I read CK Prahalad (and Gary Hamel’s) “Competing for the Future” in October 1994, just as I was struggling to come up with a plan for what I wanted to do next. And as I immersed myself in the book, I made jottings which later become the outline for IndiaWorld. His next book, expected in 2003, is tentatively entitled “Co-creating the Future”, according to FT.
Quotes from an FT interview with CK Prahalad:
The most fundamental convergence is between the role of producer and the role of consumer. The consumer goes from being a very passive person to being a very active co-creator of products, services and value.
Consumers can also help create value. Co-creation of value becomes a premise of the emerging economy.
We think about value being created through lower costs or improved processes. I am saying that we have to move to a consumer-centric view in which value is created through dialogue, collaboration and partnership [with customers].
We need to move beyond customisation to personalisation.
In future, companies will have to think of themselves as managing “experiences” for customers. Thus interaction between producer and consumer is not restricted to the point at which money changes hands. There are opportunities to exchange ideas when products are being designed, manufactured, or used long after the company ceases to have any warrantied responsibility.
Companies spent the 20th century managing efficiencies. They must spend the 21st century managing experiences.
