Company Overview: ICRISAT Established on July 5, 1972, ICRISAT originated as an international research centre for improving crop yield

and drought-resistant growth . The institute observed that agricultural development of the semi-arid tropics (SAT) in Asia and Africa was in a state of neglect. The main crops of these regions were certain cereals and legumes that were crucial resources for the people that lived in these areas. As these crops were not a staple of the average diet in the developed world, research of these crops had been ignored; however, unless this research was addressed, it was unlikely that the SAT region would emerge from the food security problems it faced. Based on the needs of SAT populations, ICRISATs prime areas of agricultural research included crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, chickpeas, pigeon peas and groundnuts, which were staples among the diets of these populations. The genesis of ICRISAT lay in the widespread awareness that developed in the 1960s and early 1970s about famine and hunger in certain underdeveloped countries of Asia and Africa. The suffering seen in these regions mobilized more than 50 countries and other developmental agencies and banks into action. After extensive consultations and research it was observed that, of all the difficulties that plagued these regions, lack of food was the most critical. Thus, the need for research in agriculture was felt to be a major factor in the alleviation of poverty. Once the need for agricultural research was acknowledged, an informal network was established and this body came to be known as CGRIAR.

VISION AND MISSION OF ICRISAT While ICRISATs goal was to harness the power of technology for agricultu ral development, food security, poverty alleviation and environmental protection, its overall objective was to improve the quality of crops in order to provide better nourishment to subsistence farmers while simultaneously providing them with an opportunity to increase their household incomes through higher productivity of

land. Based on these goals, ICRISATs mission was to improve the well -being of the marginal farmers in the SAT region by increasing agricultural productivity, providing food security and reducing poverty through agricultural research.

Objective of the case: This case is aimed at helping students at post graduate level in understanding various issues related to leadership and change in an ailing organization. The first objective of the case is to get an understanding of the situation as it would be viewed from Dar's point of view. The case help students to understand the leadership dilemma faced at ICRISAT based on the set of problems provided in the case. Dar extensive orientation towards transformational leadership could help the students understand and discuss the issues involved in this type of leadership style. The case will help the students understand that, sometime a single style of leadership cannot solve a problem, sometime a leader have to take various leadership style to solve a problem.

The problem that the company faced before joining WILLIAM DAR:

Uncongenial work Environment: Before Dr. Dar join to ICRISAT he found the the working environment of ICRISAT was so unfavorable to work. Uninspired employee: When Dr. Dar join to ICRISAT he saw the the number of uninspired employee was so high. The had to live organization for low wages or the golden handshake scheme.

 Misuse of the campus: ICRISAT has 3000 acre of campus. He figured out that the campus was going to be desolated because of misuse of it. Low involvement of the employee: Employees involvement with the work was very low. Employees were less attached with the core of which was done by ICRISAT. Low Employee motivation: He found that staff moral was very low and turnover rate was very high of this organization because there was no real outcomes of their research in a practical manner. Unstable Leadership: There was no particular leader or figurehead who can lead ICRISAT from the front line. Top level and middle level management was totally cluttered. Unimplemented research output: there was no real and practical research output of ICRISAT so the employees can not see the real implementation of their work. That is why they were so demotivated to work in. Financial problem: Some international organizations who were used to give fund for research to ICRISAT it suddenly decreased to 50 percent from past because of their less outcome from their researches. So ICRISAT faced very difficulties with the funding and financial problems.

Background of DR. William Dar:

Personal Info: William Dar was born (in1953)In Danuman, in the province of Santa Maria, Philippines. From a poor and a farming background, who learned 1st about farming from his father.

Educational Info: Dar Graduated from Benguet State University( BSU). Ms. of science in agronomy in 1973. He received his doctorate in Horticulture, in 1980 from the Of the Philippines Lose Banso. Career Info: Dr. William D. Dar had a long and distinguished career as an educationist,agricultural scientist, administrator, and humanitarian in his native Philippines and abroad in the Asia Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa. University

 Dar had server as a professor and vice president at BSU. He worked as a director of Bureau Of Agricultural Research( BAR). After that he become the director of the Philippine Council of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development( PCARRD) Dr. William D. Dar is the first Filipino and first Asian to become the Director General of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) since 2001.

Leader: A process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task although there are alternative definitions of leadership. For example, some understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal.

Leadership: Leadership is a vital role in any organization. It involves defining the direction of a team and communicating it to people, motivating, inspiring and empowering them to contribute to achieving organizational success. Leadership requires being strategically focused and applying behavioral techniques to build commitment and attain the organization mission and vision

DR. William Dar leadership style

Decisive leadership style: Encouraged decentralized management: Increased involvement of all the subordinates in order to make decision and to take initiatives. Increased employee self sustainability by influencing them to go beyond their work area. Discouraged employee from restricting themselves to their limited domain. Developed a free following communication for faster adaptation to change. Dars also from a poor family , so he observed without solving the poverty problem, no people can ignore hunger and malnourishment. Distributed free seeds among the farmers in Hyderabad. He had a vision for removing poverty by doing research on agriculture and by making farmers self-sustainable(such as watershed programs for reducing water pollution). He made the believe among both the farmers and the board (CIGARS) that poverty is the only thing that make people sufferer.

Exemplary leadership style: When Dar noticed the Hyderabad campus atmosphere was negative he used the exemplary leadership style. Dar convinced the ICRISAT by saying that he want to clean the campus for the purpose of business by setting a personal example. If he can clean the campus than the employee will be impressed. Soon the employee began to help out willingly and the image of the organization started looking up.

The Road Ahead He change the motto of the company to Science with a Human Face.When he joined ICRISAT, of experience in turning adversity into opportunity. He knew that poverty was one of the main problems in developing countries-in fact, he knew what it was like to in poverty-and he wanted to help make the world free from this malady. It was therefore his vision to improve the well-being of SAT populations through agricultural research undertaken by ICRISAT. Furthermore, in doing so, Dar felt that these disadvantaged population needed to be treated in a humane manner Dar brought with him a history and changed the Mission & Vision of the company.

 Recognizing the urgent need for transformational change at ICRISAT, Dar started by mapping out a new vision, mission and research strategy for the organization. Within a week of becoming DG, he had realized that ICRISAT had spawned substantial research output in the last 28 years; however, what was lacking now was the ability to turn that technology into practical assistance for small and marginal farmers. TGhis would help in revolutionizing agricultural productivity and, consequently, help in the reduction of poverty. While these efforts had been undertaken in the past on a trial basis at a few locations in India and Africa, Dars intent was to succeed at the global level. He wanted to capitalize on the transfer of technology to the farm sector by instituting positive public-private-farmer relationships

DAR quickly realized that it was in the institutes best interests for the ICRISAT headquarters to remain at the current location for two main reasons. Firstly, from a strategic perspective aimed at assisting developing countries, Southeast Asia represented an area in dire need of research, due to low yield in terms of acreage. Shifting the institutes headquarters to Africa may be unnecessary since many other aspects of ICRISAT had already been transferred to Africa, and such a move could result in Southeast Asia being ignored.Secondly, the current location at Hyderabad had the advantage of access to red, black and

intermediate soil types, thus providing a variety of soils for research, unlike the African locations. For these reasons, Dar was sure he could convince the board that ICRISAT could generate sufficient funds to increase focus and investment for Africa without transferring headquarters.

Finally Dar convinced CGIAR to work together more closely with ICRISAT. Dar was able to buy some time for ICRISAT from CGIAR and the board by convincing them of the importance of the institutes existence to the future of the SAT region and its farming communities. Since CGIAR was guided by a similar vision of reducing poverty, hunger and malnutrition, the concerted efforts toward poverty reduction through agricultural research advocated by Dar were viewed positively by the group. As part of his argument, Dar cited the agricultural prosperity seen in the vicinity of the Hyderabad campus and in central and southern India-primarily due to intervention from ICRISAT scientists in the past, which demonstrated ICRISATs ability to influence the farmers in the SAT region.

Conclusion