE). The outcome of the Multi-criteria analysis of the BOP system clearly shows failures of the Wellhead connector, LMRP hydraulic connector and Control system related failure as the Top 3 most critical failure with respect to a well control. The critical failure mode and components outcome from the analysis in this thesis is validated using failure data from industry database and a sensitivity analysis carried out. The importance of maintenance, testing and redundancy to the BOP system criticality was established by the sensitivity analysis. The potential for MCDA to be used for more specific analysis of criteria for a technology was demonstrated. Improper maintenance, inspection, testing (functional and pressure) are critical to the BOP system performance and sustenance of a high reliability level. Material selection and performance of components (seals, flanges, packers, bolts, mechanical body housings) relative to use environment and operational conditions is fundamental to avoiding failure mechanisms occurrence. Also worthy of notice is the contribution of personnel and organisations (by way of procedures to robustness and verification structure to ensure standard expected practices/rules are followed) to failures as seen in the root cause discussion. OEMs, operators and drilling contractors to periodically review operation scenarios relative to BOP system product design through the use of a Failure reporting analysis and corrective action system. This can improve design of monitoring systems, informs requirement for re-qualification of technology and/or next generation designs. Operations personnel are to correctly log in failures in these systems, and responsible Authority to ensure root cause analysis is done to uncover underlying issue initiating and driving failures.

The bottom of the pyramid (BoP) market in Africa is a significant opportunity for multinational banks. To address this banks’ need to increase their understanding of their BoP context, develop new approaches to overcome BoP obstacles, and use technology to create new commercially viable business models. The purpose of this study was to investigate how banks use co-creation with stakeholders to operate in BoP markets in Africa. The research explored how banks provide services to companies and individuals that currently do not use banks services, and acquire understanding by working with companies, individuals and other market actors to generate services that creates an infrastructure for BoP markets to ‘work’. This study addresses the gap in the research on how banks co-create in BoP markets, providing understanding of how banks’ create approaches to customers and operating models to achieve sustainable growth in BoP markets. Empirically, the study examined specific bank projects to better understand how co-creation supports banks to delivers sustainable and scalable business models. The main findings from the empirical research demonstrated positive results, strong leadership and commercial management are critical to banks operating in BoP markets in Africa; concurring with arguments put forward by Casado Cañeque and Hart (2015) and extending London and Hart’s (2010) analysis into a banking context. Research confirmed post-financial-crisis corporate governance of banks and their boards’ ability to ensure they can demonstrate their banks are well managed, and management having a detailed understanding of the operations, has created trade-offs and restrictions on how banks operate in BoP markets. No common strategies emerged to create a new business model for banking in BoP markets in Africa. No immediate significant new direction emerged for banks to overcome their business models’ legacy of inflexibility to address the needs of BoP customers. Results revealed bank proposition development approach remains generally focused on developed, rather than developing, customer contexts and regulations. The majority of BoP customers in Africa remain excluded due to cost, distance, and a lack of suitable products, as variables such as access, cost and regulation made it challenging for banks to provide compelling bank-wide propositions. BoP customers in Africa are becoming easier to access, as banks, card networks, and mobile network operators use digital technology, like mobile phones, to access BoP customer markets at lower costs than traditional business models, allowing new approaches to proposition development, such as test and learn in the field. The findings demonstrated value in co-creation via partnerships, supporting Simanis (2012), who maintained that firms are likely to be successful in BoP markets if they use existing infrastructure and local partnerships to enter BoP markets, and that pioneering work on microfinance initiatives embracing new approaches to digital technology across banking markets has led banks to reconcile the need for new approaches to BoP markets.

Investment in low income markets is increasing so too is a sense of controversy regarding poor markets. With BOP investment becoming many a firms’ strategy towards achieving growth, it is not clear to what extent managers’ attitudes to poor customers differ towards their attitudes towards middle-class customers. It is, however, well described that attitudes to poor people in a social context is negative and in some cases less favourable. It is postulated that business' mindset may be a barrier towards engaging with BOP markets despite the incentives and benefits that literature puts forward for marketing to the poor. Whether this attitude is negative, neutral, less favourable or similar is not well understood. The findings of this research project, can with a high level of confidence, report that the attitudes of a sample of managers do display a less favourable attitude towards a poor customer than is the case with a similar sample that is exposed to a wealthier customer. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted