MBAgoblue

January 22nd, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^

CK kicks ass. I took his class at the B-school some years ago, which wasn't really a class, but more a seminar of the things in which he was interested at that time. The man is top-end smart. It was fun just being in the room with one of the world's greatest business thinkers. EDIT: Removed references to "core competencies" and Bottom of the Pyramid since they are both in the article...

Joined: 07/09/2008

MGoPoints: 2623

Jinxed

January 22nd, 2010 at 5:31 PM ^

He's not really a "Michigan Man"... he's actually a "Harvard Man" who works for the University of Michigan. I know that this will draw negs.. but we really do claim a lot of people that we probably shouldn't. He got his education at Harvard.. not Michigan..

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 1993

Jinxed

January 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 PM ^

It's a little more complicated than that. We can't just claim faculty as our own if they didn't study in Michigan. If this guy had studied in Michigan and was giving classes in Harvard, you'd be claiming him too. The thing is, when you get your degree from a university... that's permanent. Jobs change. Will you still claim him if he ever decides to teach Business in Wharton or some other B-school?

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 1993

ZooWolverine

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:35 PM ^

It's really not that complicated. If he studied at Michigan and was teaching at Harvard, we'd definitely be claiming him. So would Harvard. And we'd both be right. It's not like you can only be from one place. Assuming he got degrees from more than one university, he's from multiple schools already anyways.

Joined: 02/27/2009

MGoPoints: 3719

Jinxed

January 22nd, 2010 at 11:28 PM ^

I didn't downgrade the man... nor was I trying to.. I think his personal accomplishments are exceptional. I guess I'm peeved by fellow alumni who try to claim anyone who spent 15 minutes in Ann Arbor as a Michigan Man.(because I feel many of them are trying to feed off of other people's accomplishments..) In this case my comment was certainly misguided and unwarranted.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 1993

4godkingandwol…

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:01 PM ^

... he has taught 1000s of future captains and leaders of industry at the University and has brought great recognition to our school through many years. His projects often focus on helping those most in need and has had revolutionary ideas while teaching here. He has helped Michigan more than, oh I don't know, you could ever do, yet you likely call yourself a Michigan man.

Joined: 08/06/2008

MGoPoints: 31309

Jinxed

January 22nd, 2010 at 11:23 PM ^

Jeez.. you need to relax.. I wasn't trying to discredit the man or diminish his accomplishments. I don't call myself a "Michigan man"... I've always found the term a little odd... besides.. I didn't go to Michigan for med school.. I went to Duke(Michigan for undergrad). You're right that I'll never come close to helping Michigan as much as that guy though.. I'm currently a flight surgeon(which is 1000 times less exciting than it sounds) and don't see myself in Ann Arbor any time soon.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 1993

Tater

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:12 PM ^

"We can't just claim faculty as our own if they didn't study in Michigan." So, does that mean that the New England Patriots can't claim Tom Brady as one of their own because he didn't go to Boston College? Just asking.

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 30584

Don

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 PM ^

is that it's subject to so many individual interpretations and nuances that it inevitably leads to arguments just like the one erupting here. I know that wasn't the OP's original intent at all, either; he just wanted to call attention to the fact that an outstanding Michigan professor is getting some richly deserved recognition. Even though Prahalad didn't attend UM, I bet that MSC, the Regents, and every one of Prahalad's UM colleagues and students would all agree that he is a true "Michigan Man," every bit as much as Fritz Crisler, Bo Schembechler, and Lloyd Carr were/are.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148329

Don

January 22nd, 2010 at 8:49 PM ^

If the only people who taught at the University of Michigan were those who earned degrees from UM, pretty soon you'd have an inbred, stale group of faculty not unlike the British royal family. Educational diversity is as important to universities as genetic diversity is to animals.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148329

M-stache

January 22nd, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^

We here at the Ross School of Business certainly consider him one of our own. CK is one of the reasons the Ross School is in the Top 5 in the country. Fielding Yost came here from the hollers of West Virginia to coach football. He established the winningest football program in the nation. CK came here to mold generations of business leaders who create jobs, innovate and make the country -- heck, the world -- a better place to live. If he's not a Michigan Man, who the hell is?

Joined: 01/16/2009

MGoPoints: 357