Strategizing Value Co-Creation with Poor Farmers in a Mexican Agribusiness
27 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2015
Date Written: September 10, 2015
Abstract
While recent research has established businesses can benefit from engaging with the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) population, we know little about the processes through which managers strategize these opportunities and turn them into action. To address this gap, we report a detailed action research study in which we collaborated with the managers of a Mexican agribusiness to expand the firm’s market through value co-creation with the poorest farmers. To inform the strategizing process, we combined dynamic capability theory with options thinking and a framework for identifying the needs of the BOP population. As a result, we offer a detailed account of how the management team collaborated downstream with distributors and farmers and upstream with suppliers to grow a new franchise business that would increase the well-being of the poorest farmers and create additional business opportunities. Based on these empirical results and extant theory, we offer an integrated process model for how managers may strategize and implement BOP opportunities. In conclusion, we discuss our research in relation to the theory and practice of business ethics.
Keywords: Base of the Pyramid (BOP), Dynamic Capability, Options Thinking, Asset Hexagon, Value Co-creation
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