NextBillion joins in congratulating Prof. C. K. Prahalad. Prahalad, India-born management guru and academician, has been voted the world's most influential living management thinker in the Thinkers 50 biennial poll.

A professor at the University of Michigans' Stephen M Ross School of Business (and - full disclosure - a member of WRI's Board of Directors), Prahalad specializes in corporate strategy research and is a globally
known figure consulted by the top management of many of the world's foremost companies.

Prahalad, who is the first Indian-origin thinker to claim the title, was ranked number three in last year's Thinkers 50 list brought out by
Suntop Media.

Each guru was assessed against criteria including Originality and Practicality of Ideas, Presentation Style and Communication, Loyalty of Followers, Business Sense, International Outlook, Rigor of Research, Impact of Ideas - and the clincher, "Guru Factor".

Prahalad is probably best known for his work with Gary Hamel on resource-based strategy, which gave rise to the term "core competence". The poll might drive new interest in Prof. Prahalad's work on the Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.