Maintaining a modest and low profile in the community, the pilot projects should be executed in stages in order that interim learnings are captured and the pilots reconfigured accordingly. Five primary tasks comprise the “Pilot Test and Assessment” process: staging & assessing the pilots, monitoring feedback mechanisms, establishing an exit plan, managing a competency portfolio, and refining the strategic plan.
Staging and Assessing the Pilots
The pilot projects should be structured and executed as a series of milestones or stage-gates in order to build-in opportunities for periodically assessing the venture’s impacts and for responding to contingencies. At the completion of each stage and with the help of local community partners, the Implementation Team would evaluate each pilot using a scorecard of metrics and indicators that were designed in collaboration with the broader community (see “Growing the Ecosystem”, Business Plan Development).
The results of the assessment should be documented, reported back to the community, and then made available through the local enterprise office. At this point, the Implementation Team would reassess the pilot’s operations and make the necessary adjustments to the product or service offering and/or the enterprise’s business model. Transparency and honesty are key principles that would guide the Team’s actions and decisions throughout this process.
Monitoring & Adjusting Feedback Mechanisms
It is important that the Team monitor the parallel feedback loops that allow individuals within the community to express concerns that would otherwise escape the Team’s attention (see “Growing the Ecosystem”, Community Consultation). In addition, the Team should proactively seek out “marginalized” voices (e.g., the poorest members of the community) to ensure that they are, at a minimum, not made worse off through the intervention. Doing so allows the Team to respond in a timely manner to potentially negative (as well as positive) unintended consequences and to adjust the pilots accordingly. The scorecard and its set of metrics and indicators should also be adjusted to reflect this feedback.
Establishing an Exit Plan
The possibility exists that the Implementation Team may decide to terminate some or all of the pilots based on the pilots’ performance or other unforeseen circumstances. In preparing for this eventuality, the Team should put into place an exit plan that strives to leave the community better off than before the venture was initiated. One possibility might be to pledge all of the pilots’ assets (e.g., equipment, technology) to the community. The Team should pay particular attention to ensuring continuity in the lives of those directly involved in the establishment and operation of the pilots.
Managing a Competency Portfolio
As stated earlier, simultaneously staging several small-scale pilots allows the Implementation Team to experiment with various derivations of a business model, incrementally adapting those that appear promising while closing down ones that fail to generate the desired results. The MNC Team should approach its development of new capabilities and competencies in the same fashion, using the pilots as a way to explore in parallel the development of several new capabilities and competencies. By maintaining an “options portfolio” of new capability development efforts, the MNC Team lowers the risk associated with any one effort while expanding the possibility of developing new, disruptive capabilities.
Refining the Revenue Model
As the BoP business model begins to take shape, the MNC Team should assess the financial and strategic viability of its revenue model. This task requires that the MNC Team forecast financial flows, identifying the key factors that will shape the profitability of the venture. In addition, the MNC Team should identify and gauge potential challenges to its ability to deliver customer value and to capture part of this value in the form of profits. The revenue model should be refined and metrics adjusted to optimize the MNC’s profit potential and to enhance the competitive sustainability of its position.