about the book

“C.K. Prahalad argues that companies must revolutionize how they do business in developing countries if both sides of that economic equation are to prosper. Drawing on a wealth of case studies, his compelling new book offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability. --Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft (2004) An idea can change the world... How to serve the world's poorest people and make a profit New strategies and tactics for building winning businesses in today's emerging markets New bottom of the pyramid trends in technology, healthcare, consumer goods, finance, and beyond Insights from top CEOs succeeding in emerging markets New and updated case studies--from Jaipur Rugs' revolutionary supply chain to Reuters' data services for farmers Five years ago, C.K. Prahalad'sThe Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramidshowed companies how they could reignite profits and growth by serving the world's five billion poorest people. Hundreds of firms have successfully taken that path--building large, profitable businesses that are reducing poverty and eliminating human misery at the same time. Now, Prahalad has updated his extraordinary book to reflect the lessons of the past five years: business-building strategies, techniques, and innovations proven to work in emerging markets. The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: doing well by doing good or doing good by doing well! Inspired by C.K. Prahalad's breakthrough insights in the original edition ofThe Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, a wide variety of firms are identifying, building, and profiting from new markets among the world's poorest people--while at the same time helping eliminate poverty and human misery. Five years after this book's first publication, Prahalad's ideas are no longer isolated instances of innovations. They are proven, widely practiced “reality. In this 5th Anniversary Edition, Prahalad updates his book to give readers a picture of how this idea is being implemented in poor regions around the world. Prahalad also offers an up-to-the-minute assessment of key questions such as: Is there truly a market? Is there scale? Is there profit? Is there innovation? Is this a global opportunity? Five years ago, executives could be hopeful that the answers to these questions would be positive. Now, as Prahalad demonstrates, they can be certain of it. *Solving the unique problems faced by bottom of pyramid customers *How to make a profit by helping people escape poverty and misery *Breakthrough forms of innovation for emerging markets *From rugs to cellphones, finance to energy, supply chains to state-of-the-art technology *Building new ecosystems for wealth creation *You can't do it alone--but you can do it together *Scaling up to impact the enterprise--and society *Beyond “micro-businesses and prototypes: large presence, large wins The CD included with the book includes video case studies and three bonus PDF case studies. Bonus videos and case studies, in addition to those on the CD, can be found on the book's website, www.whartonsp.com/prahalad.