C K Prahalad was one of the few Indians who made a mark in the area of management science in the last century. He was along with Pankaj Ghemawat and Sumantra Ghoshal, the few Indians who were at the forefont of management science.
While he was always acknowledged as one of the top most management thinkers, what made him transcend the management field and be acknowledged as a great thinker was his seminal book "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits".
Incidentally, this book was the first management book that I read five years back. The case that impressed me the most was the ITC e-choupal case. Funny that I am now writing this blog at a time when I am studying in an institution whose alumnus is responsible for creating the e-choupal revolution.
It is indeed a great loss to the field of management science. But ideas last longer than the man himself.
And Prahalad's ideas of "core competency" and "the BOP magic" will live on and help managers to demystify the complex environment in which they operate.
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more with you Nitin. While being a topmost management guru, his heart always stayed in India. I think his ideas were responsible for the Project Shakti of HUL (He was a board member of HUL). The most important contribution of CKP for India was that he gave a vision to Indian Business leaders to think business not only as a means of earning profits but also as a means of contributing to the nation's progress. He wanted them to think about the underprivileged and how businesses can be used for their benefit. And his ideas were more than just the normal CSR crap which the business houses pursued for the sake of good PR.
I have the recording of the last lecture which he delivered for the Nani Palkhiwala memorial in Mumbai. And the passion with which he envisions about the future of our country speaks a lot about his love for his motherland.
Great man. Great Ideas. Rest in pease CKP.
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