Published Online:June 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Soft Skills
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJSS050625
DOI:10.71329/IUPJSS/2025.19.2.65-83
Author Name:Samarpita Roy, Shambhavi Tamrakar and Arijit Santikary
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Management
Download Format:PDF
Pages:65-83
Café Coffee Day, one of the first café chains in India (started in 1993) faced a critical situation during 2015-2019 when its ambitious expansion and growth strategy backfired with loans continuing to accumulate. While the finances were strained, its founder V G Siddhartha continued with his ambitious plans with hopes of major gains, finally succumbing to his ambitious moves and insurmountable debts. Siddhartha’s death in June 2019 left the organization headless and directionless. His wife, Malavika Hegde, Non-Executive Member of Café Coffee Day, then took over as the CEO. Faced with the humongous task of managing the company and its debt and deciding whether to keep the company or let it go, Malavika had to be both decisive and intuitive in her moves. This case discusses how Malavika steered Cafe Coffee Day from its staggering debt to profitability with her innovative strategies.
It was the end of December 2020. A new year was about to knock on the door. Sitting on her cushioned executive chair at the Café Coffee Day Head Office on R V Road, Bengaluru, Malavika Hegde (Malavika) was lost in deep thought Taking over an organization spread across the country, after her husband, V G Siddhartha, had committed suicide in July 2019, and leading it while resolving its impending issues—insurmountable debt, large workforce, a wide span of operations across the country, and providing a steady leadership was quite a challenge in itself!