Akın Öngör's Journey

Rosabeth Moss Kanter; Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | February 2016

Akın Öngör's Journey

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Abstract

The case of Akın Öngör's Journey describes a highly successful former CEO with stellar leadership skills, who transformed a bank in Turkey into one of the world's best, steered it to contribute to his country's social agenda, influenced business practices of other companies, and became one of Turkey's most admired people. As part of his post-career activities, he has introduced new crops to a rural area where he also established a girls' industrial school (at his wife's urging). But Öngör has struggled with realizing a bigger dream: forming an international leadership institute for the Eastern Mediterranean that would help bring peace and prosperity to a conflict-ridden region. The institute idea seems a simple way to contribute to peace via educational workshops and relationship-building for a new generation of emerging leaders from many countries. But despite Öngör's impressive "social capital" (reputation and significant connections), he hits roadblocks and setbacks in the middle of the planning, for institutional as well as individual reasons. This case may be used for courses on leadership, social enterprise, and change management.

Keywords: Leadership; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Turkey;

Language: English

Format: Print

10 pages

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Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone. "Akın Öngör's Journey." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 316-062, February 2016.

From 2008-2010 Anand Piramal ran a series of pilots for his digital healthcare startup, Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS) to “democratize healthcare” in rural areas of India. PeS ran into difficulties so Anand Piramal had to decide whether to continue the organization and if so how. In 2010, an unexpected opportunity emerged that could have significant implications for PeS’s organizational structure and future prospects. Anand Piramal now faced several options for PeS. He needed to weigh the pros and cons of each option to make the best decision to fulfill his vision of providing quality healthcare services to “bottom-of-the-pyramid” populations. This case exemplifies the strategic decisions an entrepreneur must make to ensure that a social impact venture can be sustainable and scalable.

In 2010, Anand Piramal acquired the Health Management Research Institute (HMRI), a healthcare venture, and merged it with his original digital healthcare startup Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS), so that PeS became Piramal Swasthya. After acquiring HMRI, Piramal Swasthya scaled across 20 Indian states and became India’s largest private primary healthcare initiative by implementing public-private partnerships with state governments. In 2012, Anand Piramal stepped down as CEO of Piramal Swasthya, leading to organizational change and a healthcare strategy focused on improving maternal health amongst India’s most vulnerable populations. This case shows how an organization can achieve innovation at scale through cross-sector collaboration.

In the middle of a crisis, everything looks like a failure. But it’s possible to come out the other end with a strong company—and often with a plan for growth. Companies with a people-first culture can succeed by paying attention to three things: establishing clear accountability in the leadership ranks; developing a nuts-and-bolts, collaborative plan for getting through the crisis; and putting a separate group in charge of defining the “new normal,” when the worst is over.

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Akın Öngör's Journey

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