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DHAN is a non-government organisation with a difference. It is neither a philanthropic organisation nor a service organisation but a development organisation focused on grassroots development, aided by professional management. At the same time, its vision is to be only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene in the years since its inception in 1997. By 2011, when the events in the case were taking place, it had touched the lives of over 920,000 households across 12 states in India. In its mission to combat poverty, DHAN initially employed two major thematic interventions, namely, community banking and water management. However, over a period of time, it forayed into several other domains such as healthcare, education and livelihood generation, in response to the dynamic requirements of its community of beneficiaries. The case, divided into two parts, focuses on the theme of climate change adaptation and, more specifically, the promotion of climate resilient corps (small millets) and the associated production, processing, marketing and value chain management challenges, which have significant lessons for both the development and corporate sectors, on how to prepare the economically disadvantaged communities to the inevitable impact on their lives of impending climate change.

DHAN is a non-government organisation with a difference. It is neither a philanthropic organisation nor a service organisation but a development organisation focused on grassroots development, aided by professional management. At the same time, its vision is to be only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene in the years since its inception in 1997. By 2011, when the events in the case were taking place, it had touched the lives of over 920,000 households across 12 states in India. In its mission to combat poverty, DHAN initially employed two major thematic interventions, namely, community banking and water management. However, over a period of time, it forayed into several other domains such as healthcare, education and livelihood generation, in response to the dynamic requirements of its community of beneficiaries. The case, divided into two parts, focuses on the theme of climate change adaptation and, more specifically, the promotion of climate resilient corps (small millets) and the associated production, processing, marketing and value chain management challenges, which have significant lessons for both the development and corporate sectors, on how to prepare the economically disadvantaged communities to the inevitable impact on their lives of impending climate change.

DHAN was a non-government organization (NGO) with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic institution nor a service organization but a development organization focused on grassroots development aided by professional management. At the same time, it had a clear vision of being only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene by 2017. It had touched the lives of 1.5 million households during the course of its nearly 20-year journey and was poised to reach out to another one million households over the next five years. While DHAN initially drove two major thematic interventions to combat poverty, namely, community banking and water management, it made forays into several other domains such as healthcare, education and livelihood generation over a period of time in response to the dynamic requirements of the community of beneficiaries. This case focuses on the story of DHAN's foray into education; more specifically, its pioneering initiative to create an innovative model of management education, which was distinctly oriented to the needs of the development sector. It traces the genesis and evolution of Tata-DHAN Academy (TDA), the process of institution building and the steady and gradual unfolding of its educational model. Finally, the case homes in on the strategic dilemma TDA faces after an eventful 17-year journey, as it stands on the threshold of a new phase, and captures the complexity of the challenges it could encounter going forward.

DHAN was a non-government organization with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic organization nor a service organization but a development organization focused on grassroots development aided by professional management. At the same time, it had a clear vision of being only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene in the years since its inception in 1997. By 2017, it had touched the lives of 1.5 million households and was poised to reach out to another one million households over the next five years. In its mission to combat poverty, DHAN initially employed two major thematic interventions, namely, community banking and water management. However, over a period of time, it forayed into several other domains such as healthcare, education and livelihood generation in response to the dynamic requirements of its community of beneficiaries, specifically, the marginalized and the poorest of the poor in India. This case explores the theme of sustainable livelihoods and how interventions in this sphere need to be viewed and managed in an integrated manner with a conscious focus on the conservation of the larger ecosystem in which they are embedded. The case describes DHAN's various initiatives and interventions in the sustainable livelihoods arena, the challenges it encountered along the way and its innovative responses to those challenges.

DHAN Foundation, based in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was a non-government organization with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic organization nor a service organization but a development organization focused on grassroots development aided by professional management. This series of cases focuses on DHAN's journey in the realm of healthcare, tracing the genesis and evolution of its community health efforts, particularly during the first decade of its existence (1997 to 2007), and describing the challenges the Foundation faced along the way and its responses to those challenges. Case A describes the story of an unusual project undertaken by DHAN and several partners to take state-of-the-art medical diagnostic services to the doorsteps of villagers in a remote part of Tamil Nadu. The project was a collaborative effort involving Philips, a leader in electronics, healthcare and lighting; Apollo Hospitals, a major corporate hospital chain in India; Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a high technology research center; and DHAN, a key player in the development sector. The project, anchored by Philips, came to an abrupt halt at the end of 2006 when Philips announced its withdrawal from the venture as the volumes it had anticipated had not materialized and the high overheads associated with the project were proving to be uneconomical. Apollo, also disappointed that it had not reaped the expected benefits from the project, followed suit. With these key collaborators opting out, the technology support of ISRO had little relevance. M. P. Vasimalai (Vasi), the Executive Director of DHAN, reeling from the unexpected termination of an important project that would benefit the community, was faced with a dilemma: Should he follow the lead of Philips and Apollo and abandon the project or find some way to take it forward?

DHAN Foundation, based in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was a non-government organization with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic organization nor a service organization but a development organization focused on grassroots development aided by professional management. This series of cases focuses on DHAN's journey in the realm of healthcare, tracing the genesis and evolution of its community health efforts, particularly during the first decade of its existence (1997 to 2007), and describing the challenges the Foundation faced along the way and its responses to those challenges. Case B takes off where Case A leaves Vasi, and describes his decision to set up a secondary care hospital at Theni, Tamil Nadu, following the exit of Philips and Apollo Hospitals from the DISHA project. The case traces the fundraising and project management challenges DHAN faced along the way and its response to those challenges.

DHAN Foundation, based in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was a non-government organization with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic organization nor a service organization but a development organization focused on grassroots development aided by professional management. This series of cases focuses on DHAN's journey in the realm of healthcare, tracing the genesis and evolution of its community health efforts, particularly during the first decade of its existence (1997 to 2007), and describing the challenges the Foundation faced along the way and its responses to those challenges. Set in 2007, this case seeks to synthesize the decade-long experience of DHAN in the realm of healthcare. M. P. Vasimalai (Vasi), DHAN's Executive Director, is tasked with making an important presentation to the Prime Minister and a team of government officials. Obviously, the good work of DHAN in this arena had not gone unnoticed. In preparing his presentation, Vasi must journey through DHAN's experience and the dilemma it is grappling with: whether to continue its healthcare interventions on a project-by-project basis or adopt a holistic healthcare model, bringing together its multiple and diffused healthcare-related initiatives under a common canopy for ease of administration and to derive the benefits of synergy.

DHAN is an NGO with a difference. It was not a charity, or a philanthropy or service organization but a development NGO, which focusses on grassroot development aided by professional management. At the same time, it has a clear vision that it is only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene. It had already touched the lives of 1.5 million households during the course of its nearly 20-year journey and is poised to reach out to a further one million households over the next five years. In order to fulfill this ambitious mission, DHAN needed a steady stream of professionals with diverse skills to be trained and deployed pan India, spanning a wide spectrum of cultures, languages and sensitivities, truely a big challenge to contend with. Above all, for Vasimalai, the Executive Director who founded DHAN in 1997, and who is an ardent follower of Gandhian thought, the paramount challenge is to transmit his unique vision and development perspectives to the next generation of leaders, and build these perspectives into the very DNA of DHAN, so that the passion fopr development workwould continue unabated through the years. Vasi was a leader with a difference. After graduating from India's top business school, he forayed into the non-glamorous development sector marked by harsh work context and low material rewards. However, he received a greater reward - of responding to a higher calling or Dharma and making a difference to the lives of those who are at the bottom of the pyramid. DHAN being the vehicle he chose to fulfill that larger Dharma. Vasi's value-driven leadership style and DHAN's noble goal-orientation set them apart from the crowd. Uncannily though, they both seem to echo some of the most contemporary managment thinking, advocating alternate leadership styles and alternative organization paradigms.