In October 2007 a series of wildfires broke out across California, endangering the lives of its inhabitants. A state of emergency was declared and the authorities started evacuating people. But even as the fires raged dangerously close to his neighbourhood, it was business as usual for one San Diego resident. He quietly packed his bag and took a flight out to Houston and then to Atlanta. He had more pressing business to attend to than bother about his house burning down. The man was C.K. Prahalad. And he was going to speak at the TiE chapters (a global non-profit entrepreneurship organisation) in Atlanta and Houston, something he always did for free — even paying his own hotel and travel expenses. His close friend and TiE Global CEO Suren Dutia told Prahalad that he could have always addressed TiE later. Prahalad said, “Suren, I had made a commitment. I have to keep my word.” That was C.K. Prahalad for you. Commitment meant more than his own well-being.
But the one book that really set him apart from the others was ‘The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profit’. The book offered a radical new way for companies to look at doing business with the poor. The book, which is into its fifth anniversary edition now, scorched bestseller charts as companies like Hindustan Unilever implemented his concepts. Till date, everyone concurs that this is Prahalad’s most influential piece of work. “Amongst his many contributions, he will be singled out for his work on the bottom of the pyramid. Who would have thought that you could fight poverty profitably?” asks Bala Balachandran, Professor Emeritus of Accounting Information & Management, Kellogg School of Management, and an old friend of Prahalad’s.
Praja had barely taken off when the Internet went bust. Prahalad and Jain tried to salvage the situation by putting in more of their personal money. But the companies weren’t biting — Praja’s product cost between $200,000-$300,000. No one was willing to invest that kind of money. Part of the skepticism from the clients’ side came from whether Praja would still be around a few years from now. “It was such an expensive software. Normally these companies would have partly invested in us but they didn’t because of the Internet bust,” says Jain. “When nothing worked we decided to move on.”
(This story appears in the 21 May, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Great article. Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad (8 August 1941 -€“ 16 April 2010) was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan. He was renowned as the co-author of "Core Competence of the Corporation"[4] (with Gary Hamel) and "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" (with Stuart L. Hart). Writings, interests, and business experience: In the earlier days of Prahalad's fame as established management guru, in the beginning of the 90's, he advised Philips' Jan Timmer on the restructuring of this electronic corporation, then on the brink of collapse. With the resulting, successful, 2-€“3 year long Operation Centurion he also frequently stood for the Philips management troops. C. K. Prahalad is the co-author of a number of well known works in corporate strategy, including The Core Competence of the Corporation (with Gary Hamel, Harvard Business Review, May–June 1990) which continues to be one of the most frequently reprinted articles published by the Harvard Business Review.[9] He authored or co-authored several international bestsellers, including: Competing for the Future (with Gary Hamel, 1994), The Future of Competition (with Venkat Ramaswamy, 2004), and The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits (Wharton School Publishing, 2004). His last book, co-authored by M. S. Krishnan and published in April 2008, is called The New Age of Innovation. Prahalad was co-founder and became CEO of Praja Inc. ("Praja" from a Sanskrit word "Praja" which means "citizen" or "common people"). The goals of the company ranged from allowing common people to access information without restriction (this theme is related to the "bottom of pyramid" or BOP philosophy) to providing a testbed for various management ideas. The company eventually laid off 1/3 of its workforce and was sold to TIBCO. In 2004, Prahalad also co-founded the boutique management consultancy, The Next Practice, to support companies in implementing the strategies outlined in The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. The company continues in operation today. At the time of his death, he was still on the board of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs. Prahalad has been among top ten management thinkers in every major survey for over ten years. Business Week said of him: "a brilliant teacher at the University of Michigan, he may well be the most influential thinker on business strategy today." He was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission of the United Nations on Private Sector and Development. He was the first recipient of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Award for contributions to Management and Public Administration presented by the President of India in 1999. A great management guru and thought leader with an open mind and a passion for working towards the less privileged citizens of the society†Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid †, authored by Dr Prahalad after extensive research of the dynamics of the Indian rural market shaped the government policies and business strategies of many Indian companies and MNC’s while positioning their service offerings for the Indian market . While retaining his global outlook in managerial thinking , Dr Prahalad understood fully the special needs and opportunities for India and advocated policy initiatives to leverage the unique endowments of Indians and India to the global business community. In the 70s Dr.E.F.Schumacher’s Book SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL caught the attention of the world and similarly the book by Dr.C.K.Prahalad , : Eradicating Poverty through Profits. Dr.Prahalad will long be remembered for his concern for the underprivileged. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
on Jul 31, 2013Very well presented article; I had the previlige to hear Him at ISB,Hyderabad. The world will miss a Visionary. My condolences to all those who miss Him; We all miss Him!
on May 6, 2010This very well-written article reveals the many interesting facets behind the stern visage of Mr. CKP - a visionary, a man who honoured commitment under all circumstances, the excellent teacher, a loving husband, father and grandfather, the connoisseur of Wine & Indian Art.... Thank you, Neelima and Forbes India. The lines quoted from the mail sent by Mr.CKP just one week before he passed away - "I am in ICU in Scripps for the last 16 days and I am now stable but not recovering fully yet%u2026Good view of the Torrey Pines golf course and ocean from my room." - show the never-say-die spirit of this modern-day Alchemist. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Thanks and regards, Geetha
on May 3, 2010