Fishers of Social Business: Strategic Alliances at the Base of the Pyramid

Keywords: Social business, Alliances, Cocreation, Base of the Pyramid

Abstract: Introduction: The primary objective of this study is to examine performance outcomes for strategic alliances between multinational corporations and social entrepreneurs at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP). Prahalad & Hart's seminal research challenged the notion that multinational corporations cannot serve the needs of the poor profitably. However, after 100+ studies in the base of the pyramid literature, researchers have found that research is still lacking on alliances which successfully co-create poverty alleviation.

Theoretical development: This research is important because of the failure of social businesses to adequately alleviate poverty in this BOP context as well as the mistrust they have against working with multinational corporations. A tension for social entrepreneurs here is to preserve their basic needs, mainly because of their scarcity of resources. A systematic literature review and conceptual model are developed to examine how alliance behavior works in the base of the pyramid context.

Findings: The findings are that the characteristics of the social entrepreneur's unique resources, their trust level with their corporate partner, and structural interrelationships determine alliance success and social business survival.

Conclusion: Mistrust between social businesses and multinational corporations in the BOP context can be addressed through successful alliances formed with complementary resources.