Innovation and New Product Development Case Study

Retail Merchandiser Fabindia: Crafting Community Ownership for Inclusive Growth?

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Abstract:
Fabindia, craft retail merchandiser of India, operated a network of 87 stores in 39 cities in India and overseas. Starting off to showcase Indian textiles to overseas buyers in the 1960s, it expanded to include furniture, stationery, pottery, organic foods, and body care products over the years. All merchandise was sold under the single 'FabIndia' brand and the company owned all its stores to maintain its brand identity. In 2007, the company floated a wholly owned subsidiary 'Artisans Microfinace' to create community owned companies. It implemented a stock ownership plan to allow suppliers to share in the benefits of the growing business. The stock option plan was expected to see the artisan's value of investment grow, to ensure a greater binding of the suppliers with the organisation and help achieve the growth target of the firm. A similar experiment in the past (1988) - 'Bhadrajun Artisans Trust', however, had failed. Will the new form of community ownership be successful

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the growth and evolution of Fabindia.
• To understand the stock option plan implemented by Fabindia.
• To understand the concept of inclusive growth.

Keywords :  Artisans Microfinance Pvt Ltd, Community owned company, Stock option plan, Indian handloom textiles, Bhadrajun Artisans Trust, Supplier region companies, Artisans clusters, Self-help groups, Bunkar Vikas Sanstha, Teen Spirit, Renuka Sugars, Inclusive capitalism