Business people have best opportunity to do social good'

Updated on: Thursday, January 27, 2011

In recognition of C.K. Prahalad's outstanding contribution to thought leadership, the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan has started pooling of thinkers to carry forward his work on innovation driven by affordability and sustainability in India, a prime place for inclusive business models. Prahalad had spent 30 years at the institution.

Dean of the Ross School of Business Robert J. Dolan told The Hindu that the initiative was to gather resource pool and alumni to carry forward Prahalad's message that business people have the best opportunity to do social good, in an inclusive way.

The business school offered action-based learning, also called experiential learning, by allowing students to do research in the field for two to three months. Annually, seven to eight projects were taken up in India. The school was marshalling resources for the past 15 years to tap the sources of next practices of innovation driven by affordability and sustainability, for which India was one of the prime laboratories, he said.

Mr. Dolan, along with Executive Director of CK Prahalad Initiative Paul Gediman and John Copeland, Director, Strategic Planning and Special Projects, Ross School of Business, are visiting the country, interacting with alumni in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

“It is not us reaching out. Alumni are reaching out to us. Everyone is in agreement on the responsibility to carry on the work of CK,” he said, expecting two possible outcomes from the initiative. The first impact would be on partnership with companies to improve innovative practices at the level of individual organisations. At the next level, taking on all the individual experiences, the school would develop general principles to offer courses and teaching material across the world that could become guidelines for future best practices, he noted.

In India, the Ross School has the great advantage of its alumni of about 100 knowledgeable people on whose lives CK has had a lasting impact, for furthering the initiative. “The alumni here are quite enthusiastic. There is a feeling that we have really to do something to perpetuate CK's way of thinking and impact on society. The initiative will be a long term sustainable proposition,” Mr. Dolan said.

The school has instituted Prahalad fellowships from the next academic year to identify people who have demonstrated CK's thought in previous work from across the world; visiting professorship for faculty and executive residence programme for executives taking time from work to think on social impact possibilities in future.

“India is a prime place for innovation driven by affordability and sustainability,” he said. Aravind Eye Hospital, Tata's Nano car and the telecom revolution were examples of the models discussed in typical business schools in the United States.

“The Prahalad Initiative will focus on business professionals, academic audience and policy makers in the government for creating social impact,” Mr. Dolan observed.

Business people have best opportunity to do social good'

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