Rahul Basu

This study presents an on-site inspection and analysis of a running indigenous manufacturer and exporter operating in the highly competitive capacitor industry in South India. Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy in the 1990s, the industry landscape has undergone significant change. The ready availability of cheap imports, along with takeovers, mergers and new legislation, has fundamentally altered market dynamics.
The unit under study was a pioneer in the industry, established in 1972. Its ability to withstand intense market forces and remain viable for several decades is attributable to a range of factors. The study seeks to parametrise key business and supply-chain variables, assigning quantitative values to concepts that are often treated as purely notional or heuristic. Shortly after the fieldwork was completed, the COVID-19 crisis struck India and the rest of the world.
The survival tactics employed by the industrial unit examined in this study offer valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and other startups.