The Chopra Center: Expanding the Consciousness of One Billion People
Case number:
A03-18-0007
Abstract
The case presents a decision point in the development of the California-based Chopra Center from the considerations of the center’s Chief Operating Officer. The center was founded in 1996 by the physician and author Dr. Deepak Chopra in partnership with Dr. David Simon with the goal of bringing the insights of a 5,000-year-old Indian healing tradition to modern medicine. Two decades on from its founding, the center is confronting important structural questions about its portfolio of customer offerings, the role that digitization of programs and marketing will play and how these questions will be informed by the center’s commitment to its founding values.
Teaching
This case provides an opportunity to explore the management challenges of a mature organization that has been built on the reputation and notoriety of the company’s founder. The company’s customer offerings have evolved organically overtime, emerging largely from the writings and teachings created by Deepak Chopra in over 50 books and a dozen PBS television specials. The result is an unfocused product portfolio that can be confusing to customers and demanding on organizational resources in delivery. The case requires students to think through product portfolio rationalization and simplification in light of emerging digital platform opportunities and a commitment to the Center’s founding values. It also explores the larger question about how to ensure the continuity of the business when the founding namesake no longer continues to lead the organization.
Case number:
A03-18-0007
Subject:
General Management
Year:
Setting:
USA
Length:
12 pages
Source:
Author research