TIM

CASE-02
TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS/ COMMERCIALISATION -
Train 18 and Chandrayan

Q.1 Base on this case, list what should be the Dos and Don’ts for a successful Technology
Organization?

Answer:

Dos:

1. Planning: Right Planning is necessary for a big project like train 18 and Chandrayan 2. As
the planning phase cover all the aspect of the project and give overview that how should the
project proceed and in what time the project will be ready to roll and what are the requirement
of the project.

2. Use of the Technology: In these two projects there is a need of use of the latest technology
which can cut the cost and help the human to complete the work in right time and in right way
with no error in work which can cause problem in future stage.

3. Define Project mission and scope: A well define mission and scope help people about the
desired result or expectations of the project and can define is the project meet our expectation or
not or is the project is failure or success.
4. Find right partner and suppliers: The right partner and right suppliers is necessary for
caring out the work which can be helpful for the board to complete the work at right time in an
efficient manner.

5. Follow Work Model: In bigger projects we should follow waterfall model which help us
improve work efficiency and complete all the phases of the project in time.

Don’t

1. Favoring: Here in this case there is a favor shown by the board to particular indigenous firm
in awarding contract for the crucial propulsion system.

2. Demoralizing: Don’t blow the moral of the railways about carrying an essential project and
have trust in your own employee.
 Q.2 What are the Technological Lessons that can be learned from a failed project like
Chandrayan 2? Is mission-mode conducive for Technology Transfer. Explain

Answer:

1. Take the first step                                                                                 

When the idea of an Indian scientific mission to the moon was initially proposed in 1999, the
Indian Academy of Sciences mooted it. But the following year, Astronautical Society of India
took the plan forward, and ISRO was found to have the right technical expertise to spearhead
India’s lunar mission. In 2003, the Chandrayaan programme was officially announced by the
late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. ISRO’s breakthrough happened five years later with
the success of Chandrayaan-1, a major milestone in India’s space history. Chandrayaan-2 was a
more ambitious venture that followed in the footsteps of Chandrayaan-1, which in turn will be
followed by Chandrayaan-3, scheduled for 2024. Success is a long journey, and ISRO’s
Chandrayaan story sets a great example for this. Humankind took its first steps on the moon in
1969, but it was a full four decades before India seriously considered conducting its own lunar
mission. Taking this monumental step was India’s first move towards carving a niche for itself
in a field that was previously dominated by global superpowers. It eventually paid off with the
success of Chandrayaan-1, which in turn was followed by Chandrayaan-2.

2. Follow a missionary approach

Chandrayaan-2 was a grand mission that involved some of the greatest scientific and
engineering minds in India today. Throughout its existence, ISRO has always set a high
benchmark for talent, and this has been one of its defining traits. The chief scientists of the
Chandrayaan-2 mission had decades of experience working with ISRO on its most successful
projects. Entrepreneurs need to run their start-up’s the same way. Every enterprise begins as a
vision, and it takes a team with enough passion, dedication, and talent to help materialise this
vision. That said, not everyone is cut out to work in a start-up. To see our start-up’s, succeed,
we really need to run it like a mission. We shouldn't stop at hiring the best talent. We must also
create a sense of mission and purpose in our teams to achieve our dreams.

3. Frugal Innovation: The Success Mantra

Over the years, ISRO has mastered the art of frugal innovation. The Mangalyaan mission in
2013 cost $74 million. Innovation does not necessarily depend on the funds at your disposal,
and this is one of the most remarkable lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from ISRO. This
mindset can create a level playing field between Indian startups and other tech giants. Startups
all over the world often look at Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple as benchmarks for
innovation. Perhaps they should now start looking closer to home.

Q.3 What is the difficulty of a Maintenance Mode organization getting into a mission like
the Railways did for Train 18?

Answer:

The Indian Railways operates normally in ‘maintenance mode’, to keep the wheels of the
railway network moving as efficiently as possible with the least disruption. This aim is
achieved through more than a dozen functional departments that normally work in close
coordination. Only certain specific projects or initiatives are undertaken in ‘mission mode’.
The Train 18 project was one such undertaking that required the planners to cut red tape and
reduce needless procedural hassles.

It is likely that in the process, certain ‘sacrosanct’ boundaries of departmental silos were
breached for no other reason than to speed up decision-making.

There were certain alleged procedural irregularities and allegations of undue favours shown
to a particular indigenous firm in awarding contracts for the crucial propulsion system.

It is not the intention here to pass judgments on the rights and wrongs of actions and
decisions that enabled the launch of Train 18 in record time, or of the subsequent decisions
that effectively derailed the mission.

The enormous damage that the scourge of interdepartmental rivalries and internecine turf
wars within the Indian Railways has done to the organisational morale and synergistic
functioning of the nation’s prime public transporter.
Unfortunately, Train 18 appears to have become the latest victim of this age-old malady of
the Indian Railways.