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Synopsis The Dabbawallahs of Mumbai need no introduction to students, faculty and practitioners of Business Management. It is a business that has lasted over 113 years and is still being run successfully by a group of people with practically no formal education, no investment, and no technology. Management guru C K Prahlad has hailed Mumbai s ubiquitous Dabbawallahs as the quintessential masters of supply chain management.

The Dabbawallahs have received attention and prominence in the business world across the globe, having found their way into the Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe it or Not; documentaries on them have been filmed by the BBC and Discovery Channels; case-studies on their supply chain management capabilities have been developed by the Harvard and Ivey Schools of Business; they have presented Seminars at prestigious leadership summits both at home and abroad; they are the recipients of the Six-Sigma efficiency rating accorded by the Forbes-Global Magazine in 1998, and, they were the only two average Indians to be invited to the Charles-Camilla Royal wedding.

The ICBR team is writing a book on the Dabbawallahs, the contents of which will span their 100+ year old history, their impeccable logistics and supply chain management, their business efficiency, their fame, and their future in this rapidly changing world of business. A personal interview with Sri Medge and Sri Talekar has also featured in the book along with a series of photographs and exhibits. Although there have been numerous case studies and articles on the Dabbawallahs, no book on them has been written as yet, thereby making this book the first of its kind.