C.K.Prahlad and his work: an assessment

Abstract

To assess and put in perspective the late C K Prahalad’s contributions to strategic management is not easy. So vast was his canvas that it would be difficult to even rank his contributions in some order of importance. He coined many terms that have become common parlance, and in some cases popularized the use of terms that might have existed in some corner of the academic world, but that were taken out, dusted and refurbished: “strategic intent,” “loose bricks,” “next practices,” “co-creation,” and of course, the two phrases for which most of the practioners would remember him: “core competence” and “bottom of the pyramid.” Each of the ideas were not just developed and put in a journal; each was developed to a point at which it became a concept that could be put to practical use. That was how he was such a towering presence as much in the world of practioners as in the world of academicians: he would be the centre of attention as much in a conference of Chief Executives as in an Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, giving a keynote address.