In 2008, the newly appointed chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bank of Baroda, one of India’s largest public-sector banks, was exploring ways to implement the vision of making the bank one of the most popular and customer-oriented public-sector banks in the country. Under the tenure of the previous CMD, a strong foundation for growth had been built, and subsequently, the bank had made tremendous progress and had been ranked third among its peers. However, the bank continued to suffer from the typical malaise of large public-sector organizations — although change was taking place, the firm was sluggish, inadequately responsive to customers, and using outdated processes and technology. Consequently, the new CMD was faced with the challenge of managing the legacy of his predecessor. To accomplish his goal, he took on the task of reinventing the bank by dispelling the culture of fear and caution that prevailed. Could he make the firm more agile and customer-savvy, while quadrupling revenue?

In 2008, the newly appointed chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bank of Baroda, one of India's largest public-sector banks, was exploring ways to implement the vision of making the bank one of the most popular and customer-oriented public-sector banks in the country. Under the tenure of the previous CMD, a strong foundation for growth had been built, and subsequently, the bank had made tremendous progress and had been ranked third among its peers. However, the bank continued to suffer from the typical malaise of large public-sector organizations - although change was taking place, the firm was sluggish, inadequately responsive to customers, and using outdated processes and technology. Consequently, the new CMD was faced with the challenge of managing the legacy of his predecessor. To accomplish his goal, he took on the task of reinventing the bank by dispelling the culture of fear and caution that prevailed. Could he make the firm more agile and customer-savvy, while quadrupling revenue?

As a leading name in the Indian tractor industry, New Holland Tractors India (CNH) is known for its participative employee culture and holds the distinction of having no employee union organization to date, a feat generally unheard of in this industry in India. Thanks to its excellent community-management policies, CNH has derived certain indirect benefits in the form of increased workplace productivity and improved employee behaviours. The company wants to roll out some aggressive plans for growth, but of late, a series of altercations between its blue-collar and white-collar employees threatens to disturb workplace harmony. In terms of its human resource policies, CNH’s management team must decide whether to maintain the status quo or put some new strategies in place.

As a leading name in the Indian tractor industry, New Holland Tractors India (CNH) is known for its participative employee culture and holds the distinction of having no employee union organization to date, a feat generally unheard of in this industry in India. Thanks to its excellent community-management policies, CNH has derived certain indirect benefits in the form of increased workplace productivity and improved employee behaviours. The company wants to roll out some aggressive plans for growth, but off late, a series of altercations between its blue-collar and white-collar employees threatens to disturb workplace harmony. In terms of its human resource policies, CNH's management team must decide whether to maintain the status quo or put some new strategies in place.

At the time when Dr. Ganesh Natrajan took over as the CEO of Zensar Technologies Ltd in India in 2001, the company was in a state of turmoil. Staff morale was low and the company was essentially a staffing agency sending IT professionals to work at client sites abroad. As Natrajan started to implement across-the-board changes at Zensar, the company had grown from 850 employees in 2001 to 4,000 employees in 2007 with the number of clients increased from 57 in 2001 to 273 in 2007. Revenue increased from US$42.8 million in 2001 to US$179.57 million in 2007. This case covers the detailed strategies implemented by Natrajan that resulted in Zensar's explosive growth.

The COO of a global knowledge-outsourcing and technology-services firm has been selected by his company’s board of directors to step in and rescue a large-scale digitization project that is in danger of missing its rapidly approaching deadline. The project requires the firm to create digital archives of a daily American newspaper, spanning a coverage time of 150 years. With teams from two different countries paired to work on this significant venture, things quickly go awry on several levels as a result of misunderstandings about client expectations, lack of employee training (both from a standpoint of cultural awareness and with respect to the use of new technology) and poor project management. The COO must quickly develop an action plan to address these issues and ensure the success of the project in the face of an ultimatum from the client: deliver the project on time or lose it completely.<br><br>In the role of the COO, students must create an action plan to overcome the issues that threaten to derail the project.

The COO of a global knowledge-outsourcing and technology-services firm has been selected by his company's board of directors to step in and rescue a large-scale digitization project that is in danger of missing its rapidly approaching deadline. The project requires the firm to create digital archives of a daily American newspaper, spanning 150 years. With teams from two different countries paired to work on this significant venture, things quickly go awry on several levels as a result of misunderstandings about client expectations, lack of employee training (both from a standpoint of cultural awareness and with respect to the use of new technology), and poor project management. The COO must quickly develop an action plan to address these issues and ensure the success of the project in the face of an ultimatum from the client: deliver the project on time or lose it completely.In the role of the COO, students must create an action plan to overcome the issues that threaten to derail the project.

The Indian business landscape is marked by uncertainty, turbulence, hyper-competition, and non-linear growth, as exemplified by the automobile sector. Increasing competition from foreign automobile organizations and homegrown ones such as Tata Motors are posing a threat to the market leader, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. A fierce battle for market share is ensuing among these automobile giants. However, Maruti Suzuki has succeeded in maintaining its leadership position. Yet with more companies venturing into the territory of Maruti Suzuki — the small car segment — the threat to Maruti Suzuki’s market share is looming larger than before.<br><br>This case illustrates Maruti Suzuki’s journey and depicts the changes in its organizational strategy, HR strategy, and work culture in response to new challenges. Maruti Suzuki had to change from a government-owned organization and a monopoly, to a firm capable of competing with world-class automobile companies. This case describes the various challenges faced by the organization and how HR has assisted in bringing about much-needed transformation. The challenges include having to create a performing workforce, changing the mindset of the employees, coping with cross-cultural issues and, most significantly, engaging in breakthrough innovation. HR needs to create an organizational culture that not only supports breakthrough innovation but also helps retain employees.

The Indian business landscape is marked by uncertainty, turbulence, hyper-competition and non-linear growth. The arena of the automobile sector epitomizes this changing scenario. Increasing competition from foreign born automobile organizations and homegrown organizations such as Tata Motors are posing a threat to the market leader - Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. A fierce battle for market share is ensuing among these automobile giants. In spite of this, Maruti Suzuki has succeeded in maintaining its leadership position. However, with more companies venturing into the bastion of Maruti Suzuki - the small car segment - the threat to their market share is looming larger than before. This case illustrates the journey of Maruti Suzuki since its inception and depicts the changes in its organizational strategy, HR strategy and work culture, in response to business challenges. Maruti Suzuki had to undergo multiple changes from being a public sector undertaking and a monopoly, to one capable of competing with world class automobile companies. This case describes the various challenges faced by the organization in this journey and how HR has partnered in bringing about the much needed transformations. The challenges range from having to create a performing workforce, changing the mindset of the employees, to coping with many cross cultural issues. The most difficult challenge is to engage in breakthrough innovation. HR needs to create an organizational culture that not only supports this endeavour but also helps retain the human resources.