Could the pitch-black villages and shantytowns of the developing world present an opportunity to alleviate poverty, improve education, goose green technology, save some energy, and create jobs -- all in one package?

If someone were to do a poll of the Top 10 breakthrough ideas in management in the decade gone by, the concept of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) would without doubt be somewhere at the top of the list. The idea—that there is a huge untapped opportunity for companies in creating value for and serving the 4 billion people comprising the world's poor—has captured the imagination of companies across the world. Overnight, multinationals like Unilever and SC Johnson launched initiatives in this direction.

By analyzing the bleak future of traditional economies and illustrating the huge benefits that sustainable development might bring as well as the unlimited business opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid, Hart could not be more persuasive in his conviction that capitalism must take a new course.

Classes that explore the controversial "base of the pyramid" economic development theory are proliferating at B-schools around the world.

Stuart Hart, founder of "base of the pyramid" economics, talks about terrorism, poverty, and the next big corporations

Read about how venture philanthropy fund Acumen uses design thinking to help solve real-world problems.

A BoP Learning Lab is launched at Stellenbosch Graduate School of Business (USB) in South Africa.

Professor Stuart Hart will be the first speaker in a three-year lecture series that promotes the creation of business initiatives that reduce poverty and health care inequities in Chicago as well as developing nations.

SC Johnson talks about being a member of the BoP Learning Lab and the BoP Protocol.

The Base of the Pyramid Protocol pilot program in Kenya is highlighted in this article that includes a quote from Professor Stuart Hart and interview of alumni Justin DeKoszmovsky (MBA '06), who began to work on the project while he was still an MBA student.