The most influential living management guru in the world is C. K. Prahalad, according to The Thinkers 50 biennial poll of business thinkers. Prahalad is the first Indian-born thinker to claim the title. 

Best known for his work with Gary Hamel on resource-based strategy, which gave rise to the term “core competences”, Prahalad has since turned his attention to the world’s poor. In The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (2004), he argues that capitalism can be the engine to eradicate poverty. 

In second place is another man who wants to change the world: Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Once vilified by IT purists, Gates’s stature as a technology pioneer is enhanced by his philanthropic work. 

Third place goes to the former head of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, whose book, The Age of Turbulence, has struck a chord with businesspeople around the world. 

Michael Porter, who topped the list in 2005 and is best known for his work on competitive positioning, sees his own competitive advantage eroded as he tumbles to fourth.