Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud known as MBS, is the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,[ formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, the seventh son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and the grandson of the nation's founder, Ibn Saud.
He has led several successful reforms, which include regulations restricting the powers of the religious police, the removal of the ban on female drivers in June 2018, and weakening the male-guardianship system in August 2019. Other cultural developments under his reign include the first Saudi public concerts by a female singer, the first Saudi sports stadium to admit women, an increased presence of women in the workforce, and opening the country to international tourists by introducing an e-visa system, allowing foreign visas to be applied for and issued via the Internet. His Vision 2030 program aims to diversify the Saudi economy through investment in non-oil sectors including technology and tourism. In 2016, he announced plans to list the shares of the state oil company Saudi Aramco. Mohammed succeeded his father as prime minister in 2022.
Despite praise for his strides towards the social and economic liberalisation of Saudi Arabia, international commentators and human rights groups have been openly critical of bin Salman's leadership and the shortfalls of his reform program, citing a rising number of detentions and alleged torture of human rights activists, the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen which has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and famine, the escalation of the Qatar diplomatic crisis, the start of the Lebanon–Saudi Arabia dispute, the start of a diplomatic spat with Canada, the arrest of members of the Saudi royal family in November 2017, a crackdown on feminists, the hacking and blackmailing of The Washington Post owner and world's second wealthiest person, Jeff Bezos; and the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. He has been described by observers as an autocratic leader with no tolerance for dissent against him or the Saudi royal family. He was honoured by the Government of Pakistan with the highest civil decoration for having strong ties with the country in 2019.
C K Prahalad
Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad (8 August 1941 – 16 April 2010) was a corporate and social strategist, educator and author. He was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
He co-authored "Core Competence of the Corporation" with Gary Hamel; and "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" with Stuart L. Hart, about business opportunity in serving the Bottom of the Pyramid.
Prahalad was born in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) in 1941. His father was a Tamil scholar and judge in Madras (now Chennai).
At 19, he had finished his BSc degree in physics from Loyola College, Chennai, part of the University of Madras, and joined Union Carbide, where he worked for four years. Four years later he did postgraduate work in management at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
At Harvard Business School, Prahalad wrote a doctoral thesis on multinational management in two and a half years, graduating with a DBA degree in 1975. After graduating from Harvard, Prahalad returned to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to serve as professor before returning to US again in 1977.
He returned to the United States in 1977, with an appointment to the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business Administration. He eventually became a tenured full professor, earning the university's highest distinction, Distinguished University Professor, in 2005.