Getter Better at creating value July-August 2013 by Godrej

THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF GODREJ & BOYCE MFG. CO. LTD., VOL. 12 NO. 4, JUL-AUG 2013

COVER

GETTING BETTER AT CREATING VALUE

RESPECT Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

of suppliers, mutual respect helps forge partnerships which are beneficial and enduring, leading not only to efficiencies in operations but also innovations that help us get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. An attitude of respect towards government and regulatory bodies fosters open, continuous dialogue to solve difficult problems faced by business. Also, respect for the laws of the land helps in following norms of working and building systems for conducting business that lead to better compliance, preventing wasteful litigation. One should even have a healthy respect for competition; in today’s networked economy, one never knows when a competitor could become a useful ally or even a collaborator. And lastly, respect for environment is essential as it is an embodiment of our belief that we are responsible for leaving the planet in a better health for the generations yet to come. It all begins inside us

ENVIRONMENT

TO SERVE

TRUST

INTEGRITY

At an individual level, the important thing to note is that respect begets respect and the rewards that follow are often manifold. Respectful behaviours create harmony at work, which is essential for creative thought and timely action. A high level of self-respect in oneself leads to treating others with respect. Suspending judgment is an important way to show respect. By responding to a request in a timely fashion and that too thoughtfully, we demonstrate our respect for the sender and his concerns. If our response is well thought out and is useful to the sender, it enhances our respect in his eyes, thus catalysing a virtuous cycle of mutual respect that leads to constructive relationships at work. By being on time and well prepared at meetings, we show respect for the purpose of the meeting and those attending it. By listening actively to the ideas of others and trying to understand them fully by asking relevant questions, we show respect for ideas of others and create new possibilities for better outcomes. This kind of constructive interaction at meetings can greatly increase the productivity of the time spent in meetings. Keeping the promises made consistently helps us show our respect towards those concerned. Respect resources too!

he value of ‘Respect’ is the fifth value being elaborated here for an improved common understanding of our values across G&B. Right from the inception of Godrej in 1897, respect has been an important strand of our culture, which is somewhat unique. Our founders, Ardeshir and Pirojsha believed that a successful business can be built only by respecting all the stakeholders, namely customers, employees, suppliers, society, government and environment. Over the years, our values of integrity, trust, to serve, and environment have formed a web of values that supports respectful behaviour towards all of our stakeholders. It’s our business to be respectful! The value of respect informs the way in which we relate to all the elements of the business system for greater good in business, respect for customers helps us develop mutually beneficial solutions that fulfill their needs. The emphasis shifts from products and transactions to solutions and in longer term, deeper relationships. Respect for employees is pivotal to form meaningful and lasting bonds with them. Also, respectful behaviour among colleagues, supervisors and managers enables collaboration – an essential requirement to compete successfully in a tough market. In the case

Respect for the resources that we consume or the resources that are entrusted to us implies that we must eliminate waste wherever possible and ensure that we maintain the company’s resources regularly so that they are always usable to the best of their capacity. Quite often, we find that people have double standards - extreme care is taken with respect to one’s own resources and a total lack of bother for the resources of others or of the business. If the respect for resources is well imbibed then the value of `100 worth of resource will be the same whether it is one’s own or someone else’s or of the business. Respecting resources always leads to higher efficiencies and value creation. Being respectful is not about being subservient. It is about mindfully taking into account the rights and the concerns of the others while remaining firm in one’s own beliefs and conviction. Being fair to all in every possible way is the best way to show respect. However, it is also important to respect people’s individuality as it is the respect of differences that brings together a myriad of skills, abilities and competencies to an organisation. Humility makes it easy to give respect which in turn boosts self-respect in others, leading to clarity of purpose, speedier action, creative solutions, improved relationships and reduction in stress. Cultivating a culture of respect makes a great deal of business sense and the best way to set it off is to make a small change in one’s own mindset and behaviour.

Editorial

THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINED VALUE CREATION T

o create value on a sustained basis, it is essential to understand how value is created collectively at a business level and individually at a personal level. Individuals in different functions often lack the perspective of value creation at the business level. As a result, individuals land up compromising the business’ ability to create value overall, even though they may be working hard and appear to be contributing a lot. The culprits here are their narrow frame of reference, fierce competition and an ongoing economic slowdown.

The Wholonics model explained here

value creation, as narrated by Anand Seth.

helps us expand our frame of reference

A great amount of value can be created

for the creation of value - both at the level

or destroyed at the first point of contact

of business and an individual. This model

with the outside world. At G&B we have a

was developed by Prof. Anjan Thakor of

highly motivated and capable team in our

university of Michigan, Business School

teleservices that manages to connect us

to help practitioners become better at

with others promptly and politely.

To alleviate the situation, it is essential for everyone to understand what value is, how it gets created, how it gets destroyed and how to create more of it. To thrive today, businesses have to be better on many value creating dimensions including the societal. This translates as everyone having to widen and deepen their own capabilities as relating to value creation while keeping intact the alignment with the business strategy. To clarify these issues, we have three short pieces on value, value creation, and the role of speed for gaining an advantage.

create value which is described in the

value creation.

Pe s i M u n c h e r j i, w h o p a s s e d away

We also have features from our businesses

sometime back had done a great deal of

as well as enabling functions like HR and

work for our Archives and he was a frequent

Finance to illustrate how greater value can

contributor to CHANGE. Byram Doongaji

be created. Building Masterbrand and

and B.K. Rajkumar fondly remember him.

piggybacking on it is yet another way to article on the topic by Manasi of SMG. Our Good & Green (G&G) CSR initiative is a powerful vehicle for boosting sustainability in businesses; a progress report of G&G shared here shows the way forward. Our Business Archives contribute towards

In case you want to learn more about becoming better at value creation, please feel free to get in touch with me, I’ll be happy to share the resources I have. The theme of the next issue of CHANGE i s ‘M a n a g i n g P r o j e c t s’ a n d yo u r contributions are welcome.

creation of value by enabling us to delve

Reflect and resolve to become a better

into our heritage and leveraging our past.

value creator.

At an individual level, expanding our capabilities is one of the surest ways for becoming a better value creator - says, V. Ramesh. Creative hobbies also lead to

Indrapal Singh

Contents

Understanding value and its creation

Speedier the better

Multiple value creation perspectives 6 Creating value collaboratively

Competing through value innovations 12 Ideas that make life brighter

How does the finance function add value to the business

What do I do to add value to the business

How Good & Green drives business value sustainably

Business Archives: An organisational intelligence

Edit Board

Anil Verma | Head, Edit Board

Learning to assess business excellence

Godrej annual blood donation drive 2013 28

Routine kindles the way to passion 30 Pesi, my friend

Pesi, wedded to Godrej

Nalini Kala | Edit Board

Deepak Banota | Edit Board

Nariman Bacha | Distribution

Jugaad innovation

Frugal living

Your call is important to us

For private circulation only. No part of the magazine can be reproduced in any form without due permission of the editor. You can mail your contributions, suggestions and feedback to: The Editor, Plant 11, 2nd Floor, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli (W), Mumbai 400079, INDIA or email us at change@godrej.com Published by Indrapal Singh on behalf of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Design & layout by thought blurb thoughtblurb.in Photography by Shivaji Ghag Printed by Silver Point Press Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

Visit us online change.godrej.com

UNDERSTANDING VALUE AND ITS CREATION By Indrapal Singh

reating value is the central purpose of both organisations and individuals. For profit making organisations, value can be defined as ‘economic value which is roughly interchangeable with shareholder value in the case of publically listed companies’. The corresponding articulation would define what creating value means for individuals within the organisation. Put directly, organisations and individuals succeed to the extent they create value on a sustained basis. In case of an organisation: Economic Value = After-tax profit – Opportunity cost of using capital In case of an individual: Value created by an individual = Value of the organisational benefits an individual produces – Direct (tangible) cost of employing individual – Opportunity cost to the organisation of the labour and capital resources an individual uses in his/her work Creating value is about more than making money in the short term. It is about incorporating the efforts of every employee into a business strategy that will support performance and profits over the long haul. It requires each member of a team to take ownership of the organisational assets

and processes that he or she manages. It also requires that he or she translates the imperatives of organisational strategy into a personal plan of actions. Everyone has to be vigilant about not engaging in behaviours that sabotage creation of value, which calls for deeper understanding of how value is created and destroyed routinely. Greater value creation can be achieved by engaging in activities and behaviours that go beyond the mundane and the routine. To envision the larger scope for creation of value, one needs to take a holistic view of engagement to bring into view a host of new activities and behaviours that ought to be performed which would lead to greater value creation. Today, we need better value creators than better managers. We need individuals who understand both- organisational processes and organisational dynamics, that ensure the creation of value on a sustained basis. The five keys to being a great value creator involve having (1) a clear definition of the meaning of value for a specific organisation, (2) a clear understanding of the activities that create value and the multiple perspectives on value creation that exist in the organisation, (3) a clear understanding of strategy, (4) an appropriate measure of success, and (5) mastery of speed without sacrificing quality.

Organisations who achieve sustained value creation; individuals that master these five keys become more valuable to their organisation and in the marketplace. Creating value is a never ending process of reinventing oneself, one’s job, and the organisation. Good value creators know that effective value creation is a journey, not a destination. It is a process of constant evolution. Success is always measured relative to internally created goals and performance indicators. The motivation to create greater value must come from with in and not outside. The management must strive hard to remove irritants and obstacles in the way of value creation. Adequate training and development, primarily on the job, and in the classroom ought to be provided for helping people become better value creators. Adequate resources in the context of the strategy and the job must be provided besides creating a work environment where value creation is encouraged, lauded and rewarded. Every success should lead to higher goals and every failure should lead to re-examination of strategy to see if it needs to be recalibrated. The goals are never lowered for keeping the challenge. As mentioned earlier, no destination, only the journey.

SPEEDIER THE BETTER By Indrapal Singh

n today’s highly volatile, uncertain and rapidly changing business environment, speed is a vital ingredient of the recipe to create value on a sustained basis. Speed ought to be a key performance parameter of all business processes at an organisational level as well as for the activities performed by individuals. This is not to say, there aren’t any situations in the organisation where more deliberate and slower speed is desirable. And yet, overall if the activities required to be preformed to serve the customers and the stakeholders get carried out speedily, then a competitive edge is gained. To clarify, if the speed at which new products are launched, is greater than that of the competitor’s, then the first mover advantages accrue to the business. Likewise, if an individual consistently completes the tasks entrusted, speedily, without compromising on the quality, then he has many things in his favour, as he is viewed as a valuable contributor. On the other hand, if an individual routinely delays the tasks assigned then he creates an impression of being lazy and shirking work to the detriment of his own interests. Higher speed at a business level: To improve the speed at the business level, one of the important things to do is to change the culture of the business. The culture has to become more tolerant of errors and failures. It is obvious that if the speed is revved up then there is a likelihood of mistakes occurring, which have to be taken in the stride. To eliminate errors and mishaps, processes at the working levels have to be made foolproof and robust. This may call for reengineering of the processes, keeping in view the organisational imperative of speed. Also, the processes have to be improved continuously to stay ahead of the competition. To ensure that the activities

get performed speedily in a routine way, process orientation has to be deeply embedded into the culture of the business. Another aspect related to speed is that of decision making. If the decisions are not taken quickly and with a degree of finality, then to and fro movements slow down the speed, resulting in loss of value. It also creates a sense of frustration amongst the people. Clarity on who decides what and superior alignment to strategy results in speedier actions. Another aspect that slows down decisions is the amount of information that is called in for minimising risk. Zero risk means perfect information, which is impossible to obtain in the time frame that business conditions permit. Hence, riskaverse behaviours ought to be shunned instead, taking of calculated risks should be encouraged. Higher speed at an individual level: At an individual level, mastering the art of parallel processing would come in good stead as it helps eliminate dead time between the tasks. Also, the monotony of working on the same task for too long gets minimised. Change of activity is a powerful antidote to fatigue than a break or wasteful chatting about. Also, the ability to focus on the task and finish it fully before shifting the attention to the next task is absolutely essential. Lack of ability to concentrate creates outputs that are incomplete and of unacceptable quality, resulting in rework and delays. Being first time right is speedier. Also, not being able to attain the closure of tasks fully results in costly delays and often in never-ending correction loops. Good value creators are masters at closing out tasks and capturing value as planned. For more on the topic, please refer CHANGE – Vol.7 No. 5, ‘Building momentum to soar – SPEED’.

MULTIPLE VALUE CREATION PERSPECTIVES By Indrapal Singh

ifferent functions within a business often end up working at cross purposes because they have different perspectives about how value is created. These differences are inevitable because of the different nature of their activities. In practice, these varying perspectives on value creation create a host of undercurrents that lead to substantially large destruction of value. It is here that a powerful new model called ‘the Wholonics model’ comes in handy, as it gives method to categorise value creation activities within a business. It also provides a way to a lign leadership style, allocation of resources, and performance metrics to serve the needs of the business strategy. The Wholonics Model: This model has four quadrants, each labeled by an action verb: control, compete, create and collaborate. Each quadrant represents a collection of activities that share a particular focus with respect to value creation. Here goes a brief description of each of the four quadrants.

Collaborate “Sustaining the organisation through its culture and its people.”

Control “Better, cheaper, surer.”

Create “Create the future.”

Compete “Create shareholder value now and every day.”

1. The Wholonics Model

Control: Value enhancing activities in this quadrant deal with improvements in efficiency through better processes. Better processes also help satisfy the expectations of customers. The activities of this quadrant are characterised by the theme ‘better, cheaper and surer’. A high degree of predictability is one of the hallmarks of this quadrant. Activities such as improvement in manufacturing quality through statistical process control are typical of this quadrant. Total Productive Maintenance and similar operational ef ficiency enhancing activities belong here. Also, productivity improvement, reduction of cycle time and the like that make business function efficiently and reliably belong to this quadrant. Create: Value enhancing activities in this quadrant deal with innovation in the products and services that a business offers. The theme of this quadrant is ‘Create the Future’. ‘Change’ rules this quadrant. Activities here include radical new breakthrough products and services, product line extensions, innovative channels of distribution, and new state of the art technologies. These activities help a business to leapfrog its competitors and achieve higher levels of performance. Activities in this quadrant are risky and the time for payoff of investments is quite unpredictable. Compete: Value enhancing activities in this quadrant deal with being responsive to pressures and forces of the marketplace. Delivering

“

All businesses require activities in all four quadrants. For creating greater value, the relative emphasis on different quadrants will have to change.

shareholder value consistently is a key requirement here. Speed too is vital here. The theme of this quadrant can be summarised as ‘Create economic value now and in future’. Examples of activities in this quadrant include measures taken to reduce working capital deployed, measures taken to reduce fixed costs of the business, outsourcing related aspects and activities in the marketplace that lead to selling products at margins higher than that of competition. Good performance in this quadrant always goes well with the lenders and the investors. Collaborate: Value enhancing activities in this quarter deal with the building of business related competencies by developing people and shaping the right culture for the business. The theme of this quadrant is ‘Sustaining the business through its culture and its people’. Things done here are not very high profile but have profound impact on the ways in which the business is conducted. Speed in business gets affected, but by the kind of culture that prevails. Change here is slow and difficult. Leaders have to stay the course for a longer time frame. To measure the value generated by the activities in this quadrant is harder and yet without a degree of goodness in this quadrant, the business has uncertain future. How the quadrants relate to functional areas: The four quadrants deal with the activities within the business and the resources allocated to them, but as each functional area is a collection of activities, it’s easy to map functional areas to the quadrants. For example, consider manufacturing area- if we take all of its activities and consider the total resources dedicated

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to it as 100%, then it is possible to plot the percentage of resources allocated to the activities in each quadrant on each of the four sections of the model. Typically, most of the manufacturing activities fall into ‘Control’ quadrant which being, improving cost, maintaining quality and predictability. Some activities pertain to developing the right culture and boosting employee morale, these belong to ‘Collaborate’ quadrant. Similarly, some activities devoted to responding to voice of customer fall into ‘Compete’ quadrant. However, Collaborate and Compete quadrant activities consume far less business resources than the Control quadrant. Breakthrough improvements belong to Create quadrant, however they consume a small fraction of the total resources. Mapping this we get a profile of the manufacturing area. Obviously, if manufacturing function has to create greater value, then the scores on Collaborate, Create and Compete dimensions have to be enhanced. Thus, each and every functional area of the business can be mapped as mentioned above. Marketing and sales, finance and HR would have different profiles as resources allocated to activities in all four quadrants would vary from one functional area to the next. Likewise, from business to business the allocation of resources to activities each quadrant would vary and hence, so would the profile. Also, the strategy of a business would shape the profile. Some key points to note: • All businesses require activities in all four quadrants. For creating greater value, the relative emphasis on different quadrants will have to change. • Lack of activities in any one quadrant can prove very dangerous, e.g. if in a business

we are strong on Control but weak on Create quadrant then the chances are that the business may miss out opportunities that come by through the internet. • Also, if a business is excessively bottomline focused then it may be strong on the Control and Compete dimensions at the expense of Collaborate and Create. It is likely that it may not be a good place to work and it may not have any future because of the fact that inadequate amount of resources are allocated for creating new products and services. How an individual could benefit from the model: The model enables an individual to unde r sta nd his ow n stre ng ths a nd weaknesses in performing activities in the four quadrants. No one is really very good on all four dimensions, but if he chooses to make friends with the Competing dimension which is diagonally opposite from where its strength lie, then the chances are that he may land up enlarging his profile substantially. For example, a person having strength on Compete dimension can add a great deal of value by being more Collaborative. Thus, working on improving one’s skills where one does not have strengths can certainly help expand competency profile. In practice, the Wholonics model provides powerful tool to enable us affect relevant changes in our activities and appreciate that greater value can be created in many different ways. Also, the model helps us minimise value-destroying activities, if any indulged into, because we do not have a full, larger perspective on creation of value. *This article is based on the work of Prof. Anjan Thakor of Universit y of Michigan Business School.

CREATING VALUE COLLABORATIVELY

Trust begets trust, which creates value. By Cavas Dumasia and Neville Mevawala, Godrej Material Handling

t began in early 2003 with a brief email from Translift Bendi of UK informing us that they were a manufacturer of specialty forklifts and were looking for a good manufacturing base in India. Would Godrej be interested? Characteristically, we promptly sent an affirmative response. Many e-mails and phone calls later, we received a set of drawings to fabricate a partial chassis for this special kind of bending forklift. Always eager and happy to try something different, we fabricated this first prototype chassis in a few weeks. In June 2003, Mr. Fred Brown, Chairman of Translift Bendi (at the time) and the inventor of the articulating forklift besides many other types of lift trucks visited Godrej to see our handiwork. Mr. Paul Overfield, Director of Manufacturing and the initiator of the contact with Godrej, accompanied him. Apart from being impressed with the size of our company and facilities, the visit did not actually go too well. It seems we had not really understood this new concept truck fully. On the flight back to England, the two visitors had a long discussion about whether they should invest more time and energy in exploring things further with Godrej. After all, considering their relatively smaller size and high manpower costs, many European companies have to answer this question while working with Asian suppliers. A hectic pace of work and other opportunities at their end put the project in cold storage for several months but during this interval we stayed in regular touch with Translift Bendi. Things changed again suddenly in April 2004. Could a team from Godrej visit England very quickly and discuss the project again? But there would be no time to come back to India and make a proposal. Translift were in a hurry and everything had to be worked out there in England and if agreeable, a contract signed.

Never having made an articulating kind of forklift before, how were we to cost it? Thumb rules were worked out, our cost structure and build up clarified and an enormous amount of 2.

1. The articulated forklift 2. Fred Brown, Chairman (R) and Paul Overfield, Director (L) of Translift Bendi Ltd.

“

The discussion was unique in the sense that neither side tried to corner the maximum commercial benefit for itself. Instead, both came forward to work towards a common goal.

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data about all possible components that

could go into such a truck were gathered. Since Mr. H.N. Khumbatta could not accompany us, he wished us luck with a clear mandate: “We need this business. It’s our dream to be an OEM to a west European company. Get this contract even if the price looks borderline. We will find a way to make it work.” Armed with data, enthusiasm and excitement, the two of us flew off to England. Right off the plane, Mr. Paul Overfield and their Marketing Director Mr. Simon Brown (now Managing Director) took us to see their articulated forklifts in operation at a few customer locations. Understanding how it all came together, we then sat with the Translift Bendi team and started building the truck cost in terms of its main sub-assemblies. We decided to base the discussion on our belief that unless we were open and forthright, we may not be able to develop a bond strong enough for Translift to trust us fully and move ahead with Godrej. Our cost data on materials and labour was shared as transparently as the truck data was shared by Translift. It also helped that Translift did a quick check on a few critical items like the price of steel plates in India and found our costs in line with their own. The discussion was unique in the sense that neither side tried to corner the maximum commercial benefit for itself. Instead, both came forward to work towards a common goal. Issues like currency fluctuation, steel cost variation, managing the investments in tooling, market rights, etc. were discussed and fair methods were agreed upon to tackle some of the unpredictables.

The whole process took only three days and at the end of it we had a three page long, ver y clear and simply worded memorandum of understanding that was to become the basis for a strong cooperation. The transparency developed early on between the two organisations has grown over the years, resulting in a strong bond of trust that both sides have worked to preserve. It also helped that with our wide exposure and long experience in marketing and sales, we were able to project an image of a progressive company that was familiar with contemporary technologies and current events in the global lift truck industry. In our view, being knowledgeable and professional helps building trust. The other par ty understands that they are dealing with people who know their business.

3. Articulated forklift stacking a pallet in a 1650mm wide aisle 4. Cavas (L) and Neville (R) with Fred Brown, Chairman of Translift Bendi Ltd. during the signing of the MOU in April 2004

Having signed the contract, there arose the question of how to go about starting production. Translift decided to take a very different approach. Key components would be shipped across to Godrej along

small numbers at first. The early years were not without pain. At times it felt we were at the end of the road. But each time deep involvement, commitment to the project and willingness to do what needed to be done helped both Godrej and Translift overcome and move ahead. Constant and open communication, visits by both sides to each other, and above all a dogged determination to make things work began to show results. While Godrej invested in tooling and processes, Translift invested in bringing the right people and project manager on board to help monitor and manage myriad issues, drawing changes, etc. on the project.

with the drawings etc. Godrej would then 5. The joint task force that built the prototype 6. (L to R) H.K. Kotwal, Neville Mevawala and H.A. Dumasia during their August 2004 visit to Translift to receive further inputs after building the first two articulated trucks

prepare all the remaining components in India. A team from Translift would then spend a couple of weeks with us and we would build a couple of forklifts together. Work began in earnest and in May 2003, braving the hot Indian summer, the English team landed at Godrej. Working together, we were able to get the first truck built and running rather quickly, though not without many obstacles and difficulties along the way. The second forklift followed very shortly thereafter. After the first two trucks arrived in Translift’s factory, a small team from Godrej flew over to review the prototypes in detail with them and take on board whatever feedback Translift had to offer in terms of fabrication, build, painting, deviations, etc. Taking this on board Godrej then started building trucks each month and shipped them to Translift, very 6.

Unde r sta nding the think ing a nd expectations of a European client and their end customers required a shift in mindset within our team. We had to stop thinking ‘industrial equipment’ and start thinking ‘appliances’ and ‘cars’ in order to relate to their expectations. Translift did a tremendous job of hand holding and having faith in us during all this time. Godrej remained flexible to the numerous and often frequent changes Translift dictated in the truck design and build. And finally we were there. Trucks were coming off the assembly line in the numbers required and of a quality that was acceptable in their market. Thereafter, the business grew. Slowly at first and then rapidly. In the initial period whatever we exported to the UK was sold in the UK only. As Translift’s confidence in Godrej grew and as they opened new markets in Europe, Africa and Oceania, Godrej built articulated trucks found their way to more distant shores.

What is stated above are the basic e le me nts of the foundation of our cooperation. We would like to emphasise that the non-monetary benefits that have ensued from this relationship go far beyond the monetary ones. We have learnt to make trucks which are worthy of export to European markets, one of the most sophisticated in the world. Besides, the project enabled us to streamline our manufacturing processes for cost efficiencies and higher quality. A win-win solution in every possible way. Collaboration is a powerful way to create sustainable business value. But the venture needs to be approached with a high degree of integrity, honesty, openness and transparency. The power of trust should never be underestimated. Another key ingredient is full empowerment of the people involved in such collaborative projects to take decisions. This means that the leader of the business must trust the judgment and the decisions taken by the persons entrusted with the task. 7.

The entire experience with Translift Bendi has been like a great adventure, exciting, educational, value adding and gratifying for our Material Handling business as well as for the individuals involved. Today Godrej produce three models of the articulated forklift. Translift Bendi have great plans to expand their portfolio and markets. They know they can rely on Godrejâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partnership to meet their aspirations. With sights set on increasing our business by product type and volume, both sides seek to build a strong and sustainable future. 8. 7. John Cook, Project Manager (L) and Paul Overfield, Director (R) at the CEMAT India show in Mumbai (December, 2009) 8. Dedicated assembly area for the articulated forklift

COMPETING THROUGH VALUE INNOVATIONS Focusing on consumer needs helps capture a larger slice of value created. By Jayesh Parekh, Godrej Appliances

he flagship categor y of Godrej Appliances (GA) Refrigerators, is flanked by the MNCs – LG, Whirlpool and Samsung on all sides. Adding to this fiercely competitive scenario is the almost flat growth rates witnessed by the industry over the last two years of about 3% only. The challenges faced by the brand are numerous and are easy to appreciate.

The brand has had a clearly defined strategy keeping in mind the challenging market and evolving consumers – viz. to provide innovative value led products in sync with the brand promise of ‘Designed by Curiosity’. The mantra of focusing on value to consumers has been instrumental in the brand being able to fight the Goliaths in the market.

From competition with deep pockets to buy mind share as well as floor share and a tough economic scenario marked by reduced spending on appliances as a whole, the category has been facing tumultuous times. Interestingly, while the volumes have been almost flat, the industry has still shown a growth in terms of value with customers migrating to appliances of higher capacities.

Godrej Refrigerators has a lineage of many successful innovations that has been joined recently by the value-laden Edge Pro range. Edge Pro Refrigerators offers to consumers 6 star performances across parameters as compared to other 5 star refrigerators in its class, such as Maximum Energy efficiency- 15% more, and Maximum Cooling- 50% faster ice making. Edge Pro

Collaborate

Create

Desired profile

1. The Desired Evolution of Marketing and Affiliated Groups in the Wholonics Perspective

Complete

Refrigerators, as a category has been in existence for more than 50 years in India. The big challenge in the category is ensuring energy efficiency while delivering superior cooling. With tightening energy regulation and growing energy prices, this critical balance becomes even more challenging. According to BEE, the highest slab of efficiency is 5 star rating. Godrej Edge Pro delivers 15% higher energy efficiency than other 5 star rated refrigerators making its performance worthy of 6 stars. While delivering higher energy efficiency, the product also delivers faster cooling - 50% higher than earlier conventional direct cool models - so the consumer is assured of superior cooling without having to worry about energy bills. What’s more, in sync with the ground realities in the country, the Edge Pro refrigerators deliver up to 24 hour cooling retention despite power cuts with StayCool Technology. As a result, the consumer does not have to worry about food getting wasted during power cuts or the subsequent cleaning.

Typical current profile

Control

also offers 44% more vegetable space than any other Refrigerator in its class.

Superior space management goes a long way in helping the user get more from the refrigerator as it helps to keep them organised and efficient. Edge Pro delivers greater storage space very effectively with the addition of unique door crispers and easily usable mini vegetable trays which makes the storage of frequently used items easily accessible, saving time. It also comes with the largest shelves and the largest freezer in its class. The product has 44% extra vegetable space over other refrigerators in its class – a very useful feature. What’s more, the deep bottom chiller tray stores up to 5 one liter bottles in

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The brand has had a clearly defined strategy keeping in mind the challenging market and evolving consumers – viz. to provide innovative value-led products in sync with the brand promise of ‘Designed by Curiosity.’

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addition to the bottles stored on the door. Edge Pro, thus provides better storage space management for varied consumer needs. This unique space organisation is coupled with attractive aesthetics both outside and inside. Its toughened glass interiors ensure durability inside as well. The mix is very effective in converting sales in favour of the Edge Pro. The innovative use of isobutene compressors coupled with a balanced cooling system delivers 6 star performance on many parameters. Edge Pro range is available in a range of attractive patterns and colours with sleek interiors and it comes with 10 year rust protection warranty. The success of the product has emanated from the innovations delivered by a cross-functional team having R&D, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales and Service as its members. The innovations were not limited to the product only. Traditionally, we choose one big USP and use that in communication – especially on TV. However, in this case the different benefits appealed to different category of decision makers. While space and cooling appealed to women who were the primary users, energy efficiency was targeting the male population which continues to be the key decision maker. Hence, three versions of TV commercials were created – one for each of the value propositions. Apart from being able to communicate the greater value and attracting both the decision makers, a common construct using Sam and Meera – the brand protagonists, ensured that the multiplier effect for the brand was significant. Consequently, Godrej refrigerators enjoyed the highest noticeability and the brand overshadowed the competition.

The Go-to-Market strategy for the new launch also was a step ahead over past launches. In order to create maximum impact in the shortest time, Edge Pro was launched to the trade fraternity through over 103 distributor launches across the country. This assured that an audience of more than 8,350 retailers was touched within a short span of one and a half months. In this short period, 46,978 units of Edge Pro refrigerators were booked. The winning value propositions were amplified using shop floor collaterals, both outside and inside the refrigerators. Factory fitted stickers were put inside the refrigerators for highlighting each of the features and to ensure that the product spoke for itself, loud and clear all the time.

index of 114 in the segment. Edge Pro has helped the business successfully enter the fastest growing segment of 190L. Against a planned payback period of 7 months, the new platform of Edge Pro had a pay-back period of 3 months only. Godrej Appliances has a slew of such value driving models scheduled for launch in the coming year. The success story of Edge Pro has yielded many learnings which are being institutionalised for more success ahead.

The launch was reinforced further with aggressive training of the Sales teams including the front line, advisor sales force and the trade partners using comparative audio visuals, which clearly demonstrated the superiority of Edge Pro. The clear objective of Edge Pro was to improve profitability for GA. Keeping in mind the profitability pressures, a new metric was evolved internally – from volume share to now, profit share. From 2012-’13, GA has initiated a new drive for improving Profit Share to boost profitability. As a result, we have been promoting sales of ranges like Edge Pro which have higher contribution margin. Edge Pro has been one of the key drivers of profit for the Direct Cool category. It can be seen that from the time of launch, till date it has helped Godrej garner a profit share twice as large as that of the market share i.e. 12.2% Profit Share vs. a Market share of 6.1% in the segment. In a price competitive single door segment, the model has been able to command a price

2. Edge Pro Refrigerator

By Manasi Narasimhan, Strategic Marketing Group

IDEAS THAT MAKE LIFE BRIGHTER G

odrej, a household name in India touches the lives of 500 million Indians every single day. In 2008, the company embarked on a journey of managing the Godrej brand as an invaluable strategic asset. A powerful framework was set up to maximise the value of the Godrej brand by consolidating its presence across all businesses within the group. This rebranding exercise paved the way to a more contemporary entity that held an even stronger connect with India’s demographic dividend. The brand philosophy that was created of ‘Brighter living’ resonated with our consumer insights and created a culture that is focussed around the consumer a culture that was built on the four brand value pillars of Expression, Progression, Experience and Empathy, overlaid on a solid foundation of trust, which, 117 years after the company was founded, continues to remain one of its greatest strengths. Over the past 5 years there has been a lot of excitement and euphoria around the new Godrej built on these value pillars.

Some of the path breaking corporate initiatives that further validated the company’s commitment to these value pillars are Godrej Khelo-Jeeto-Jiyo (a reality show that showcased the range of Godrej products), showcase of our Aerospace capabilities and the Godrej Good and Green initiative that heralded the group’s long term vision of creating a more inclusive and greener India. In 2011, a brand valuation exercise was conducted to identify the factors that would lead to further growth. The current campaign proposition “Ideas that make life brighter” is the culmination of the imperatives gathered from this exercise. The product campaign unveiled in March 2013 is the first of a multiyear calendar straddling various proof points. This campaign was designed to strengthen the brand pillars of empathy and progression. The products that were selected for the same have all been built on a fundamental consumer understanding, and deliver great design, superior performance and are easy to use.

These are products that the company already manufactures and sells and are tangible proof of these values. And these do resonate with our consumers who spontaneously played back good performance and good design in consumer research post the campaign. To bring Ideas that make life brighter come to life, Aamir Khan was chosen as the brand ambassador. Aamir is a perfectionist and a thinking actor who resonates not just with our target group but also with our brand’s tagline and values. The storyline revolved around a young, urban married couple (Sam, played by Arjun Mathur, and Meera, played by Nauheed Cyrusi), with Aamir as Soniya being their neighbour. The portrayal of Aamir as Soniya lends interest to the storyline as, through product film after product film, Meera engages with him and possibly uncovers his identity in the last film that was aired. The format of the films and story would encourage viewers to come back for more episodes. The entire campaign was launched with a high decibel media launch where a “Godrej home” featuring the product range was created, and the media were allowed to interact with the same. Ms. Tanya Dubash,

Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group, and Mr. Shireesh Joshi, COO, Strategic Marketing Group, addressed the media. TV, as is the case with most national campaigns, was chosen as the lead medium, with the campaign launched on IPL. IPL served as the lead medium to get reach and impact, with niche and regional channels to boost frequency. The campaign delivered 1272 GRPs all India, and 1476 GRPs in the 6 metros, in the 2544 AB TG. The reach on IPL alone was spectacular, with 1.542 billion views across Max and Six. While the Masterbrand was present on Six HD as well, there are no ratings available for the same. However, qualitative feedback from many of our partners indicates that the ads on HD were very well received and the brand message understood. The national media campaign was well supplemented with selected regional language channels as well as niche channels like English news and movies to drive an overall brand feel and impact.

1. Godrej Sizzle Table

Godrej home

In addition to TV, the campaign was active on the digital medium, with a Facebook fan page (ZindagiMuskuraye) and a YouTube channel of the same name being set up and actively promoted. The fan page has 8.3 lakh fans, and the YouTube channel delivered 4.5 million views. The ads were also well received on Vdopia with 2.1 million views. Several innovative properties like a YouTube masthead, a YouTube firstwatch (where every unique visitor to youtube over a pre designated 24 hour period would definitely see our ad) and a Facebook logout banner were delivered, which added to the impact of the campaign. Initial qualitative research has indicated that the ads have succeeded in creating a consumer re-appraisal of brand Godrej. In addition to the tried and tested values of trust and durability that are intrinsically linked with the brand, consumers have now appreciated the range of products that Godrej makes, and the fact that they truly understand the needs of consumers, and design and develop products accordingly. As articulated by one consumer â&#x20AC;&#x153;Godrej now takes care of the small things that matter in product development.â&#x20AC;? The initial feel in qualitative research has been confirmed by a detailed quantitative study conducted by Millward Brown, a leading market research agency in India and an international specialist in evaluating and benchmarking ad campaigns.

It showed that at a spontaneous level, consumers played back the design, per formance and ease of use of the Godrej products showed in the ad campaign, along with the fact that it was products meant for ‘consumers like them’. They also showed a clear increase in the association of Godrej with many of these key attributes. Another heartening feature of the campaign has been the interest and drive that the businesses have shown in carr ying this forward. Many of the businesses have put in additional budgets behind the campaign and have helped drive the Masterbrand objective along with individual brand objectives. The Appliances team has developed campaigns for refrigerators using Sam and Meera as protagonists which carries on the Masterbrand campaign as well as aligns with the business needs. They have also extensively used Aamir Khan in the on-ground, print and digital space. Security Solutions, in addition to driving the campaign on TV has also created interesting on ground activation using Aamir Khan and showcasing their I warn safe. The Proper ties business has created a 360 degree campaign, using the commercials on TV and across print, e-mailers and site branding. . The Masterbrand journey has just begun, and will continue for a year and more, through multiple media. Plans are underway to engage consumers with the Masterbrand, and encourage a two way dialogue of ideas and thoughts. The initiatives will continue to be driven through a synergy of the Strategic Marketing Group, which is the custodian of the Masterbrand, and

the businesses, which see value for themselves in long term growth of brand Godrej. Godrej has a wealth of products and initiatives that truly manifest ‘Ideas that make life brighter’ and the endeavor will be to showcase more of these. Along this journey, the consumer will hopefully reassess brand Godrej to be an empathetic and progressive brand, that touches the lives of many more million Indians in the next 116 years and beyond.

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The Godrej Masterbrand is a strategic asset that we manage to derive value for all our businesses. The 2013 campaign is a significant step in showcasing the ideas behind our products that truly make consumers’ lives brighter. This is the start of a multiyear programme which will showcase different facets of our businesses and organisation.

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Ms. Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group

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The 2013 campaign around ‘Ideas that make life brighter’ is the start of an exciting phase in our brand’s journey to begin to stand for and eventually own the space for products that are insightful, high performing and beautifully designed.

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Mr. Shireesh Joshi, COO, Strategic Marketing Group

HOW DOES THE FINANCE FUNCTION ADD VALUE TO THE BUSINESS Integrating functions to create greater value. By Berzis Meher-Homji, Godrej Interio

alue is the ability of an act or article to satisfy a human want.

Value may be defined as the difference between benefit received on the use of a set of resources and the cost of acquiring and enhancing those resources. It is value which business, indeed human life constantly strives to create, enable and preserve through enquiry, research, discovery, invention, innovation, improvement, education and training. It is the desired result of all business activities and ultimately results in higher living standards for all society. It is obtained by

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procuring, utilising and altering a group of resources to fulfill the needs of customers at the appropriate time, location and cost. Moreover it has to be augmented regularly to keep abreast of competition and meet expectations of increasingly discerning customers. This is done by either increasing the utility of, or lowering the costs and consumption of resources. But then again, every such endeavour to do so is often accompanied by utilisation of another resource(s). This is where we as accountants come in with our birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of the organisation, to guide management in taking informed decisions. But wait a minute, werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we accountants mere book keepers, numbercrunchers churning out balance sheets and statements, reporting financial results of the year gone by. No longer. With growing levels of business complexity, it is we who must take on the mantle of adding value to business. Once the strategic objectives and the plans to achieve them have been laid out we draw up financial budgets, the preparation of which reveals gaps in value addition, that is identifies activities where more resources may have been committed and compels reconsideration if the planned benefits are not in consonance with the cost of resources. A critical necessit y of business is in ensuring infusion of adequate capital to both support its strategies and overcome exigencies. We can furbish the pros and cons of a high or low capital gearing

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A critical necessity of business is in ensuring infusion of adequate capital to both support its strategies and overcome exigencies.

structure and locate sources of funds with lower costs such as pre-shipment credit. The capital so procured is invested in fixed assets and working capital of the company. Before the decision to procure an asset is taken, the payback period of different alternatives is reviewed to determine the rate of value addition to maximise value. At periodic intervals, we compare the financial results with plan, analyse and communicate the reasons for deviation, and suggest remedial action to operations. If the anticipated revenues are lower than plan, we formulate a profit protection plan under different scenarios. Thus we are able to retain value in the business by curtailing those activities which add least value. Value can also be added by reducing the investment required to generate the same returns. By providing visibility of the controllable elements of working capital like inventories and receivables, it aids management both in taking immediate correctives and altering credit policies or stocking models that would result in reduction. O ne of the principal levers of value generation is tactical pricing. By giving frequent inputs on movements in cost components on margins of products, the business can respond swiftly by changing prices to maximize volumes and/or value. With our knowledge of costs associated with each process and material, we can help in making decisions

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on which products to promote, go-no go for big ticket orders with low contributions, outsourcing of products during capacity constraints and viability of investments in new technologies. In today’s dynamic environment, the enterprise must come out with innovative products, find new ways of promoting them, achieve cost competitiveness and establish controls over critical processes. This is often done through PMO projects or Kaizens. But it is us accountants who will verify if the anticipated value generation has fructified or has been diluted by extraneous factors or not implemented in full, thereby enabling full realisation of the value of the initiative. In a world of increasing complexity with equally complex commercial statutes, we the accountants with our deep and clear understanding of different laws would guide business in executing transactions in the most tax efficient manner. We are also responsible in our role as the custodian of organisational assets in establishing controls to safeguard them, thus preserving value. This function also befits us in identifying, quantifying and mitigating risks which the enterprise is subject to. Above all the desire to maximise value of business through commitment, service, speed and collaboration makes us rise above a book-keeper to embrace a leader’s role.

WHAT DO I DO TO ADD VALUE TO THE BUSINESS A human resources professional shares his own experience. By Kaustubh Joshi, Godrej Prima

hen I was asked by CHANGE to write a piece about how, as an individual, I add value through my function to the business, I pondered over things I do differently at work, which I am glad to share with you. Reinforcing Culture And Values: One of the important ways in which I believe I add value to the business is by consciously reinforcing our culture through our values. I also indulge in behaviours which I believe if adopted by many more of us in the business, would lead to providing positive strokes for things done well. Appreciating our people for the good efforts in numerous waysbig and small, frequently helps us define our culture and strengthen it. Besides, our people feel good about contributions they have made which encourages them to indulge in positive behaviours. Instances of transgression of values are taken seriously by me and I ensure that appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Talent Management: One of our much appreciated reward and recognition approach is REAP (Recognition for Excellence and Achievement in Prima) in which we encourage employees to nominate their colleagues and themselves for outstanding achievements beyond the regular scope of work. The best part about the approach is that anyone can nominate any one from Prima and we send the gift vouchers to family members along with an appreciation letter and a photograph of the employee being felicitated by his / her immediate superior. Involving

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Value creation can be done in your response, in your formats, in your approaches, the manner in which and the extent to which you deploy these approaches.

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family members and keeping the things informal generally helps spread positive vibes amongst all.

Reducing Cost Of Recruitment: One more way in which I try to add value is to reduce the cost of recruitment by promoting our employee referral programme, and also keeping in touch with desirable candidates who are waitlisted. A database of this kind cuts short the time for recruitment, ensuring better quality of shortlisted candidates. Role Clarity: One of the ways in which I try to add value to the business is by making people clear of their roles and responsibilities. Even in the best of organisations there will be some areas of work that will overlap between two functions or two individuals. However, role clarity is one way in which HR can help add value to the business. And in Prima we endeavour to provide that role clarity to the best extent possible. Aside from in-depth corporate orientation and product training we take extra efforts to ensure that the individual is clear about his/her role. Two Way Communications: At Prima we have an initiative called First Impressions Survey in which we try and capture the first impressions of the employees with the Organisation and the Business. We carry out this survey after the employee has completed at least three months with the Business but before he completes six months, to ensure responses that flow from adequate knowledge and experience at job and have not yet become deeply engrained to become a way of work life. The feedback from this survey helps us make changes in the way we work and also in our policies and processes. Besides, we also have our regular V-Talks in which the Divisional Management Committee interacts with the entire department/branch team. Further,

the I-Speak initiative is one in which the employees have an opportunity to have a one-on-one dialogue with me at HR. Sharing Of Information Through HR Scorecard: Value creation is not restricted to assembly line or just products. It can very much happen in functions and processes. Value creation can be done in your response, in your formats, in your approaches, the manner in which and the extent to which you deploy these approaches. One of the ways for me as a HR professional adds value to the business and function is through our HR Scorecard which gives us a clear picture of where we stand vis a vis our plan and our targets. It helps us focus our efforts in the right direction. Also, sharing of information in a crystal clear format with the people concerned help us know how we are perceived by them and what their expectations are from me as an individual and from HR function. Valuing People: One of the ways to show that we value people - both external and internal – is through dealing with their concerns and resolving them personally in a speedy manner. Keeping people waiting, whether they are from our business or are applicants for the job is something that I avoid strictly.

1. The Desired Evolution of Human Resources in the Wholonics Perspective 2. REAP Felicitation in Godrej Prima

I believe in adhering to time commitments which I made and the time frame which is generally acceptable. Engaging with people promptly demonstrates that we value their time and them as well. Also, in cases where certain decisions have to be taken, I always consult the persons affected by the decision. I take their views into consideration, both formally and informally. Involving people in this way helps boost the feeling of belongingness amongst our people. Generally speaking, I have found that valuing people goes a long way in improving their engagement with the business. Over and above these things, I also help our business head in structuring departments and sections in such a way that people get adequate space to perform their own functions well. I hope my reflection would encourage my colleagues to reflect similarly and explore ways for adding more value. I look forward to any suggestions/feedback to become better at adding value.

By Seema Tiwari and Priyanka Rao, G&B CSR Cell

HOW GOOD & GREEN DRIVES BUSINESS VALUE SUSTAINABLY A short journey of Good & Green from concept to practice.

ore and more companies are becoming better at creating value by adapting the shared value approach which aims at developing profitable business strategies that deliver tangible social and environmental benefits. Godrej & Boyce in its attempt to constantly become better at creating value has adapted, since 2011, a shared value approach for conducting business through an overreaching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy called ‘Good & Green’ (G&G). For last three years, G&G has been driving our business towards sustainability by putting in place systematically designed processes for creating shared value. G&B pursues the Good & Green strategy which has three main pillars with very a m b i t i o u s 20 20 g o a l s . T h e f i r s t i s Employability, where the goal is to train one million rural and urban youth in different skills, as to make them employable. As of date, approximately 18,000 youth have benefited from the vocational training imparted by Godrej & Boyce (Godrej Group will exit FY14 having trained 75,000 youth), which has been provided in collaboration with training partners in 17 different trades such as welding, bar bending, shuttering carpentry, forklift operators, diesel mechanic, refrigeration and air conditioning technicians and retail sales. A job of a fork lift operator fetches a salary of `10,000 per month or that of a carpenter earns about `15,000 per month. It is now established that G&G employability programme not only creates job oppor tunities but also improves income levels. Besides, it helps bridge

the skills gap in G&B’s workforce. It’s a matter of pride that engineers at G&B have designed many innovative solutions for imparting training in a cost effective way and a good example of that is an award winning Welding Simulator designed by the team at Godrej Security Solutions. The second pillar of G&G is that of Greener India which aims at achieving 25% reduction in energy consumption, ensuring 30% use of renewable energy, attaining zero waste to landfills and becoming water positive and carbon neutral. “Energy conserved is energy produced” is an approach that suits a country like India and Godrej has initiated many projects under Greener India to conserve energy. The Solar System at Shirwal is one such initiative, as it generates 3,900 liters/day of hot water and electricity while bringing in 10,500kwh of electrical energy savings. As a result of such projects, G&B has reduced energy consumption by about 5% during the current financial year. It is noteworthy to mention that recycled water forms more than 30% of Godrej‘s water footprint which leads to annual savings of `1crore in the municipal water cost. Effectively this has led to a reduction in overall water footprint by 20% ( about 10 lakh liters/day) against the estimated consumption. This conserved quantity of potable municipal water is sufficient to meet the daily needs of about 2,500 families. In addition, about 90% of all process scrap/waste generated is recycled yielding an annual revenues of about `50 crores. These achievements go to substantiate the fact that the efforts undertaken to pursue the

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Godrej Appliance’s 7 star 1.5 tones A.C. is an outstanding example of a green product that annually saves 750kwh of energy bringing in annual savings of `3,400.

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goal of Greener India not only improve the internal efficiencies by reducing costs of resources consumed but also lead to improvements in societal conditions by making scarce resources available and conserving energy and raw materials. Lastly, the third pillar of G&G is innovating for Good & Green Products and generating one third of Godrej’s revenues from good and/or green products and/or services. Good and green products/services are defined as products that are environmentally superior or that address critical social issues such as health, sanitation, and disease prevention etc., for the consumers at the bottom of the income pyramid. In the pursuance of this objective, Godrej has been innovating and designing a gamut of Good & Green products. One example of such a Good product is the Solar Light. Godrej Prima plans to sell the solar lights via self help groups in Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The solar lights reduce the usage of kerosene lamps which are unsafe and hazardous to health. These lamps create a source of livelihood for women of self-help groups in villages who are deployed in selling of these lights in rural markets. Further, Chrome-free locks designed by Godrej LOCKSS are another example of a Green product. These Chromium-free locks eliminates the use of Chromium plating process, which is known to generate gases and fumes which cause severe respiratory tract infections. Lastly, Godrej Appliance’s 7 star 1.5 tonnes A.C. is an outstanding example of a green product that annually saves 750kwh of energy bringing in annual savings of `3,400. Gradually the Good & Green portfolio of products will create more value by capturing the larger share of market and generating larger profits while providing for the unmet needs of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid.

It involves a fundamental shift in the corporate culture and the mindset towards meaningful engagement and cooperation. The Good & Green initiative based on the shared value approach is an outstanding example of the above and the examples mentioned here are the testimonies to the fact that positive economic value can be created by investing in societal and environmental causes.

1. The 7 star AC by Godrej Appliances 2. Students being trained in the trade of welding at a Godrej Training facility

The goal of corporate sustainability entails more than just technological break throughs and their applications.

BUSINESS ARCHIVES: AN ORGANISATIONAL INTELLIGENCE Development needs roots and one must know one’s past in order to build a future - which is neither an illusion nor a constraint. By Vrunda Pathare, Godrej Archives

usinesses have no patience for history. Often busy with planning for future they do not feel the need to consult the past. But can they afford ignoring history? As the famous saying goes ‘Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ I believe that history can add a great deal of value to businesses. To begin with, it reminds people as to who we are, what do we believe in, where all we have been and the kind of journey we have traversed so far. Certainly, understanding of these factors can help shape the future in many useful ways. The challenge is to find the usable past from our history and use it creatively for building a stronger future. History As A Differentiator Every company has its own unique story and history that can be leveraged as a differentiator for a company to create its unique place in the market when the competition is global. The idea of ‘history as our prime strength and a real differentiator’ has been put into practice at the prototype of Godrej future office, known as ‘S P A C E’. The aim was to create a young and brighter work culture and for this Darshan Gandhi, the project architect, while working on the designs had visited our archives looking for a few archival documents, photographs, advertisements and the like. As the words ‘Young and brighter’ are not normally associated with history, I was bit perplexed and asked her what made her come to the archives. She said, “We want to keep this reference to the history alive so that any work we do in present or in future, remains rooted to our history. We want people to experience our DNA when they visit us. This precious material that we have should be used to showcase what we were yesterday, what we are today, and what we want to be tomorrow.” I have observed that the visitors, new employees, potential collaborators, business partners and old employees clearly see the evolution of the company to its younger and modern avataar. The journey through the time creates a lot of interest and excitement. HSBC used its history to create a grand impact when it decided to create a massive history wall at their head quarters, which was made of 4,000 images from HSBC’s collection, representing its staff, customers, places, documents, banknotes, illustrations and the like, covering the whole range of business activity from all over the world. The objective was to demonstrate that HSBC is a global brand with a unique experience - a multi-local approach that is very different from the standardising, homogenising approach of other multi-nationals. “We believe the single most important

source of competitive advantage for a commercial organisation is its corporate character. The HSBC History Wall is the visual representation of our character.”, re m a r ke d S i r J o h n B o n d, Fo r m e r Chairman of HSBC. Understanding the History Wall is a requisite part of new employee induction, and the employees are required, as part of their performance contract, to demonstrate the values and character of HSBC in their work as shown on the History Wall. History To Enhance Brand Image History thus can be used as a powerful tool to promote the corporate identity and enhancing the brand image among its customers as well as employees. Knowledge about the brand can not only inspire innovation but the brand history can also help the sales and marketing teams in developing more rounded and wholesome sales pitches to combat competition. This reminds me of an incidence that occurred at one of the archives exhibitions. A senior manager from Interio visited the exhibition and got particularly interested in the special supplement on Godrej brought out in the year 1955. Amongst the advertisements showing the range of our products in that supplement, one particular advertisement caught his attention and he got hooked to it for a while - it was of our hospital furniture. He wasn’t aware until then that we were into the business of hospital furniture way back in the 50s. He shared his astonishment with me and said that such an advertisement will help his team establish their credibility in the market as they were planning to re-enter the hospital furniture segment. The episode underlined the fact that our heritage and legacy are important elements for establishing our credibility

and build trust amongst our customers for securing business. Being in the business for 116 years is not a small feat - it signifies our unique character. Shaping The Mindset Using The Stories From The Past Stories from the past can be used to accentuate certain dimensions of the culture. Also, these stories can be used to reinforce the unchanging values of the company. Stories of survival, of triumph over adversities, of successes, of failures can be used as sources of inspiration by the leaders. The desired ethos can be created to connect with and inspire teams. Histor y As A Knowledge Management Tool I must mention here an interesting anecdote from the pre-ISO/pre-Kaizen period that Mr. I.P. Singh shared with me. He recalled that once a Professor of quality engineering from Japan had come for a shop floor visit. He saw a skilled worker doing work in an unconventional but effective way. He requested if he can see the process on paper. On hearing that such a paper was not available, he remarked that it was undesirable to leave this knowledge embedded in the head of the workman. What happens if he leaves us tomorrow? Such vital knowledge must be captured on paper as it was company’s intellectual property. Today, when the employees are highly mobile, it is essential to capture tacit knowledge of employees appropriately for using it and building upon it. History As Evidence History as preserved in the archives has a value as evidence. Well managed records facilitate well rounded decisions. Records can be used to counter legal claims as well as to protect the brand against any infringement of intellectual property rights.

‘Castrol GTX is one of the best-known engine oil brands in the world, but with commercial success comes the threat of counterfeit. Where trademarks are infringed, the BP legal team is regularly called upon to prove that Castrol GTX has been continuously advertised and sold in particular territories. They do this by exploiting the comprehensive Castrol archive of historic packaging, pricing and advertising material that was set up in the 1990s. Although the intellectual property in the archive is historic, even material perceived as out-of-date is used as evidence of commercial development over time, and is invaluable for protecting current brands, and ultimately BP’s business. A case study was shared by BP at the Business Archives Council, UK. “We regularly need to provide our legal team with historic sales and marketing information, when trademarks are being infringed.” Peter Housego, Global Archive Manager, BP. In the fast paced environment, which is full of uncertainties, technological and organisational changes, grow th and recession, what is constant is the corporate memory that can serve as a learning tool and can help the company navigate through the tr ying times. Corporate memor y c onstitu te s a for mida ble knowledge base that future-managers can draw inspiration from or learn from. Gavin Neath, Senior Vice President of Global Communications, Unilever PLC, had once remarked that an understanding of a company’s history, can give an insight into a company’s future. After all, “It’s not about making replicas of things that have gone in the past. It’s about looking at them, learning from them and seeing how we can adapt them for today’s market.”1 Wesley Tayler, Brand Director, Burton Group, 2008. 1

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History thus can be used as a powerful tool to promote the corporate identity and enhancing the brand image among its customers as well as employees.

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LEARNING TO ASSESS BUSINESS EXCELLENCE Expanding capabilities to create additional value for businesses. By V.S. Ramesh, Godrej Security Solutions

n 2009, when I took over the responsibility of being the Business Excellence (BE) Co-ordinator for Godrej Security Solutions (GSS), my thoughts were that this would be a great way to learn more about various facets of the business and how they interact with each other yielding a level of performance. As I learnt more about the principles of excellence and the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model, I came to realise how this comprehensive model of excellence could play a vital role in transforming businesses. It was only then I realised the enormity of the task and how challenging the journey is going to be. It would be an exciting one but not easy to traverse; as excellence is a journey without an end, no final destination!

the linkages between various criteria and sub criteria of the model. We also learnt about how to write Strengths and Opportunities for Improvement (OFIs), how to frame questions for the site visit and more importantly, how to assign scores. We were shown clearly the distinction between an assessment and an audit. An assessor’s role is not to go around checking for compliance, but to judge how far the business has travelled on the journey of excellence. There are no yes/no or right/wrong answers; only a maturity level attained on a continuum and the important thing to note is that there is always a scope for improvement – even award winners have not crossed 700 points on a scale of 1,000, indicating that they too have to keep raising the bar!

Mr. Rajkumar impressed upon all the BE co-ordinators that we should become assessors ourselves so that we understand the model better and get opportunities to asses other organisations for useful exposure to various best practices in use elsewhere. Also, the interactions with senior and other assessors on the team would also help in gaining diverse perspectives on various aspects of BE.

I was now ready to test out my learnings in practice. My first opportunity came when I was nominated to be a part of the team that was put together to assess Godrej Tooling. Our team comprised of Diptendu Bhattacharya and Amit Kumar from Appliances, Jayraj Thakker from Construction, S.Y. Nagarsekar from Prima, apart from myself, and was led by Mr. Anupam Kaul, the Senior Assessor from CII. It was without doubt, a great learning experience for me, not just in terms of being able to understand and interpret the essence of the BE model as applied in real life, but also about the nature of Toolings business per se.

Convinced of the usefulness of becoming a BE assessor, I participated in the CII assessors’ workshop. This workshop proved to be very useful. We learnt about the process of assessment, and about

As we shared our experiences, we also learnt a lot about how things were done at each others’ businesses and what our diverse businesses were all about. As a result, all of us gained good insights into G&B’s businesses. Later that year, I was nominated by CII to be part of a team to assess Bokaro Steel Plant of SAIL, the largest integrated steel plant in the country. Our team comprised of assessors from BEL, Bangalore, Man Industries, Ultra Tech Cement and Tinplate Co, and our Senior Assessor was Mr. P.D. Pal, a CII Business Excellence Champion. We first met in Aug. 2009 for the Consensus Meeting which is essentially about discussing strengths of the company and OFIs for various criteria. At this meeting, an overall plan for the assessment at site was worked out with clear idea of homework to be done by each of us prior to the site visit. At this meeting we also worked out a detailed plan for the assessment at site which was scheduled in the last week of September 2009. Our senior assessor’s astute guidance and experience helped us a great deal. At Bokaro, we found that several aspects of their operation were similar to those found in most PSUs, such as caring for people, surrounding community and the environment. We were impressed by their process orientation and areas of operational excellence such as Visual

Management, TPM and focus on Safety and the like. Observing operations of Bokaro in person and discussing our own assessments with each other gave all of us a host of fresh perspectives about the business being assessed. There was a huge amount of collective learning that was acquired in a few days.

divisional level – the recent tree plantation drive being a prime example. The latest assessment which just got over has also exposed me to approaches for managing change as well as multi-skilling, which we shall try to employ. Their approach towards QC Circles is also worth emulating and we shall aim to bring in that too.

In 2012, once again CII nominated me to be a part of the team assessing CUMI – Industrial Ceramics Division, part of the Murugappa Group, based in Hosur. For this assessment, the consensus meeting were held over teleconference, which demanded careful preparation and planning upfront. This too was an enriching experience.

Based on my experiences, we have encouraged more people to become BE assessors and today, we have five BE assessors at GSS besides me, to promote business excellence. We plan to add a few more in the days to come.

This year, I was nominated by CII to be the Senior Assessor for the team assessing BEL, Navi Mumbai. Again a PSU, but this time one which is emerging from a lot of turmoil in the recent past. There have been significant and far reaching changes in its business model, organisation structure as well as product lines in the last 10-12 years. During last three years, my becoming an assessor of business excellence has enabled me to add substantial value to our own GSS’ journey of excellence. First and foremost, the exposure to other organisations and industries, both of the applicant organisations as well as those of my fellow assessors, has helped in benchmarking our business and presenting it in the right perspective. For instance, the focus on operational effectiveness through TOC and the results thereof, which has seen us post very good growth in topline and bottomline, even in tough times for industry in general. A reasonably accurate self-assessment has helped external assessors make a fair assessment of GSS and give us specific and meaningful feedback on our practices and processes. For instance, comments on TPM implementation and Visual Management have been acted upon based on my experiences at Bokaro as well as those of other assessors. Exposure to PSUs which are known for their welfare and CSR activities has given us a lot of ideas on things we can do for society at

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Personally speaking, becoming a BE assessor has been a very enriching and rewarding experience for me. It has been a great networking tool with the fellow business assessors and managers at the businesses assessed. All of us working and bonding together for a common purpose of promoting excellence in business. In closing, I am thank ful to Mr. Dara Byramjee for giving me this opportunity to acquire a new capability. His active support and encouragement have been invaluable. I would also like to thank CII for nominating me to assess external businesses, which has helped me hone my assessment skills and knowledge of the principles of excellence.

There are no yes/no or right/wrong answers; only a maturity level attained on a continuum.

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GODREJ ANNUAL BLOOD DONATION DRIVE-2013 A year of fabulous achievement. The highest ever collection. By Nariman Bacha, P&AD

1, 2 & 3. Snapshots of the blood donation drives at Pirojshanagar

ate Naval P. Godrej and L ate Dr. Burjor P. Godrej worked all their lives to promote numerous humanitarian causes. To remember their legacy and further the causes they worked for, on 8th and 9th August - their death anniversaries - a blood donation drive was held at Godrej establishments, Pirojshanagar, Mumbai and branches across the country.

very proud of our ever-growing contributions

This 27 th annual drive was held in association with Pragati Kendra, Godrej Memorial Hospital (GMH), Godrej & Boyce Shramik Sangh and Godrej Industries Ltd. & Associated Companies.

also helped the effort. This year, a blitz of

Blood is always in shor t supply to meet everyday demand and more so, emergency demands for a particular blood group. As the availability of blood is limited at Mumbai, we donate the collected blood to KEM and Rajawadi Hospitals.

towards this cause. In closing, let me add that this year’s singular achievement is an outcome of considerable efforts put in by everyone to make the drive a success. Our top and senior management team encouraged Godrejites from all the locations to hold awareness building sessions. Senior officials of KEM and Rajawadi hospital messages was carried out on Godrej Connect, display of banners and the like. All these put together, yielded fabulous results. In 2007, we had collected 349 units against 2,513 units this year. For Team P&A personally, this was a highly satisfying experience worth cherishing. We will look forward to such drives/initiatives to serve the communities with great zeal

This year, the drives at Pragati Kendra and GMH were inaugurated by Mrs. Smita Godrej-Crishna, where Mr. Jamshyd Godrej and Mr. Nadir Godrej were present. At Pirojshanagar, total 2,513 units of blood were collected against 2,053 unit collected last year. Out of these, 2,037 units of blood were given to KEM Hospital and 476 units to Rajawadi Hospital.

and efforts in future.

Further, our branches, factories and sites located upcountry contributed significantly to this noble cause by collecting 1,590 units this year as against 1,401 units in 2012.

inspiration for me as he has donated blood

This year’s overall total of 4,103 units from G&B, as against 3,454 units in 2012 is the highest ever collection so far, in the history of Blood Donation Drive at G&B, we are

blood, but my first experience has convinced

Kudos to everyone. Experiences of Donors: 1) Ms. Aasawari Mohan Sawant (Daughter of G&B ex-employee, Mohan T. Sawant): I grew up watching my family donate blood and I was waiting to turn 18, so that I could as well. My father has been a great for more than 75 times over the years. In fact, he has won an award for it. Personally, I was a little bit scared of donating me that my fears were unfounded. I strongly recommend that everyone who can, should donate Blood.

I am very proud of my family that donates blood year after year at Godrej. 2) Debarati Driver-Supervisor, Udayachal Primary School In my case, one wish I had always nurtured was to donate blood. For many years, whenever I read about blood donation drive, I could almost see myself doing that, but at the last moment, an unknown fear would overtake me and stop me. This year, an encouraging talk about blood donation helped me overcome my fear forever. As I lay on the make shift bed and saw the bright line of ruby red blood being collected, I vowed to myself to donate blood always. The feeling of exhilaration that I experienced lasted a few days, as I knew somewhere, somehow, I have made a difference! 3) Namita S. A mbasht, Udayachal Primary School Just a sight of the syringe used to leave me completely petrified. Yes, the talk by Nariman Bacha inspired me greatly and that very day, I had decided to overcome my fear. And I could do it successfully. Believe me folks; it gave me immense joy to donate blood. At the Pragati Kendra, the staff was very cooperative and took good care of all the donors. I really left the place in a feel good mood…. the feeling of doing something for someone’s life. I felt blessed and I thank God for giving me the courage. I also thank Godrej for the opportunity. The act of donating blood is beyond compare, so let’s go ahead and just do it.

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This year’s overall total of 4103 units from G&B, as against 3454 units in 2012 is the highest ever collection so far, in the history of Blood Donation Drive at G&B.

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1. Some rare coins from Anand Seth’s coin collection 2. A rare Rupees Two Annas Eight note 3. A ‘First Day Issue’ of ‘Women in Millitary Service’ stamp 4. A collage of stamps from Mr. Seth’s collection

ROUTINE KINDLES THE WAY TO PASSION A hobby if pursued with passion over a longer period of time has the potential of becoming a source of enrichment. By Anand Kumar Seth

Anand Kumar Seth is a former Godrejite and a widely acknowledged expert of injection-molding and die-casting. Retired as General Manager after serving Godrej for 35+ years, he has a unique distinction of not reporting late for work, even once, over these years!

way back in late 40’s when I was about 8 years old, I got into a habit of playing with coins. In our family, coins were aplenty, as my father owned three units for manufacturing ice-candy and icecream. Long summers of northern India created ideal conditions for large seasonal sale of ice-candies and ice-cream. We had our own team of agents and vendors to distribute and sell our produce. At that time I was studying in Shri Ramakrishna Mission School, an institution reputed for inculcating good Sanskars and habits. Fortunately this value-based education had influenced me greatly. I was looking for ways to helping out my father in whichever way I could, especially during the summer months when the business was brisk. Every day in the evening I lent a helping hand to my father by counting and sorting coins and cash brought back by our vendors. This daily exposure to handling of coins and currency notes kindled in me curiosity and I started observing them closely and also looking

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for any uniqueness in them besides their historical significance. Gradually, I was developing an eye for uniqueness though I was not yet a collector of coins. Continual exposure to this routine created a passion in me to pursue the hobby of collecting coins. As I grew, I started preserving carefully the coins which were significant in some way. As the years passed, my collection grew and today, I have in my collection many coins which are rare – they belong to an ancient era and their historical significance is yet to be determined. Some of the coins have unusual inscriptions and to decipher its meaning and significance I have to take the help of experts. I have coins such as Year 1884, Victoria’s 2-Annas in silver, Year 1903, 1904 and 1906 Edward VII Rupee in silver. I also have coins belonging to Sawai Man Singh-II, Shri Jiva Ji Rao Sinde, Shri Madhav Rao M. Sinde, Year 1835 and 1853 East India Company, Shrimant Maharaj Shiva Ji Rao Holkar, Indore, Special coin commemorating 15th August

1947 Mahatma Ji Rashtra Pita, set of coins in normal circulation in the year 1947, Coins of Mohamud Zahir Shah, Coins of Alam Badshah Julus, Coins belonging to Nizam-Mulk Bahadur, Hyderabad, Set of silver coins – Maharaja Shri Khegar Ji Sawai Bahadur of Kutch-Bhuj, and the like. For many decades, I have been collecting coins theme-wise or concerning a particular period of the history. On the theme of ‘Man In Flight’, recently I gifted a set of 16 commemorative coins of ‘only collectors value’ to Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai. These coins depict landmark events in the history of man’s quest to fly. My gift was well appreciated by the planetarium authorities. Besides old coins, I collect postal stamps, news clips of unusual and exclusive nature and items having collector’s value. I have more than 450 coins in my collection as well as some rare and freak currency notes. I would urge young Godrejites to become collectors of whatever appeals to them and cherish the treasure to experience the joy of collecting, firsthand. Who knows the collection may grow to become very valuable! I will be happy to share my learnings and experience with anyone having passion of building his/her own collection.

Continual exposure to this routine created a passion in me to pursue the hobby of collecting coins.

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PESI, MY FRIEND By Byram Doongaji

esi had worked very closely with SPG when he was in Delhi and later in Mumbai. He was a regular contributor to Godrej News and CHANGE and for years had compiled a journal which chronicled the important events that had occurred during the first 100 years of Godrej and it was titled “The Godrej Reference Book.” He had also meticulously archived the records collected during the centenary year. In a way he was the first Archivist of Godrej. – The Editor

with fondness and nostalgia, the great times that we spent over the years at the Muncherji home, thanks to their generous and affectionate hospitality.

his wife, who spared no effort to make him as comfortable as possible. Both Percy and Khushnuman too rallied around their parents in exemplary fashion.

For someone so full of life and love, it was heart-breaking to be struck by an irreversible neurological illness. The last few years were difficult beyond words, but Pesi had the comfort of the loving care of

Let us remember Pesi in the happier phase of his life. Let us remember his love for life, his caring nature, his generosity and his optimism. After all, Pesi was someone who everyone loved to love.

Pesi was one of the first person I met when I joined Godrej way back in 1972. Though he was already a veteran of around sixteen years in the company, Pesi joined our batch of Management Trainees, having recently done his management from Delhi University. Like a true veteran, he took us under his wing, showing us around, imparting valuable information about the company. What immediately struck one about Pesi was his absolute sincerity, his friendly disposition and above everything else, his unconditional loyalty to Godrej. I remember, once when a common friend who had recently bought a Storwel Seconds, told Pesi that he had a complaint about the product. Pesi, in all seriousness, replied “That’s not possible.” When the totally nonplussed complainant asked why, Pesi answered “We don’t entertain complaints for our Seconds products.” For Pesi company policies were paramount. Though for Pesi it was “My country, my company, my family”, he was extremely devoted to his family, his gracious and loving wife, Roshan and his two wonderful children, Percy and Khushnuman. I remember

1. (L to R) Doongaji and Pesi Muncherji in Award function at Nadiad (Photo courtesy Godrej Archives)

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What immediately struck one about Pesi was his absolute sincerity, his friendly disposition and above everything else, his unconditional loyalty to Godrej.

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PESI, WEDDED TO GODREJ By B.K. Rajkumar

e were a batch of seven management trainees who joined Godrej in 1972. While five of us (including Byram Doongaji) were from outside, two were from within the company and Pesi was one of them.

Our first assignment on joining Godrej was to man our pavilion at Asia 72 exhibition at Delhi. Pesi was made our leader. We were all housed in Gandhi Peace Foundation premises, courtesy Pesi’s wife Roshan and that started my association with Pesi and Roshan. Pesi was a great host. We stayed close to each other in the hillside colony and many of our evenings were spent at Pesi’s home. No evening went without Pesi serving us drinks and Roshan catering the short eats. Pesi had inherited his father’s qualities and tastes; both were dedicated to their work and greatly loyal to their companies. Personal computers were not widely used then but Pesi was a mobile data bank. He had a red diary in which all sales details were carefully noted down. He could tell at the touch of a finger what quantity of a Storwel model in a given colour was sold on a particular day of the month. The red diary was one of his most valuable possessions. Pesi had chronicled a book titled “The Godrej Reference book” giving important events, let ters, k nown and unk nown fact of each year from 1897 to 20 02. On the occasion of the Silver Wedding anniversary of Phirozabehn and JNG on 1st May 2003, he dedicated the book to the Godrej family. It is a standing testimony to Pesi’s meticulousness, hard work and his love of Godrej. Pesi’s failing health towards the end was unfortunate. He suffered a lot and it

was around this time that Byram and I,

accompanied by our wives visited Pesi at Vadodara. It was great to be with Pesi and we are sure he enjoyed us being with him. That was the last time we met Pesi. Sometime later, we learnt that Pesi was critical and was admitted to a hospital with serious complications. We knew he would be gone soon. Somehow we could not make it to Vadodara when the end came. Pesi has left us but the warm memories of our long association linger on. We all miss him.

1. (L to R) Pesi Muncherji, Anil Verma, B. K. Rajkumar & I.P. Singh in Annual Award function at New Delhi (Photo courtesy - Godrej Archives) 2. Pesi Muncherji with Indira Gandhi at Asia 72 exhibition (Photo courtesy - Godrej Archives)

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Pesi had inherited his father’s qualities & tastes; both were dedicated to their work and greatly loyal to their companies.

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JUGAAD INNOVATION A frugal and flexible approach to innovation for the 21st century. By Teesta and Shweta, Disruptive Innovation Centre

he title of the book Jugaad Innovation is intriguing, especially when its authors are Indians working abroad, with two of them- Navi Rajdou and Simone Ahuja, being consultants to leading firms in Silicon valley and fortune 500 companies in USA, and the third author Jaideep Prabhu being an academician at a leading business school in the UK. The word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jugaadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a commonly used word across Northern India which means to creatilvely work around and find a solution within the existing constraints expeditiously; using whatever is available to solve the problem or to make the equipment or system work. It is a creative act. The solutions worked out may not be replicable or long-lasting, but are frugal and flexible. At another level, poor people in India live by their lives through some kind of a Jugaad put in place daily and on an ongoing basis, often creatively. With our increasing population and inadequately functioning systems of serving people, it may happen that 50-60% of our population may end up living their lives in the Jugaad mode for many years. Definitely, not a desirable state of affairs. To solve many of these intractable chronic problems, we need innovative solutions that have the best of both, the Jugaad approach and the structured approach. The essentials of Jugaad mindset are quite universal and need to be combined with the structured approach to develop solutions that would help overcome the challenges faced today.

The authors have recommended based on their extensive research, six principles of Jugaad innovation (JI). These principles are: 1. Seek opportunity in adversity 2. Do more with less 3. Think and act flexible 4. Keep it simple 5. Including the margin 6. Follow your heart

The authors have given numerous examples on how the principles of JI can be integrated into organisations. The spirit of Jugaad can be cultivated without attempting to change the existing dominant culture. GE is one good example of having successfully integrated Jugaad with their famed Six Sigma initiative. JI is participatory in nature and exciting and meaningful experience for individuals. In

The principles are elaborated quite well by

short, JI is good news as it is empowering.

the authors and are well worth the read.

The JI mindset, if cultivated would yield

The authors give examples of practitioners

solutions quickly and economically, which

of JI from India like The Future Group,

can be carefully assessed and developed

Yes Bank, and from the west, the leading

further through a thoughtful spending.

practitioners of JI are the companies like GE, P&G, Siemens, Renault, Google and several others. The authors state that JI can be deployed in business firms as well as in government and other public organisations, universally. India and other emerging economies have the potential of becoming ‘lead practitioners of JI’ to solve many problems facing the people world over. These JI solutions may even supersede the expensive, conventional solutions developed in the wealthier economies as JI solutions are based on

This book is way above the routine business books that gets published locally and globally. It’s a book whose principle could be applied readily in any situation, by any king of an organisation - public or private, and also in areas where public policy and services which have remained wo ef ull y inade quate for de c ade snutrition, healthcare, housing, education, management of water resources, public transportation, road network, courts of justice and so on.

the principles of ‘simplicity’, and ‘doing

We recommend that all Godrejites read

more with less’. In a way, the JI paradigm

this book, especially everyone engaged

can become a dominant one in the years

in design, engineering, manufacturing and

ahead as it helps develop solutions to serve

marketing. It is available at our learning

the unserved, especially at the bottom

centre; however they are advised to buy

of the pyramid. JI make products and

a copy for themselves. It is guaranteed

services more affordable globally. It would

to provide a rich reading experience and

be worthwhile to create an ecosystem to

that too at a price of a movie. A thoughtful

promote a culture of JI.

addition to everyone’s bookshelf.

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The word ‘Jugaad’ is a commonly used word across Northern India which means to creatilvely work around and find a solution within the existing constraints expeditiously.

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By Gayatri Godse

FRUGAL LIVING W

e live in the 21st century where something new is happening every moment. New technology influences commercialisation that has a

great influence on our standard of living. This in turn influences the value system of all the economic classes of the society. About 5 years ago, when I was in class 9, having watched commercial of a high end mobile phone, I was asking my dad to get me one, it was then that my father drew my attention to the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi; “simple living and high thinking are the foundation of happy living”. Gandhiji always preached and practiced this adage. I believe, in today’s age some of his principles (Gandhigiri as we know it :P) may not hold good, but the principle of frugal living does. By this I don’t mean to be stingy, but spend only if it is essential. Before being carried away by some fancy item on sale, ask yourself “Do I really need this?” That’s when I told my father my friend’s story. Caller tunes were something very new and one of the latest trends then- with a subscription fee of `15 and a monthly rental of `30. A friend of mine was a chess player and she became an acquaintance of Kumar Mangalam Birla’s daughter Ananyashree, as both were learning chess from the same teacher. Ananyashree once happened to call my friend on her mobile and complimented her for the caller tune she had set. My friend accepted the compliment and asked her why she didn’t get one for herself. To which Ananyashree replied, “I can’t afford it. I find it too expensive.” I wondered how the daughter of Kumar Mangalam Birla can say this. How could she not afford a sum of `30 per month on caller tune? I was very impressed by the fact that, though born in a wealthy family, her parents had inculcated in her the value of frugality. Caller tune is something for which a person pays but he himself can’t enjoy it. It appears to have become some sort of a status symbol and it is regrettable that young people spend their parents’ hard earned money on such things. On my telling this story to my father, he felt good that I had understood the importance of frugal living on my own without him having to tell me about it. I believe today, in the era of fast engulfing consumerism the topic of frugal living should be discussed at every meal on the dining table, in schools and in colleges as well to help our young people appreciate the power of it. *Gayatri is daughter of Indulekha and Nitin Godse of Godrej E&E.

YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US! By Team CHANGE

urvey after survey tells us that one of the main reason why customers stop dealing with the businesses is that they were treated indifferently by someone in the business. At G&B, the callers who land on its EPABX board are in for a pleasant surprise, as they will be greeted by a warm, cordial voice and most of the time within three rings. If there is any one place at G&B where our value of ‘To Serve’ comes alive day in and day out, it is our EPABX board and the team of wonderful people who man it. A call is received at our board and the caller knows who is to be contacted and at which location, then the task is easy for our operators. But, when a call is received and the caller is looking for help to be connected to the right person at the right location, then the skills and the resourcefulness of the operators come into play. It is exactly here where our team of telephone operators excel and they go to great lengths to ensure that the right connection is made. They ask the right questions quickly, make judgments and put through the calls. In case they don’t have the right answers, they request the callers to wait and then revert as promptly as possible with the right answers. If the hold time is likely to be long, then they request the caller to disconnect and wait until they call back, which they invariably do. This sort of helpfulness creates a positive impression in the minds of the callers, orienting them favourably to do business with us. Many a times, the callers are in a disturbed frame of mind and exude some kind of irritation which our operators sense and respond to in a comforting voice to smoothen the ruffled emotions for a

meaningful interaction. Sometimes, senior citizens call for services of different kinds. Often, their patience has run thin and they are eager to get through to the task at hand. In such cases too, the calls have to be handled sensitively, as who knows, the caller could be a large depositor with us! Also, many a times, services of breaking open of a door lock or a safe deposit locker are required urgently and the callers are to be connected with the right people at an appropriate level quickly. In such cases too, our telephone operators routinely ensure that the right connection is made promptly. Such calls are followed through by a confirming call.

Unlike the cold machine voice at the other end, the soothing voices of our operators help make right connections. Our competent team of operators which is ably backed by an equally competent technical team is always ready and willing to help out Godrejites for making the right connection. The motto of G&B operators is ‘to go that extra mile to bring a smile on the caller’s face’. Who says that value in business is created only by the mainstream functions? Kudos to our tele-services team!

1. The Tele-services team of G&B. Left to Right (Standing): Savli Thosar, Swapnali Pawar, Cyril Lobo, Chhaya Nakhe (Sitting): Pradnya Gangal, Anupama Kadwad

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Unlike the cold machine voice at the other end, the soothing voices of our operators help make right connections.

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CREATING VALUE ARTISTICALLY From collecting raw earth to shaping it into beautiful pots, every step of pottery is an art form in its own. While every step contributes to the final product, it is the decorating and finishing touches that determine the worth of the pot. One of the final steps of pottery is glazing- the process of adding a glassy coat on pottery. Glazing is necessary to prevent seepage of water from the pot. But the beautiful sheen of colours and textures lends it the perfect finishing touch. There are various techniques that can be used in combination to glazing to decorate pottery – and create more value for a simple pot. 1. Painted: Painting is one of the simplest, yet most dynamic styles of decoration. The earthy surface of the pot makes for a great canvas. The colours used to paint on a pot, once glazed can change into deeper colours. 2. Slips and Engobes: Slips or engobes are clay and water solutions that are mixed with colouring agents. The solution is usually used on wet clay products to add textures, patterns or to create two dimensional designs. 3. Textures: The soft pliable texture of clay allows for beautiful textures to be imprinted into the surface. Intricate patterns and impressions are often carved into pots and vessels to increase its value. 4. Sgraffito: Sgraffito is an Italian ‘scratch’ technique that is produced by applying layers of colours to hard pottery, then scratching off parts of the layer(s) to create contrasting images and reveal the clay colour below.