Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) organizations are the ones that develop a set of capabilities that contribute to create short- and long-term sustainability values inside and outside the boundaries of BoP ecosystems. Capabilities have an important role in BoP organizations’ strategies that aim to solve BoP issues. Notwithstanding its developments, BoP research still lacks theoretical contributions for the analysis of organizations. We suggest special attention to the need of advancing knowledge on capabilities of BoP organizations because this field is scattered and fragmented, misinterpreted, and still underdeveloped in the literature. We oriented our research formulating and seeking answers to our main question on what are the capabilities needed to enable organizations to create sustainability values in BoP ecosystems? We conducted an integrative review of BoP research for the period from 1998 to 2019, and we found 22 key capabilities of BoP organizations. We organized the capabilities into four major categories including BoP Responsible Consumption, BoP Responsible Business Model, BoP Responsible Management, and BoP Responsible Innovation. We advanced propositions and discussions regarding the capabilities and major categories’ popularity, interdependence and combination, short- and long-term temporal functions, sustainability roles, and effectiveness to address BoP issues. Our article organizes the field of capabilities of BoP organizations; advances contributions and implications for management, organizations, and policymaking; and opens fruitful avenues for future research.
AdamsR.JeanrenaudS.BessantJ.David DenyerD.OveryP. (2016). Sustainability-oriented innovation: A systematic review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18, 180–205.
2.
AdnerR. (2017). Ecosystem as structure: An actionable construct for strategy. Journal of Management, 43, 39–58.
3.
AgarwalN.ChakrabartiR.BremA.BockenN. (2018). Market driving at bottom of the pyramid (BoP): An analysis of social enterprises from the healthcare sector. Journal of Business Research, 86, 234–244.
4.
AgarwalN.GrottkeM.MishraS.BremA. (2017). A systematic literature review of constraint-based innovations: State of the art and future perspectives. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 64, 3–15.
5.
Academy of Management Review. (1995). Special issue on the role of management in enhancing ecological sustainability. Academy of Management Review, 20, 784–1107.
6.
AndersonJ.MarkidesC. (2007). Strategic innovation at the base of the pyramid. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49, 83–88.
7.
AngeliF.JaiswalA. K. (2016). Business model innovation for inclusive health care delivery at the bottom of the pyramid. Organization and Environment, 29, 486–507.
8.
AroraS.RomijnH. (2012). The empty rhetoric of poverty reduction at the base of the pyramid. Organization, 19, 481–505.
9.
BansalP. (2019). Sustainable development in an age of disruption. Academy of Management Discoveries, 5, 1–14.
10.
BansalP.DesJardineM. R. (2014). Business sustainability: It is about time. Strategic Organization, 12, 70–78.
11.
BarneyJ. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120.
12.
BarneyJ. B.KetchenD. J.Jr.WrightM. (2011). The future of resource-based theory: Revitalization or decline?Journal of Management, 37, 1299–1315.
13.
BarsalouL. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Science, 22, 577–660.
14.
BatjargalB.HittM. A.TsuiA. S.ArregleJ. L.WebbJ. W.MillerT. L. (2013). Institutional polycentrism, entrepreneurs’ social networks, and new venture growth. Academy of Management Journal, 56, 1024–1049.
15.
BennettN. J.WhittyT. S.FinkbeinerE.PittmanJ.BassettH.GelcichS.AllisonE. (2018). Environmental stewardship: A conceptual review and analytical framework. Environmental Management, 61, 597–614.
16.
BridouxF. M.StoelhorstJ. W. (2022). Stakeholder governance: Solving the collective action problems in joint value creation. Academy of Management Review, 47, 214–236.
17.
Brix-AsalaC.HahnR.SeuringS. (2016). Reverse logistics and informal valorisation at the Base of the Pyramid: A case study on sustainability synergies and trade-offs. European Management Journal, 34, 414–423.
18.
BrunerJ.GoodnowJ.AustinG. (1986). Social science classics series. A study of thinking. Transaction Publishers.
19.
CaltonJ. M.WerhaneP. H.HartmanL. P.BevanD. (2013). Building partnerships to create social and economic value at the base of the global development pyramid. Journal of Business Ethics, 117, 721–733.
20.
Casado-CanequeF.HartS. (Eds.). (2015). Base of the pyramid 3.0: Sustainable development through innovation and entrepreneurship. Greenleaf.
21.
CastroA.PhillipsN.AnsariS. (2020). Corporate corruption: A review and an agenda for future research. Academy of Management Annals, 14, 935–968.
22.
ChatterjeeS. (2014). Engaging with an emergent metanarrative: A critical exploration of the BOP proposition. Organization, 21, 888–906.
23.
ChesbroughH. (2003). The logic of open innovation: Managing intellectual property. California Management Review, 45, 33–58.
24.
ChliovaM.RingovD. (2017). Scaling impact: Template development and replication at the base of the pyramid. Academy of Management Perspectives, 31, 44–62.
25.
ChristensenL. J.SiemsenE.BranzeiO.ViswanathanM. (2016). Response pattern analysis: Assuring data integrity in extreme research settings. Strategic Management Journal, 38, 471–482.
26.
ClarkeA.FullerM. (2010). Collaborative strategic management: Strategy formulation and implementation by multi-organizational cross-sector social partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 94, 85–101.
27.
DaviesI. A.TorrentsA. (2017). Overcoming institutional voids in subsistence marketplaces: A Zimbabwean entrepreneurial case. Journal of Macromarketing, 37, 255–267.
28.
DembekK.SivasubramaniamN.ChmielewskiD. A. (2020). A systematic review of the bottom/base of the pyramid literature: Cumulative evidence and future directions. Journal of Business Ethics, 165, 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04105-y
29.
DembekK.YorkJ.SinghP. J. (2018). Creating value for multiple stakeholders: Sustainable business models at the Base of the Pyramid. Journal of Cleaner Production, 196, 1600–1612.
30.
De NeveJ.SachsJ. D. (2020). The SDGs and human well-being: A global analysis of synergies, trade-offs, and regional differences. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 15113.
31.
DukeD. (2016). Why don’t BOP ventures solve the environmental problems they initially set out to address?Organization and Environment, 29, 508–528.
32.
DyllickT.MuffK. (2016). Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization & Environment, 29, 156–174.
33.
ElkingtonJ. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-win-win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(3), 90–100.
34.
ElkingtonJ. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone.
35.
ErnstM.BremA. (2017). Social media for identifying lead users? Insights into lead users’ social media habits. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 14, 1–21.
36.
FolkeC.ÖsterblomH.JouffrayJ.LambinE. F.AdgerW. N.SchefferM.CronaB. I.NyströmM.LevinS. A.CarpenterS. R.AnderiesJ. M.ChapinS.CrépinA. S.DauriachA.GalazV.GordonL. J.KautskyN.WalkerB. H.WatsonJ. R.. . . de ZeeuwA. (2019). Transnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3, 1396–1403.
37.
FreudenreichB.Lüdeke-FreundF.SchalteggerS. (2020). A stakeholder theory perspective on business models: Value creation for sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 166, 3–18.
38.
FrynasJ. G.YamahakiC. (2016). Corporate social responsibility: Review and roadmap of theoretical perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25, 258–285.
39.
GancoM.KapoorR.LeeG. (2020). From rugged landscapes to rugged ecosystems: Structure of interdependencies and firms’ innovative search. Academy of Management Review, 45, 646–674.
40.
GarrigaE.MeleD. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 51–71.
41.
GeissdoerferM.VladimirovaD.EvansS. (2018). Sustainable business model innovation: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 401–416.
42.
GhoshS.Tano-DebrahK.AaronG.OtooG.StruttN.BomfehK.KitamuraS.SuriD. J.MurakamiH.FurutaC.SarpongD.SaaliaF.NakaoY.Amonoo-KuofiH.UauyR.TorideY. (2014). Improving complementary feeding in Ghana: Reaching the vulnerable through innovative business—the case of KOKO Plus. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1331(1), 76–89.
43.
HahnR.GoldS. (2014). Resources and governance in “base of the pyramid”-partnerships: Assessing collaborations between businesses and non-business actors. Journal of Business Research, 67, 1321–1333.
44.
HallJ.MatosS. V.MartinM. J. C. (2014). Innovation pathways at the base of the pyramid: Establishing technological legitimacy through social attributes. Technovation, 34, 284–294.
45.
HalmeM.LindemanS.LinnaP. (2012). Innovation for inclusive business: Intrapreneurial bricolage in multinational corporations. Journal of Management Studies, 49, 743–784.
46.
HartS. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. The Academy of Management Review, 20, 986–1014.
47.
HartS. L. (1997). Beyond greening: Strategies for a sustainable world. Harvard Business Review, 75, 66–76.
48.
HartS. L. (2005). Innovation, creative destruction and sustainability. Research Technology Management, 48, 21–27.
49.
HartS. L. (2010). Capitalism at the crossroads: Next generation business strategies for a post-crisis world (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
50.
HartS. L.AhujaG. (1996). Does it pay to be green? An empirical examination of the relationship between emission reduction and firm performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 5, 30–37.
51.
HartS. L.ChristensenC. M. (2002). The great leap: Driving innovation from the base of the pyramid. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44, 51–56.
52.
HartS. L.DowellG. (2011). Invited editorial: A natural-resource-based view of the firm: Fifteen years after. Journal of Management, 37, 1464–1479.
53.
HartS. L.MilsteinM. B. (2003). Creating sustainable value. The Academy of Management Executive, 17, 56–67.
54.
HartS. L.SharmaS.HalmeM. (2016). Poverty, business strategy, and sustainable development. Organization and Environment, 29, 401–415.
55.
HengstI. A.JarzabkowskiP.HoeglM.MuethelM. (2020). Toward a process theory of making sustainability strategies legitimate in action. Academy of Management Journal, 63, 246–271.
56.
HossainM. (2018). Frugal innovation: A review and research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 926–936.
57.
Howard-GrenvilleJ.DavisG. F.DyllickT.MillerC. C.ThauS.TsuiA. S. (2019). Sustainable development for a better world: Contributions of leadership, management, and organizations. Academy of Management Discoveries, 5, 355–366.
58.
HusslerC.PayaudM. (2019). Bargaining with the devil? A politicized view on cross-sector partnerships targeting the BoP. Society and Business Review, 14, 112–127.
59.
JagerU.SatheV. (2015). The importance of vision and purpose for business development. In Casado-CanequeF.HartS. (Eds.), Base of the pyramid 3.0: Sustainable development through innovation and entrepreneurship (pp. 12–30). Greenleaf.
60.
KarnaniA. (2007). The mirage of marketing to the bottom of the pyramid: How the private sector can help alleviate poverty. California Management Review, 49(4), 90–111.
61.
KarnaniA. (2017). The roles of the private and public sectors in poverty reduction. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(17–18), 1585–1592.
62.
KlausP. (2018). Luxury patient experience (LPX): Review, conceptualization, and future research directions. Service Industries Journal, 38, 87–98.
63.
KolkA.LenfantF. (2015). Partnerships for peace and development in fragile states: Identifying missing links. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24, 422–437.
64.
KolkA.Rivera-SantosM.RufínC. (2014). Reviewing a decade of research on the “base/bottom of the pyramid” (BOP) concept. Business & Society, 53, 338–377.
65.
KotlerP. (2011). Reinventing marketing to manage the environmental imperative. Journal of Marketing, 75(4), 132–135.
66.
KraatzM. S.FloresR.ChandlerD. (2020). The value of values for institutional analysis. Academy of Management Annals, 14, 474–512.
67.
KrippendorffK. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. SAGE.
68.
KurapatskieB.DarnallN. (2013). Which corporate sustainability activities are associated with greater financial payoffs?Business Strategy and the Environment, 22, 49–61.
69.
LepakD. P.SmithK. G.TaylorM. S. (2007). Introduction to special issue forum—Value creation and value capture: A multilevel perspective. Academy of Management Review, 32, 180–194.
70.
LevänenJ.HossainM.LyytinenT.HyvärinenA.NumminenS.HalmeM. (2016). Implications of frugal innovations on sustainable development: Evaluating water and energy innovations. Sustainability, 8, 1–18.
71.
LondonT. (2016). The base of the pyramid promise: Building businesses with impact and scale. Stanford University Press.
72.
LondonT.AnupindiR.ShethS. (2010). Creating mutual value: Lessons learned from ventures serving base of the pyramid producers. Journal of Business Research, 63, 582–594.
73.
LondonT.HartS. (2004). Reinventing strategies for emerging markets: Beyond the transnational model. Journal of International Business Studies, 35, 350–370.
74.
LondonT.HartS. (Eds.). (2011). Next generation business strategies for the base of the pyramid: New approaches for building mutual value. FT Press.
75.
LubberinkR.BlokV.OphemJ.van OmtaO. (2017). Lessons for responsible innovation in the business context: A systematic literature review of responsible, social and sustainable innovation practices. Sustainability, 9(5), Article 721.
76.
LusseauD.ManciniF. (2019). Income-based variation in Sustainable Development Goal interaction networks. Nature Sustainability, 2, 242–247.
77.
MairJ.MartíI.VentrescaM. (2012). Building inclusive markets in rural Bangladesh: How intermediaries work institutional voids. Academy of Management Journal, 55, 819–850.
78.
NimoduluR.PrahaladC. K.RangaswamiM. R. (2009). Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation. Harvard Business Review, 87, 56–64.
79.
OlabisiJ.KwesigaE.JumaN.TangZ. (2019). Stakeholder transformation process: The journey of an indigenous community. Journal of Business Ethics, 159, 1–21.
80.
Ortiz-de-MandojanaN.BansalP. (2015). The long-term benefits of organizational resilience through sustainable business practices. Strategic Management Journal, 3, 1615–1631.
81.
OskamI.BossinkB.de ManA.-P. (2021). Valuing value in innovation ecosystems: How cross-sector actors overcome tensions in collaborative sustainable business model development. Business & Society, 60, 1059-1091.
82.
Perez-AlemanP.SandilandsM. (2008). Building value at the top and bottom of the global supply chain: MNC-NGO partnerships and sustainability. California Management Review, 51, 24–49.
83.
PorterM. E.KramerM. R. (2011). Creating shared value: How to reinvest capitalism—and unleash a wave of innovation and growth. Harvard Business Review, 89(1/2), 62–77.
84.
PozzebonM.ChristopoulosT. P.LavoieF. (2019). The transferability of financial inclusion models: A process-based approach. Business & Society, 58, 841–882.
85.
PrahaladC. K. (2005). The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: Eradicating poverty through profits. Pearson Education India.
86.
PrahaladC. K.HamelG. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 79–91.
87.
PrahaladC. K.HammondA. (2002). Serving the world’s poor, profitably. Harvard Business Review, 80(9), 48–57.
PrahaladC. K.HartS. L. (2002). The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. Strategy + Business, 26, 1–26.
90.
PrahaladC. K.LieberthalK. (1998). The end of corporate imperialism. Harvard Business Review, 76(4), 68–79.
91.
RamaniS. V.SadreGhaziS.GuptaS. (2017). Catalysing innovation for social impact: The role of social enterprises in the Indian sanitation sector. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 121, 216–227.
92.
ReficcoE.MárquezP. (2012). Inclusive networks for building BOP markets. Business & Society, 51, 512–556.
93.
RodriguezP.UhlenbruckK.EdenL. (2005). Government corruption and the entry strategies of multinationals. Academy of Management Review, 30, 383–396.
SantosN.LaczniakG.Facca-MiessT. (2015). The “integrative justice model” as transformative justice for base-of-the-pyramid marketing. Journal of Business Ethics, 126, 697–707.
97.
SchalteggerS.WagnerM. (2011). Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: Categories and interactions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20, 222–237.
98.
SchererA. G.VoegtlinC. (2020). Corporate governance for responsible innovation: Approaches to corporate governance and their implications for sustainable development. Academy of Management Perspectives, 34, 182–208.
99.
SchreyöggG.Kliesch-EberlM. (2007). How dynamic can organizational capabilities be? Towards a dual-process model of capability dynamization. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 913–933.
100.
SelskyJ. W.ParkerB. (2005). Cross-sector partnerships to address social issues: Challenges to theory and practice. Journal of Management, 31, 849–873.
101.
SharmaG.JaiswalA. K. (2018). Unsustainability of sustainability: Cognitive frames and tensions in bottom of the pyramid projects. Journal of Business Ethics, 148, 291–307.
102.
SimanisE.HartS. L. (2008). The base of the pyramid protocol: Toward next generation BoP strategy (Version 2.0). Cornell University.
103.
SimanisE.HartS. L. (2009). Innovation from the inside out. MIT Sloan Management Review, 50, 77–86.
104.
SimanisE.HartS. L.DukeD. (2008). The base of the pyramid protocol: Beyond “basic needs” business strategies. Innovations, 3, 57–84.
105.
SimonH. A. (1997). Administrative behavior: A study of decision-making processes in administrative organizations. The Free Press.
106.
StilgoeJ.OwenR.MacnaghtenP. (2013). Developing a framework for responsible innovation. Research Policy, 42, 1568–1580.
107.
TashmanP.MaranoV. (2010). Dynamic capabilities and base of the pyramid business strategies. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 495–514.
108.
TateW. L.BalsL. (2018). Achieving shared triple bottom line (TBL) value creation: Toward a social resource-based view (SRBV) of the firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 152, 803–826.
109.
TeeceD. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 1319–1350.
Terán-YépezE.Marín-CarrilloG. M.Casado-BelmoreM. P.Capobianco-UriarteM. M. (2020). Sustainable entrepreneurship: Review of its evolution and new trends. Journal of Cleaner Production, 252, 1–21.
112.
TorracoR. J. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, 4, 356–367.
113.
TverskyA.KahnemanD. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(185), 41571124–41571131.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2015). The millennium development goals report. United Nations.
116.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2020). The sustainable development goals report. United Nations.
117.
United Nations Development Programme. (2008). Creating value for all: Strategies for doing business with the poor—Executive summary.
118.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2019). Global environment outlook—GEO 6: Healthy planet, healthy people. Cambridge University Press.
119.
United Nations Global Compact & Global Reporting Initiative. (2017). Business reporting on the SDGs: An analysis of the goals and targets. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5361
120.
United Nations Global Compact & Global Reporting Initiative. (2018). Integrating the sustainable development goals into corporate reporting: A practical guide. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5628
121.
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press.
122.
van der HaveR. P.RubalcabaL. (2016). Social innovation research: An emerging area of innovation studies?Research Policy, 45, 1923–1935.
123.
VaradarajanR. (2014). Toward sustainability: Public policy, global social innovations for base-of-the-pyramid markets, and demarketing for a better world. Journal of International Marketing, 22(2), 1–20.
124.
VargaV.RoscaE. (2019). Driving impact through base of the pyramid distribution models. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 49, 492–513.
125.
VeríssimoD. (2019). The past, present, and future of using social marketing to conserve biodiversity. Social Marketing Quarterly, 25, 3–8.
126.
VoegtlinC.SchererA. G. (2017). Responsible innovation and the innovation of responsibility: Governing sustainable development in a globalized world. Journal of Business Ethics, 143, 227–243.
127.
WadeB.RekkerS. (2020). Research can (and should) support corporate decarbonization. Nature Climate Change, 10, 1064–1065.
128.
WestJ.SalterA.VanhaverbekeW.ChesbroughH. (2014). Open innovation: The next decade. Research Policy, 43, 805–811.
129.
WilliamsA.WhitemanG.ParkerJ. N. (2019). Backstage interorganizational collaboration: Corporate endorsement of the sustainable development goals. Academy of Management Discoveries, 5, 367–395.
130.
ZadehL. A. (1965). Fuzzy sets. Information and Control, 8, 338–353.
131.
ZhangH.WuK.QiuY.ChanG.WangS.ZhouD.RenX. (2020). Solar photovoltaic interventions have reduced rural poverty in China. Nature Communications, 11, Article 1969.
132.
ZhangZ.GuanD.WangR.MengJ.ZhengH.ZhuK.DuH. (2020). Embodied carbon emissions in the supply chains of multinational enterprises. Nature Climate Change, 10, 1096–1101.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
