Adapting a causality model of technical systems to represent socio-technical systems: A Case study from the BoP

• The base of the world economic pyramid, generally called the base of the pyramid (BoP), consists of four billion people with average daily income of four dollars. Over the past several years, the design and development of products and services for BoP markets has been investigated by several authors from different disciplines. While some authors suggest a systems approach to design and develop products and services for these markets, a little work has been carried out in this area. Specifically, no studies have been found in the reviewed literature that systematically explain how businesses bring about systemic changes in BoP markets. This study methodically explains how businesses bring about systemic changes in these markets through the design and development process. In order to explain these systemic changes, the study first describes the development of a causality-model for socio-technical systems by modifying a causality-model of technical systems. It then explains the developed causality model for the BoP. Lastly, it tests this model by an in-depth investigation of a case study from the BoP. The findings systematically explain the need of: gaining an in-depth understanding of the existing BoP system to bring about desired actions (e.g. gaining profits, satisfying under-served or un-met needs of BoP customers, etc.); including different stakeholders from the BoP in the design and development process; and appropriately modifying existing BoP system before deploying products and services. In addition, this study proposes some applications of the developed causality-model to support practitioners involved in designing, developing and assessing interventions (i.e. products and services) for BoP markets.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Base of the pyramid (BoP)

causality

socio-technical systems

interventions

Publikations- och innehållstyp

kon (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)