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1 – 10 of over 6000This interview of C.K. Prahalad, one of the world's leading strategic thinkers, aims to offer corporate leaders a practical look at the radical concepts presented in his The New…
Abstract
Purpose
This interview of C.K. Prahalad, one of the world's leading strategic thinkers, aims to offer corporate leaders a practical look at the radical concepts presented in his The New Age of Innovation (HBP, 2008), written with M.S. Krishnan. A lengthy review of the book is also in this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The questions for this interview were researched by a team of Strategy & Leadership contributing editors. The interview was conducted by Robert J. Allio, a consultant who has previously been a senior executive at major US and Canadian corporations and a business school dean.
Practical implications
Prahalad believes that many businesses will undergo a transformation in the near future as value shifts from offering products to providing co‐created personalized experiences.
Originality/value
Because his new ideas explore the cutting‐edge of management innovation, managers will likely appreciate having Prahalad explain how his new model works. It posits that value will be determined by one customer co‐created experience at a time, defined as n=1; and to compete successfully in this environment, firms must access resources from multiple outside sources, either local or global, defined as R=G. In this interview he discusses the practical steps needed to ready a company to compete in this new business landscape.
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C.K. Prahalad is the Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan Business…
Abstract
C.K. Prahalad is the Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan Business School. Previous appointments include a visiting professorship at INSEAD and a professorship at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where he was also Chairman of the Management Education Program. Here he talks to Sarah Powell about the concept of co‐creation.
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Brian Leavy and Deependra Moitra
Strategy & Leadership asked the originator of the concept of co‐creation of unique value with customers to explain how it works in theory and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
Strategy & Leadership asked the originator of the concept of co‐creation of unique value with customers to explain how it works in theory and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Questions for this interview were prepared by both academics familiar with C.K. Prahalad's concepts and managers struggling to innovate new value propositions.
Findings
Co‐creation theory asks a basic question. What if: Consumer ≥ the Firm? Instead of assuming that their firm can innovate unilaterally, managers are learning to depend on the consumers to be involved. They shift from product innovations to experience innovations.
Research limitations/implications
Case studies of the development of new experienced‐based value propositions need to address issues such as sustainability of competitive advantage.
Practical implications
The theory points the way to new growth opportunities. If we accept the role of the consumers in helping us create their own experience then finding new markets is not all that onerous. Look at Starbucks–coffee, credit cards, music, and wireless.
Originality/value
Raises basic and provocative questions about the role of the customer in the future of the firm.
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Jenny Hillemann and Alain Verbeke
The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that sound, mainstream international business (IB) thinking should be applied when assessing the economic opportunities available to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that sound, mainstream international business (IB) thinking should be applied when assessing the economic opportunities available to multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) markets.
Design/methodology/approach
We describe and evaluate critically the key points made in the BOP literature about the alleged attractiveness of BOP markets, and the alleged strengths of MNEs to penetrate these markets successfully. We revisit the managerial implications from the BOP literature using an internalization theory lens.
Findings
We demonstrate the weak conceptual grounding of conventional BOP thinking, which suggests that MNEs from developed economies should be very entrepreneurial and should systematically serve BOP markets with new products and business models. We also show the fallacy of the idea that a “success template” in one BOP market would be easily replicable in other BOP markets and would allow the MNE to earn economies of scale and scope.
Research implications
IB researchers should start conducting serious studies on the attractiveness of BOP markets for MNEs. They should also analyze seriously the micro-foundations of successful knowledge recombination in BOP markets and the limits to the transferability of success templates. Mainstream IB theory, namely internalization theory, is particularly well equipped to analyze the costs and benefits of entering BOP markets, building upon a comparative institutional logic.
Practical implications
Senior MNE managers should not allow themselves to be blinded by BOP gurus, advocating the alleged great benefits of penetrating BOP markets. BOP markets may be especially challenging international expansion targets for MNEs because of large institutional voids, high uncertainty, high “distance” vis-à-vis the home country market and the difficulties of transferring relevant knowledge from one BOP market to another.
Originality/value
This chapter is the first to show that mainstream IB research can be usefully applied to analyze the “real” attractiveness of BOP markets for MNEs. Comparative institutional analysis is proven to provide substantially more insight to make BOP market penetration work than past guru-talk on BOP markets.
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C.K. Prahalad and Larry Bennigson
As recently as 24 months ago, the principal focus of management attention was cost reduction. Today, the captivating target is growth. How do you account for this rapid shift in…
Timothy Kiessling and Michael Harvey
As organizations have expanded globally, control mechanisms utilized in the past may need to be supplemented with a new type of personnel, that of the inpatriate. Expatriates were…
Abstract
As organizations have expanded globally, control mechanisms utilized in the past may need to be supplemented with a new type of personnel, that of the inpatriate. Expatriates were the most widely used staffing for corporate control, but due to various issues, a complementary set of employees to facilitate corporate goals could be utilized. Inpatriation, as a practical and conceptual means to augment expatriation, is discussed, compared with, and contrasted to, expatriation. This research explores the use of inpatriates in facilitating global control.
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Unlike previous studies which emphasize market oriented performance from the perspective of firms or customers, but mainly internally, the paper proposes that firms should…
Abstract
Unlike previous studies which emphasize market oriented performance from the perspective of firms or customers, but mainly internally, the paper proposes that firms should prioritize customer‐focused performance defined totally externally from the perspective of targeted customers, which are the fundamental drivers of purchasing or repurchasing behaviors of customers and consequently the key to successful competition in the customer‐centered era. Then, the role of customer‐focused performance in the overall business performance system is examined. After the components and dynamics of customer‐focused performance are analyzed, much attention is given to its key determinants in perspective of a resource‐based view, which aims mainly at bridging the current gaps between strategic management and service management. In addition, important propositions are presented and future implications are discussed.
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