Multinational Companies in Low-Income Markets

'Alleviating poverty through the pursuit of profit' has become a catch phrase for many entrepreneurs and business people who started to focus their businesses on the lower incomes segments of the population at the 'Base of the Pyramid' (BOP). Despite such business interests, there is, as yet, insufficient theoretical and empirical work done in this emerging field. Social embeddedness, which facilitates the leveraging of local knowledge and expertise and the earning of the trust of the local people, is deemed essential for the successful implementation of a BOP strategy. What does social embeddedness mean? What does it entail for the businesses? How should businesses be embedded in the local networks? Dina Badry seeks to answer these questions in her excellent dissertation through her conceptualization and empirical research which examines the different strategic intentions of business units operation at the BOP level and their potential network partners, following social network theory. I have little doubt that this study has contributed to our understanding of social embeddedness and will prove itself to be invaluable for academics as well as practitioners. Prof. Dr. Li-Choy Chong VII Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation has been a significant academic and personal challenge in my life. Fortunately, I have received invaluable support, patience and guidance from many people to whom I want to express my sincere gratitude. I would like to thank my dissertation committee, Prof. Dr. Li-Choy Chong and Prof. Dr.

Dr. Dina Badry obtained her doctorate under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Li-Choy Chong and Prof. Dr. Günther Müller-Stewens at St. Gallen University's Institute for International Management in Asia.