Abstract

Dr. K. Anji Reddy founded Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (DRL) in 1984. Since then, the company had grown to become one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India. The company professionalized early on, and over the years, the family members defined and refined their roles for the efficient running of the company. Dr. Reddy passed away on March 15, 2013. His son-in-law, G. V. Prasad, had been with DRL for more than 25 years by then. Prasad acknowledged that a lot needed to be done to fulfill Dr. Reddy's dreams. He had been contemplating his own future role in the company and the need for a smooth succession. But who would succeed him? What would be the qualities of the person who would succeed Prasad, a passionate member of the founding family of DRL? Would a non-family CEO be a suitable replacement?

Learning Objectives

The case takes the audience through the journey of an entrepreneur-driven company that transforms itself into a professionally run multinational company and the involvement of the next generation of the family members in the business. A few specific teaching objectives are to understand how family-controlled entrepreneurial ventures are transformed into professionally managed, well-governed organizations and understand the challenges of building the foundations of a lasting organization.