A two-part Tata group case study, co-authored by J Ramachandran, Professor of Strategy and Chair of Excellence and Bain Fellow at IIM Bangalore, KS Manikandan, Associate Professor of Strategy, IIM Tiruchirappalli, and K Rajyalakshmi, former Research Associate at IIM Bangalore, has won the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition.
The competition received a record number of entries this year and the quality of work was exceptionally high. The Tata Group case won the award in the category ‘Indian Management Issues and Opportunities’.
The award ceremony will take place on June 7 at Berlin, Germany.
The first part, titled ‘Ratan Tata Case’, focuses on Ratan Tata’s leadership of the Tata group from 1991 to 2012. It narrates the Tata group history and traces the company’s early years, its management philosophy, the leadership years of its legendary chairman JRD Tata, the dramatic transformation under Ratan Tata’s leadership and passing on of the baton to Cyrus Mistry as Chairman of the group in late 2012.
The second part, titled ‘Cyrus Mistry Years Case’, describes Mistry’s leadership of the group until it ended abruptly with his removal as Chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, and the reinstatement of Ratan Tata as Interim Chairman.
Well-received
“We are delighted with this recognition. Diversified business groups, which are widely prevalent in emerging economies, are an important organisational form as they defy the perceived view that unrelated diversification is value-destructive. This two-part case study on a business group in India is apt for MBA and Executive MBA courses on Corporate Strategy and Strategy in Emerging Markets,” said J Ramachandran.
For the last 30 years, EFMD has been organising case writing competitions. With a wide selection of categories that focus on specific issues, as well as specific regions of the world, the aim of the case competition is to encourage and support the writing and creation of new and innovative case material.