Nirma and Wheel: a low priced challenger and the leader’s reply
Nirma sold detergent at around a quarter of Surf's price and was reported to hold about 60 per cent of the market by 1988,…
Nestlé: the Maggi noodles ban in India and the road back
In June 2015 India's food regulator banned Maggi, a brand with about 70 per cent of its category, and Nestlé India destroyed stock worth…
Paytm: how a cash shock pushed India towards digital wallets
After India withdrew Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November 2016, Paytm reported traffic up 435 per cent in a day and…
Walmart and Flipkart: buying a lead in Indian e-commerce
In May 2018 Walmart agreed to pay about US$16 billion for a 77% stake in Flipkart, then losing money, and within six months both…
Tata Nano: the one lakh car that buyers did not want to be seen in
Tata Motors promised a car for Rs 1 lakh in 2008 and took 203,000 bookings, but annual sales peaked at 74,527 and by 2019…
Amul: a farmer owned cooperative that built a national brand
Amul began in 1946 as a union of Gujarat milk farmers and by 2026 had brand sales above Rs 1 lakh crore, owned by…
Reliance Jio: free data and a reshaped Indian telecoms market
Reliance Jio launched in September 2016 with free voice and data, reached 100 million customers in 170 days and, by January 2026, held about…
Toys “R” Us: a leveraged buyout and a debt it never escaped
A $6.6 billion buyout in 2005 left Toys "R" Us with roughly $5 billion of debt and $400 million a year in interest, and…
Boeing: the 737 MAX crashes and a crisis of oversight
Two 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people in five months, grounded the jet for about 20 months and cost Boeing an estimated $18.6 billion…
Quibi: $1.75 billion on short video that viewers did not pay for
Quibi raised $1.75 billion for a paid, phone-only video service that aimed at 7 million subscribers in year one, and closed on 21 October…
