ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the bottom/base-of-the-pyramid business (BOP) narratives reflect a process of deliberate or undeliberate framing enacted by related management research. By understanding the evolution of the concept over time, and the conceptual pillars of the current BOP thinking, policies could be designed to favor business BOP endeavors, both locally – in the regions where the target communities are located – as well as internationally – where the business firms are headquartered. The instrumental rationale – justifying the BOP possibility in view of profit opportunities – has gone uncontested for most BOP historical evolution. A systematic literature review methodology has been applied to select all the relevant articles in the period of interest, followed by a topic modeling analysis performed on the resulting 72 articles. The combined use of systematic literature review and topic modeling represent a methodological innovation, designed to ensure rigor and replicability in both phases of data collection and data analysis of this literature review.
