FLIPKART: FUTURISTIC ORGANIZATIONAL

STRUCTURE

Purchased for use on the Organizational Behaviour-2, at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIMV).
Case

Taught by M V Anuradha & Happy Paul, from 3-Oct-2022 to 24-Dec-2022. Order ref F458991.
417-0097-1

Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org

This case was written by Umesh Bamel (T.A. Pai Management Institute), Nisha Bamel (Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi) and Happy Paul (T.A. Pai Management Institute). It is intended to be used as the basis for
class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The
case was compiled from published sources.
Educational material supplied by The Case Centre
Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I

© 2017, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and T.A. Pai Management Institute.
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced or distributed in any form or
medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.

Distributed by The Case Centre North America Rest of the world

www.thecasecentre.org
case centre All rights reserved
t +1 781 239 5884
f +1 781 239 5885
e info.usa@thecasecentre.org
t +44 (0)1234 750903
f +44 (0)1234 751125
e info@thecasecentre.org
 417-0097-1

Flipkart: Futuristic Organizational Structure

“Leading e-commerce player Flipkart has been aggressively hiring top-level
talent for the past several months. With nine senior vice-presidents and 14 vice-
presidents in place, the Bengaluru-based company appears to have built a strong
foundation to tackle the rapid growth in the sector, but it wants to do more. With
no established example to follow in the sector, Flipkart plans to depend on
experimentation and learning1.” (Business Standard, November 29, 2014).
Flipkart
The dream to create their own Amazon of India, led two techno-enthusiasts from Indian
Institute of Technology Delhi, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, quit Amazon and start

Purchased for use on the Organizational Behaviour-2, at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIMV).
Flipkart in October 2007. Flipkart was started as an e-commerce company selling books
in India. Before anybody could predict, Flipkart surprised market analysts and

Taught by M V Anuradha & Happy Paul, from 3-Oct-2022 to 24-Dec-2022. Order ref F458991.
Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org
speculators with an annual sales revenue of USD .63 million in FY 2008-09. Despite all
the odds such as diversified Indian retail market, buyers’ apprehension about quality and
online advance payments, Flipkart crossed an annual revenue of USD 3.1 million2 in FY
2009-10. It crossed an annual revenue of USD 2.73 billion in FY 2015-163 with an
expected growth of 40 percent for next financial year. In 2015, Flipkart was valued as
the sixth biggest startup of the world with a valuation of USD 15 billion4. By 2017,
Educational material supplied by The Case Centre

Flipkart had become India’s largest online marketplace5 and the first billion dollar
Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I

company6 in Indian e-commerce (see Exhibit One) with hundred million registered users
and delivering eight million shipments in a month7. Flipkart offered more than 80 million
products listed across eighty products categories like Electronics, Appliances, Men,
Women, Baby & Kids, Home & Furniture and Books & More. Flipkart received global
accolades when it appeared on MIT Technology Review list of 50 smartest companies
for the year 20178. Flipkart was ranked 36 whereas Amazon, its neck and neck competitor
in Indian e-commerce was ranked among top five companies in the same list.

1 Itika Sharma Punit, Organisational structure to keep evolving, says Flipkart, Business Standard, Published on
November 29, 2014, accessed from http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/organisational-
structure-to-keep-evolving-says-flipkart-114112400367_1.html on June, 2017.
2 Flipkart success story, Success Story accessed from https://successstory.com/companies/flipkart on June, 2017
3 Mihir Desai, Flipkart still India’s top start-up, shows analysis, LiveMint, published on Wed, Feb 08 2017, accessed

from http://www.livemint.com/Companies/vtqiTC9VgJgnUfOAH2QdiL/Flipkart-still-Indias-top-startup.html on
June, 2017.
4 THE $10 BILLION CLUB: Meet the 11 most valuable startups in the world, Business Insider India appeared on NOV

24, 2015, 07.46 PM, http://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-10-billion-club-meet-the-11-most-valuable-startups-

in-the-world/slidelist/49910713.cms accessed on June 2017.
5 Flipkart is still the king of Indian e-commerce market. Here's why, The Economic Times, appeared on Apr 27,

2017, 06.04 PM IST accessed from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/flipkart-is-still-the-king-

of-indian-e-commerce-market-heres-why/at-first/slideshow/58400452.cms accessed on June, 2017.
6 Flipkart, Business Standard, published on http://www.business-standard.com/topic/flipkart-34 accessed on June,

2017.
7 Company website https://www.flipkart.com/about-us?otracker=undefined_footer_navlinks accessed on June,

2017.
8 Alnoor Peermohamed, Flipkart among MIT Technology Review's 50 smartest companies globally, Business

Standard, published on July 6, 2017, accessed from http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/flipkart-

among-mit-technology-review-s-50-smartest-companies-globally-117070601097_1.html accessed on July, 2017.
 417-0097-1

Flipkart: Organizational Culture

The career page of Flipkart website reads9:
“Flipkart is one among India’s first companies to embrace a people-friendly work
ethic. We realise that every Flipster - as we call ourselves - comes in to solve
challenges; something that cannot be done in a place with an assembly line
mentality. And so, over the years, we’ve worked to create a near-perfect
workplace that ensures every Flipster is inspired and engaged constantly, be it a
Monday or a Friday.”
Excellence, customer centric and equal opportunity environment are the core of
Flipkart’s culture. It also characterize openness, autonomy, ethics, design thinking,

Purchased for use on the Organizational Behaviour-2, at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIMV).
challenging status quo, risk taking and collaboration. 3Ds - diverse (People from all
backgrounds), different (Talent with varying calibers) and distinct (Personalities that

Taught by M V Anuradha & Happy Paul, from 3-Oct-2022 to 24-Dec-2022. Order ref F458991.
Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org
stand out) are the guiding principles of talent management at Flipkart.
E-commerce and e-retail in India
The Indian e-commerce was estimated to be of worth USD 38 billion by 201610. The
Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) report said that
over 69 million consumers shopped online in 201611 and this number was expected to
Educational material supplied by The Case Centre
Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I

cross hundred million by the year 2017. E-commerce has emerged as one of the fastest
growing sectors. Factors such as use of internet ready hand held devices, internet
penetration, aggressive online discounts, young consumers had helped Indian e-
commerce to grow from a USD 3.8 billion in 2009 to USD 23 billion in 201512. Growth
figures were much impressive for e-retail which grew from USD 3.59 billion in 2013 to
USD 5.30 billion in 2014 and by the end of the year 2018 it is projected to cross USD
17.52 billion with sixty-five percent growth rate13. Competitive landscape of e-retail
suggests that as the sector flourished, competition also flourished. Though, Flipkart
remained the largest player in the Indian e-retail sector with 35 percent value share14,
Amazon and Snapdeal were competing with Flipkart neck and neck.

Organizational Structure Archetype

During the early years, Flipkart was much of an informal organization like any other
technology based start-ups where people wore many hats. Formal job descriptions and

9 http://www.flipkartcareers.com/welcome.php accessed on July 2017

10 E-Commerce Industry will cross $38 bln mark by 2016; Indian e-commerce market set to grow by 67% in 2016:
study, ASSOCHAM India, published on January 01, 2016, accessed from
http://www.assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=5427, accessed on June, 2017.
11 Over 69 million consumers shopped online in 2016: ASSOCHAM-Resurgent study, ASSOCHAM India, published on

January 09, 2017, accessed from http://www.assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=6130 accessed on June, 2017.

12 Same as serial number 9
13 Same as serial number 10
14
Internet retailing in India, Euromonitor International, published on February 2017, accessed from
http://www.euromonitor.com/internet-retailing-in-india/report accessed on June, 2017.
 417-0097-1

regular or routine work hours were absent. The focus was on innovation and disruptive
practices to gain the market share.
Meanwhile, factors such as the use of internet ready devices, internet penetration, and
the young population had filled the growth of Indian e-retail. Flipkart had also grown and
diversified its product portfolio. Consequently, Flipkart hired more employees and new
portfolios such as senior vice-president, vice presidents, senior director, directors, and
managers were created15. This turned Flipkart from a hierarchy less organization to a
hierarchical organization. The chief people officer at Flipkart mentioned that the
organizational structure of Flipkart will continue to evolve every few years as the
technology is changing rapidly16.
In order to speed up the decision making and to enhance the customer services, Flipkart

Purchased for use on the Organizational Behaviour-2, at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIMV).
went under another restructuring drive in the year 2016. The commerce platform (that

Taught by M V Anuradha & Happy Paul, from 3-Oct-2022 to 24-Dec-2022. Order ref F458991.
includes market place and retail business) was restructured into three product divisions

Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org

i.e. marketplace product group, consumer product group, and service product group.
Engineering, advertising, and supply chain divisions were remained unaffected17. With
Finance, HR and Marketing department continuing as a support function to new divisions
of the commercial platform, Flipkart’s organizational structure appeared to be a matrix
archetype.
Educational material supplied by The Case Centre
Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I

Within one year of above rejig, Flipkart announced another management restructuring in
January 2017 and a position of Group CEO was created18.
Way forward
Since its inception, Flipkart has grown from few hundred dollars to a multi-billion dollar
company, an online bookseller to the largest online retailer of India. Meanwhile,
organization structure of Flipkart had also evolved and took many shapes. With
intensifying competition in Indian e-retail sector, growing pressure to make a profit, the
organizational structure of Flipkart is not forever. Flipkart has to look into futuristic
organizational structure.

15
Itika Sharma Punit, Organisational structure to keep evolving, says Flipkart, Business Standard,
Published on November 29, 2014, accessed from http://www.business-
standard.com/article/companies/organisational-structure-to-keep-evolving-says-flipkart-
114112400367_1.html on June, 2017.
16
Same as serial number 15
17
Vishal Srivastava, Flipkart Restructures Major Divisions Within Company, Techportal, published on
January 13, 2016 accessed from https://thetechportal.com/2016/01/13/binny-bansal-restructures-the-
major-divisions-of-flipkart/ on June, 2017.
18
Flipkart announces apex structure for Flipkart Group with Binny Bansal as Group CEO, ANI published
on January 10, 2017 accessed from http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail-MA/Mjk0NzU2/flipkart-
announces-apex-structure-for-flipkart-group-with-binny-bansal-as-group-ceo.html on June, 2017.
 417-0097-1

Exhibit 1: Journey of Flipkart from 2007-2017

Year Milestone
2007 Year of conception and Launched Books
2008 24X7 Customer Support
2010 Launched Music, Movies and Mobiles; Cash on Delivery
2011 Card on Delivery; Dedicated logistics for Faster Delivery; 30 Days
Replacement Policy
2012 Launched Lifestyle and fashion portfolio
2013 Sold one .1 Million books in a single day; Same day guarantee
2014 Billion Dollar Funding; Acquisition of Myntra; In-a-day Guarantee
scheduled Delivery; Flipkart First
2015 Launched Experience Zones; Launched Flipkart Lite;

Purchased for use on the Organizational Behaviour-2, at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam (IIMV).
Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Policy

Taught by M V Anuradha & Happy Paul, from 3-Oct-2022 to 24-Dec-2022. Order ref F458991.
2016 First Indian App to Cross million users; Crosses 100 million registered

Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact info@thecasecentre.org

customers
2017 Featured in MIT Technology Review list of 50 smartest companies for
the year 2017
Source: Company website https://www.flipkart.com/about-
us?otracker=undefined_footer_navlinks
Educational material supplied by The Case Centre
Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I