article thumbnail

Businesses Serving the Poor Need to Get Over Their Unease About Profit

Harvard Business Review

Prahalad and his colleagues more than a decade ago in a series of articles and books, and it has stuck in the minds of businesspeople, policy makers, and nonprofits despite results that can only be described as dismal. Prahalad's brilliance and persuasiveness certainly had something to do with it. It was laid down by C.K.

article thumbnail

Beyond Core Competence

Harvard Business Review

The latter just signed a partnership agreement with Microsoft to develop new mobile solutions, after the new CEO acknowledged that the phone maker has been left behind by its competitors. Companies that are too obsessed with design competence could suffer, especially in the developing markets.