Tackling the Challenge of Finding and Developing Innovative Business Plans The Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets While many companies are interested in base of the pyramid (BOP) business models, they often lack an understanding of how to access majority markets, have inaccurate assumptions about lowincome consumers, and have little experience in scaling up projects to make a significant social impact. To transform their preliminary concepts into detailed and successful business models, they need information, tools—and lots of advice. To address these issues, the Opportunities for the Majority initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, in partnership with management consulting firm Dalberg Global Development Advisors, developed the Corporate Leaders Program for Success in Majority Markets (CLP), with the goal of identifying several medium and large firms that have promising ideas about launching BOP business projects, but need some mentoring to get their plans ready to execute.
and education sectors —all areas of urgent need for majority markets. They were chosen because their ideas were judged to be the most innovative and to have the best chance of engaging with the base of the pyramid on a large scale. The companies are: •
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Sharing Knowledge, Fostering Ideas As a first step in the program, Opportunities for the Majority and Dalberg held a BOP Modeling Workshop in Miami on July 19, 2010. Dozens of executives heard about companies whose BOP business plans are finding success, learned more about the unique demographics and needs of low-income communities across Latin America and the Caribbean, and brainstormed about what their companies could do to develop their own projects. Companies were then invited to fill out applications describing their business concepts. After consideration by a selection committee, seven companies were chosen to become part of the CLP. They cover the food, housing, health, technology
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3M, an American-owned multinational producer of a variety of products for households, workplaces, and schools, which is interested in creating educational technologies that can be used in classrooms, and proposes launching the new products in Argentina or Uruguay. Camargo Correa, a Brazilian-based building materials manufacturer, which wants to introduce its affordable prefabricated housing in Argentina. COMFAMA, a Colombian social enterprise with a rentto-own housing model that will allow low-income people to access housing subsidies more easily. Empresa Promotora de Servicios de Salud, which has developed a successful business model for offering health care services to low-income residents in Guatemala, and now seeks to expand its reach into El Salvador and beyond. Hitecer, a Paraguay-based computer firm interested in developing educational technology and affordable laptop computers for low-income teachers and students. IMSA, a Honduran flour producer owned by parent company Grupo Corona, which proposes partnering with female entrepreneurs who will use IMSA flour to make breads and tortillas and sell them in their communities. ZOOM Lego, a Brazil-based affiliate of the Danish toy manufacturer, which wants to develop educational materials to support early childhood development and distribute them through a social franchising model.
Using grant resources from OMJ and financial contributions from the companies themselves, consultants from Dalberg began working intensively with the CLP participants in late 2010. With Dalberg’s guidance, the companies are all developing customized plans for developing their concepts into detailed business plans. These seven companies will serve as leaders in their fields, showing the corporate world what BOP business models are all about.
For more information about the program, contact: OM-IDB@iadb.org