Market at the Bottom of the Pyramid

PDF that includes a 10 page essay examining Professor Aneel Karnani’s critique of C.K. Prahalad’s book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Includes the following blogs:

• Part 1: Is There a Market at the Bottom of the Pyramid? - “One of the positive side effects of the BOP argument is that it makes MNCs stakeholders in a new and underserved market. To be sure, there are fatal flaws in the logic and research initiated by Prahalad. But MBAs are new to development and we should embrace that wide-eyed optimism even as we critique shakey methodology.”
• .
• Part 2: Can Innovations Save the Bottom of the Pyramid? - “Technology improvements in computers and telecommunications do not exist in a vacuum. There are numerous positive spillover effects that affect the BOP as producers. The Washington Post recently reported that cell phones in Congo have enabled farmers and fishermen to ‘…use text messaging to check market prices, eliminating middlemen and increasing profits — and preventing long trips to the market on days it is canceled.’ So a technology unrelated to agriculture has helped farmers saved on input prices (transport to the market on days when it’s canceled) and output prices.”
• .
• Part 3: Paternalism and the Bottom of the Pyramid - “Karanani advocates that we preemptively limit consumer choice because the poor might make economic decisions that seem irrational from a Western perspective.”

Open PDF [10 pages] >>
.

.
Weighty Words - The Future of e-Books

PDF that includes an essay adapted from two weeks of posts on e-ink, e-readers, e-books, and Google Books. Includes a vision for the future of the DC Public Library system.

Includes the following blogs:

• Part 1: e-Ink & e-Readers - “The simplicity of e-ink means that it can be paired with flexible materials creating an e-paper that can be bent, or even rolled up. … A page using e-ink (also called e-paper) can remain open indefinitely without drawing down of a battery source. You can read thirty books before you need to plug in an e-reader using e-ink.”
• .
• Part 2: e-Books Sales - “In 2000, Accenture predicted that e-books would make up 10% of the book market by 2005. Unfortunately, e-books didn’t live up to their great expectations. In fact, e-books only made up .07% of the 2.3 billion books sold in 2005….”
• .
• Part 3: Public & Private e-Book Initiatives - “In a decade [Google] may have more books in their digital collection than any library system on earth. But if there is true intellectual concern about the earth’s largest library being in the hands of a profit-driven company, why not launch a public initiative? Can the U.S. government even afford it?”
• .
• Part 4: Public vs. Private e-Libraries - “If libraries across the country were to unite and pool their resources, they could also create a single digital library. The federal government could also negotiate lower e-book prices for its public libraries, just as Congress is considering using the market power of 300 million citizens to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for its Medicare beneficiaries.”
• .
• Part 5: Vision of the Future DC Public Library System - “By 2017, the DC Public Library should have digitized 90% of its existing collection and sold the millions of hardback books in its stacks to help generate revenue. … The digital divide is real and if public libraries aren’t centrally involved in digitization of books, the gap will widen. As the high-income, early adopters turn toward e-books, wealthy taxpayers might see less value in funding the DC Public Library System. … leaving an underclass with an ignored and outmoded library system.”

Open PDF [17 pages] >>

.