The bottom of the pyramid approach as an answer to terrorism

Abstract

The bottom of the pyramid approach proposed by Prahalad has been considered a new way for multination companies to earn profits, while helping to raise the poor out of poverty. One important factor often overlooked by researchers that can explain the popularity of Prahalad‟s ideas was the context in which it developed. After the “War on Terror” policy was declared by U.S. government, associations between terrorism and poverty were voiced by influential politicians and public figures and the academic community. To deal with such problems, free markets should be implemented in failed states. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to discuss how the association between poverty and terrorism made by the U.S. government and the academic community created an ideal setting for Prahalad to expand free market theories as an answer to poverty.