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

Code : LDS0048

Year : 2021

Industry : Food & Beverage

Region : India

Teaching Note: Available

Structured Assignment : Not Available

COMPANY BACKGROUND In March 1959, seven semi-literate women from Gujarat came together to supplement their family incomes and create a sustainable source of employment for themselves with the skill they had – cooking. The seven women were Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, Parvatiben Ramdas Thodani, Ujamben Narandas Kundalia, Banuben. N. Tanna, Laguben Amritlar Gokani, Jayaben V. Vithalani, and one more woman whose name is not known. They started out on the terrace of a large, old, residential building called Lohana Niwas in Girgaum, a thickly populated area in south Mumbai. This is where the seven housewives, bored and confined to their homes, saw an opportunity to set up an organization. Entrepreneurship was something these women had never heard of. The venture was immensely successful and marked the genesis of a cooperative “for the women, by the women and of the women.”..

OPERATIONS Since operations began in 1959, SMGULP had allowed its women workers to work from home. Before allowing the worker to work from home, SMGULP satisfied itself on the cleanliness of the worker’s house and ensured there was a separate place for preparing the papads. Every member was trained to make the perfect Lijjat papad. If any member was unable to meet the quality standards, then she was assigned to some other work like packaging. To ensure the quality of the product, the organization had a rigorous quality check process. If during testing, any lot was found to be below standard, the entire lot was destroyed..

FUTURE PLANS The company’s success was achieved through teamwork, profit sharing, selflessness, and respect for human dignity. Experts opined that SMGULP had proved that organizations that shared their profits with their employees and were driven by noble goals could be successful. Looking at the growth of the company and the demand from customers, SMGULP planned to diversify its product portfolio by adding new products like instant noodles and to adopt automation. The organization also had plans to increase its exports..