CK PRAHALAD: THE MIND OF THE FUTURIST RARE INSIGHTS ON LIFE, LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY by BENEDICT PARAMANAND

Author:BENEDICT PARAMANAND [PARAMANAND, BENEDICT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Publisher: Westland
Published: 2014-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Global Impact --

Don of Business

He had this great gift to get people together, to show them a different way of thinking. What we had to do amounted to no less than a corporate cultural revolution of immense magnitude. Jan Timmer, CEO, Philips, on reviving Philips during his tenure

CK Prahalad's ‘Fortune at the BoP’ taught us to unlock the enormous potential. In fact, it was the root of the success of HUL, root of our success in many other places. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and the Standards of Corporate Behaviour we are setting up would not have been possible without him. Paul Polman, Chairman, Unilever

CK was loved by this board of directors. He was someone who the board counted on, his opinion mattered. He impacted the company by making sure that NCR didn’t lose its focus on innovation. Bill Nuti, Chairman, NCR Corporation

It was a bright morning in July 1991 when CK dashed into a room full of waiting Royal Philips Electronics’ top executives at their headquarters in Amsterdam. He looked grim. Without the usual pleasantries, he brandished a report from the local newspaper that morning, which said that Philips was headed towards bankruptcy and that the bankers wanted to know what the management’s game plan was.

CK saw stunned faces. He paused for effect, but he didn’t give them any time to vent their disbelief among themselves. They looked as if the ground was falling off under their feet.

Jan Timmer had just joined Philips as its new CEO, which he described as a moribund company needing an invasive surgery. Luckily for him, he had found a surgeon with whom he said he had a ‘meeting of minds’ during their first lunch meeting itself. Together, they were ready to launch Project Centurion – a long and painful exercise to revive Philips. It was called Centurion because it was exactly hundred years since the company was founded in 1891.

Timmer handed over the operation theatre to CK and was happy to play the role of his ‘side kick’. CK was not new to Philips. He was already teaching there and knew what and where the malaise was. It’s just that its senior executives were in royal denial which forced CK to use unconventional methods to force them to act.

Once the shock treatment was delivered, CK and Timmer called the 100 top executives to an auditorium, split them into two groups and gave them three hours and a one line brief – come back with a revival plan as if it is your last.

Timmer let CK take the centre stage while he hung around. He describes this day vividly: “CK threatened them. He predicted doom and gloom and he held up the mirror to them and showed them how terribly bad they were. He was like an exorcist, driving out all the bad habits of these people and he did that in very clear terms. I have hardly ever seen him so hard and direct.”

After three hours, the two groups got back with

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