CK Prahalad was an outstanding Management Thinker. He is famous for the concepts of core competence and Bottom of Pyramid.
Prahalad's theory affected many Indian and developing world retail outlets.
It was Prahalad's proposition that businesses stop thinking of the poor as victims and instead start seeing them as value-demanding consumers that drove companies such as Hindustan Lever and Godrej to come out with ultra-small sachets of everything from shampoo to gutka sparking off a retail revolution.
His 2004 book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, became a New York Times bestseller and catapulted him to a rock star among management thinkers although he was already a storied business guru by then.
Using case studies of Aravind Eye Hospital and Bank of Madura, both from his home turf, among others, Prahalad explored new business models targeted at providing goods and services to the poorest people in the world arguing that the fastest growing new markets and entrepreneurial opportunities were to be found among the billions of poor people "at the bottom of the [financial] pyramid." Even Bill Gates was impressed, saying Prahlad's ideas "offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability."
CK Prahalad believed that India can and should shape the emerging world order by acquiring enough economic strength, technological vitality and moral leadership. Just economic strength and technological maturity would not be enough. Morality is an integral part of Leadership. He emphasised all the three dimensions as equal measures in India's march to her destiny.
Core Principle as a vision for India, CK Prahalad mentions the following:-
1. Essence of Entrepreneurial Transformation
As a country, India must have high and shared Aspirations. A shared aspiration is fundamental for a changing India. The issue is not resources which our country is in possession of, but the balance between the Aspirations and the resources.
2. Folding the Future In
Folding the future in rather than extrapolating the past is fundamental. We have to have the vision of India as it would be 10 years ahead. We have to take small and clear steps which are directionally right. We take some steps with experimental purpose. We move with small steps but move with a sense of urgency and purpose.
3. Focussing on the Next Practice
Do not only focus on Best Practices. If everybody benchmarks everybody else, we will gravitate towards mediocrity. So, CK Prahalad suggests focusing on next practices. We have to amplify weak signals, see a new pattern of opportunity and have the courage to pursue them.
"My children often tell me India is our mother and USA our spouse. We have to love our mother no matter what," he said. Taking a cue from Jawaharlal Nehru's words, "Service of India means service of millions who suffer", Prahalad said, "India has a tendency to compromise its propensities. It is the task of non-resident Indians to hold up the mirror to their fellow countrymen."
NRIs, he feels, do not represent brain drain. Rather, "As my friend Sam Pitroda would say, they are the brain banks of India. To help NRIs contribute effectively to the growth of the country, India needs to make some critical changes."
He also delved on the Amul revolution in India. By involving women into this huge cooperative, Amul has proven how a small step forward can build an empire, he added.
The key to India's success, Prahalad thinks, lies in recognizing talents early and fast. Offering a lofty dream of hope and growth for India, he appealed to one and all, "Let's not say India cannot change, with efforts, it can and will.
Edited By-
GAURAV GUPTA
B.COM(H), IInd Year
