Having jointly created a business plan, the Core Team needs to re-engage with the broader community in an effort to gain broad support and trust for the venture. There are four primary tasks involved in this process: presenting the business plan to the community, establishing mechanisms for ongoing community input, building the MNC brand, and reassessing opportunities for value creation.
Presenting to the Greater Community
The Core Team should vet the business plan with a broader constituency of community members, other stakeholders, and possibly even competitors. The fundamental objective of this task is to listen attentively for overlooked concerns and possible alternatives, adopting a stance of humility and respect for different perspectives. Changes should be made to the business model as appropriate, and additional partners added to the Core Team as necessary. The idea is not to get unanimous agreement – since that may not be possible, even though it is desirable – but to engage in an open, respectful and transparent dialogue with the community that results in broad support of the path forward.
Establishing Mechanism for Ongoing Community Input
In the spirit of transparency and in recognition of the venture’s responsibility to the local community, the Core Team should institute a mechanism that allows for the broader community to periodically report-back on the venture’s performance and to raise possible concerns. One option might be to include community members in the collecting, analyzing and reporting of scorecard metrics. The data and the reports would be made public and accessible to the community through the local enterprise office. Additionally, the Core Team could institute regular “town-hall” sessions that provide a forum for raising concerns.
Building the MNC Brand
Engagements with the community present an opportunity for the MNC Team to raise awareness of the MNC’s brand. Establishing the MNC brand as reliable, trustworthy, and of high quality increases access to valuable resources and capabilities within the community, enhances legitimacy, and may generate additional business opportunities. To effectively manage this process and to leverage the MNC Team’s interactions with the greater community, the MNC Team should establish a clear brand strategy. This strategy should make explicit the relationship of the local BoP venture to the MNC’s corporate brand.
Reassessing Opportunities for Value Creation
The MNC Team should also utilize the feedback from the community in assessing the MNC Team’s own strategic plan. In addition to ensuring alignment between the community and the MNC’s objectives, the feedback may bring to light parallel opportunities to leverage the MNC’s current suite of products and services. Additionally, the MNC Team may identify new competencies or capabilities that it can develop and deploy locally or in its Top of the Pyramid markets.