Fabindia, a purveyor of handwoven garments and home furnishings, is one of India’s premier retail brands. It has reached that level in part by bringing its suppliers inside the tent. The private company encourages the artisans who make its wares to become shareholders. Selling suppliers a piece of the company is unconventional, especially when most of the partners are illiterate. But if it succeeds, Fabindia could become a model for all kinds of companies, especially in the developing world. Fabindia was founded in 1960 by John Bissell, an American working for the Ford Foundation in New Delhi, and is now run by his 42-year-old son, William. It has 97 stores in India’s big cities and small towns. In 2008, it had revenues of $65 million, an increase of 30% over the previous year. And as Fabindia has grown, it has come to depend entirely on some 22,000 weavers, block printers, woodworkers, and organic farmers to provide the handmade goods it sells. “We’re somewhere between the 17th century, with our artisan suppliers, and the 21st century, with our consumers,” says Bissell. Bissell and his staff have worked with the artisans to integrate them into Fabindia and, by extension, the modern economy. At first that meant helping artisans refine their traditional homespun designs to appeal to more chic urban tastes as well as improving the consistency of their wares. 

Questions 

1. How would you describe William Bissell’s personality? 

2. What terminal and instrumental values are likely to be especially important to him? 

3. How would you describe Fabindia’s culture? 

4. What role do you think John Bissell and William Bissell played in establishing Fabindia’s culture?