Skip to main content

Corporate Social Responsibility for Poverty Alleviation: Creating Shared Value and Bottom of the Pyramid

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
No Poverty

Synonyms

Corporate social responsibility; Poverty alleviation; Shared value; Strategic corporate social responsibility; The bottom of the pyramid

Definition

Corporate social responsibility (CSR hereinafter) has emerged as an essential research and practice topic in the past few decades (Boulouta and Pitelis 2014; Carroll 2016). In a context where “the legitimacy of business has fallen to levels not seen in recent history,” (Porter and Kramer 2011, p. 64), CSR is perceived as a way to respond to this legitimacy crisis by revisiting the role of business in society (Carroll 2008; Schrempf-Stirling et al. 2015). Beyond the consensus on the importance of this concept to cope with the challenges of the twenty-first century, there remains great diversity in what CSR means. McWilliams and Siegel (2001, p. 117) define CSR “as actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law.” Strategic CSR is a CSR perspective that has risen to...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aakhus M, Bzdak M (2012) Revisiting the role of “shared value” in the business–society relationship. Bus Prof Ethics J 31(2):231–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acquier A, Valiorgue B, Daudigeos T (2015) Sharing the shared value: a transaction cost perspective on strategic CSR policies in global value chains. J Bus Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2820-0

  • Ansari S, Munir K, Gregg T (2012) Impact at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’: the role of social capital in capability development and community empowerment. J Manag Stud 49(4):813–842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beschorner T (2013) Creating shared value: the one-trick pony approach. Bus Ethics J Rev 1(17):106–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borchardt M, Ndubisi NO, Jabbour CJC, Grebinevych O, Pereira GM (2019) The evolution of base of the pyramid approaches and the role of multinational and domestic business ventures: value-commitment and profit-making perspectives. Ind Mark Manag. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.05.013

  • Boulouta I, Pitelis CN (2014) Who needs CSR? The impact of corporate social responsibility on national competitiveness. J Bus Ethics 119(3):349–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles S, Durlauf SN, Hoff K (2006) Poverty traps. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Cañeque FC, Hart SL (2015) Base of the pyramid 3.0 : sustainable development through innovation and entrepreneurship. Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll AB (2008) A history of corporate social responsibility: concepts and practices. In: Crane A, Matten D, McWilliams A, Moon J, Siegel DS (eds) The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 19–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll AB (2016) Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: taking another look. Int J Corp Soc Responsib 1:3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-016-0004-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chmielewski DA, Dembek K, Beckett JR (2020) Business unusual’: building BoP 3.0. J Bus Ethics 161:211–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coca-Cola (2020) Sustainability – 5by20. Retrieved from https://www.coca-colaafrica.com/stories/sustainability-community-5by20#

  • Cooney K, Shanks TRW (2010) New approaches to old problems: market-based strategies for poverty alleviation. Soc Serv Rev 84(1):29–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane A, Palazzo G, Spence LJ, Matten D (2014) Contesting the value of “creating shared value”. Calif Manag Rev 56(2):130–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dembek K, Singh P, Bhakoo V (2016) Literature review of shared value: a theoretical conceptor a management buzzword? J Bus Ethics 137(2):231–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dembek K, Sivasubramaniam N, Chmielewski DA (2020) A systematic review of the bottom/base of the pyramid literature: cumulative evidence and future directions. J Bus Ethics 165:365–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04105-y

  • Dyllick T, Muff K (2016) Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organ Environ 29(2):156–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faria A, Hemais M (2017) Rethinking the bottom of the pyramid: a critical perspective from an emerging economy. Mark Theory 17(3):271–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garriga E, Melé D (2004) Corporate social responsibility theories: mapping the territory. J Bus Ethics 53:51–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gond J-P, Moon J, Kang N (2011) The government of self-regulation: on the comparative dynamics of corporate social responsibility. Econ Soc 40(4):640–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart S, Sharma S, Halme M (2016) Poverty, business strategy, and sustainable development. Organ Environ 29(4):401–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemissi O, Hafsi T (2017) Amor Benamor, une réussite algérienne. Éditions Casbah, Alger

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme D, Shepherd A (2003) Conceptualizing chronic poverty. World Dev 31(3):403–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted BW, Allen DB (2007) Strategic corporate social responsibility and value creation among large firms: lessons from the Spanish experience. Long Range Plan 40(6):594–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karnani A (2007) Mirage of marketing to the bottom of the pyramid: how the private sector can help alleviate poverty. Calif Manag Rev 49(4):90–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karnani A (2010) Failure of the libertarian approach toreducing poverty. Asian Bus Manag 9(1):5–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolk A, Rivera-Santos M, Rufín a C (2014) Reviewing a decade of research on the “base/bottom of the pyramid” (BOP) concept. Bus Soc 53(3):338–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laudal T (2018) Measuring shared value in multinational corporations. Soc Responsib J 14(4):917–933

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee MDP (2008) A review of the theories of corporate social responsibility: its evolutionary path and the road ahead. Int J Manag Rev 10(1):53–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis O (1966) The culture of poverty. Sci Am 215(4):19–25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Little PD (2013) Economic and political reform in Africa: anthropological perspectives. Indiana University Press, Bloomington

    Google Scholar 

  • Mair J, Martí I, Ventresca MJ (2012) Building inclusive markets in Rural Bangladesh: how intermediaries work institutional voids. Acad Manag J 55(4):819–850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martì I, Mair J (2009) Bringing change into the lives of the poor: entrepreneurship outside traditional boundaries. In: Lawrence TB, Suddaby R, Leca B (eds) Institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 92–119

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams A, Siegel D (2001) Corporate social responsibility: a theory of the firm perspective. Acad Manag Rev 26(1):117–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer H (2018) Creating shared value (CSV) – Operationalising CSV beyond the firm. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. https://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/centre-for-business-research/downloads/special-reports/specialreport-creatingsharedvalue.pdf

  • Orlitzky M, Siegel DS, Waldman DA (2011) Strategic corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Bus Soc 50(1):6–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME, Kramer MR (2006) Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harv Bus Rev 84(12):78–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME, Kramer MR (2011) Creating shared value. Harv Bus Rev 89(1/2):62–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK (2006a) The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: eradicating poverty through profits. Wharton School Publishing, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK (2006b) The innovation sandbox. Strategy Bus 44:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK, Hart S (1999) Strategies for the bottom of the pyramid: creating sustainable development. Working paper. University of Michigan. Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK, Hart SL (2002) The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. Strategy Bus 26:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK, Lieberthal K (1998) The end of corporate imperialism. Harv Bus Rev 76(4):68–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes G d l, Scholz M, Smith NC (2017) Beyond the “win-win”: creating shared value requires ethical frameworks. Calif Manag Rev 59(2):142–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roxas SK, Ungson GR (2011) From alleviation to eradication: a reassessment of modernization, market-based, and communitarian solutions to global poverty. Poverty Public Policy 3(2):1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandel MJ (2012) What money can’t buy: the moral limits of markets. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrempf-Stirling J, Palazzo G, Phillips RA (2015) Historic corporate social responsibility. Acad Manag Rev 41(4):700–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1985) Commodities and capabilities. North-Holland, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1989) Development as capability expansion. J Dev Plann 19:41–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1999) Development as freedom. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (2004) Capabilities, lists and public reason. Fem Econ 10(3):77–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shared Value Initiative (n.d.) Shared value in action case study–M-PESA: financial services for the poor. Retrieved from https://www.sharedvalue.org/resource/shared-value-in-action-case-study-m-pesa-financial-services-for-the-poor/

  • Simanis E, Hart S (2008) The base of the pyramid protocol: toward next generation BoP strategy. Cornell University, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh PK, Chudasama H (2020) Evaluating poverty alleviation strategies in a developing country. PLoS One 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227176

  • Suri T, Jack W (2016) The long-run poverty and genderimpacts of mobile money. Science 354(6317):1288–1292

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2019a) New UN poverty report reveals ‘vast inequalities’ between countries. Retrieved from https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/07/1042231

  • United Nations (2019b) The Sustainable Development Goals report – 2019. United Nations, New York. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2019.pdf

  • Walsh JP, Kress JC, Beyerchen KW (2005) Book review essay: promises and perils at the bottom of the pyramid. Adm Sci Q 50(3):473–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wunder S (2001) Poverty alleviation and tropical forests – what scope for synergies? World Dev 29(11):1817–1833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yunus M, Weber K (2010) Building social business: the new kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs. Public Affairs, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sofiane Baba .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Baba, S., Moustaquim, R. (2020). Corporate Social Responsibility for Poverty Alleviation: Creating Shared Value and Bottom of the Pyramid. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) No Poverty. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69625-6_117-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69625-6_117-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69625-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69625-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics