Ujaala Borderline General Insurance Company Limited

In the last two years, Ujaala Borderline had lost two key accounts and the bidding process for a third large account. Ujaala Borderline’s CEO and an executive VP had just left a meeting with the firm’s largest client, Sweekar Iron and Steel. Sweekar’s CEO had informed them that he was taking his firm’s business from Ujaala Borderline and going with another provider. He had pointed out several servicing issues that had occurred over the last two years and considered these issues to have been ignored. These problems included errors in policies and quotes, and inefficiencies in communication due to Ujaala Borderline’s many organizational changes and high staff turnover. As the CEO left the meeting, he wondered what had happened. He had recently been profiled in a national newspaper as the CEO of the leading general insurer in India, but now felt that he was embroiled in changes that he knew he had created. The CEO realized that Ujaala Borderline had many problems and knew that he had to act quickly and decisively to turn things around or else risk his job.

This case is intended for use in courses such as strategic implementation; leading action and change; and organizational theory. It illustrates problems of rapid growth requiring several changes in organizational structure in quick succession. This is compounded by inappropriate leadership from members of the top management team, which had fostered a culture that led to high employee turnover. The case could be taught from a cultural angle (what needs to be done to fix the culture?), from a leadership angle (should there be “blood letting” at the top of the firm?), or from an organizational change angle (have we changed the organizational structure too many times? What is the most appropriate structure to support the strategy we are pursuing?).

• Rapid Organizational Change
• Staff Turnover
• Leadership Problems
• Power Struggles
• Insurance
• India