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In 2023, Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson was contemplating her growth strategy at a leading U.K.-based cybersecurity venture, launched in 2013 by a group of anti-terror cyber specialists, University of Cambridge mathematicians, and artificial intelligence (AI) experts. Darktrace was also one of the few technology companies built around AI from the start prior to Generative AI, and it offered AI-powered solutions to protect customers from a variety of complex online threats. Two years earlier, Darktrace had gone public on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $2.4 billion. In the wake of the IPO, in 2022, both the chief marketing officer and chief revenue officer had approached Gustafsson to tell her they wanted to step down from their roles. They were cofounders, and Gustafsson had worked with them from the start. Gustafsson and her team were weighing the decision of whether to bring on external hires or to promote from within for the CRO and CMO roles. The goal was to scale Darktrace from $500 million in revenues to $1 billion. The decision to recruit externally had significant investment implications, given fears of recession, high inflation, and layoffs faced by many companies in the second half of 2022. Recruiting talent from the outside would change the organization's hiring model, compensation structure, and incentives. But there were other concerns. Would newly recruited talent from the outside mesh with the culture and organization that Gustafsson and her cofounders had built at the company's U.K. headquarters? She knew she would have to manage sensitivities on both sides. What was the best way to ensure a smooth transition, and what qualities should she be looking for in the two new C-level executives? Was this a necessary step to realize her ambitions for growth?

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Why building an innovative corporate culture requires focusing on people rather than technology.

On July 18, 2022, transgender employees of Kochi Metro Rail Limited revealed several sad stories of discrimination, low salary, and inaccessible toilets in the workplace. The publicly owned company based in Kochi, India aimed to be seen as among the most sustainable and connected organizations in the country. In 2017, the company made a conscious effort to hire transgender candidates into primary positions. After hiring 1,000 women and 23 transgender employees as part of its social inclusion initiative, Kochi Metro Rail Limited earned praise from the public as an inclusive workplace. The company soon reached a high of 43 transgender employees, but that number dropped considerably down to nine employees within only five years, after issues and disappointments surfaced among the workforce. The transgender community saw the company’s transgender employee policy as a promotional stunt to gain publicity and public attention. To regain its former status among India’s top companies for social inclusion, it was imperative for Kochi Metro Rail Limited to quickly find a way to attract and retain transgender employees.

Even well-meaning organizations too often come up short in investigating sexual harassment complaints, implementing preventive measures, and imposing penalties against harassers. The result? Companies leave themselves vulnerable to liability for harassers’ actions and losing valuable talent. What’s essential are a credible training program, a solid process for investigating complaints and looking for patterns, and a uniformly applied disciplinary policy for violators.

In March 2023, the founders of the Strategic Human Resource Leadership Journey were reviewing the program's great success across India since its launch in 2004. The initiative was intended to develop and prepare India's HR leaders for the future. With a strategic business focus, it instilled enduring personal and professional transformations in the program's participants. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 induced unprecedented changes for the program and across the world. The result was a shift toward a mix of physical and digital offerings, referred to as a "phygital" context. The program's architects recognized that there was a compelling need to modify the design of the initiative. In 2021-22, they offered a three-phase hybrid model that aimed to capture the best of both the physical and digital formats. However, participants lamented the lack of emotional connection and opportunities to develop deep relationships. How could the program leverage the new technology of the "phygital" world but sustain the emotional quality of the in-person residential format?

Research shows the benefits of good work friendships on personal well-being, productivity, and engagement â€" but our close relationships at work can also create a minefield for leaders if they fracture teams into cliques. Here’s how to build healthy work friendships that enhance collaboration and performance and humanize the workplace.

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), data and algorithms have been increasingly incorporated into organizations' talent management in general and recruitment processes in particular. The case discusses the experience of the China-based technology giant Baidu Inc. (Baidu) during its implementation and incorporation of AI in its recruitment process. It introduces the new trend of intelligent recruitment, addressing the transformation toward it, its technical functions, and the operational model and value creation it enables. It also explores the challenges and future opportunities in the use of AI for talent management.

Sonali Saini was the founder of Sol’s ARC, a nonprofit organization that worked to benefit neurodiverse individuals. She had just returned from a meeting with senior representatives of a leading organization at which they expressed concerns about hiring neurodiverse people. She had managed to persuade them to agree to another meeting in 15 days, at which she planned to try to address their concerns. Saini was contemplating three strategic options: (a) developing a compelling business case by leveraging the past success stories of organizations that had benefited from hiring neurodiverse individuals, (b) channelling additional resources into advocacy and awareness efforts to change corporations’ perceptions of neurodiverse talent, and (c) offering additional services such as job mapping and carving jobs that are suited to neurodiverse individuals.

The case presents three mini-cases on employment discrimination. In the first, "(Un)See the Seen," a project manager faced the dilemma of how to support a neurodivergent associate whose principal consultant opposes him. In the second, "License to Ageism-When the Old Play Games with the Young," a young project leader faced the dilemma of how to protect himself from a junior partner and a toxic culture in the firm. In the third, "Cold Shoulder Another Day-A(vo)iding Disability," an HR manager faced the dilemma of how to ensure a paraplegic intern continued his internship when his reporting officer did not support him.

The president of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, Canada, Brett Fairbairn, faced backlash and scrutiny for his handling of a harassment and discrimination investigation into two of his senior leaders. In November 2021, two local media outlets released details of the allegations that were brought to the attention of the President and Board of Governors months earlier. The case outlines the public reactions, and a timeline of events, as reported via TRU’s public website and local news media, as well as social media posts from interested parties. The President is faced with a decision on how to respond to his varying stakeholders when his leadership and the vision of the university are at stake.

Khayal Gumaan, a professor at a reputable Canadian university, had many years of experience teaching on campus, where she prided herself in creating a safe and respectful environment by valuing diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) in her classroom. When the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced courses to be delivered online, she taught for the first time an online course in organizational behaviour for undergraduate students. Although still committed to promoting DEI in class, the professor found it difficult to do so in the virtual environment. Then, in the first month of her online course, a student appealed to her in a private email, asking her to intervene in an unsettling group discussion. The professor was determined to engage her students on the sensitive topic of DEI. How should she respond to the situation in her class’s online group discussion and also use it as a teaching opportunity?

The president of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, Canada, Brett Fairbairn, faced backlash and scrutiny for his handling of a harassment and discrimination investigation into two of his senior leaders. In November 2021, two local media outlets released details of the allegations that were brought to the attention of the President and Board of Governors months earlier. The case outlines the public reactions, and a timeline of events, as reported via TRU's public website and local news media, as well as social media posts from interested parties. The President is faced with a decision on how to respond to his varying stakeholders when his leadership and the vision of the university are at stake.

Khayal Gumaan, a professor at a reputable Canadian university, had many years of experience teaching on campus, where she prided herself in creating a safe and respectful environment by valuing diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) in her classroom. When the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced courses to be delivered online, she taught for the first time an online course in organizational behaviour for undergraduate students. Although still committed to promoting DEI in class, the professor found it difficult to do so in the virtual environment. Then, in the first month of her online course, a student appealed to her in a private email, asking her to intervene in an unsettling group discussion. The professor was determined to engage her students on the sensitive topic of DEI. How should she respond to the situation in her class's online group discussion and also use it as a teaching opportunity?

The case study revolves around Amir Hashem El Dandarawy, the leader of the El Amara tribe in Upper Egypt, who faces two pressing conflicts. El Dandarawy must navigate these conflicts, mediate between the embattled families, and assert his tribe's rights while maintaining neutrality and integrity. The case examines El Dandarawy's leadership style; prominent Western leadership models such as servant leadership, transformational leadership, situational leadership, and ethical leadership; and different approaches to conflict resolution in Arab culture, including mediation, negotiation, consultation, and consensus-building. Students are challenged to compare and contrast Western and Eastern approaches to leadership and conflict resolution.

The implementation of the OKR-based Performance Management System (PMS) in Quick Heal, an Indian cybersecurity company came about because of Ms. Reetu Raina, the CHRO's revelation about loopholes in the existing PMS that needed to be addressed. The old PMS had a rigid top-to-bottom approach without any mechanism for frequent feedback. Moreover, not every individual goal was tangible or aligned with the organizational strategy. As a result, it had become challenging to differentiate between high and low performers, and Quick Heal was missing out on a chance to grow as a company. The organization faced several challenges during the implementation process of the new OKR-based PMS, such as employees' resistance to change, slow transformation of the traditional goal-setting process to a more agile approach and other barriers towards the new system's adoption. Employees questioned the need and relevance of the new PMS amidst the uncertainties of the post-pandemic work norms and strongly resisted the transition. Mixed reviews from the department heads left Raina puzzled and wondering about the pitfalls of the transition, the implementation process and overall the potential of the new OKR-based PMS as a tool to create a performance-based culture at Quick Heal.

The case study revolves around Amir Hashem El Dandarawy, the leader of the El Amara tribe in Upper Egypt, who faces two pressing conflicts. El Dandarawy must navigate these conflicts, mediate between the embattled families, and assert his tribe's rights while maintaining neutrality and integrity. The case examines El Dandarawy's leadership style; prominent Western leadership models such as servant leadership, transformational leadership, situational leadership, and ethical leadership; and different approaches to conflict resolution in Arab culture, including mediation, negotiation, consultation, and consensus-building. Students are challenged to compare and contrast Western and Eastern approaches to leadership and conflict resolution.

Luthra Engineering Industries (LEI), a small-scale, family-run manufacturing business, based in a small Indian city, is going through a crisis. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, LEI had been shut for two months but has received the government's permission to re-open, albeit, if it complies with certain conditions. LEI can invite only 30 per cent of its employees back to the office amidst proper safety, leading to challenges of maintaining equity due to salary dilemmas and implementing various safety protocols. However, LEI's management are not only dealing with a pandemic looming large along but also macroeconomic uncertainty, business continuity, financial crunch, and employee motivation, equity, and safety. LEI's leaders need to make sense of this multi-pronged crisis.

In August 2020, Schneider Electric India (SE), a major Indian low-voltage switchgear company, pursued a strategic growth plan by acquiring Larsen & Toubro's Electrical and Automation business from its competitor. This unprecedented deal involved two organizations that had previously competed for the same markets and customers but would subsequently operate under one parent company named Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd. The new company would have two brands of the same product and different sales models. The merger would also have wide-ranging implications for the stakeholders on both the sides, which included customers, suppliers, employees, and regulators. The timing of the merger was further complicated with the integration taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent nationwide lockdowns. The acquisition brought together an Indian company and a global organization, with stark differences in terms of culture and employee policies. Therefore, the integration of two competing businesses with disparate employee policies and cultures, amid pandemic-led challenges, seemed like a herculean task for the integration team. Rachna Mukherjee, the chief human resources officer of SE, was heading the integration plan and was contemplating the many challenges that she would encounter. She knew that she would need the right approach to overcome these challenges and ensure a smooth integration of the two companies.

In August 2020, Schneider Electric India (SE), a major Indian low-voltage switchgear company, pursued a strategic growth plan by acquiring Larsen & Toubro’s Electrical and Automation business from its competitor. This unprecedented deal involved two organizations that had previously competed for the same markets and customers but would subsequently operate under one parent company named Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd. The new company would have two brands of the same product and different sales models. The merger would also have wide-ranging implications for the stakeholders on both the sides, which included customers, suppliers, employees, and regulators. The timing of the merger was further complicated with the integration taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent nationwide lockdowns. The acquisition brought together an Indian company and a global organization, with stark differences in terms of culture and employee policies. Therefore, the integration of two competing businesses with disparate employee policies and cultures, amid pandemic-led challenges, seemed like a herculean task for the integration team. Rachna Mukherjee, the chief human resources officer of SE, was heading the integration plan and was contemplating the many challenges that she would encounter. She knew that she would need the right approach to overcome these challenges and ensure a smooth integration of the two companies.