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CK Prahalad Releases Two New Case Studies
November 4, 2009 — 07:30 am
 According
to Thinkers
50, a biennial ranking of business gurus, C.K.
Prahalad is the most influential management thinker in
the world. This is the second straight time that Prahalad
has topped the list.
"C.K. Prahalad's influence on
the business world is immense," said Des Dearlove,
co-creator of the ranking, in a statement. "He coined the
term 'core competencies' in the 1990s, which set the
strategy agenda for a generation of managers. More recently,
his work on The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid has
shown the role business can play in tackling world poverty."
Now C.K. Prahalad has released
two new BoP case studies: Jaipur
Rugs and Bharti
Airtel.
Jaipur Rugs: Beginning with the purchase of two
rug looms in 1978, Jaipur Rugs CEO, N.K. Chaudhary has built
the largest hand knotted rug export company in India,
employing 40,000 people across seven states in north India.
The Jaipur Rugs business model has successfully connected
rural poor with markets of the rich, through the development
of a global supply chain, built around mobilizing human
capability and skills at the grassroots level and finding
steady jobs for rural men and women in the most depressed
parts of India. Mr. Chaudhary has defined his leadership
style in this way: "Leadership means losing oneself. The
more someone loses himself, the more he can understand about
society. The more I lose my ego, the more I can see the
talent in my people and the society."
(Note: Jennifer Anderson,
Nina Henning, Marion Ntiru and Shara Senior prepared this
case under the supervision of C.K. Prahalad)
Bharti Airtel: This
case study on India's wireless giant shows how the firm
exemplifies many of the tenets set forth in Prahalad's
book, The
New Age of Innovation. Case
A presents the history of India's wireless
telecommunications industry and the unique challenges faced
by operators in that environment. It also gives the
background on Airtel, introduces its leaders, and describes
some of the biggest challenges facing the company. Case
B presents varied strategies that Airtel has pursued to
become one of the most profitable wireless
telecommunications companies in the world, despite the fact
that it operates in one of the poorest countries on Earth.
Airtel changed the industry by moving away from such
standard metrics as Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and has
employed alternative measurements for success. It has also
relied heavily on outsourcing non-core functions and
designed unique Value-Added Services for its varied customer
base.
(Note: Sam Bryson, Joshua
Katz and Sheel Mohnot prepared this case under the
supervision of C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan.)
To read and purchase the cases,
visit The
William Davidson Institute's website,GlobaLens or
click on the following direct links:
online location
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