VDart Inc: Managing Culture During Growth

VDart Inc (VDart) was founded by Sidd Ahmed in December 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, as a digital talent management and services firm, which grew at a steady rate to reach US$160 million in annual revenue and more than 2,550 employees in 2019. The same year, the company was classified as the 138th largest and fifty-sixth fastest-growing staffing firm in the United States. VDart’s global servicing hub was based in Tiruchirappalli, India, with about 380 employees who served clients from seven geographic locations. VDart differentiated itself from its competitors through its core values of appreciation, recognition, and encouragement (ARE) and through unique cultural practices including shout-outs during Monday conference calls, Friday Lunch & Learn sessions, and annual reward and recognition (R&R) events. Growing rapidly, VDart had set itself an ambitious goal of becoming a $500 million revenue firm by December 2022. However, the rapid growth was putting a strain on the existing culture, making it challenging to sustain and nurture it. Ahmed and the top management were finding it increasingly difficult to instill the VDart culture in new employees, realizing that the values which had propelled VDart’s success thus far would not take it to the next level. The case describes the company’s twelve-year growth journey, its unique cultural practices, and the growing pains, inviting students to think about options to manage culture during rapid growth.

The case is suitable for graduate-level courses on organizational behaviour, leadership, change management, and small business entrepreneurship, and does not require students to have prior work experience. This case should ideally be taught after the basics of leadership and organizational culture have been covered. Students can identify the leadership and culture styles of the organization and assess how to “lead with culture” during rapid growth. The instructor can control the intensity of the case discussion based on the level of work experience of the participants. The case teaches critical elements of organizational culture and managing culture during rapid growth. After working through the case and answering the assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Gain a deeper understanding of organizational culture in terms of a company’s core values and practices.</li><li>Identify the culture style of an organization.</li><li>Analyze challenges in managing culture during rapid growth.</li><li>Examine a real-life example of the complexities involved in maintaining alignment between the organizational culture and the business needs of a small business.</li></ul>

• organizational change
• management challenges
• small business entrepreneurship
• minority business enterprise