Organizing the un-Organized? The Rise, Recession and Revival of the Indian Diamond Industry

The Indian diamond industry thrives in the atmosphere of secrecy and informality that envelops the diamond trade and has for long been labeled as an unorganized sector of the economy. However, it resembles a close-knit community composed of thousands of small, medium and large sized CPD ( cut and polished diamonds) units and has grown to become one of the highest foreign exchange earners for the country. The industry exports cut and polished diamonds worth US $ 14 billion annually and enjoys a 95 % market share of the global exports of cut and polished diamond pieces. An in-depth study of the industry reveals that the so called unorganized sector is in fact highly organized and has great potential to offer useful insights to the field of management in terms of new forms of organizing, networking, business processing and for doing international business. This paper presents summary of findings from research conducted in the Indian diamond industry over a period of last four years. Part I includes insights about the remarkable rise, growth and the unique working of the industry. Part II makes use of a case study of a 40 years old large- sized CPD unit to help gain further understanding of the Indian diamond industry. Part III is about the impact of the 2008 global turmoil and of the industry’s revival after a severe recession. The analysis of findings and implications for future research have been discussed.