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An entrepreneur faced a dilemma regarding the flexible work policy in his start-up consulting firm. The leader of the firm struggled with the complications that arose after the implementation of flexible working arrangements, and the various situations caused him to rethink the concept of trying to help his employees to manage their own work-life balance. Since flexible working hours were granted on a role-by-role basis, a perception of unfairness emerged when a valuable subject-matter expert was denied flextime privileges while many of his colleagues were allowed to take advantage of them. The manager was apprehensive regarding the rising sense of detachment between the users of flextime and the non-users. Should the manager scrap the policy altogether, or should he attempt to find a better way to implement his firm's flexible work arrangements?

An entrepreneur faced a dilemma regarding the flexible work policy in his start-up consulting firm. The leader of the firm struggled with the complications that arose after the implementation of flexible working arrangements, and the various situations caused him to rethink the concept of trying to help his employees to manage their own work–life balance. Since flexible working hours were granted on a role-by-role basis, a perception of unfairness emerged when a valuable subject-matter expert was denied flextime privileges while many of his colleagues were allowed to take advantage of them. The manager was apprehensive regarding the rising sense of detachment between the users of flextime and the non-users. Should the manager scrap the policy altogether, or should he attempt to find a better way to implement his firm’s flexible work arrangements?

Amazon was the biggest Internet-based retailer in the United States and had frequently been featured on lists of the most admired companies. In 2015, The New York Times published an article that portrayed Amazon as a ruthless employer with brutal human resource management practices and a toxic work atmosphere. Employees were divided in their opinions: some found the culture invigorating and others found it hard to survive in. Leaders in the industry came to Amazon’s defence, while employees at other organizations began to disclose their own experiences of toxic work environments. Could Amazon continue to grow, thrive, and retain employees if it maintained its current employee management strategy? Did stress foster innovation, and, if so, at what point did that stress become destructive?

Amazon was the biggest Internet-based retailer in the United States and had frequently been featured on lists of the most admired companies. In 2015, The New York Times published an article that portrayed Amazon as a ruthless employer with brutal human resource management practices and a toxic work atmosphere. Employees were divided in their opinions; some found the culture invigorating and others found it hard to survive in. Leaders in the industry came to Amazon's defence, while employees at other organizations began to disclose their own experiences of toxic work environments. Could Amazon continue to grow, thrive, and retain employees if it maintained its current employee management strategy? Did stress foster innovation, and, if so, at what point did that stress become destructive?

The chief executive officer of Kvantum Inc. received a distressing email from the human resources manager at Data Research Services. The two companies shared office space, and Data Research Services had invested seed capital in Kvantum. However, a Data Research Services employee was now accusing one of Kvantum's most competent junior data scientists of harassment. The Kvantum employee had apparently approached the Data Research Services employee personally and then again through a popular social networking website. If the allegations were verified, Kvantum could lose a valuable employee. Moreover, a workplace scandal could adversely impact the start-up's reputation. The issue required immediate action. Should it be considered misbehaviour? If so, what kind of misbehaviour? Most importantly, how should Kvantum resolve the problem?

The chief executive officer of Kvantum Inc. received a distressing email from the human resources manager at Data Research Services. The two companies shared office space, and Data Research Services had invested seed capital in Kvantum. However, a Data Research Services employee was now accusing one of Kvantum’s most competent junior data scientists of harassment. The Kvantum employee had apparently approached the Data Research Services employee personally and then again through a popular social networking website. If the allegations were verified, Kvantum could lose a valuable employee. Moreover, a workplace scandal could adversely impact the start-up’s reputation. The issue required immediate action. Should it be considered misbehaviour? If so, what kind of misbehaviour? Most importantly, how should Kvantum resolve the problem?

The co-founders/consultants at Maynard Leigh Associates (MLA), an HR consulting firm based in the United Kingdom and India, are in a quandary about how to respond to a couple of ethical dilemmas. In the first case, a client has hired MLA to deliver a series of workshops to a group of employees who clearly do not need any help of this kind, and the workshop facilitator feels the client is wasting its money. In the second case, the CEO of a local IT giant has hired MLA to host a workshop that would brainstorm ways to eradicate all roadblocks to his organization's success, but during the delivery of this workshop, the consultants realized that the biggest roadblock to the organization's success was the CEO himself. Should the partners be open with the client about their findings and risk damaging a lucrative business relationship, or should they simply remain silent on the subject and pocket their fee. What would be the impact of their decision on the future of their company? Importantly, they need to make a decision that upholds MLA's corporate values.

The co-founders/consultants at Maynard Leigh Associates (MLA), an HR consulting firm based in the United Kingdom and India, are in a quandary about how to respond to a couple of ethical dilemmas. In the first case, a client has hired MLA to deliver a series of workshops to a group of employees who clearly do not need any help of this kind, and the workshop facilitator feels the client is wasting its money. In the second case, the CEO of a local IT giant has hired MLA to host a workshop that would brainstorm ways to eradicate all roadblocks to his organization’s success, but during the delivery of this workshop, the consultants realized that the biggest roadblock to the organization’s success was the CEO himself. Should the partners be open with the client about their findings and risk damaging a lucrative business relationship, or should they simply remain silent on the subject and pocket their fee. What would be the impact of their decision on the future of their company? Importantly, they need to make a decision that upholds MLA’s corporate values.

A novice entrepreneur and a strong believer in ethical business practice has tried to build a family-oriented culture in his business process outsourcing company. However, although he created a friendly atmosphere, he still faced performance and attrition issues. The company grew in size and financial worth but the entrepreneur persisted in looking for better opportunities for a new business venture. He developed the idea of a new e-commerce venture that would sell Chinese products online. Juggling human capital risks and entrepreneurial exit, he had to consider the merits of his decision and determine whether to leverage the same team or hire a dedicated team for his new venture.

A novice entrepreneur and a strong believer in ethical business practice has tried to build a family-oriented culture in his business process outsourcing company. However, although he created a friendly atmosphere, he still faced performance and attrition issues. The company grew in size and financial worth but the entrepreneur persisted in looking for better opportunities for a new business venture. He developed the idea of a new e-commerce venture that would sell Chinese products online. Juggling human capital risks and entrepreneurial exit, he had to consider the merits of his decision and determine whether to leverage the same team or hire a dedicated team for his new venture.

During the 2013 Indian festival of colours, a young green entrepreneur and owner of Green Horizon Consulting (GHC) faced a plethora of business growth challenges. His former employee, who had quit GHC a while back to work for a major rival, wanted to return. However, the entrepreneur could not figure it out — would rehiring an ex-employee be a sound business decision? Should he take a risk and give the former employee another chance? If he did, he could look after GHC business in India, and be free to work on his plans to start a new venture in Dubai.<br><br>But, his dilemma didn’t end there. Being the eldest son in his family, he realized that besides the aforementioned strategies, there was also the possibility of living and working with his joint family. His father was getting old and his younger brother had joined the family business; merging the two companies (his and his father’s) would allow both brothers to take care of the businesses and family between them. If that happened, he would no longer need his old frenemy. Even so, there was no doubt in his mind that relocating to Dubai would be a very lucrative move, especially as prospective clients in this region understood the language of green loud and clear. But, despite his excitement at the idea, he could not forget that there would still be all the usual (yet critical) business problems of low consumer awareness and the need to swiftly catch up to the existing competition. What other factors and options would he need to consider to keep his budding, eco-friendly company afloat and to successfully navigate the contemporary business world?

It was summer of 2013, and the news of cyber-attacks and information security breaches was on the rise in India, as it was worldwide. Incidents such as the Axis bank's cyber-crime incident and the news of the American National Security Agency's global e-surveillance were creating consternation and dilemmas in the minds of information security consultants. One such consultant owned and operated an information security company, Percept Softech, a Lakshyaa Technology Lab's Jaipur franchise. The consultant was bogged down by a number of problems and dilemmas. The first was his marketing and business growth strategy, which was not helping him in promotion of his business. Information security solutions, spying, vulnerability checks, key logging and allied propositions were difficult to promote. Managing young millennial talent was another major problem for him. Apart from the woes of business growth, inefficiency in promotion and talent issues, the consultant was now facing another dilemma. Should he start a new business away from the umbrella of the Lakshyaa Technology Lab? Should he partner with a detective agency? Or should he relocate from Jaipur to a more central location (such as New Delhi) where perhaps people would be more aware of the importance of cyber security and students would be more interested in pursuing cyber security training?

It was summer of 2013, and the news of cyber-attacks and information security breaches was on the rise in India, as it was worldwide. Incidents such as the Axis bank’s cyber-crime incident and the news of the American National Security Agency’s global e-surveillance were creating consternation and dilemmas in the minds of information security consultants. One such consultant owned and operated an information security company, Percept Softech, a Lakshyaa Technology Lab’s Jaipur franchise. The consultant was bogged down by a number of problems and dilemmas. The first was his marketing and business growth strategy, which was not helping him in promotion of his business. Information security solutions, spying, vulnerability checks, key logging and allied propositions were difficult to promote. Managing young millennial talent was another major problem for him. Apart from the woes of business growth, inefficiency in promotion and talent issues, the consultant was now facing another dilemma. Should he start a new business away from the umbrella of the Lakshyaa Technology Lab? Should he partner with a detective agency? Or should he relocate from Jaipur to a more central location (such as New Delhi) where perhaps people would be more aware of the importance of cyber security and students would be more interested in pursuing cyber security training?

During the 2013 Indian festival of colours, a young green entrepreneur and owner of Green Horizon Consulting (GHC) faced a plethora of business growth challenges. His former employee, who had quit GHC a while back to work for a major rival, wanted to return. However, the entrepreneur could not figure it out - would rehiring an ex-employee be a sound business decision? Should he take a risk and give the former employee another chance? If he did, he could look after GHC business in India, and be free to work on his plans to start a new venture in Dubai.But, his dilemma didn't end there. Being the eldest son in his family, he realized that besides the aforementioned strategies, there was also the possibility of living and working with his joint family. His father was getting old and his younger brother had joined the family business; merging the two companies (his and his father's) would allow both brothers to take care of the businesses and family between them. If that happened, he would no longer need his old frenemy. Even so, there was no doubt in his mind that relocating to Dubai would be a very lucrative move, especially as prospective clients in this region understood the language of green loud and clear. But, despite his excitement at the idea, he could not forget that there would still be all the usual (yet critical) business problems of low consumer awareness and the need to swiftly catch up to the existing competition. What other factors and options would he need to consider to keep his budding, eco-friendly company afloat and to successfully navigate the contemporary business world?

Sitara was a village in India whose local governing body had 15 members headed by the gram-pradhan. In 2011, the gram-pradhan had approved a project for renovation of a large village pond as per the directives of the central government's MNREGA scheme. However, on starting the excavation work at the project site, it was found that the area was extremely marshy. Manual labourers turned up at the site everyday but declined to work in life-threatening conditions. MNREGA prohibited the use of machines except in the case of extraordinary circumstances without exactly defining what such circumstances might be. Thus, the gram-pradhan was forced to pay labour fees for no work. The case is set at this juncture, where a solution must be found. Part A illustrates how the Indian style of management that relies on competencies such as jugaad (creative improvisation), innovation, and resourcefulness leads to talent management and capability-building even at the bottom of the pyramid. Part B brings forth the trade-off between the management practice of jugaad and management through "systematic innovation." Part C sheds light on the public policy approach of examining the whole situation. The case also explores the competencies needed for the effective functioning of social and commercial institutions in the Indian context.

Sitara was a village in India whose local governing body had 15 members headed by the gram-pradhan. In 2011, the gram-pradhan had approved a project for renovation of a large village pond as per the directives of the central government’s MNREGA scheme. However, on starting the excavation work at the project site, it was found that the area was extremely marshy. Manual labourers turned up at the site everyday but declined to work in life-threatening conditions. MNREGA prohibited the use of machines except in the case of extraordinary circumstances without exactly defining what such circumstances might be. Thus, the gram-pradhan was forced to pay labour fees for no work. The case is set at this juncture, where a solution must be found. Part A illustrates how the Indian style of management that relies on competencies such as jugaad (creative improvisation), innovation, and resourcefulness leads to talent management and capability-building even at the bottom of the pyramid. Part B brings forth the trade-off between the management practice of jugaad and management through “systematic innovation.” Part C sheds light on the public policy approach of examining the whole situation. The case also explores the competencies needed for the effective functioning of social and commercial institutions in the Indian context.