Innovation For Social Good:
Danimal In South Africa Case Study
Robert Monroe
Innovative Product Development
April 18, 2012
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Administrivia: Final Project Presentations
• Presentations Begin promptly at 10:00 on Wednesday, April 25
• Each group will have 25 minutes to present their proposal for a
new product or service concept at a “Gate 3 (Go/No-Go)
Review”
– You should plan to present no more than 15 minutes, leaving at least 10
minutes for discussion, questions, and feedback
– Details and expectations specified in final project assignment
• I will be available to meet with groups after the presentations
from 1:00 – 5:00 on Wednesday, or before 12:00 on Thursday.
– Plan to meet with me as a group before completing your final report!
– Reserve a time to do so with Maha Kanso
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Administrivia: Challenge Problem 8
• Short challenge problem posted to wiki
• Basic idea
– Do some research to discover and learn about an organization
that has developed innovative products, services, business
models, or approaches to address large, pressing, human
social problems.
– Write a brief (no more than 1 page) report addressing
questions listed on the wiki
– Be prepared to quickly present and discuss what you have
found in class on Monday.
• 50 point challenge problem
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Prahalad’s Principles for BoP Business
1. Focus on price performance of products and services.
Serving BoP markets is not just about lower prices it is
about creating a new price-performance envelope
2. Innovation requires hybrid solutions. BoP consumer
problems cannot be solved with old technologies alone.
3. Solutions must be scalable and transportable across
countries, cultures, and languages. Solutions must be
designed with ease of adaptation in similar BoP markets.
This is a key consideration in gaining scale.
Source: [Pra09] C.K. Prahalad, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty
Through Profits, 5th edition, Wharton School Publishing, New Jersey, 2009.
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Prahalad’s Principles for BoP Business
4. All innovations must focus on conserving resources:
eliminate, reduce, and recycle
5. Product development must start from a deep
understanding of functionality, not just form. Marginal
changes to products developed for developed-world
customers will not work.
6. Process innovations are just as critical as product
innovations. In developed markets, the logistics system
for accessing potential customers, selling to them, and
servicing products is welll developed. This is not the
case in BoP markets; access and education can be a
daunting task.
Source: [Pra09]
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Prahalad’s Principles for BoP Business
7. Deskilling work is critical. Most BoP markets are poor
in skills. The design of products and services must take
into account the skill levels, poor infrastructure, and
difficulty of access for service in remote areas.
8. Education of customers on product usage is key. In the
absence of traditional approaches to education, new and
creative approaches must be adopted.
9. Products must work in hostile environments. Products
must be developed to accomodte the low quality of the
infrastructure.
Source: [Pra09]
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Prahalad’s Principles for BoP Business
10. Research on interfaces is critical given the nature of
the consumer population
11. Innovations must reach the consumer. Designing
methods for accessing the poor at low cost is critical
12. Product developers must focus on the broad
architecture of the system – the platform – so that
new features can be easily incorporated
Source: [Pra09]
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
Reminder! Faculty Course Evaluations
• Please take a few minutes over the next week to complete
your Faculty Course Evaluation for this course.
• Online: http://cmu.onlinecourseevaluations.com/
• Your feedback:
– Helps me improve the course
– Helps your fellow students make better decisions about courses and
professors
– Is anonymous – I get a report with results and comments 2-3 weeks
after grades are in
– Should only take 5-10 minutes to complete
– Is very important for:
• Faculty reviews, evaluation, and promotions
• Selection of courses offered and teaching assignments
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446
References
• [Chr97] Christensen, Clayton M., The Innovator's Dilemma:
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.
Harvard Business Press, 1997, ISBN 9780875845852
• [Pra09] C.K. Prahalad, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid:
Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, 5th edition,
Wharton School Publishing, New Jersey, 2009
Carnegie Mellon Qatar
©2011 - 2012 Robert T. Monroe
Course 70-446