Gurus On Marketing

Introduction
Gurus are management thinkers who have made significant impact
on the way management is practised. The word ‘guru’ is a Hindi word
which originates from Sanskrit. It means a teacher and a guide in
spiritual matters but in a management context it means a recognised
leader in the field.
My first face-to-face encounter with management gurus came at
Management Centre Europe in Brussels. I became Head of the socalled
Guru Division. In fact it was formally called Top Management
Division. However, as my predecessor was Shafiq Naz, an Asian from
Pakistan and as I, another Asian, succeeded him, it began to be called
the Gurus Division – maybe because it was thought that being Asians
we would recognise Gurus when we see them!
I was privileged to stage and be ‘at the feet of management gurus’
including Peter Drucker, Michael Porter, Igor Ansoff, Philip Kotler,
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gary Hamel, George Day, Tom Peters, Peter
Senge, Henry Mintzberg, CK Prahalad, Jagdish Sheth and Tom Nagle,
to name but a few.
From my contact I have selected nine gurus (the only guru I have not
personally met is Theodore Levitt) and examined their influence in
the field of marketing. The insights and methods of the gurus can
make a big difference to the way organisations are managed.
INTRODUCTION 1