The chief executive officer of PanoTech Solutions was troubled by the escalating mental health crisis among employees in the IT industry, including severe cases such as suicide attempts and self-harm. Internally, his staff had voiced concerns over stress, heavy workloads, and work–life balance, issues that were exacerbating high attrition rates and the loss of top talent. To address such challenges in a cultural environment where mental health stigma remained high and only a fraction of those needing mental health care sought help, PanoTech was exploring options such as AI counselling through Wysa, Mental Health First Aid India’s educational programs, and suicide prevention training from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience. The firm was particularly interested in the potential of AI but needed to establish measurable key performance indicators that could gauge the success of the chosen interventions. The challenge lay in assessing the solution’s costs and effectiveness, and adapting it to suit a predominantly remote workforce. PanoTech’s decision revolved around selecting a solution that effectively addressed mental health concerns while considering cultural sensitivities and measurable outcomes for employee well-being.

The Tata Group took over control of the loss-making state-owned Air India and the airlines it operated it operated from the Government of India on January 27, 2022. The Tata Group now faces financial performance issues and lags behind one of the leading aviation industry front-runners in India in terms of market share. The re-acquisition of Air India also brought about challenges of how to amalgamate three diverse cultures to make a single Tata Group culture, and how to inculcate the Tata Group’s values to turn Air India profitable. What should Air India do if employees are not integrated with Tata Group culture? Air India leadership is weighing its various options and pondering whether to integrate three airlines and become one of the prominent airlines in the country and the world, or operate them autonomously as economy or premium airlines without amalgamating the diverse cultures.

Prakash Singhal is an intelligent, strategic, and hardworking technology integrations project lead at WinCorp. He has taken up this position after a successful tenure at a leading consulting firm and postgraduation at a top-tier Indian business school. An avid traveler and explorer, Singhal has been excited about the company policy of working from anywhere thrice a week and spending only two days a week in the physical office. He soon settles into his team and begins working with his supervisor Anurag Das and his direct report Vivek Joshi. He begins working on landing a huge technology transformation project with ABD Group, an Indian manufacturing conglomerate and prepares a proposal for them. The client is busy with some internal audit and asks the project team, at the very last minute, to present its proposal in its office. Though Singhal has been utilizing his work-from-anywhere days and travelling, he agrees to the meeting and decides to join virtually while Das and Joshi decide to attend in person. Due to some network issues at the client's location, Singhal is unable to participate, and Joshi takes the lead on the proposal. Singhal realizes that all the recognition for this win is being credited to Joshi since he was physically present at the client meeting. Singhal is disgruntled and upset over this and is now considering his future at WinCorp. He is also wondering if the hybrid working system will ever be a possibility in India.

In September 2021, the chief human resources officer of the video intelligence firm Wobot.ai saw a negative review on the online platform Glassdoor, which accused her of being a figurehead who achieved her leadership position only because she was the founder’s wife. Despite her numerous professional achievements, including being recognized as one of the 2019 “Shepreneurs: Women to Watch” by Entrepreneur India magazine, the chief human resources officer was shaken by the demeaning sexist remark in the glaringly public review that threatened her personal brand and the company’s reputation. The review had already deterred one potential applicant from joining the organization. The chief human resources officer considered the review a personal attack and wanted to defend her personal brand identity. She was also eager to call out offensive stereotypical remarks that could create a hostile workplace environment. However, the Wobot.ai leadership team was wondering which response strategy would be the best approach for the organization.

In September 2021, the chief human resources officer of the video intelligence firm Wobot.ai saw a negative review on the online platform Glassdoor, which accused her of being a figurehead who achieved her leadership position only because she was the founder's wife. Despite her numerous professional achievements, including being recognized as one of the 2019 "Shepreneurs: Women to Watch" by Entrepreneur India magazine, the chief human resources officer was shaken by the demeaning sexist remark in the glaringly public review that threatened her personal brand and the company's reputation. The review had already deterred one potential applicant from joining the organization. The chief human resources officer considered the review a personal attack and wanted to defend her personal brand identity. She was also eager to call out offensive stereotypical remarks that could create a hostile workplace environment. However, the Wobot.ai leadership team was wondering which response strategy would be the best approach for the organization.

Subir Shukla, the Principal Coordinator in Ignus Pahal, was involved in improving education for marginalized children. After working for many years at the policy level and assisting various governments across Asia in improving the public education system, he realized that the lack of access to reading material in India was hampering the children's ability to develop reading skills. In 2017 he decided to open Manan Publishing to cater to this need. He was strapped for funds for the initial years and was looking at some financial assistance for the first three years. His immediate need was to evolve a strategy for generating funds.

Ratan Tata began his journey with the Tata group on the shop floor of the Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited and eventually rose to become chairman of the Tata group—a conglomerate with operations in more than 80 countries across six continents. Known as a value-based, principled, and visionary leader, Ratan Tata helped the Tata group grow immensely over two decades of leadership. When he retired in 2012, he passed the leadership to a new chairman. However, four years later, on October 24, 2016, the Tata Sons board, which controlled the Tata group, decided to replace the chairman. His ousting led to a public clash over ethics and corporate governance at the top of the Tata empire. Ratan Tata was asked to return as interim chairman and help find a new successor. How could he succeed in this task and help the Tata group retain its glory, without compromising its values and beliefs?

Ratan Tata began his journey with the Tata group on the shop floor of the Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited and eventually rose to become chairman of the Tata group-a conglomerate with operations in more than 80 countries across six continents. Known as a value-based, principled, and visionary leader, Ratan Tata helped the Tata group grow immensely over two decades of leadership. When he retired in 2012, he passed the leadership to a new chairman. However, four years later, on October 24, 2016, the Tata Sons board, which controlled the Tata group, decided to replace the chairman. His ousting led to a public clash over ethics and corporate governance at the top of the Tata empire. Ratan Tata was asked to return as interim chairman and help find a new successor. How could he succeed in this task and help the Tata group retain its glory, without compromising its values and beliefs?

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.