"The BoP Protocol is a pioneering business incubation process that enables multinational corporations (MNCs) to generate new business opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid. Based on a participatory philosophy, the BoP Protocol is a model for business co-creation that marries MNCs' resources, technologies and best practices with those of the community." - BoP-Protocol.org

The Base of the Pyramid (BoP) Protocol is a process of collective entrepreneurship that enables Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to forge lasting business partnerships with income-poor communities in order to co-create businesses that mutually benefit the MNC and the communities. The Protocol does this by forging lasting partnerships with income-poor communities through mutual dialogue and joint learning, by co-creating new businesses embedded in the local cultural infrastructure, and by creatively marrying the MNC’s resources, technologies and capabilities with those of the community.  The BoP Protocol helps MNCs and communities co-create new BoP markets that recognize and derive genuine value from the business’s products and services.

To read more about the BoP Protocol visit:

http://BoP-Protocol.org

BoP Protocol v1.0 Authors

Erik Simanis, Stuart L. Hart, Gordon Enk, Duncan Duke, Michael Gordon & Allyson Lyppert

The BoP Protocol is the work of the BoP Protocol Working Group which is managed out of Cornell University. Patrick Donohue has been integrally involved in the development and implementation of the BoP Protocol, most strongly through his involvement in the first pilot of the BoP Protocol in Kenya and his leadership with the second BoP Protocol project in India.

For Enterprise for a Sustainable World and Cornell University, Patrick trains and guides Protocol teams in the field as a Field Director for the BoP Protocol. Patrick is also the designer and maintainer of the BoP-Protocol.org and projects.BoP-Protocol.org websites, which includes a CMS to help manage the field projects and a web-browsable version of the Protocol. Finally, Patrick is involved in developing the next generation of the BoP Protocol as well as in writing a field guide of methodologies that he and his colleagues have developed in the field.

BRINQ.com hosts a number of articles and photos of Patrick's experiences working with the BoP Protocol in Kenya, India, and Brazil.

• Patrick's articles about the BoP Protocol and related work on the BRINQ Blog
• Photos from the Protocol Pilot in Kenya

See also: About BRINQ and What is the Base of the Pyramid?