Upcoming Cases 

• HIDESIGN: RETAIL LEATHER HERITAGE OR TRANSFORM INTO A LIFESTYLE BRAND?
  Kerani Suresh
  
  The Hidesign case examines issues facing a niche firm in pursuit of its next growth phase. Dilip Kapur, founder and president, after a three decade long leather products portfolio, decided to extend brand Hidesign to non-leather product categories such as sunglasses and pens. ‘Real leather.  Crafted the forgotten way’ tagline had helped position brand Hidesign as a fine quality leather accessories brand. On what common plank should Dilip position Hidesign’s product range, with a new tagline?  Should different taglines be used for its leather and non-leather products? Or, should Hidesign do away with taglines altogether? Would its decision to extend the brand to non-leather product categories dilute its zealously cultivated core identity or help transform Hidesign into a fashion lifestyle brand? 
  
  
  

• PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SUDARSHAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED
  Professor K. Ramachandran and Alexander Mathew
  
  This is a case of a family business based in India, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited, promoted by the Rathi family, which took several initiatives in professionalizing its business. The spirit of professionalization has been an integral part of Sudarshan’s culture since its inception in 1951. In 2003, when the second generation took over the leadership, the professionalization process was undertaken systematically with the help of an external advisor. Three fourths of businesses globally are family businesses. Though widespread, family businesses have a short life span. Most family businesses do not survive beyond two to three generations. Of the ones that are able to thrive, the primary reason for their growth and longevity is the professionalization of the business. The process of professionalization enables successful family businesses to overcome the growth challenges that are unique to a family business.
  
  
  

• LIFESPRING HOSPITALS
  Professor Ramakrishna Velamuri and Priya Anant
  
  The LifeSpring Hospitals case highlights the journey of an organization that was set up in the city of Hyderabad, in southern India, to provide affordable maternity care services to women from low-income urban families. LifeSpring charges INR 4,000 (US$ 90) for normal deliveries and INR 9,000 (US$ 200) for C-sections. From the time the first hospital was set up in 2005, Life Spring has grown to a chain of nine hospitals by March 2010, all in Hyderabad. The CEO, Anant Kumar, has spent this initial period of five years to try out new things and continuously fine-tune the model, and the learning from this process of experimentation is reflected in several facets of LifeSpring’s business model. As the company seeks to scale up the business to 200 hospitals, Kumar must decide whether the business model is defined clearly enough to warrant the start of a rapid scaling process.
  The case is interesting in that it juxtaposes a commitment to high quality healthcare service delivery through a commitment to processes and protocols on the one hand, with a commitment to making maternal care affordable to low income urban women. LifeSpring tries to achieve these seemingly disparate objectives by trying to come up with a financially sustainable business model.