When Work Kills: The Case of Arjun Mehra

This case explores the journey of Arjun Mehra, a 26-year-old chartered accountant who died just four months into his role at CMC Global, a prestigious multinational professional-services firm. His sudden death following prolonged overwork and exhaustion triggered widespread debate about the ethics of ambition and the culture of overwork in corporate India.

Through the lens of CMC Global’s organisational systems, the case examines how performance pressures, hierarchical norms, and implicit expectations can erode employee wellbeing. It also highlights the company’s crisis response after a private letter from Arjun’s girlfriend to the firm’s Managing Director was leaked, exposing tensions between empathy, accountability, and reputation management.

Designed for courses in Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, Organisational Behaviour, and Leadership and Wellbeing; the case enables students to evaluate organisational crisis communication following ethical or reputational failures; employer responsibilities for employee wellbeing in high-pressure environments; how organisational norms and incentives can unintentionally sustain toxic cultures; and individual responsibility within systemic constraints.

Inspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email ccxshop@smu.edu.sg with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.

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SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-25-0036)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-25-0036TN)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-25-0036)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-25-0036)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-25-0036)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-25-0036)