Transforming an organization into a learning organization: Liberty Shoes Ltd, Karnal Unit

Abstract

Subject area Liberty Shoes Ltd, had been experiencing falling sales and decreased production as a result of frequent strikes by workers. By 2010, total sales had fallen to INR 300 crores (from INR 500 crores in 2005). In the Annual Board meeting in 2010, Mr Shammi Bansal, the Executive Director expressed his concerns and told the board members that “they must learn to survive or be extinct”. The case study discusses how The Executive Director turned the company around and how the organization became a “learning organization”. Study level/applicability MBA and Executive MBA programs. Case overview In 2004, Liberty Shoes Ltd, had a sales turnover of INR 500 crores. In the year 2006, this dropped to INR 300 crores as a result of regular staff strikes and low morale. However, by 2013, the company had registered sales of INR 800 crores and a growth rate of around 30 per cent on a year-to-year basis. With continued focused initiatives in the organization from 2010 the management aimed to reach a sales turnover of INR 1,000 crores by March, 2014. The contributing factors to this turnaround were the leadership roles which encouraged a learning organization culture with an emphasis placed on the importance of “communication”, “employee development” and “employee empowerment”. Expected learning outcomes Understand the role of a business leader in building a learning organization. Understand the factors contributing to the building of a culture of a learning organization. Understand the critical aspects and benefits to the organization from becoming a learning organization. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or emailsupport@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS: 6 Human resource management.