World has lost a great thought leader: Manmohan on C K Prahalad

Aspen Institute India, CII, NASSCOM, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and Young India today jointly held a memorial service in honour of the famous management guru C K Prahalad who passed away recently. Paying tribute to the great visionary, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the world has lost a great thought leader.

Prahalad showed how creative ideas carry the power to change human lives. He was concerned about how to get rid of the chronic poverty faced by a large number of Indians but saw this as an opportunity for radical change. Prahalad did not believe in incrementalism. He believed that a country with a billion people should not have to look outward for best practices but should innovate for next practices. Singh further said his evangelising zeal had taught businesses to create new markets and made India a hub for innovation.

Minister of Human Resource and Development, Kapil Sibal, who was also present there said that Prahalad was connected to the ordinary people of India and the trauma that they faced in their daily lives. “He believed that without economic prosperity, technology and moral leadership, India would not be able to achieve its goals”, added Sibal. Prahlad’s family — his wife, son and daughter — also spoke on the occasion.

CII, president, Hari Bhartia, recalled Prahalad had taught him many lessons in entrepreneurship and innovation. His foremost contribution was the notion that the poor of the world are a viable business proposition. The philosophy of the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid has had radical implications for billions of people living on less than two dollars a day. At the time of the global recession, it was rural India that continued to grow and attract the attention of businesses.