Mahindra - Case Study
Mahindra - Case Study
Mahindra - Case Study
The case examines the reasons behind automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) decision to implement a
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) program. The case explores the implementation procedure at the company
and the benefits that accrued from the BPR program. In addition, the case discusses the concept of BPR, its benefits,
and the steps that need to be taken to ensure the success of such initiatives.
"In our never ending quest for quality and increasing productivity at all levels, the various projects initiated by the company -
including BPR - are helping us achieve higher productivity, reduction in costs and improved quality."
- Keshub Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)
Background Note
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) was the flagship company of the Mahindra group, one of the top ten industrial
houses in India. The company's history dates back to 1945, when two brothers, J.C.Mahindra and K.C.Mahindra,
decided to start a business of general-purpose utility vehicles. The brothers formed a company, Mahindra &
Mohammed Ltd., in association with their friend Ghulam Mohammed. In October 1947, the first batch of 75 jeeps
was released for the Indian market. In 1948, the company was renamed Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Over the next few
decades, the group promoted many companies in areas as diverse as hotels, financial services, auto components,
information technology, infrastructure development and trading to name a few.
Though M&M had established itself in the markets and was among the leading players in many of the segments it
operated in, it realized that some of its businesses were not closely related to its core business. This realization
marked the beginning of the biggest change exercise since the company's inception.
The two main operating divisions of the company were the automotive division, which manufactured UVs and LCVs,
and the farm equipment division, which made tractors and farm implements. The company employed over 17,000
people and had six state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities spread over 500,000 square meters.The plants were
situated at Kandivili (MUVs and Tractors), Nasik (MUVs), Zaheerabad (LCVs, Voyager, three -wheelers), Igatpuri
(Engines) and Nagpur (Implements and tractors).
1. Change in Set up
M&M decided to replace its existing set up with ‚Platform Concept‘, which focus on customer requirement. It
requires the formation of cross functionalteam consisting of professional from R&D, Manufacturing ,Processing and
Marketing. This team jointly work develop the product ,keeping in mind the needs of final customer.
Focus on customer requirement , M&M had to bring infeatures of concurrent Re -engineering at the development
phase itself. This was accompanied by the operation of three full timeteams to bring the product development
process in linewith the platform concept.
The teams were named as Horizon 1, Horizon2 Horizon 3:
Horizon 1: concentrated only on some improvements inexisting products.
Horizon 2: specialized in up gradation of existing product.
Horizon 3: concerned with new product development
The company continued with its efforts to further streamline its operations by undertaking cost saving programs to
break-even volumes in the automotive and farm equipment divisions. M&M decided to adopt other globally
accepted practices to improve its business.
The Future
Summing up the company's BPR experience, Anand Mahindra said, "Let me put it in a simple way. If we have facil i-
ties in Kandivili today, which are not just surviving but thriving, it is all due to BPR.
BPR implementation in M&M had seen radical change for the better not only in its functions but also in its results.
The company also started out sourcing non-core manufacturing activities , sourcing most components of a particular
model from same vendor ,and increase the volume of business.
This can be summed up with the statement of Anand Mahindra “Today the atmosphere is so different that every
morning all the workers recite the company oath, which is a sea change from the situation 10 years ago when wor k-
ers used to play cards on shop floor during working hours.”
Questions:
1. What circumstances lead M&M to implement BPR?
2. Why M&M faced resistance from unions while implementing BPR – what kind of barriers did they meet?
3. What were the benefits of implementing BPR?
4. What were the factors responsible for success of BPR?
5. Which elements of the presented BPR methodology (BPR Steps) did you find in the text?