Aashica Khanna, the director of Ananda in the Himalayas, an internationally famed Indian luxury wellness resort, was mulling over her options to grow the luxury wellness brand. Could Ananda’s Indian tradition based wellness solutions, hospitality, and cuisine pillars be replicated? While Khanna and Ananda’s leadership team had constantly innovated and created a differentiation in the luxury wellness space, should the focus be on consistency in the Ananda luxury wellness experience or uniqueness? Would they be able to recreate the Ananda experience at another location while preserving the luxury wellness brand’s promise?
In December 2021, Forest Essentials opened its one hundredth store in India and a store in the United Kingdom; the Indian home-grown luxury Ayurveda brand had rapid expansion plans despite the obstacles it faced. Twenty-one years earlier, the company’s founder, liberal arts graduate Mira Kulkarni, converted the six-thousand-year-old science of Ayurveda into bottles and jars of luxurious skin-care and hair-care products, making Forest Essentials an aspirational luxury brand. Forest Essentials had grown to establish a robust presence in five categories—skin care, hair care, wellness, health, and makeup—while acquiring a large and loyal customer base in India. The company was meticulous about the quality of its ingredients and put great effort into sourcing high-quality ingredients from all over India; however, easy access to cheaper Ayurveda-based brands and the entry and availability of international wellness brands into the Indian market threatened Forest Essentials’ customer retention.<br><br>Kulkarni and her son, Samrath Bedi, needed to sustain the growth of Forest Essentials across digital and physical channels in India’s cluttered beauty and wellness market, with a price-sensitive customer base, while also growing the brand’s presence in cross-cultural markets overseas. Could they pursue growth in both marketspaces consistently? Should Kulkarni and Bedi focus on engaging with their existing and potential customers in India, or should they aim to establish their luxury brand in international markets?
In September 2021, the chief operating officer and executive vice-president of HealthCare atHome India Pvt. Ltd. (HCAH India), based in Mumbai, India, was concerned about his company’s future. Founded in 2012, HCAH India provided a wide range of health services at home, including intensive care, step-down beds, post-operative care, nursing, physiotherapy, attendant services, and elderly care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was growing at a rate of 60 per cent month over month. While the COVID-19 virus continued to strain the country’s health care system, the chief operating officer and executive vice-president faced numerous organizational and social challenges. HCAH India had responded quickly to address the home health care needs of patients during the pandemic. It was even recognized for its excellence by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as the best home health care provider. However, how could the organization evaluate its options and focus on internal capabilities, while building on its strengths to meet future challenges?
Saudamini Mattu was the chief executive officer of Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (AJSK), a successful Indian luxury brand specializing in luxe couture, interior design, and wedding decor. The brand had roots in ancient Indian embroidery, and its story was inextricably linked with the personalities of its founders, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, who thought of themselves as revivalists creating luxury products and experiences using designs with an Indian ethos. The luxury brand had deeply resonated with its loyal customer base for over three decades, but AJSK had to now address the relevance and sustainability of its brand story. Mattu therefore had to evaluate whether AJSK’s brand story was relevant in the constantly shifting luxury market, and recraft the brand story for the House of AJSK, while considering missed opportunities and the viability of the business model of a creative organization in a challenging economic scenario.
Sogeti, a global leader in providing technological services chooses to invest in a social collaboration platform for its employees with a view towards bringing about business transformation. Partnering with IBM, the company launched “TeamPark.” After the implementation, the company’s central challenge was to encourage employee engagement levels and how to increase utilization of the platform. A further issue: Should the platform be opened up to clients and other stakeholders? There was a lot of deliberation around the way the community should be created – should it be restricted or open? If the company decided to open its information-sharing platform with its clients, how should it manage the issues of security and trust?