The system the dabbawalas have developed over the years revolves around strong teamwork and strict time-management.

ECONOMIST: Management trends

Harvard Business School has produced a case study of the dabbawalas, urging its students to learn from the organisation, which relies entirely on human endeavour and employs no technology.

ECONOMIST: Management trends

For Paul Goodman, a professor of organisational psychology at Carnegie Mellon University who has made a documentary on the dabbawalas, this is one of the critical aspects of their appeal to Western management thinkers.

ECONOMIST: Management trends