ServiceMandi: Corporate Entrepreneurship at Ashok Leyland: Prof. K Kumar

Ashok Leyland (AL) has been a good performer in the commercial vehicle (CV) industry, in India, and has emerged as a leading player in the global CV industry. It has done well to survive and grow in a cyclical industry and has overcome many recessions and downturns in the nearly 70 years of its existence. The case describes the efforts of AL in conceptualizing and launching a new initiative called ServiceMandi to garner a greater share of the aftersales service part of the value chain, thus taking AL into a market that was historically dominated by the unorganized sector. The SM initiative comes with its own set of rewards and challenges and confronts AL with trade-offs whose resolutions are not so obvious. This case presents an insight into the conceptualization of the SM initiative, the approach followed by AL in converting the SM concept into reality, and the progress made so far with this initiative. The case also presents the potential directions that this initiative can take in the future and provides an opportunity for students to think through the various options in terms of the pros and cons and recommend a course of action for AL.