Abstract

The case revolves around “Sistema Ser” (SSer) (1), a private health care organization that serves the base of the pyramid (BOP) in northern Argentina, and its founder and director, Argentine gynecologist Dr. Jorge Gronda. In the late 1990s, Dr. Gronda had begun to serve the poor—particularly women in the remote Puna region—on an unpaid, voluntary basis. Eventually, the initiative developed into a formal network of organizations comprising CEGIN (a private enterprise and medical center offering preventive and primary gynecological services); a number of affiliated physicians and other health care providers (e.g., pharmacies); and Fundación Ser (FSer), a foundation that coordinates the affiliation of network providers and markets SSer among potential members. The SSer network is financially self-sustaining and, at the same time, able to provide affordable services to its patients from the BOP. SSer is based on a system of membership cards and a network of providers that offer high-quality services at a price 40- to 60- percent lower than that of other private providers.

For more than 15 years, SSer has been delivering primary health services, which cover 80 percent of the most common low-cost and non-complex health problems, mainly to people at the BOP and within San Salvador, the capital of the province of Jujuy. Recent developments have led Dr. Gronda to consider options for scaling his organization’s impact. He wonders whether he should geographically expand the delivery of SSer’s existing service portfolio in order to reach BOP communities outside of San Salvador, or whether he should extend SSer’s service portfolio by delivering additional services in San Salvador.

The case illustrates the development path of a social innovation born of a volunteer initiative and transformed into a sustainable structure. One of its main objectives is to make students aware of key factors that need to be considered in regard to scaling decisions in general and those at the base of the pyramid in particular.

(1) At the time this case was finalized, the founders of Sistema Ser were planning to rename their organization into “Umana”.

Abstract

Poverty, illiteracy and gender discrimination have been the underlying factors that have stifled development in the villages of Jharkhand state in northern India. In 2006, Hudlung village located in the outskirts of the steel city of Jamshedpur was acutely stricken by poverty with about 80% of the population living below the poverty line, as defined by the Government of India. Gender discrimination against females was also a rampant practice and avenues of education as well as employment were few and far between. The men of the households used to work in the paddy fields or as contract laborers in the steel industry, while the women took care of household chores.

This abysmal situation was prevalent when the Jains, Anurag and Shikha, decided to initiate a new paradigm of socio-economic empowerment of the local community. In 2007, they started Neev Herbal handmade Soaps with the vision to produce the highest quality hand crafted herbal products while providing a dignified means of employment for rural women and rejuvenating the rural economy. The enterprise has since had a remarkable transformative effect on the village community.

Currently, Neev products are primarily sold through 180 retail store partners spread across India and to a lesser extent through 10 niche e-tailing partners. The latest annual revenues for Neev stand close to Rs. 4.5 million. With a good market presence in the Metros and Tier I cities, Neev is exploring the prospects of partnering with mass market e-tailers to target customer bases in Tier II and Tier III Indian cities. This would not only generate more employment opportunities for the women of Hudlung but also enable it to compete with other herbal soap manufacturers who have already adopted the e-tailing channel.