Creating Synergies for Business Transformations: Brigade Enterprises Ltd

Abstract

In 2009 Brigade Enterprises Limited (BEL), with operations in the real estate sector and construction in South India, prepared a blueprint for implementing Total Transformation in the organization. A central communication channel was identified as a “must” area for improvement. Active and passive measures were adopted to make the internal communication vibrant, which would, it was envisioned, change organizational culture and bring about attitudinal change. However, the review after 18 months pointed towards gaps in the existing model. Should BEL continue with the existing strategies or amend? Given the organizational dynamics, what new changes, if necessary, can be initiated?

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Resources

Exhibit 1 Financial Performance of Brigade

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Turnover (lakhs)

49,415

39,436

36,259

46937

60932

Turnover (% change)

−20

−8

26

23

Net Profit (lakhs)

10,296

8305

4622

11928

5809

Net Profit (% change)

−19

−44*

158

−51

*2010: Refund of taxes of 1733

Source: Company Data

Exhibit 2A Growth of Employees in Brigade

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

No of employees in the company

328

355

368

414

500

Source: Company Data

Exhibit 2B Age and Education-wise Employee Break-up

Age Wise Breakup

Figure

Education Wise Breakup

Figure

Source: Company Data

Exhibit 3A SP Communication Channels

A. Passive Communication Methods

1. Posters

6. Story Board

2. Danglers

7. Virtual Innovation Center

3. Badges

8. Mascot Blurb Messages

4. Movie/Documentary

9. Dashboards

5. Mailers

10. Newsletter

Source: Company Data

B. Passive Communication Forums

1. Suggestion Scheme

3. Mail Forums

2. Mascot Mails

4. Knowledge Bank

Source: Company Data

C. Active Communication Methods

1. Contests

4. Brainstorming & Interaction sessions

2. Training Workshops

5. Debate Competitions

3. War room Meetings

6. Process Reviews

Source: Company Data

Exhibit 3B Characters used by SP for communication

Figure

Source: Company Records

Exhibit 4 Role based Employee Satisfaction Results from the Great Place to Work Survey

Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

Source: Created by the authors on the basis of Company Information

Exhibit 5 Department based Employee Satisfaction Results from the Great Place to Work Survey

Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure

Source: Created by the authors on the basis of Company Information

Teaching Notes

Synopsis

In 1986, M. R. Jaishankar, set up Brigade Enterprises Ltd. (BEL), in South India. With operations in real estate and construction in South India, BEL had grown to a conglomerate of five companies generating revenue of `360 crore in 2010 and forecasted growth projections of `10,000 crore by 2020. Jaishankar, along with change leader Prabhakar Jadhav, initiated an organization wide change program, Sampoorna Parivartan (SP), which aimed at project, people, processes and performance. They believed that this would help in improving the culture and performance across the firm and was a critical step in the direction of achieving the financial objectives. The case discusses SP initiatives and results with respect to people and culture.

In 2009, a Brigade blueprint was prepared by Wipro Consulting Services (WCS) and rolled out across the organization. Given the volatile nature of the industry, a central communication channel was identified as a “must” area for improvement by their change partners, WCS. Active and passive measures were adopted to make the internal communication vibrant, which would, it was envisioned, change organizational culture and bring about an attitudinal change towards work and teams. SP led to a major change in employee perception directly resulting in 50 per cent reduction of defects, over 70 per cent reduction in handover time and 32 per cent reduction in planned duration of certain projects. By 2012, SP had resulted in over USD 2 million of savings for Brigade.

However, not everyone in the organization was on the same page. “Inclusivity” along with a change in the mindset and attitude of people still had to be addressed. The diversity in the workforce, in terms of age, experience and qualification proved to be an obstacle in implementing an organization-wide people and culture specific change. Survey data was collected in 2012 on “Great Place to Work”, and Jadhav found a positive response of employees in terms of “pride in the workplace” (85/100) and “credibility in management” (81/100). However, other parameters as perception of impartiality and equity (65/100); and cooperation and fun at work (70/100) did not fare well in the survey. Different levels and departments had a varied view concerning the “Great Place to Work” survey responses, with some clearly not appreciative of the change initiative. Apart from the employees of the organization, there were other external contractors, workers and architects who did not fully understand SP and its benefits. Implementing the change initiative across all stakeholders was crucial to the future success of the program.

After 18 months of handholding by WCS, Jadhav, in 2012, was faced with the task of enhancing employee perception and communication. In order to ensure inclusive and interdepartmental implementation of SP should BEL, pondered Jadhav, continue with the strategies outlined by WCS or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration from all employees? Given the organizational dynamics what new changes, if necessary, could be initiated?

Teaching Objectives

The case, set in the year 2012, studies the organizational landscape of BEL, a company in the real estate sector, which had envisioned and implemented organization wide change (SP). However, the organization was still grappling with multiple challenges. Despite multiple attempts the leadership team had not been able to secure “inclusivity” in approach and change in attitude and mindset of internal stakeholders.

The case discusses challenges and presents processes followed by Brigade in developing an identity based organizational culture. Additionally, it discusses steps involved in the change process that would give credence to the vision of Jaishankar, Chairman &Managing Director (CMD) of BEL.

The case has been written to illustrate the following objectives:

  • To understand how change processes in organizational culture are woven with the overall strategy of the company
  • To analyse communication strategies through which synergy and alignment is achieved
  • To assess parameters governing engineering and re-engineering of communication strategies
Intended Course and Teaching Level

The case is appropriate for students in the post-graduate programmes, MBA and management development programmes. It can be used to study organizational culture, change and communication strategies. Appropriate courses in which it can be taught are change management, strategic communication and organizational behavior. A 75 minutes session is appropriate for a discussion of the case.

Suggested Readings
Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The catalyst factor: The power of project support. Harvard Business Press. 132
Bridges, W. (2003). Launching a newbeginning. Harvard Business Publishing. 5775
Ibarra, H. , Snook, S. & Ramo, L. G. (2010). Identity-based leader development. Harvard Business Press. 122
Worley, C. G. & Lawler, E. E. (2006). Designing organizations that are built to change. MIT Sloan Management Review. 1923
Suggested Assignment Questions
  • What is change? What are the processes involved in change? What are the challenges faced by a company in implementing change?
  • What were the initiatives taken by BEL?
  • What were the internal challenges faced by BEL in implementing an organization wide change?
  • How were the objectives of SP linked to communication initiatives of BEL?
  • Was BEL able to secure commitment from its employees? Henceforth, what can be done to ensure “willingness” from its internal stakeholders?
  • Should Jadhav continue with the existing strategies or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration?
Analysis
Should Jadhav continue with the existing strategies or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration?

The instructor may begin the discussion by asking the students/participants to indicate through a show of hands if they think Jadhav should continue with the existing strategies. At this point she may want to inform the students that this is an ice breaking exercise to which she will revert at the end of the discussion. The objective of this exercise is to help students distinguish between decisions based on “gut feel” and logic.

What is change? What are the processes involved in change? What are the challenges faced by a company in implementing change?

Change is a state of motion from acceptance to non-acceptance of existing environmental context and implementation of perceived beneficial state. It is dynamic and involves people and processes in transition before achieving constancy in context.

The processes involved in change can be discussed with the help of change management model of Kurt Lewin1 (1947) who proposed three stages – unfreeze, change and freeze (refreeze). The most important of the three stages is the unfreezing, which involves accepting the need for change and gearing up to move in that direction. In this stage, it is preparation of the self and the other individuals involved in the process to adapt to change. An important component in this entire process is setting realistic goals and targets. Higher the need for change, greater will be the urgency associated, which will help move to the next stage of implementation.

Change, in the lifecycle of an organization, involves multiple stakeholders. The move from unfreezing to the state of “moving” requires conviction, time, flexibility, support and extensive communication from the leadership team.

The last of the three stages is “freeze” or “refreeze”. Once the process of change has completed, the current format of operations has to gain organization wide acceptance. This stage helps to create the desired “stability” within the organization.

Challenges:
  • Understanding the need for change
  • Conceptualizing
  • Moving from the comfort to an uncertain zone
  • Securing the buy-in of all stakeholders
  • Time and commitment from top management
  • Ensuring behavioural compliance
  • Ascertaining realistic timelines for stabilization of processes
  • Sustenance of the process
  • Integration and reinforcement
  • Sustained communication

The framework for a discussion of this case is an adaptation of the Kurt Lewin’s change management model (Exhibit TN 1).

The teaching note is structured according to the framework proposed above and the suggested assignment questions have been listed based on the model.

A. Organizational Need for Change (Internal and External factors)

Organizations post recession in 2008, were faced with a financial crunch. Many of them used the time to review internal processes, bring about a change in the existing pattern of operations to be able to survive the slump. BEL was no different.

Jaishankar and Jadhav recruited WCS as their change partners in implementing organization wide change, SampoornaParivartan (SP). Prior to implementation, WCS conducted a diagnosis and assessed that there were five major areas (cost management, employee satisfaction, customer experience, innovation and on time completion of projects) requiring immediate attention (Exhibit TN 2).

Internal Factors:

Differing management and employee perspectives were identified to be critical areas of concern.

Management Perspective: The focus was on four domains: people, profits, processes and performance.

  • To become an employer of choice
  • Growth projections of ` 10,000 crore by 2020
  • Improve interdepartmental coordination
  • Good communication between contractors and other departments
  • On-time delivery
  • Effective project planning and management
  • Effective management of processes
  • Organized knowledge management

Employee Perspective: Many of the employees had been in the organization for 15-18 years. Their relationship with the organization was “comfort centric”. Some points to lead the discussion on employee perspective are:

  • Lack of interest
  • Complacent attitude
  • Preferred working in silos
  • Reticent behaviour
  • Lack of coordination
  • No ownership of processes and procedures
External factors:
  • Recession
  • Growth in real estate business
  • Transient nature of workers
  • Reliance on contracted workers
  • Pan India worker profile – differing interests and concerns

B. Unfreezing

Now that BEL was over with the most important part of recognizing the need for change, it had to begin the process of revolutionizing the processes. At a time when businesses were at an all time low, assessment, diagnosis followed by implementation of change order was the only solution to help BEL maintain its number one position in the real estate sector and to grow. Based on the diagnosis by WCS, the five identified areas for change were: employee satisfaction, customer experience, cost management innovation and on-time completion of projects. The underlying premise was to change the way the organization functioned. The “unfreezing” was at the procedural and behavioural level.

What were the initiatives taken by BEL?

BEL undertook two major initiatives in the process of “unfreezing”: Aagaaz and SP (Exhibit TN 2). SP addressed the procedural and Aagaaz the behavioral dimension. Though Aagaaz was started in 2008, it took on a changed hue post initiation of SP. Freshly inducted employees were also trained in the various tracks of SP for implementation to be organization wide.

C. Moving

Major challenge faced by organizations is in the implementation phase. While the senior leadership team is all geared for action, the employees are skeptical and unsure of the changes and the benefits. The behavioral and procedural dimensions need to be integrated with the stage of “moving”. A strategy, which conceptualizes future course of action and plans integration of processes and people needs to be devised. Not surprisingly, the senior leadership team faces multiple challenges from the internal stakeholders.

What were the internal challenges faced by BEL in implementing an organization wide change?

Substantial literature on change management has been devoted to helping people bridge the gap between “knowing” and “doing”2 by converting the insights gained into action points. One important criterion of translating knowledge to action is the meaning associated with the self, how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. This has been referred to as “identity”.3 The instructor, at this point, may elaborate on the three dimensions of identity: social, personal and professional. Social would refer to the social memberships within groups; personal, the set of traits and characteristics an individual possesses; and professional, a combination of the social and the personal and a set of traits which define the individual in a professional role.

Adaptation of these roles to a negotiated new identity requires constant work and improvement. In such cases, experience proves to be the biggest leveler, enabling employees to amend their behavior and to take on the role of “what they want to be” in a changing environment.4 Changing role demands forcing employees to reinvent themselves and change their perspective. This identity transition is time consuming as employees vacillate between “what was”, “what is” and “what is expected to be”. In this transition, chances are high that people regress to an older position, which also grants them the sanctity of their comfort zone. However, if they are able to make sense of their role identity in the new environment, their engagement is higher and commitment long lasting.

Clearly, the employees at BEL sensed an identity crisis in the transition phase in which professional and social relationships underwent a change (Exhibit TN 3). The instructor may encourage the students/participants to view the situation from the perspective of the employees. They had been with the organization for over a decade, had seen the growth in the real estate sector, preferred autonomy in handling projects, had devised their own ways of handling contracted workers and had been successful. However, with the implementation of SP all processes were streamlined, a war room was created, communication strategies were devised, and an attempt was made to centralize all decisions. Though communication channels were set up, it was difficult to get departments to think about the entire organization and not just their own silos. Expectations of the senior leadership team that employees adapt to 360 degree change in the 18 months during which SP was being implemented was difficult, though not impossible. The result was fizzling of interest, resistance, lack of initiative, etc (Exhibit TN 3).

How were the objectives of SP linked to the communication initiatives of BEL?

This is explained in Table TN 1

Table TN 1: Linking SP Objectives to Communication Initiatives

SP Objectives

Communication Initiatives

People

Trying to knit all employees together through active and passive methods of communication (Case Exhibits3A and 3B)

Processes

Understanding of processes through a central coordinating unit, War Room

Performance

On time completion and delivery could only happen through coordination, project planning and implementation which was addressed by the War Room

Profits

Once the above three SP objectives were satisfied, it was expected that profits, would escalate through increased business. The instructor may wish to draw the attention of the students to the fact that profits are not immediate in the real estate sector. They are reflected in the balance sheet only on completion and delivery. In the present case, the drop in net profits by 51 per cent in 2012 following a 158 per cent increase in 2011 clearly indicates investments in new projects. Some of the tangible benefits were: reduction in inventory levels from an average `70 crores during 2008 to 25 crores during 2012, 50 per cent reduction of defects, over 70 per cent reduction in handover time and 32 per cent reduction in planned duration of certain projects. Monetary benefits of the change can be seen in the savings of `9.25 crore through Six Sigma, ` 3.25 crore through Kaizen and` 33 crore through Reverse Auction.

Was BEL able to secure commitment from its employees? Henceforth, what can be done to ensure “willingness” from its internal stakeholders?

It is always difficult to secure 100 per cent commitment or engagement of employees. While the Great Place to Work Survey showed major chunk of the workforce in sync and happy with the organization there were a number of people who were not so happy with the changes that had taken place. Areas of concern were: unwillingness of the leadership team to answer simple queries, inability to adjust in new teams, and weaknesses in the internal communication.

Across departments, there was a varied response of satisfaction on factors like credibility, respect and fairness (Case Exhibit 5). A high score on credibility signified that employees confided in the management and believed in the methods adopted by Brigade. A high score on respect implied that the employees perceived that they were treated with respect in the firm and management was also respectful. Fairness relates to employees perception of equity, recognition and impartiality in the firm. The instructor may focus attention on a few departments that are either low on the ratings or have shown a perceptible dip from the previous year. A few points to be highlighted are:

  • HR, IT and Administration saw a dip across the three parameters.
    • In the case, Kumar (DGM, HR) highlights that there is a need to make the firm a fun place to be. King (IT Manager) focuses on the need to have centralized, coordinated platforms. A member of the War Room, Deenashree talks about the need to coordinate the project sites and implement SP
  • Marketing, Customer Services have increased in ratings.
    • Toppo (Marketing Manager) speaks about the flat culture within the department and a clear two way communication across levels. This kind of flexibility and communication about career growth could be a possible solution to increase employee engagement across the firm.
  • Low scores of Design, ‘Any other’ and Customer Services in the survey
    • This could be attributed to the small size of departments and hence, the instructor may highlight that SP needed to reach all departments, big and small to be able to effect a change. Inclusivity of these departments carrying out support functions was critical.
  • Average low scores of fairness criteria.
    • Employees have a perception of partiality, lack of equity (alignment of personal financial benefits with company growth) and insufficient recognition. The instructor may discuss how communication targeted towards career growth opportunities and transparency in appraisals could bring an improvement in this regard.

The age difference and educational profile of employees also proved to be a challenge for BEL. With maximum number of people in the age bracket of 30-40, there were employees in the below 30 category and above 50 category. Mindset, attitude and commitment to work were different across people with varied level of experience. Trying to ensure cohesiveness in communication and a willingness to contribute in an even manner was a major challenge for the management. Additionally, BEL had people with a varied educational background, with the maximum number being engineers (Case Exhibit 2). The difference in their social and professional identities was steep and trying to synchronize their activities while enunciating change again proved to be a massive task. This is visible in the case where there is a clear increase in satisfaction ratings for the survey by ‘below supervisory’ level employees and a general decrease for ‘supervisory’ and ‘management’ level employees (Case Exhibit 4).

Moving requires there to be both conceptualization and integration of strategies. In the present case, BEL with WCS had conceptualized and implemented change strategies. However, the integration was suspect. The instructor may wish to engage the students/participants on a discussion on what strategies can be adopted by BEL to integrate and ensure “willingness”. Some points with which she may begin the discussion are as follows:

  • Make concerted efforts to increase communication channels. Gradually increase the number of characters for communication. Characters should be such that employees are able to relate with them easily
  • Increase one-on-one communication
  • Involve all through dialogue and discussion. Make everyone feel a part of the transformation process
  • Clarify agenda of SP
  • Increase dialogue with the senior leadership team
  • Organize inter and intra departmental gatherings
  • Create better channels with contractors, workers and architects
  • Specify expectations
  • Provide autonomy
  • Spell out profits
  • Make employees realise the benefits of the changes on their personal career growth
  • Increase focus on SP induction in Aagaaz
  • Give enough time – but not too much

These and other points discussed should focus on the catalysts in implementing and expediting change: Consideration for people, communication and coordination (Exhibit TN 3).

D. Refreezing

Once the change management has been initiated, it is important that the organization assess the impact before (re)freezing the new processes.

Should Jadhav continue with the existing strategies or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration?

At the end of the discussion some students/participants may wish to continue with their stand and some may decide to switch their position. Based on the case discussion, some points with which the instructor may wish to begin are presented in the table below:

Table TN 2: To continue or to re-strategize

Continue

Re-strategize

Positive performances: tangible and intangible

Departmental coordination not achieved

Work life and career improvement in employees

Employee recognition needed

Perceptible change in employee acceptance and perception of management

Sustenance of the program still doubtful in the organization as well as with contractors, architects and workers

Overall improvement in employee satisfaction and financial performance of Brigade due to processes put in place

Strategy needed to target seniors and youth separately

There maybe a group of students who may suggest that SP should continue, however with some modifications.

  • SP concentrated on process orientation. More focus on inclusivity now required.
  • Need to establish a culture where people look up to communication and messages rather than finding it redundant.
  • Program should be modified for internal and external stakeholders separately. As they have different expectations, different strategies need to be formulated.
  • Need to provide resources after assessing the financial impact.
What Happened?

An Annual Improvement Plan was drawn up based on further surveys conducted within the organization. A Brigade strategy tower was created based on the five critical areas identified by WCS. The most critical component, organizational culture formed the base of the tower. Focus on people as drivers of change formed the third rung on the tower. Recognizing the importance of their commitment and engagement, a communication strategy was devised which was based on the identified challenges (Exhibit TN 4).

References
Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers of group dynamics: Concept, method and reality in Social Science; Social Equilibria and Social Change, Human Relations,1, 541.
Hirst, G. , Mann, L. , Bain, P. , Pirola-Merlo, A. & Richver, A. (2004). Learning to lead: The development and testing of a model of leadership learning. Leadership Quarterly, 15(3), 311327.
Gecas, V. (1982). The Self-Concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 133
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Exhibit TN 1: Model for Implementing Change

Figure

Source: Adapted from Kurt Lewin Change Management Model. Retrieved on November 6, 2012 from http://www.change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin.html

Exhibit TN 2: Challenges and Initiatives

Figure

Source: Created by the authors on the basis of case facts

Exhibit TN 3: Catalysts and Inhibitors in Organizational Culture Change

Figure

Source: Created by the authors on the basis of case facts

Exhibit TN 4: Brigade Strategy Tower

Figure

Source: Company Data

Teaching Plan

Questions/Issues

Time (in mins.)

1

Should Jadhav continue with the existing strategies or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration?

5

2

What is change? What are the processes involved in change? What are the challenges faced by a company in implementing change?

10

3

What were the initiatives taken by BEL?

5

4

What were the internal challenges faced by BEL in implementing an organization wide change?

15

5

Was BEL able to secure commitment from its employees? Henceforth, what can be done to ensure “willingness” from its internal stakeholders?

20

6

Should Jadhav continue with the existing strategies or amend to secure cooperation and collaboration?

15

7

Wrap-up

5

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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