During the mid-2000s Raymond became more aggressive in enhancing its retail presence to beat the increasing competition in the readymade segment. The iconic brand found itself struggling against newer Indian brands and foreign competition. The race intensified from other apparel companies like Reliance Industries, Arvind Mills Ltd., Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries Ltd., Madura Garments, etc....

Human Resource and Organization Behavior Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, Business Environment, Case Studies

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TIME FOR CHANGE

In 2013, Gautam decided to hand over the reins to Behl. He wanted Behl to bring back the lost glory of the Raymond brand by 2020. Behl was expected to turn the suiting and manufacturing behemoth into a Contemporary lifestyle and fashion Retail Company. Behl, who had about 20 years of experience, had been with the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) since 2005, donning various roles including that of CEO of Reliance DTH & IPTV operations. Having started his career with Hindustan Unilever in 1994, Behl spent about 11 years in the company taking up various responsibilities. He joined Nokia in 2004 when the brand was under fire from a plethora of new cellphone rivals like LG and Samsung. ...

TAILORING THE TURNAROUND

During the learning phase, Behl met up with as many employees as possible across levels, businesses, functions, and locations. His topmost priority was to learn, assimilate, and reflect on the many elements of business at Raymond and the industry. He also traveled extensively and actively engaged with multiple stakeholders both in India and globally. Thereafter, he moved with high speed and initiated massive changes across the organization. Within no time, a new-age Raymond was evolving, and fairly rapidly at that....

IMMEDIATE RESULTS

Positive results started showing soon after Behl took charge. The company reported an increase in quarterly profit from Rs 6.1 mn for the quarter ending March 31, 2013, to Rs 81 mn in March 2014. Gautam said, “We closed the financial year 2013-14 on a positive note with a significant turnaround in performance at the Profit after Tax level. We are hopeful of improvement in the domestic sentiments in the coming quarter.” The net revenue profit for 2014 was Rs.1.08 billion....

KNITTING THE FUTURE

For the technical transformation of Raymond, Behl’s vision was to rapidly digitize the company. He wanted it to become a ‘way of life’ rather than just being an ‘enabling platform’ by 2020. To begin with, a Digital Customer Center (DCC) was set up in 2016, its primary mandate being to create a roadmap for digital integration and enhancement in various aspects of the organization. During the first phase, the company started micro-segmenting, digital prototyping, and profiling of customers. It focused largely on campaign management and marketing. Raymond also disintegrated its entire brand across the company. In the long run, Behl’s vision for Raymond was to make it evolve into a unique and compelling ‘lifestyle’ brand....

EXHIBITS

Exhibit I: The Singhania Family Tree
Exhibit II: Raymond’s Awards & Accolades
Exhibit III: Raymond Advertising over Years
Exhibit IV: Raymond’s Financial Status (2008 to 2016)
Exhibit V: Sales Turnover