13 Q and A Session 2. The second round of Q and A is about various approaches to assessment. Stuart Hart refers to some difficulties with evaluations such as boundaries of measurement (where to stop) and how detailed to do the analysis to keep the balance between rigor and managerial relevance.

14 Roundtable. The roundtable discussion of the corporate representatives gives insights about the BoP challenges as seen by the practitioners. Issues about having pilot projects, choosing right partners and scaling up were discussed. The conference closes with four main remarks from Stuart Hart about moving forward.

12 Hélène Giacobino. Hélène Giacobino talks about innovation through evaluation. To illustrate how evaluations can help finding novel ideas and solutions, she shares preliminary results of an experimental design of a randomized evaluation among hairdressers in Zambia distributing female condoms to address the problem of HIV/AIDS.

12 Hélène Giacobino. Hélène Giacobino talks about innovation through evaluation. To illustrate how evaluations can help finding novel ideas and solutions, she shares preliminary results of an experimental design of a randomized evaluation among hairdressers in Zambia distributing female condoms to address the problem of HIV/AIDS.

11 Rodolphe Vidal. By linking the discussions on sustainability to the impact measurement, Rodolphe Vidal from ESSEC provides proposals to assess sustainability of BoP projects. The key messages are to make the BoP evaluation useful for all the stakeholder and doing it as early as possible. This might require considering various evaluation points with different methods, in different phases for different stakeholders.

11 Rodolphe Vidal. By linking the discussions on sustainability to the impact measurement, Rodolphe Vidal from ESSEC provides proposals to assess sustainability of BoP projects. The key messages are to make the BoP evaluation useful for all the stakeholder and doing it as early as possible. This might require considering various evaluation points with different methods, in different phases for different stakeholders.

10 Matthew Lynch. Matthew Lynch introduces a framework designed by WBCSD for measuring impact, intended to help companies understand their contribution to development and be more informed in their long-term decision making and conversations with stakeholders. A number of impact-measurement challenges are discussed, including lack of experience among companies to analyze complex development issues, addressing context-specific issues in the assessment and examining negative impacts.

10 Matthew Lynch. Matthew Lynch introduces a framework designed by WBCSD for measuring impact, intended to help companies understand their contribution to development and be more informed in their long-term decision making and conversations with stakeholders. A number of impact-measurement challenges are discussed, including lack of experience among companies to analyze complex development issues, addressing context-specific issues in the assessment and examining negative impacts.

9 Frédéric Dalsace. Frédéric Dalsace draws our attention on the poor who live in developed countries. By giving examples of three experimentations of social business that seek to alleviate poverty in France, he explained the risks and ambiguities associated with such initiatives and the need for addressing them in assessments.

9 Frédéric Dalsace. Frédéric Dalsace draws our attention on the poor who live in developed countries. By giving examples of three experimentations of social business that seek to alleviate poverty in France, he explained the risks and ambiguities associated with such initiatives and the need for addressing them in assessments.

8 Q and A Session 1. The main discussions in the first session of interaction with Stuart Hart and Q and A are about the role of the state in BoP initiatives, the B2B companies and their suitability for BoP business. There is also a debate about combining social virtues with profit seeking motives.

7 Thierry Sibieude. Thierry Sibieude sheds light on the logic and mechanism of participatory approach, illustrating the case of Veolia water project in Bangladesh. He asserted that participatory approaches to governance and power diffusion can enhance the sustainability of the initiative.

6 François Perrot. Based on his observations and comparisons of Lafarge BoP projects, François Perrot argues how in an MNC-subsidiary can leverage its capabilities differently in different BoP settings. Perrot argues that both approaches can be used in the same firm and local market conditions (e.g poverty level, accessible support, property rights etc) determine which approach (BoP1 or BoP2) fits better. The organization needs to develop an ambidextrous ability to handle different situations.

6 François Perrot. Based on his observations and comparisons of Lafarge BoP projects, François Perrot argues how in an MNC-subsidiary can leverage its capabilities differently in different BoP settings. Perrot argues that both approaches can be used in the same firm and local market conditions (e.g poverty level, accessible support, property rights etc) determine which approach (BoP1 or BoP2) fits better. The organization needs to develop an ambidextrous ability to handle different situations.

7 Thierry Sibieude. Thierry Sibieude sheds light on the logic and mechanism of participatory approach, illustrating the case of Veolia water project in Bangladesh. He asserted that participatory approaches to governance and power diffusion can enhance the sustainability of the initiative.

5 Bernard Garrette . Bernard Garrette observes that there are very few examples of profitable businesses that commercialize socially useful goods in low-income markets and operate at a large scale. Based on detailed case studies of multinational firms that sell unquestionably useful products but struggle to generate profits at the BoP, he addresses the challenges that such companies must take up if they really want to create markets out of the unmet needs of the poor.

5 Bernard Garrette . Bernard Garrette observes that there are very few examples of profitable businesses that commercialize socially useful goods in low-income markets and operate at a large scale. Based on detailed case studies of multinational firms that sell unquestionably useful products but struggle to generate profits at the BoP, he addresses the challenges that such companies must take up if they really want to create markets out of the unmet needs of the poor.

4 Shyama Ramani. Shyama Ramani discusses the challenges pro-poor innovations face in creating the intended impact. Using lessons learnt from Indian social entrepreneurs in sanitation, she explains mechanisms that can enhance effective use and adoption of pro-poor innovation among BoP community.

4 Shyama Ramani. Shyama Ramani discusses the challenges pro-poor innovations face in creating the intended impact. Using lessons learnt from Indian social entrepreneurs in sanitation, she explains mechanisms that can enhance effective use and adoption of pro-poor innovation among BoP community.

3 Stuart Hart. Keynote speech by Stuart Hart. He explains the evolution of BoP concept from selling to the poor and find a fortune 'at' BOP approach to innovation and co-create 'with' BoP. Prof.Hart introduces 'BoP protocol' that would serve as a guideline to design and implement BOP business models and talks about the next generation strategies for BoP, discussing the concept of 'green leap'.

3 Stuart Hart. Keynote speech by Stuart Hart. He explains the evolution of BoP concept from selling to the poor and find a fortune 'at' BOP approach to innovation and co-create 'with' BoP. Prof.Hart introduces 'BoP protocol' that would serve as a guideline to design and implement BOP business models and talks about the next generation strategies for BoP, discussing the concept of 'green leap'.

2 J-P Ponssard and Gérard Andreck. Welcome notes and opening remarks

The purpose of this report is to provide a synthesis of the research workshop 'Sustainability and Impact Challenges at the Base of the Pyramid', that took place on 8th February 2011 in Paris. This conference effort was jointly organized by Ecole Polytechnique, ESSEC Business School and HEC Paris.