Corporate sustainable development - an empirical framework

Abstract

Poverty has always proved to be a stumbling block to global development. It does not stick to boundaries and is a widespread global phenomenon but has an extensive impact on the developing countries. The formulation of the World Bank’s Millennium Development goals was a step towards providing a concerted and planned effort to reducing poverty. Still, the journey towards removing poverty seems to be on the slow-track. Till date, poverty alleviation has been considered the domain of governments, international aid agencies and NGOs. However, the private sector has just as significant a role to play in this. In this Contemporary Concerns Study we focus on the ways by which the private sector can engage the poor and create win-win situations. The Bottom of the Pyramid market is analyzed and new thoughts on this much spoken about segment are also dealt with. Famous examples of corporations targeting the poor and succeeding have been analyzed and from this, a blueprint for a framework to reach the poor has been created. Lastly, we acknowledge the fact that poverty alleviation is best done by means of partnerships and so we consider the various ventures that are possible and the role of each player concerned.