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MART

A Case Study By Prof. Ishwar Dayal1

1 Disclaimer: Case is written by Prof. Ishwar Dayal, as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling

of an administrative situation.

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used

in a spread sheet, or transmitted in any form or by any ____ electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise – without the permission of

Birla Institute of Management Technology, Plot No. 5, Knowledge Park II, Institutional Area, Greater

Noida, (NCR), U.P. 201306

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After an engineering degree from BITS, Pilani in 1969, Pradeep Kashyap served in three multinational

companies in marketing. His last assignment was as Head of Marketing of a large Japanese auto ancillary in

1987. The job required extensive travelling and experience in widely different areas. Pradeep was

innovative in his job and was appreciated by his peers and supervisors. Pradeep said “I come from a well-

to-do filmily. The job gave me material comforts and I was able to construct a house in South Delhi at a

young age of 29 years. But a hollow feeling kept bothering me.”

In 1980 Pradeep accompanied his wife to her family Guru’s Ashram in Almora district. He had

several discussions with the Guru about the meaning and purpose of life, and was greatly impressed by his

ideas and the model farm and dairy in the Ashram. The Guru suggested that working for the rural poor

could be more meaningful. He explained when you work for money, you are alone but when you work for

others, the world works behind you”. In 1987, the year Pradeep turned 40 he resigned from his corporate

job after 18 years in the sector. Initially he worked with an NGO for 2 years and thereafter as a Marketing

Advisor to the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. He established MART in 1993 a

consulting firm to serve rural poor.

For the next 10 years Pradeep and his small team worked on minimal remuneration for several

NGOs, central and state governments and donor agencies on poverty reduction programs for which he

travelled extensively to rural areas. Millions of artisans produced traditional handicrafts but they had no

knowledge of what products will sell or how to access markets. Pradeep undertook market research,

product modification and created a MELA2 system for sale of rural product in urban areas. This

involvement of MART continues and has expanded over the years.

MART is often chosen as project consultant in preference to international and larger organizations

because of their committed approach and deep involvement in rural areas. As an illustration, MART is

working as Livelihood consultant to World Bank funded projects in Orissa and Maharashtra to create large

scale, sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor – in the forestry and agribusiness areas. Earlier they were

funded by World Bank and Department of International Department (DFID), UK on creation of large scale,

sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor in AP, Tamil Nadu and MP. One reason why they are chosen over

others came from an associate who said, “MART is dedicated to the work they do. Technically their

approach is superior– they research the market thoroughly to improve the lives of the poor, because rural

development is their mission.

In 2000 a corporate house approached MART to undertake research for their product in rural

markets. This was the genesis of setting up a corporate rural marketing division. Since then MART has

worked with many Fortune 500 and large Indian companies, in market research, product development,

market strategy and promotion assignments. MART focuses on what people need, not merely on sale of a

product. They modify, or redesign, or suggest alternate uses to the advantage of the community as well as

the manufacturer.

Talking about the contribution of MART, Pradeep gave some examples. He said that “We co-created

‘Project Shakti’ with Unilever where 50,000 poor rural women across 12 states have been appointed as

company dealers.” These women have doubled their family income and utilize the additional income on

better health care and education for their children.

2 Mela (Sanskrit: ) is a Sanskrit word meaning 'gathering' or 'to meet' or a fair. It is used in the Indian subcontinent for all

sizes of gatherings and can be religious, commercial, cultural or sport-related. In rural traditions melas or village fairs were (and in some cases still are) of great importance

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“We brought 10,000 women from 500 villages in 6 of the most backward districts of Odisha into a

“Collective Marketing ‘model. This initiative recorded a sale of 90million rupees in 2011, significantly

enhancing income of the poor families.”

“I started Gramshree melas in 1989 for sale of rural products in urban areas by artisans. Three hundred

melas have been held in 75 cities. These have benefited 100,000 poor producers and encouraged them to

continue their craft in the village.”

“Whatever work we undertake from government or corporate clients, our primary focus remains the rural

poor.”

“We have developed a last mile rural distribution model for Colgate involving local youth as entrepreneurs

on cycles. We have promoted TATA corrugated roofing sheets through HAATS3.”

“We have enabled development of low cost health care products like baby warmers, ECG machines and

ultrasound machines for a multinational company.”

“We have co-created a unique business model with NOVARTIS in 5 states for treating TB patients in rural

areas by activating the private sector health delivery channel – doctors, testing labs, chemists and local

youth as health entrepreneurs. Three million people have been exposed to this program and 12,000

patients cured over the 2 year period.”

With dedicated manpower MART has innovated and helped in creating a variety of services in rural areas.

In this process they have also created Public Private Partnerships to benefit local communities.

Organizational Orientation

Strategy for diversification followed by MART is that whenever a project comes which is different from

what they have been doing, and shows potential, they create a nucleus group who have familiarity with,

and interest in the particular sector, and develop knowledge-base. There are three identifiable phases of

development. In phase I, between the years 1993-2000, MART had a small number of people and worked

on rural development in the Livelihood sector with NGOs, central and state governments, and international

agencies. In phase II, 2000 onwards, they added rural marketing in corporate sector, and in phase III, 2009

onwards, they expanded their involvement in neighborhood countries and Africa. Currently, they have,

besides Delhi, offices in Bhubaneswar and Pune. They employ 100 people. MART believes that projects

should not be forced upon people. Rather project leaders should choose the project. Once responsibility

for the project is decided, the person chooses his team and handles everything that is required for the

project.

Pradeep said that he wanted to develop an organization where people are self-giving, they work to

improve quality of life of people and society, and are driven from within themselves rather than wait for

external motivation. He wanted people to feel free, work in teams and learn from one another, and have a

sense of belonging.

His experience of over 40 years in multinationals, business and government repeatedly shows that

managers tend to develop an attitude of ‘what is in it for me’, competition, secretiveness, groupism,

maneuvering and work for personal rather than organizational and social goals. His experience of different

3 Rural markets, otherwise also known as haats, peta, angadi, hatwari, shandies, chindies or painths. These are sometimes

periodic (once a week) and sometimes permanent.

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kinds of organizations shows that the only organization that ensures lifelong belonging is the family. MART

is modeled on family values.

MART has no hierarchy at work. When a project proposal comes to MART, a group of two or three

senior consultants discuss it and depending upon the interest, knowledge and experience, involve other

colleagues. The Project leader chooses his team in consultation with senior colleagues, keeping in view the

expertise that would be needed in carrying out the Project. Once a team is formed, they take over total

responsibility of the Project. The Project team can discuss with anyone they wish or seek new knowledge

inputs. As a team works on the project, success or failure is attributed to the team, not any individual.

Employees are free to move from one group to another and approach any one for technical or

personal help. Everything being open and known to all, there are no ‘behind-the-back’ or office gossip. In

case of personal differences, the individuals resolve among themselves. In case anyone violates the norm

the effort is to discuss the problem with him or her, and encourage him/her to learn from the mistake. In

the last 5 years only five employees left MART, of these 3 have rejoined and the other two want to return.

The average age of employees is 30 years, the oldest being 42 yrs. For many MART is the first job.

MART works only one Saturday of the month where some external expert is invited for a talk,

followed by lunch for everyone. If an individual wants to attend some training program of his interest,

MART meets half his program fee. If the organization sends the individual for any chosen program, all

expenses are met by MART.

There is no stigma attached to failure. Several colleagues sit down to analyze the reasons of failure

and genuinely try to learn from the experience. This is seen as a strength of MART because they do not

hide failures as people often do in many organizations.

An employee becomes a partner after 10 years of service and MART gifts him/her 2.5 % share of the

company. Pradeep expects that over time everyone in MART will become a partner and the company will

be owned and run by them. All decisions are taken in meetings where anyone can raise an issue or

problem. Everything is open at MART- salaries, accounts, plans and all such matters.

Reactions of employees to MART

Some comments made by individuals in my interviews with them about their work and life at MART

are reproduced below. All the comments are made without probing. In some cases I asked for some

events, situation to support abstract and open statements.

“I had come to Delhi in search of a job in 1995. I was engaged in some odd jobs, when a friend

suggested I go and see Mr. Kashyap. My first impression on meeting him was that he was totally

unassuming, open and friendly. He shared his plans and his vision, and I made up my mind that I wanted to

work for him. He said that he had no opening but he will contact me when he had one. My mind was made

up and without waiting for his call I called him within two days and told him that I want to join. He said that

he could not pay much salary. I said I don’t mind. Soon after I joined we got a big World Bank project, we

have not looked back for work after this project. I experienced professional and personal growth and

cooperation at work I had not experienced elsewhere”

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“Pradeep Sir is the caring Head of the MART family and not a typical, formal CEO in a company. He

is always available when you need him. I go to him for my personal problems, besides work related issues.”

“He talks to people at their own level. It is easy to talk to him about personal problems.”

“In every project I learn something new. MART has helped me to widen my interest and I enjoy my work.”

“MART provides continuous scope for enhancing my knowledge, innovation and experimentation

with ideas. We work on projects in a team. From day-one whenever I talked about my having done this or

that, Pradeep corrected me to say that achievement or failure is of the team, and not that of an

individual.”

“The work environment is relaxed. There are few rules and regulations imposed on us from above. All

decisions are taken in meetings through consensus.”

“During my college days Mr. Kashyap had come to deliver a lecture. After listening to him and going

through the website of MART, I decided that I wanted to work for this organization. I was selected in the

campus interview. After joining, I found MART to be even better than what I had imagined it to be.”

“Of all the places I have worked, MART has given me maximum freedom to work, opportunity for self-

development, respect, colleagueship and variety in work. Each project is different.”

“MART is a very open organization. We believe in collective decisions and I am, like others, a part of the

process. We can express our views openly. We can disagree with a point without fear of personal risk.”

“MART helps us mature our thinking which makes me feel good about myself. It is good to share ideas with

friends. The experience here makes you grow and gives you confidence in yourself.”

“Mr. Kashyap does not speak much but he knows what everyone is doing. He listens to our personal

problems patiently and resolves them.”

“Coming to office is like coming home”

“I had a personal problem at home and could see no solution other than resign from the company. Before

sending a formal resignation, I felt obliged to personally tell Mr. Kashyap about my decision. He found a

solution that had not occurred to me. I did not have to leave the company.”

“Whenever I approach anyone in MART with personal or work related problem people co-operate. The

other day I went to a senior colleague who was busy completing a report. He put his work aside to discuss

my problem and resolved it. This is how we work in MART.”

MART expects to double its business in 2 years and develop additional expertise in healthcare, skills

development and agribusiness. It also expects to spread geographically in India and abroad. MART has to

learn, develop and acquire new skills, experiment with new approaches and remain one step ahead of

other organizations in providing cutting edge knowledge.

MART believes that its strength lies in the leadership and the family-like work environment. The model is

derived from their conviction, belief and commitment to the organizational attributes and the work

culture. Experience suggests that in an affiliative society like India, western approaches have generally

failed to create the desired work culture. What should MART do to sustain its culture while growing its

business and staff?