PM hails C.K. Prahalad vision
Remembering management guru C.K. Prahalad, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that he believed through innovation and creative entrepreneurship it is possible to create ideas which can change the course of human endeavour.
“He felt that we must set a target of current resources, a target unmatched by current resources so that we innovate to reach our goal. He didn’t believe that resources are a fixed entity and that through innovation, through creative entrepreneurship, it is possible to create ideas which can change the course of human endeavour,” said Dr Singh at the memorial service for Dr Prahalad, organised jointly by Aspen Institute India, CII, Nasscom, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and Young India. Dr Prahalad had passed away in April this year at the age 69.
The Prime Minister said that Dr Prahalad used to say that a country with a billion people should not look outward for “best practices” but innovate “next practices”. Be it India’s telecom success, the Nano car or low cost airlines, Dr Prahalad saw them as India’s inclusive innovation. Dr Singh said that his belief in the Indian capacity for innovation, given its diversity and interrogative intellectual traditions made him celebrate Indian achievement and achievers.
Dr Prahalad passionately believed in India’s inherent potential and its chosen destiny. “He felt that India has reached a tipping point. He once told me that without doing very much we may be good, but if we do the right things now, we will truly become great,” said Dr Singh.
“He also demonstrated his belief that innovation should focus on the poor or those at the bottom of the pyramid. Dr Prahalad taught business to include those presently not in the market, and create new markets.” “Many companies have profited by putting these ideas into actual practice. His contributions in management like ‘competitive advantage’, ‘strategy as stretch’, ‘fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’ and ‘co-creation’ will all continue to excite his students and colleagues to walk those roads,” added Dr Singh.
During the occasion, Ms Gayatri Prahalad remembered how Dr Prahalad always pushed boundaries and never remained in a zone of comfort. “He urged people that reputation had to be earned and not bought,” she added.
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