At the dawn of the new millennium, India celebrates the remarkable progress of women in business. Women have made great strides in boardrooms and courtrooms, on screen and in society and are regularly featured on the cover pages of business magazines. Indian women today have broken the so-called glass ceiling to emerge to the top of the corporate ladder. ICICI bank, the leading private sector bank of the country is never bereft of women in senior management positions. Against this backdrop, this case study presents Kochhar's new role as the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank. Highlighting Kochhar's invaluable contributions to the evolution and growth of the company, the case study delves into her stint in successfully running various divisions of the bank and her leadership qualities in handling banking operations during tough times. It offers many intriguing issues to debate on - whether Kochhar is the right choice to succeed KV Kamath, her capabilities that gave her an edge over other contenders, role of women in business, particularly in sectors like banking and finance, and abilities of women vs. men in leading organizations.

On December 19, 2008, Chanda Kochhar (Kochhar) was appointed the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank. Kochhar's invaluable contributions to the evolution and growth of the bank together with her 25 years stint in operating various divisions helped her reach the top. Various qualities like the ability to turn every challenge into an opportunity, adaptability to the changing business environment and above all the knack of dealing with complexities and disruptions in a stable way gave her an edge over other contenders like Shikha Sharma (Sharma). However, is Kochhar the right choice to succeed the legendary CEO, KV Kamath (Kamath), particularly during times of crisis? Can Kochhar prove that women can be better leaders even in areas like banking and finance? Will her agenda for the bank's growth during troubled times prove worthwhile? Does she set a new trend for Indian women leading large business organizations?

The diverse and complex Indian society was more a complicated web of class, caste and community, where women were almost considered insignificant. Traditionally, women were relegated only as second class citizens in the patriarchal, oppressive and male-dominated society. The status of women varied significantly across different time periods-from being predominantly unknown in ancient times to being victims of several social practices like exploitation, illiteracy, etc., in medieval times. Women were largely confined only to the household chores while men, on the other hand, dominated the society as the bread winners.

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