Employee-Buy-Out and Participatory Management: The Case of Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company

The paper discusses about the employee-buy-out business model adopted by the Tatas on their exit from the plantation business in their southern plantations operations in Munnar in Idukki district of Kerala. The operationalisation of a participatory management system, the extent to which the new management has been successful in coping with the crisis faced by the tea industry, the impact of changes in the management on certain organisational performance indicators are some of the issues addressed and analysed. The paper also raises issues concerning the sustainability of such models in the plantation sector in India.