Business Model Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid

Concluded project in the India Observatory

How can social entrepreneurs, NGOs and companies deliver solutions to poverty and deprivation in scalable and economically sustainable ways? This is the question at the heart of the LSE Innovation Co-Creation Lab (ICCLab) headed by Professor Harry Barkema. ICCLab works with a community of practitioners to create evidence-based management knowledge applicable at the base of the pyramid - among the world's poorest 2.5 billion people. This knowledge sheds light on topics such as organisation, business models, ecosystems and partnerships and is anchored in a range of academic disciplines, from management and organisations to anthropology and sociology.

ICCLab turns this knowledge into practical impact through workshops, field projects, popular courses and through innovative digital dissemination tools. The lab's community of partner consists of world-class social entrepreneurs, NGOs and multinational companies, such as Honeycare, Riders for Health and Tata.

Research fellowships and travel grants for this programme have been supported by the LSE-TISS programme since 2010. Three PhD students, involved with this programme at LSE, were supported with Jamsetji Tata Fellowships during 2011-2013.