IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i21p6017-d281530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Co-Creation Always Sustainable? Empirical Exploration of Co-Creation Patterns, Practices, and Outcomes in Bottom of the Pyramid Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Stephanie Knizkov

    (Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (TIM), Faculty of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

  • Julia C. Arlinghaus

    (Chair of Production Systems and Automation, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany)

Abstract

Co-creation with the population at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) was identified as pivotal for realizing the full potential of the BOP proposition, simultaneously creating economic value for companies in BOP markets, as well as social value for the individuals residing in them. However, research on co-creation and its outcomes has remained predominantly simplistic, often assuming that introducing any form of co-creation in company operations will lead to increased social value and economic gains. A more nuanced exploration of the different ways in which companies operationalize the principle of co-creation across their supply-chain and whether these indeed facilitate such a clear win-win scenario for both parties, remains relatively scarce. In this paper we address this gap and delve into the supply chains of 135 micro, small, and medium sized ventures operating in BOP markets. We identify four overarching patterns of co-creation and ten categories of specific practices used to achieve them, and ultimately show how these patterns facilitate very different levels of social sustainability and economic benefits across the supply chain.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephanie Knizkov & Julia C. Arlinghaus, 2019. "Is Co-Creation Always Sustainable? Empirical Exploration of Co-Creation Patterns, Practices, and Outcomes in Bottom of the Pyramid Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6017-:d:281530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/6017/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/6017/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Christopher S. Tang, 2016. "Supply chain opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 43(2), pages 125-134, June.
    2. Shivarajan, Sridevi & Srinivasan, Aravind, 2013. "The Poor as Suppliers of Intellectual Property: A Social Network Approach to Sustainable Poverty Alleviation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 381-406, July.
    3. Nicolas Dahan & Jonathan P. Doh & Jennifer Oetzel & Michael Yaziji, 2010. "Corporate-NGO Collaboration: Co-creating New Business Models for Developing Markets," Post-Print hal-00565517, HAL.
    4. Rosca, Eugenia & Bendul, Julia C., 2019. "Value chain integration of base of the pyramid consumers: An empirical study of drivers and performance outcomes," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 162-176.
    5. Howell, Rachel & van Beers, Cees & Doorn, Neelke, 2018. "Value capture and value creation: The role of information technology in business models for frugal innovations in Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 227-239.
    6. Kate Meagher, 2018. "Cannibalizing the Informal Economy: Frugal Innovation and Economic Inclusion in Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(1), pages 17-33, January.
    7. Anand Kumar Jaiswal, 2008. "The Fortune at the Bottom or the Middle of the Pyramid?," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 85-100, January.
    8. Rakhshanda Khan, 2016. "How Frugal Innovation Promotes Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-29, October.
    9. London, Ted & Anupindi, Ravi & Sheth, Sateen, 2010. "Creating mutual value: Lessons learned from ventures serving base of the pyramid producers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 582-594, June.
    10. Rivera-Santos, Miguel & Rufín, Carlos, 2010. "Global village vs. small town: Understanding networks at the Base of the Pyramid," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 126-139, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gupta, Suraksha & Kanungo, Rama Prasad, 2022. "Financial inclusion through digitalisation: Economic viability for the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) segment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 262-276.
    2. Aman, Sadaf & Seuring, Stefan, 2022. "Interestingly it's innovation: Reviewing sustainability performance management in the base of the pyramid (BoP)," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Michael D. van der Merwe & Sara S. Grobbelaar & Cornelius S. L. Schutte & Konrad H. von Leipzig, 2018. "Toward an Enterprise Growth Framework for Entering the Base of the Pyramid Market: A Systematic Review," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(04), pages 1-34, August.
    4. Kumar, Avinash & Kumra, Rajeev & Singh, Ramendra, 2022. "Base of the pyramid producers’ constraints: An integrated review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 115-129.
    5. Rosca, Eugenia & Bendul, Julia C., 2019. "Value chain integration of base of the pyramid consumers: An empirical study of drivers and performance outcomes," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 162-176.
    6. Kaidong Yu & Yameng Zhang & Yicong Huang, 2023. "Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    7. Mark Alan Heuer & Usman Khalid & Stefan Seuring, 2020. "Bottoms up: Delivering sustainable value in the base of the pyramid," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1605-1616, March.
    8. Raja Usman Khalid & Stefan Seuring, 2019. "Analyzing Base-of-the-Pyramid Research from a (Sustainable) Supply Chain Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 663-686, March.
    9. Alexey Bereznoy, 2018. "Innovative Business Models In The Strategic Adaptation Of Multinationals To Emerging Economy Environment," HSE Working papers WP BRP 85/STI/2018, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    10. Tello, Mario A., 2020. "Conceptualizing social impact: A geographic perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 562-571.
    11. Fu, Xiaolan & Ghauri, Pervez & Ogbonna, Nwamaka & Xing, Xiaoqiang, 2023. "Platform-based business model and entrepreneurs from Base of the Pyramid," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Hossain, Mokter & Park, Sukyung & Shahid, Subhan, 2023. "Frugal innovation for sustainable rural development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Kate Meagher, 2018. "Cannibalizing the Informal Economy: Frugal Innovation and Economic Inclusion in Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(1), pages 17-33, January.
    14. Tsai Chi Kuo & Wei-Jung Shiang & Jessica Hanafi & Sz Ying Chen, 2018. "Co-Development of Supply Chain in the BOP Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, March.
    15. Simon Joncourt & Heiko Gebauer & Javier Reynoso & Karla Cabrera & Ana Valdes & Katharina Greve, 2019. "Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 241-261, October.
    16. Kelsey M. Taylor & Eugenia Rosca, 2023. "Sink, swim, or drift: How social enterprises use supply chain social capital to balance tensions between impact and viability," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 59(2), pages 62-86, April.
    17. Scott, Inara, 2017. "A business model for success: Enterprises serving the base of the pyramid with off-grid solar lighting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 50-55.
    18. Tassilo Schuster & Dirk Holtbrügge, 2014. "Benefits of Cross‐sector Partnerships in Markets at the Base of the Pyramid," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 188-203, March.
    19. Sarkar, Soumodip & Mateus, Sara, 2022. "Doing more with less - How frugal innovations can contribute to improving healthcare systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    20. Sinkovics, Noemi & Sinkovics, Rudolf R. & Yamin, Mo, 2014. "The role of social value creation in business model formulation at the bottom of the pyramid – Implications for MNEs?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 692-707.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6017-:d:281530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.