August 27, 2009
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**Know more about Lars Stork
Managing Director
Strategic Planning Consultants at FutureAfrica provide business consulting services you need to insure your business plan is align with the visions and aims of your organization, company or business.
For Further Reading
See these related articles from MIT Sloan Management Review.
*Strategic Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid
By Jamie Anderson and Costas Markides (Fall 2007)
Innovation in developing markets has less to do with finding new customers than addressing issues of product acceptability, affordability, availability and awareness.
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/x/49116
*The Great Leap: Driving Innovation From the Base of the Pyramid
By Stuart L. Hart and Clayton M. Christensen (Fall 2002)
Billions of poor people aspire to join the world’s economy. Disruptive innovation can pave the way, helping companies blend sustainable corporate growth with social responsibility.
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/x/4415
(more…)
August 23, 2009
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**This is the second part of Lars Stork’s Wall Street Journal interview where he talks about business strategic planning tips.
Security at base stations was a major concern. Vandalism and theft of equipment was common, even after Celtel posted armed guards, recruited from the community and elsewhere.
Mr. Stork realized that he was fighting a losing battle and needed to enlist the help of people in the communities Celtel aimed to serve. “Working with local people is the only way to succeed in rural Nigeria,” he says. “They understand the local dynamics and know how to survive in what can be an extremely challenging environment.”
Celtel initiated a franchising program, recruiting small-business owners to act as its exclusive representatives in their communities. The entrepreneurs are responsible for marketing and distributing Celtel products and services, and for basic maintenance and security at the base stations. Celtel recognized that its partners didn’t need experience in the mobile-telecommunications industry. More important was basic commercial acumen, entrepreneurial spirit and a deep understanding of how to manage the local environment. (more…)
August 19, 2009
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** By JAMIE ANDERSON, MARTIN KUPP And RONAN MOALIGOU
It isn’t easy operating amid poverty, isolation and lawlessness. But some companies have figured it out.
The developing world is home to some of the most challenging markets for any business: Urban slums. Rural backwaters. Lawless regions and battle zones.
But hundreds of millions of potential customers live in these places, and a few pioneering companies are thriving there. Their success offers lessons on how to tap these complex environments for profits and growth.
The Journal Report
All of these markets share certain challenges. They often lack functioning legal systems, so contracts are rarely enforceable. Theft, vandalism and physical violence are common. Skilled workers are hard to find.
The widespread poverty in these areas makes it difficult for many people to afford whatever a company is selling. Marketing is challenging because conventional advertising media like television and radio don’t reach many of the people in these environments, and more-direct approaches can be dangerous. And winning the acceptance of the people living in these communities, for companies and their products, is tricky because these societies are often a patchwork of religious, linguistic and cultural diversity.
(more…)
June 30, 2009
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African mobile operators certainly have paved the way for further business development across industries both at corporate and SME level, the infrastructure and services provided have clearly been successful in its own way, however have also provided opportunities for new and existing businesses to develop and transform the way business is conducted in both urban and rural areas.
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June 28, 2009
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In 2008 The African continent was seeing its strongest economic growth since the 1970s. 15 African countries entered a second decade in which they posted strong annual economic growth rate of above 5%. Despite strong economic performance, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the only region not on track for achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In 2009 recession has hit Sub-Saharan Africa, export demand is collapsing and commodity prices- in particular those of oil and base metals-under pressure, real GDP growth in numerous sub-Saharan African countries is likely to end up in negative territory.
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