Mumbai: C.K. Prahalad is now the World's foremost Management Guru. The globally recognized business consultant has been placed at No.1 in the "Thinkers 50" list released in London on Wednesday.

Prahalad who is a Professor of Corporate Strategy at the University of Michigan Ross School Of Business earned this rare dignity owing to his role at top management in diversified multinational corporations.

Prahalad's research basically focuses on next practices, corporate strategy and the role of top management in diversified multinational corporations.

His recent work addresses a complex emerging market, the world's poor and the innovative business models that will help end world poverty.

''Not many management thinkers actually follow up important early ideas with genuinely groundbreaking future ideas. This is what Mr. C.K. Prahalad has managed to do. His work with Gary Hamel set the strategic agenda of the 1990s. Now, with ''The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid'', he has established the social, entrepreneurial and economic agenda of our times,'' said Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove of Suntop Media, the organisation which brings out the Thinkers 50 ranking.

"Thinkers 50" is an initiative of Suntop Media which gives international ranking to business thought leaders - scholars, educators, consultants, executives, economists, and social scientists from all over the world.

The ideas of the personalities set the agenda for management theory and practice and whose actions and recommendations influence commerce on a global scale.

This year, in the "Thinkers 50", four Indians found place in the list including Prahalad. The other Indian management gurus are: CEO Coach Ram Charan at No. 22, innovation guru Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck Business School at No. 23 and Harvard's Rakesh Khurana at No. 45.

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