After being universally applauded for their exemplary courage, Taj Mahal Palace's employees “bravery and resourcefulness” during the November 26, 2008 attacks has now become a subject of case study undertaken by Harvard Business School (HBS).

The study show-cases how the employees took a customer-centric approach going beyond the call of duty and saving lives.

The multimedia case study ‘Terror at the Taj Bombay: Customer-Centric Leadership' by HBS Professor, Mr Rohit Deshpande, documents “the bravery and resourcefulness shown by rank-and-file employees during the siege”.

The main idea behind the study was to understand “Why did the Taj employees stay at their posts, jeopardising their safety in order to save hotel guests? And is this level of loyalty and dedication something that can be replicated and scaled elsewhere?”

“Not even the senior managers could explain the behaviour of these employees,” Mr Deshpande is quoted as saying in HBS Working Knowledge, a forum on the faculty's research and ideas.

He quotes from Vice-Chairman of Indian Hotels Company, Mr Krishna Kumar's interview, saying that the employees “knew all the back exits – the natural human instinct would be to flee,” but they didn't.

In another interview, Taj's then General Manager, Mr Karambir Singh Kang, describes his father, a military man, telling him that his job is like being the captain of a ship. “I think that's the way everyone else felt, too,” says Mr Kang, according to HBS Working Knowledge forum.

Mr Kang lost his wife and two young sons in the two-day terror siege. However, Mr Kang did not leave his post and stayed on to help others during the ongoing attack.

The study has been made in a documentary-style format with video interviews of hotel staff and senior executives, combined with security footage of the attack that lasted for close to 60 hours. “The case also covers the hotel's history, its approach to training employees, the “guest is God” philosophy inherent in Indian culture, and the question of how the hotel will recover after the attacks,” says HBS Working Knowledge forum.

Mr Deshpande is quoted as saying, “A definitive answer to the question of why the Taj employees behaved as they did may not be possible; but managers who read and view the case will likely come away with a clearer sense of what it takes to build a particular culture and value system and how to recruit, train, and reward employees in non-monetary ways”.

“It's all of those very specific things that build a customer-centric culture in an organisation,” says Mr Deshpandé. “This example far exceeds anything I've seen before,” he adds. The case is not yet available to public.

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