Scott Anderson

Friday Roundup ? 4/08/11: Honoring Prahalad

Next week marks the one-year anniversary of C.K. Prahalad’s death. And two universities are working to honor his legacy and advance his philosophy that business can address social challenges on a global scale.

University of San Diego will host the conference – C.K. Prahalad’s Legacy: Business for Poverty Alleviation, set for Sept. 15-17. The conference aims to celebrate and build upon the Base of the Pyramid field Prahalad pioneered. Organizers are seeking theoretical and empirical research papers on topics ranging from partnerships between businesses and NGOs, corporate social responsibility and BoP market development. The papers will be considered for publication in a special journal issue. Find out more on the conference here and the call for papers here.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where Prahalad was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Strategy, is establishing The C.K. Prahalad Initiative. After Prahalad’s passing last April, a task force of various academic and private enterprise colleagues in consultation with the Prahalad family was empaneled. Dean Robert Dolan unveiled the group’s mission statement: “The C.K. Prahalad Initiative brings together the resources of the Ross School to pursue fundamental questions about the role of business in global society and how innovation can shape the relationship between profit generation and social value creation.”

More specifics are forthcoming, but Dolan notes the initiative will create action-based learning for students and faculty research, while seeking supporters for student scholarships, a visiting professorship and an executive in residence program.

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