Avari Group

Abstract

In 2010, Avari Group was approaching the end of six decades of successful operations. While reflecting on Avari Group’s past successes, Byram D. Avari, the Chairman, was also thinking about the organization’s future. On the one hand, he was wondering how successful his sons—Dinshaw and Xerxes—would be in bringing up another generation of leading entrepreneurs. And on the other hand, he was thinking about the dilemma he was facing regarding the lifelong employment policy of Avari Group. Avari Group was established by his father, Dinshaw Byramji Avari, and he founded the organization on the core values of respect, honesty, lifelong employment (no retirement) and equal opportunities for people from all religions and backgrounds. In recent years, however, due to low business opportunities and low growth in Pakistan, most of the other five-star hotels were reducing headcounts in their organizations. However, Avari Group’s top leadership was reluctant to change its lifelong employment policy, yet they were thinking about different alternatives. Furthermore, if they decided to change it, what would the next steps be?