Engaging with the Base of the Pyramid, part 2
A letter to global thought leaders from Scott Johnson, Vice President – Global Environmental and Safety Actions.
Dear Friend:
Doing the right thing is not always easy. That’s the very nature of responsible leadership. It’s having the courage to make brave decisions and try something new. And then sharing our experience so that others can work to benefit our global community.
At SC Johnson, responsible leadership is a 121-year commitment to the communities and neighborhoods where we do business. Given that transparency is valuable to a successful journey, I wanted to share the work we are doing at the base of the pyramid (BoP) in collaboration with Stuart Hart, Samuel C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise and Professor of Management at Cornell University. Our work is both pragmatic and responsible. We are striving to build a sales-driven, growth-oriented business model that brings lasting value to consumers whose annual per capita income is less than $1,500.
In the summer of 2005, SC Johnson supported field testing of the Base of the Pyramid Protocol™. A six person team of interns spent 11 weeks in Kenya, working and living alongside their hosts and understanding the social and commercial ecosystem of Africa’s largest slum: Nairobi’s Kibera.
By becoming part of the community, the team forged valuable relationships with the residents and a critical partnership with Carolina for Kibera (CFK), a local NGO, and several entrepreneurial youth groups generating income through the Taka Ni Pato (“Trash is Cash”) program. The program helped the groups set up trash collection, recyling and composting businesses in Kibera.
The interns, along with employees from SC Johnson Kenya and CFK, hosted local business-idea generation workshops, which helped people discover how to build a co-created business model and bring value to their community. The outcome was a partnership with local youth groups who manage trash collection and recycling businesses. SC Johnson is now working with nine youth groups who make up the “Coalition of Youth Entrepreneurs” across Kibera, Mathare and Mitumba.
These communities are some of the poorest in Kenya, and house 1.2 to 1.5 million people. The youth groups currently incorporate SC Johnson products, such as Baygon®, Raid®, Pledge® and Windex® within their normal portfolio of services. The addition of pest control and home cleaning products provides a new service to a community where pride in home is paramount, and develops business skills the youth groups are using to seek out other opportunities. In turn, SC Johnson is learning about BoP consumers and how our products could be improved to better serve this important market.
Six months of pilot operations have delivered value to our youth group partners through sales, job creation and increased business capacity. But, it is too early to call this venture a complete success. Every day brings the unforeseen. BoP business skills, measurement, turnover of our partner-group leadership and social instability are challenges we face daily. Simply said, we don’t know what we don’t know, but we do know we are learning a great deal.
We also know that our decision to move beyond charity to a sustainable business partnership with BoP communities in Kenya was the right thing to do. Our partnership with the community is yielding new kills and uncovering mutual value opportunities for all involved. By developing new go-to-market strategies and building mutual value between business and community, we are facing head on the challenge of business at the base of the pyramid.
We also know that we must be patient. Sustainable change takes time, and we are committed to taking the long view in hopes of making a better future for the next generation.
Our work in Kenya creates substance for some very rich dialogue. From February 27 - 28, The Conference Board is hosting a leadership conference on global corporate citizenship. Stu Hart will join SC Johnson to present this work in Kenya, and we would enjoy the opportunity to share more with you. And in the spirit of open dialogue, I invite you to contact us for more information.
Learn more about the BoP Learning Lab™ Network
Field Testing: A Personal Account