Human Resource Management in Social Enterprises: Insights from the Rural Base of the Pyramid

Serving rural communities in developing countries has proven to be challenging due in part to the lack of infrastructure, of public services and of skilled human resources that characterize these regions, also known as the base of the pyramid (BoP). Organizations delivering products and services to this segment of the market often require trained personnel. Unfortunately, the education levels of individuals living in these communities is extremely low and, in most cases, limited to the ability to read and write. We study how social entrepreneurs manage their human resources to serve effectively rural communities in developing countries. Our focus is on selection and recruiting, training and compensation practices. We analyze and compare these practices by two social enterprises that have effectively served rural BoP communities for more than 10 years. Our comparative analysis suggests a systematic human resource approach that relies on local community leaders, whose development include training and compensation methods that respond to the context limitations.

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