Business Case Studies, Leadership Case Study, Tata Group,Ratan Tata

Code :LDS0024C

Year :2007

Industry :Conglomerates

Region : U.K./U.S.A.

Teaching Note:Not Available

Structured Assignment :Not Available

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Introduction: Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (Branson) was born on July 18, 1950 at Surrey, a county in southern England. He was an entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand. The name Virgin was coined as a female friend involved in setting up Branson’s first record shop commented "We're all virgins at business." Branson was the founder and Head of the Virgin Group (Annexure I). It was a multi-billion dollar corporation (Annexure II). He was known for his unconventional and outlandish style of leadership. Branson exhibited his entrepreneurial skills ever since he was a small boy. Since childhood he had been trained to be independent. He believed that his style of leadership had its roots in his upbringing. A high school dropout, Branson, became a business legend by the dint of his unorthodox ventures. Branson said, on his approach to business, “though I am often asked to define my business philosophy I generally won’t do so because I don’t believe that it can be taught as if it is a recipe.”, “First you have to believe that you have to make it happen.”

Branson had an enormous appetite for risk and an immeasurable hunger for diversification. He had the remarkable ability to experiment with any business and make it a success. This prompted him to venture into varied businesses. His business ventures included Virgin Music, Virgin Cola, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Trains, Virgin Mobiles, Virgin Movies, Virgin Video Games, and more (Exhibit I) (Annexure III). With his unique leadership style, he transformed business units into independent companies, once they reached a certain size (generally 50 people), and then transferred administrative powers to his subordinates.