The CK Prahalad Award will recognize demonstrated models and pioneering approaches to social innovation in the following categories:  a) products, b) services, and c) business models.  The awards will look for new and re-imagined models that deliver value to all stakeholders.

The projects recognized by these awards will ideally showcase one or more of the following traits:

 

1. ability to scale and “shape the future”

2. a co-created and/ or inspirational approach that can be implemented widely

3. a sustainable approach that delivers value to multiple stakeholders

4. a novel product or process design that widens adoption and inclusion

5. Creation of new networks or collaborations

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About CK Prahalad

 

The late Dr. CK Prahalad was a Distinguished University Professor of Strategy at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.  A leading thinker in the strategy and innovation field, he was twice ranked the World’s Most Influential Management Thinker by Thinkers50.  In his seminal work, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, he argued for industry to play a leading role in addressing poverty and other social challenges through innovative, co-created, for-profit models.

 

Today, the narrative of business as a force for good has taken hold, yet the changes required to innovate in a more inclusive manner remain significant. Prahalad frequently shared his optimism about the ability of the poor and people inside companies to collaborate and make the world a better place. The tests he used to measure new concepts were straightforward:

 

 Will it change the conversation? 

 Does it show the opportunity? 

 Will it lead to some action? 

 

The thesis that four billion poor people around the world represented a vibrant consumer market, that this market could best be tapped with for-profit models, and that the poor themselves had to be partners in the process satisfies all these three conditions.  This wave of bringing the benefits of capitalism to the underserved is no longer limited to emerging markets, but a global debate today.  We hope to recognize leaders who embrace this challenge by showcasing their approaches and creating a network to magnify their impact.