Tuesday April 20, 2010
Dear BPS Members,
You probably have heard about the untimely passing of CK Prahalad last Friday (April 16, 2010). The loss of CK will be felt far and wide: not only to his family and friends but to the many academics and practicing managers whose lives he has touched. Indeed there are few individuals who have had the kind of global impact on academic thought and management practice that CK Prahalad has achieved. His writings on multinational companies, strategic alliances, competitive dynamics, and dominant logics have all become classics in international business and strategy management. But CK is of course still best known for his 1990 HBS article (co-authored with Gary Hamel), The Core Competence of the Firm. My hunch is that there is not a single BPS member who has taught strategy any time over the past twenty years who has not spent considerable time discussing core competences, and has found the concept to resonate strongly with students. And for a new generation of students, Prahalad’s 2004 book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid provided the inspiration and confidence to think beyond “business as usual” and to embrace the notion that business can do well while doing good.
As a colleague of CK’s for several years at the University of Michigan I have my own fond memories: CK was much in demand around the world, consulting with managers, governments and academics and, as such, was not a regular fixture around campus. But when he was there you could be sure to find him talking animatedly with students and faculty about their latest projects, and every conversation generated new insights and ideas to help push those projects ahead. We in the BPS community mourn CK’s passing and salute a great thinker and a fascinating and generous human being.
Sincerely,
Joanne Oxley,
BPS Division Chair
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto ON M5S 3E6
Canada
Tel: 416-978-0305
Fax: 416-978-4629
<mailto:
joanne.oxley@rotman.utoronto.ca>