Radhika Subramanian* and Vijayakumar Parameswaran Unnithan**
* Founder of Glow Worm Consulting, a Learning, Leadership and Organization Development Consulting firm.
** Professor and the Chairperson of the Centre for Social and Organisational Leadership (C SOL) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai, India.
Key words: Organization structures; family-run businesses; Leadership;
Ambidexterity Globe Build is a 20-year old, family-owned construction company. It started out with building small residential buildings, and with time, it has grown into a developer of large commercial estates, especially in Special Economic Zones or Tech-Parks as they are colloquially called, in Bangalore –
the Silicon Valley of India. Kariappa Reddy is the founder and CEO of the company. A capable man under whose leadership the company has grown to USD 250 million in market value of property and a name in construction in India to reckon with.

Two years into his 5-year plan, Reddy is faced with some tough challenges:
• 3 out of 8 projects have overshot time and budget plans upsetting projected company revenues 

• Reddy’s aides and his family members have become two groups clearly opposing each other and fighting for decision making authority and possible succession to the business 

• Increasing errors across key processes has put Globe Build at a compliance risk that now needs to be reactively addressed since it is stalling active projects.

Discussion Questions 

1 What are some risks for Globe Build’s business right now?
2 What should be Reddy’s key current priorities to create a transition / retirement plan for himself?
3 How can Globe Build start to deliver on current requirements while also being prepared for the future?
4 Who else beyond Reddy must have a role to play in Globe Build’s transformation?
And what should be some of their key focus areas?