Archive for September, 2009
Is the Fortune a Mirage?
Professor C.K. Prahalad’s much-acclaimed book, Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, lead the discussion on engaging with the poor and how the private sector could help lift people out of poverty. While his book lead to much discussion and attention to the so-called bottom of the pyramid (BoP), others such as Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan, have questioned Prahalad’s assumptions.
In his paper, Mirage at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Karnani says the BoP argument is “riddled with fallacies,” and that the notion that selling to the poor can simultaneously be profitable and help eradicate poverty is a “harmless illusion” at best and a “potentially dangerous delusion.” Through the paper Karnani argues that rather than focusing on the poor as consumers, we need to view them as producers. When the poor engage in production, Karnani argues that it leads to a higher increase in real income, which is a better route out of poverty.
Read the entire article here.
Democratizing Innovation
In his book Democratizing Innovation, author Eric Von Hippel, describes the role of people in developing products. The book finds relevance in today’s world, where user-centric products and services are available more than ever. The element of democracy in the development of products contributes, Hippel argues to “a very necessary complement to and feedback for manufacturer innovation.”
The entire book is available at this link. Please not certain copy-right restrictions govern the use of this material.
Strategic Partnership in Promoting Technology Incubation in India
India is fast becoming a leading Research and Development center for many of the world’s large multi-nationals. The R&D focus is leading to a growing “knowledge economy,” one that has been receiving a lot of recent government support.
In this paper, author Dr. P.K.B. Menon discusses the role of the Government of India’s Science and Technology policy, and the individual roles played by associated entities in the development of technology for the country’s small and medium enterprise sector.
Read the full article here.
Methodology and Procedures in Field Trials
Field studies on livestock are a difficult task as it involves many variables. These variables could affect the overall results of the experiment. These variables could range from loss of livestock, sudden dropout of the dairymen from the experimental studies etc. In order to offset such limitations this article suggests some simple but effective criteria that are useful while conducting the field studies on dairy cattle.
Read the entire article here.
Promotion of Brand in Rural Market of India
The following is the abstract to the original article, Promotion of Brand in Rural Market of India, by authors Hitendra Bargal, Ashish Sharma and Dr. Vijay Pithadia.
Promotion of brands in rural markets requires the special measures. Due to the social and backward condition the personal selling efforts have a challenging role to play in this regard. The word of mouth is an important message carrier in rural areas. Infect the opinion leaders are the most influencing part of promotion strategy of rural promotion efforts. The experience of agricultural input industry can act as a guideline for the marketing efforts of consumer durable and non-durable companies. Relevance of Mass Media is also a very important factor.
The Indian established Industries have the advantages, which MNC don’t enjoy in this regard. The strong Indian brands have strong brand equity, consumer demand-pull and efficient and dedicated dealer network which have been created over a period of time. The rural market has a grip of strong country shops, which affect the sale of various products in rural market. The companies are trying to trigger growth in rural areas. They are identifying the fact that rural people are now in the better position with disposable income. The low rate finance availability has also increased the affordability of purchasing the costly products by the rural people. Marketer should understand the price sensitivity of a consumer in a rural area. This paper is therefore an attempt to promote the brand image in the rural market.
Read the entire article here.
The Agricultural Resources Information System
The following is the abstract to the full article published by Madaswamy Moni, of the National Informatics Center, Department of Information Technology, Government of India.
Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, agriculture remains high on the international agenda because it brings together critical issues like water, poverty, hunger, and health. There have been both national and international efforts (DOT Force of the UN, the UN/ESCAP Committee on Poverty Reduction, the Millennium Development Goals, PovertyNet of the World Bank, etc) to improve information flows and communication services to eliminate poverty (ICT for Poverty Reduction), which are a necessary but not sufficient condition. In poor rural areas, where agricultural productivity is low and unreliable and there is food insecurity, better information and knowledge-exchange can be important in lessening poverty.
This Paper deals with the Government’s Digital Initiatives and Agenda (viz., AGRISNET, AgRIS, AGMARKNET, DACNET, VISTARNET, APHNET, FISHNET, HORTNET, SeedNET, PPIN, COOPNET, FERTNET, ARISNET, AFPINET, ARINET, NDMNET, etc), as a step towards “reaching” agricultural knowledge and technology to the Small Holders (Resource-Poor-Farmers) of the Country. To usher in “agricultural governance” in the country, the establishment of AGRISNET as the “national information infrastructure” is emerging as a pre-requisite. As “resources application and agronomic practices” are to match with soil attributes and crop requirements, the Agricultural Resources Information System (AgRIS) is a “way-forward” to improve agricultural productivity in rural areas, and a much “needed domestic strategy” for sustainable rural livelihoods.
Development and Use of ICT in Agriculture has a promise in ushering agricultural growth, “but miles to go”. This digital opportunity is becoming a positive force for fostering Agricultural Growth, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Resource Use in India. What was a “technology push” in 1990s is taking the shape of “consumer pull” at grass-root level in India to usher in agricultural governance in the country. This is a step towards establishing a location-specific e-Government model for the Poor in India.
Read the full paper here.