Sri Sabari Engimech Private Limited (SSEPL), a firm founded in 2001, provided contract-based staff for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of plant and machinery (P&M), mainly in the petrochemical sector. The founder reaped profits from the first month onward. In 2008, his son took over SSEPL as director of operations and expanded the company’s services and clientele to increase profits. In 2019, the company encountered loss for the first time because of, among other reasons, malpractice by its former CEO, the ex-CEO starting his own O&M outfit and taking with him some of SSEPL’s employees, the entry of new players into the market, and the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic. However, SSEPL managed to bounce back with low profit margins the following year, leading the director of operations to contemplate the way forward for the company.

Sri Sabari Engimech Private Limited (SSEPL), a firm founded in 2001, provided contract-based staff for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of plant and machinery (P&M), mainly in the petrochemical sector. The founder reaped profits from the first month onward. In 2008, his son took over SSEPL as director of operations and expanded the company's services and clientele to increase profits. In 2019, the company encountered loss for the first time because of, among other reasons, malpractice by its former CEO, the ex-CEO starting his own O&M outfit and taking with him some of SSEPL's employees, the entry of new players into the market, and the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic. However, SSEPL managed to bounce back with low profit margins the following year, leading the director of operations to contemplate the way forward for the company.

A former investment banking professional had her eureka moment when she noticed instances of assaults on single women travelling alone in taxi cabs at odd times of the day. The prevalence of these instances led her to begin a safe cab service run by women for women—Taxshe Services Pvt. Ltd. (Taxshe), located in Bengaluru, India. In March 2020, the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began in India, and a lockdown was announced as a preventive measure. Taxshe, whose customers mainly comprised working women and school-going children, faced a significant challenge, as the sudden changes and stringent restrictions brought on by the lockdown precipitated a substantial drop in the need for cab services. Taxshe’s founder contemplated the company’s dilemma and consulted people from across her wide network of personal and professional acquaintances. How could she keep Taxshe up and running in spite of the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic? What value-added specialty services could Taxshe offer as a cab service during the pandemic that would benefit society at large?

A former investment banking professional had her eureka moment when she noticed instances of assaults on single women travelling alone in taxi cabs at odd times of the day. The prevalence of these instances led her to begin a safe cab service run by women for women-Taxshe Services Pvt. Ltd. (Taxshe), located in Bengaluru, India. In March 2020, the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began in India, and a lockdown was announced as a preventive measure. Taxshe, whose customers mainly comprised working women and school-going children, faced a significant challenge, as the sudden changes and stringent restrictions brought on by the lockdown precipitated a substantial drop in the need for cab services. Taxshe's founder contemplated the company's dilemma and consulted people from across her wide network of personal and professional acquaintances. How could she keep Taxshe up and running in spite of the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic? What value-added specialty services could Taxshe offer as a cab service during the pandemic that would benefit society at large?

In 2018, the group president of Sapna Book House, operating in two South India states, was determined to take the family business to the next growth level. However, he was concerned about the threats and challenges posed by a rapidly changing competitive environment. As a third generation entrepreneur, he had executed some of the initiatives planned by his father and uncles, and had upgraded the technology to reach existing and new technology-savvy customers. His future plan was to increase the number of stores fivefold by 2020 and make the company a global brand. He believed that adding professional employees, rather than only family members, to the management team of the business was the only way to ensure the massive expansion and growth that would enable the top management family members to focus on strategic decisions and business resources, while allowing professionals to carry out routine tasks. Another issue of concern was how to raise funds from external sources to support his plan for growth, which most family members opposed.

In 2018, the group president of Sapna Book House, operating in two South India states, was determined to take the family business to the next growth level. However, he was concerned about the threats and challenges posed by a rapidly changing competitive environment. As a third generation entrepreneur, he had executed some of the initiatives planned by his father and uncles, and had upgraded the technology to reach existing and new technology-savvy customers. His future plan was to increase the number of stores fivefold by 2020 and make the company a global brand. He believed that adding professional employees, rather than only family members, to the management team of the business was the only way to ensure the massive expansion and growth that would enable the top management family members to focus on strategic decisions and business resources, while allowing professionals to carry out routine tasks. Another issue of concern was how to raise funds from external sources to support his plan for growth, which most family members opposed.

HCL Technologies Ltd., India's fastest growing IT services company, had radically improved its performance since the announcement of its famous "Employee First, Customer Second" strategy. Although sales, customer and employee satisfaction had significantly increased, HCL still lagged its competitors on overall profitability. With manpower costs accounting for a significant part of the operating cost, HCL responded to the changing competitive environment and redesigned its talent management strategy. The case is set in the dynamic context of the growing competitive environment of talent shortages and increasing wage costs in India where the Talent Acquisition Group (TAG) of HCL is looking to become a true business partner by evolving its service capability to help increase overall profitability. As part of its new strategy, HCL realigns the TAG, implements major change initiatives to align its members and signs up aggressive SLAs with the business stakeholders. With the implementation of a new HRIS system to aid quick decision making, innovative methods of talent acquisition and focused metrics for the function, the HCL TAG pushes the boundaries of what can and should be strategic recruitment.

Tata Motors, a leading automobile manufacturer in India, pro-actively responded to the changing competitive environment and redesigned its human capital strategy. As part of the new strategy, huge investments were made in revamping the learning and development function for Tata Motors employees. Multiple initiatives were launched to promote a learning culture, which also earned the company international recognition in the learning and development community. The challenge for Tata Motors is to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives in terms of their relative advantages and their ability to develop a learning culture in the organization. Effectively capturing and measuring these parameters is crucial for justifying future investments in learning and development.

Tata Motors, a leading automobile manufacturer in India, pro-actively responded to the changing competitive environment and redesigned its human capital strategy. As part of the new strategy, huge investments were made in revamping the learning and development function for Tata Motors employees. Multiple initiatives were launched to promote a learning culture, which also earned the company international recognition in the learning and development community. The challenge for Tata Motors is to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives in terms of their relative advantages and their ability to develop a learning culture in the organization. Effectively capturing and measuring these parameters is crucial for justifying future investments in learning and development.

Google has been ranked as the best place to work in the United States. It practices a time allocation method of 70-20-10, with 70 per cent of employees’ time devoted to Google’s core business of search and advertising, 20 per cent to off-budget products, and 10 per cent to ideas based on personal interests and competencies. Luxury perks and generous rewards for employee innovations improve the likelihood that employees stay at Google instead of forming competing ventures. The firm is notable for its employee loyalty and investor confidence; the two founders and the CEO, Eric Schmidt, even took an annual salary of $1 just before the initial public offering in 2004. Schmidt’s leadership practices can be summarized as follows: 1. Get to know your employees. 2. Create new ways to reward and promote your high-performing employees. 3. Let your employees own the problems you want them to solve. 4. Allow employees to function outside the company hierarchy. 5. Have your employees’ performance reviewed by someone they respect for their objectivity and impartiality. This article concludes with the eight qualities of Google’s leader-managers, which relate to coaching, empowering, well-being, productivity, communication, career development, vision, and technical skills.