Dr. Amita Joshi at Samuel Drugs Limited

AWARD WINNING CASE: Adjudged second best case at the ISB Case Competition 2010 held in partnership with the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Association of Indian Management Schools and sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

This case describes the successful journey of Dr. Amita Joshi in a medium-sized pharmaceuticals organization, Samuel Drugs, in India, which was facing serious performance problems. Joshi realized that the organization had strong manufacturing capability; however, it lacked marketing excellence and badly needed someone who could be tasked with making the company marketing-oriented. Joshi selected, out of turn, a young general manager of sales, Rajesh Mishra, as director of marketing. He proved to be an excellent choice and performed very well in his new role. Samuel Drugs had three subsidiaries and one of them, Eastern Pharmaceuticals Limited (EPL), required a managing director and Mishra was selected. He also continued to perform his previous role of director of marketing. Then conflict ensued between Joshi and Mishra.

This case reveals the important roles of communication, co-ordination, multiple and diverse stakeholders and organizational conflict in determining organizational effectiveness. This case also highlights the point that managers need to tackle both formal and informal aspects of an organization, rational and social sides of organizational life and changing dynamics of relationships and networks.