THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF GODREJ & BOYCE VOL 18-19 DEC 2019
Act Today for a Better Tomorrow “Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.” - David Bowie, English singer & songwriter Indrapal Singh Editor
As we hear, tomorrow is going to be far tougher than today, besides being uncertain and unpredictable. To survive and grow in such times, the best thing any business can do is to be forward-looking and prepare as much as it can to face the challenges ahead. In this issue of CHANGE, we bring to you several stories of measures taken by our businesses, which are in response to the ‘signals’ coming in from tomorrow. For example, our Storage Solutions business is working towards substantial growth as they pickedup early signals about the imminent change in the distribution scenario on account of GST implementation. Similarly, our Security Solutions business has adopted digital marketing as their mainstay for reaching out to their new-age customers. Our Appliances business believes that tomorrow’s customers are going to be vastly different. They are mapping these customers carefully and are changing their marketing
strategies accordingly. Sensing that after-sales service could be a powerful differentiator, the Godrej Appliances Service team has worked diligently and has revamped their service function. In a recent survey, our Godrej Appliances Service was recognised as the best in the industry – a remarkable achievement. Godrej Electricals & Electronics adopted a contrarian approach of divesting and growing; this has worked well for them. Likewise, in this issue, there are many interesting approaches on how to face tomorrow, which we are sure you will benefit from. Going forward, aesthetics in all the things that we do, particularly in product and services, is going to matter much more for attracting customers than it has done in the past. We have features that elaborate upon the concept of aesthetics by throwing light on it from multiple angles. Do delve into these articles to comprehend this vital dimension for succeeding in the future.
TEAM
Nalini Kala
Elizabeth Bocarro
Nariman Bacha
Edit Board
Edit Board
Distribution
Bipin Shringarpure Production
To help everyone become ‘fitter’ for tomorrow, we have features on critical thinking, physical fitness, and wellness at work. Asking the right questions has always been an art to be cultivated particularly for those aiming to seek advantage from the processes they manage. The game ‘Jeopardy’, can certainly help sharpen questioning skills. Do share this issue of CHANGE with your family and friends. Also, discuss in a small group a few articles to extract implementable ideas for your area of work. Write to me at change@godrej.com and share what you liked in this CHANGE and what could be done to improve it. Happy reading!
Contents FOCUS
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Don’t Ignore Peripheries for Sustained Growth
The Remarkable Story of Godrej Aerospace
“Chance favours the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur
A story of service to the nation and forbearance that propelled Godrej Aerospace to the global arena.
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Divest and Grow
The Service Edge
“The essence of strategy is also choosing what not to do!”
All our initiatives are driven by the objective of making our service the best in the industry.
BOOKMARK
INSIDE G&B
20 Sustainability for a Better Tomorrow Godrej Mangroves
SUCCESS STORIES
04 Going Beyond Business A visionary leader going beyond industry and committing to larger national and global priorities. INSIGHT
10 The Emerging Indian Consumer A key to the future growth of successful execution
INSIGHT
42 58 66 72
Unleashing the Power of Experiential Marketing in the B2B Space Winning Customers by Creating Better Experiences Compelling Scoreboards The Art of Questioning
54 Godrej Annual Blood Donation Drive – 2019
18 30
Revitalise Product Portfolio
50 60 68
How You Sit › Where You Sit
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The Real Difference
Excellence in Quality of Aesthetics
Shooting for Gold What Business History Tells Us About the Future of Globalisation
Godrejites from across the country came forward in large numbers to make a positive difference in the lives of those in need.
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Creating a Better Learning Environment, Together
Godrej Horticulture wins Coveted Trophies
Interio went beyond the brief, creating a vibrant and colourful environment conducive to learning.
Looking forward to implementing innovative horticulture techniques.
24 Fostering Critical Thinking Through Education Critical thinking is the cornerstone for developing a culture of learning. PERSPECTIVE
08 38 56
Marketing in the Digital Era
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Eat Well, Run, Sleep, Repeat
On Beauty Living in the “Now” Through Music
LAUNCH PAD
12 Chrysalis ICU Beds by Godrej Interio ICU beds that make compassionate patient care possible
LAUNCH PAD
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Neo Diesel by Godrej Material Handling
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QUBE by Godrej Appliances
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TUFF by Godrej Construction
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SUCCESS STORIES
Going Beyond Business A visionary leader embracing the spirit of inclusion, going beyond industry and committing to larger national and global priorities. Mr. Jamshyd N Godrej receiving the CII President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement from the late Mr. Arun Jaitley, H’ble Minister of Finance, Government of India. The event was held on 4th April 2019 at the CII Annual session, New Delhi.
This award is given to an eminent industry representative for their overall contribution to Indian industry and society and also for their global repute. An edited excerpt from the citation: Mr. Godrej has been a visionary leader embracing the spirit of inclusion, going
beyond industry and committing to larger national and global priorities. A strong advocate for innovation and sustainability, he led the growth and evolution of the company making a significant contribution to the Indian economy. A champion of green initiatives, Mr. Godrej
has led and built Institutions dedicated to strengthening the social, ecological and natural capital of the country. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Jamshyd N Godrej has outlined a far-reaching agenda for the role that Indian industries should play in nation-building.
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Mr. JNG’s Acceptance Speech CII President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement, 2019
Mr. Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, and our Chief Guest this morning, Rakesh, Uday, Vikram, Chandrajit, Past Presidents of CII, who are here today, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deeply privileged to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award and to receive it from the hands of Mr. Arun Jaitley who has steered the Finance Ministry for nearly 5 years. Sir, you are a symbol of Public Private Partnership because of your understanding of Industry and for all that you have done over many years, to help and support CII, especially in challenging times. My family tradition, handed down by my grandfather and father, has been to go beyond business, to engage with community and societal issues and try to contribute in every way possible. I have tried my best to be true to that tradition and to these values of the Godrej legacy. Philanthropy and giving back to society is an essential responsibility of business – there is so much to be done! And, it is these same characteristics which attracted me to CII for almost 40 years.
The most significant philosophy of CII has been to build partnerships and trust with all stakeholders, especially with government and industry. This approach appealed to me 40 years ago and has been constant, decade after
decade. Internally within CII this has been debated from time to time – whether CII should be more confrontationist with government, but this never won the day.
The Fourth attraction is that this institution (CII) runs on strong conventions –
The second policy of CII has been to service and support industry, but to always go beyond and focus on our country, the nation, its people.
We even have a convention that the CII President will not speak for his company or sector when he or she is President because it is a year of Public Service. Ladies and gentlemen, as the world sets more complex and India has many challenges to meet and overcome, CII must always be true to its broader, wider role of discourse, thinking and working for industry, but thinking beyond, thinking always of India, the Nation, the people of India. This must be our aspiration. Finally, I would like to thank the President, President Designate, Vice President and Director General. The Past Presidents have been a great source of support and inspiration for me and I would like to thank them all and especially the past Presidents who are here today. The former DG of CII, Mr. Tarun Das and I have worked closely on many projects and I would like to thank him for his guidance and friendship. My family, Pheroza, Raika and Navroze, my sister Smita and her family, have all been a great source of support, and I thank them all. My parents Naval and Soonu were always an inspiration for me. My dad taught me to respect, appreciate and love all things mechanical and of course instilled in me my love of the sea and sailing. Let me conclude, I gratefully accept the Lifetime Achievement Award from an institution I deeply care for, a love affair of 40 years, and hopefully, many more to come. Thank you very much.
Hence, the multiple initiatives on Quality, Environment, Technology, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Skill Development, etc., which are critical agendas for our country and for industry. This has always had huge appeal to me and therefore Godrej is CII’s partner in two Centers of Excellence, one for manufacturing named after my father Naval and the other for Green Business named after my Uncle Sohrab.
Building bridges for India, projecting India globally, networking and forging partnerships. Our Track Two dialogues with USA, Singapore and Japan to name some – I have valued the opportunity to play a part in them over many years. The former Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Goh Chock Tong, met the CII delegation for every year that he was PM, since our first meeting in 1995.
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Don’t Ignore Peripheries for Sustained Growth “Chance favours the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur A M Visvanathan, Godrej Storage Solutions
Indrapal (the Editor of CHANGE magazine), as always, raised a thoughtprovoking question to me - “How did Godrej Storage Solutions prepare for this upturn in the market? What strategies worked, and what did not?”
Inside a warehouse.
It is a fact that the logistics market in India has turned “hugely positively” since GST. In our business, we have always followed a guiding principle of ‘looking beyond the horizon’ and we diligently reflect on this principle regularly. Let me try to explain the reasoning behind this. Working with opportunities and constraints that are visible is not enough to succeed in a highly competitive market when the product offering is getting quickly commoditised. Therefore, it was essential that we seek both opportunities and constraints which are not clearly visible, but we believe that they may exist beyond the horizon. This required a sense of entrepreneurship even as we worked in a relatively stable but uncertain environment. This also calls for a
deep sense of confidence to experiment. And if we do fail, it is not ‘a failure’, but a learning experience that needs to be encouraged. As a team, we have the resilience to support such endeavours. Looking back at the last six quarters since GST was introduced and having the advantage of hindsight, I believe that the approach of looking beyond the horizon has worked and helped us a great deal in benefitting from the upswing in the market. We believe that this approach has enabled us to lay a strong foundation for the future. Let me try and explain with a few examples. Our business was considered one that required ‘technical selling’ and therefore, deep knowledge that resided only in our sales
We have always followed the guiding principle of ‘looking beyond the horizon’.
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team. But we felt there is a family of entrepreneur distributors who have the ability to do the same and may be even better than us. With this conviction, we took an initiative of transforming from a direct selling model to an indirect/hybrid selling model, creating a family of distributors/partners around the country. If you consider the way GST hubs have sprung up around the country, this network is, today, a huge differentiator for us, and will further strengthen our position in the future as well. Another initiative was that of starting an activity called Life Cycle Services. Historically, our products have been considered as those where there was no opportunity to maintain customer contact once the solution was delivered. Our guiding principle of looking beyond the horizon prompted us to explore this area, and we discovered a huge opportunity for maintaining a very strong customer connect through the life of the product by way of safety audits, repair, relocation services and the like. Today, this gives us a unique edge for maintaining and strengthening our customer connect. The third initiative was to try and appropriate the aspect of safety in warehousing and link it to the to the brand ‘Godrej’. Godrej Storage Solutions and Godrej Material Handling along with the CII Institute of Logistics started a series of learning sessions wherein every alternate week we invite users and customers in a predetermined town in India to a half day of presentations and discussions on the subject. At the end of the first year, CII conducted a survey to determine customer interest and perceived value of these seminars. We were glad to receive positive feedback.
These are examples of some of the initiatives undertaken in the market which emanate from our guiding principle of “looking beyond the horizon”. Similar examples exist in all our functions and disciplines within the business. For example: » In design and technology, we prepared to cater to the expected increase of orders, and the change in the requirements of customers, that pushed us to think beyond the status quo. » In project management and execution, we had to conceive of future warehouses,
and the complexities of execution to International standards, and prepare for the same.
Looking back, we are glad that we prepared for the future even though we didn’t fully understand what the future would demand from us. To a large extent, this strategy helped us rise above and beyond the normal when the opportunity arose. We certainly have the strength and resilience as a team to adhere to this practice even though some ideas might have failed. However, I strongly believe that there is a huge positive benefit in taking such an approach. I also strongly believe that even as we work with the core philosophy and values of our organisation, we can practice “entrepreneurial values” without violating any of our cherished values. As a matter of fact, it is this very organisation that encourages such thinking in individuals and in teams.
Giving individuals and teams the space and support to experiment without the fear of failure is essential to get the best out of our people. This, I believe, is our well-known secret for succeeding in the prevalent volatile environment.
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PERSPECTIVE
Marketing in the Digital Era Adaptation is the key to business growth and customer retention. Mehernosh Pithawala, Godrej Security Solutions
At Godrej Security Solutions, Digital has played a very important role over the last few years. This journey started slow but today, digitisation is at the heart of everything we are doing, be it marketing, post-sale services and consumer experiences, and even internal systems and processes. Internally, we have worked extensively on getting most of our systems automated and have also built platforms that simplify day to day operations and analysis. With a robust CRM system in place, both communication with the trade and key partners has become almost real time. We have dashboards for various parameters, which makes monitoring business performance and critical areas extremely simple and quick. With a few clicks, we can now see what is going according to the plan and what isn’t. It helps us give branches and our trade partners feedback in real time.
Develop a unified platform One of the key challenges while managing our sales team, was consistent communication and daily collation of their activities. There was a need for us to develop a unified platform, where everyone could connect on a real time basis and update their activities. We therefore implemented Microsoft Teams - an MIS to manage the overall activities of the sales team and map their performances. Additionally, the system also manages the dealer distribution expansion, tracks the performance of local and other modern trade outlets, manages the desired sales for the channel partners and many such activities, which improves team management. With the help of Microsoft Teams software, the entire sales and service team across the country is connected.
Best practices and information are exchanged in real time.
Cloud infrastructure – the next step We have embarked on the journey of developing cloud infrastructure, web apps and mobile apps for electronics security products. This will enable us to integrate various security gadgets on a single platform. It will also enable the business to offer Security as a Service (SAAS) or pay-as-you-go business model. The SAAS model will offer users the ability to choose and implement different security features on the same electronic hardware depending on which stage of life they are. E.g, a security camera with SAAS offering that senses motion, enables users to monitor their children remotely. Similarly, the fall detection feature helps users detect an elder who has fallen and in need of help. SAAS would also offer storage over the cloud, so that you need not invest in an electronic storage device for the camera feed. Cloud infrastructure will also offer better encryption of the video while the data is being transferred over the internet, unlike Peer-toPeer servers that are conventionally used to transfer CCTV feeds.
Collaboration is key We are working closely with leading technology partners such as Google, AWS and Microsoft Azure to develop cloud-based product options for categories like Video Door Phones, Home CCTV and Alarm Systems. Going ahead we also plan to expand in the space of machine learning and artificial intelligence. With the help of digital partners who bring in machine learning, we have been able to clearly identify who our consumers are and their online behaviours. We have studied life stages to identify early adopters and target them with customised communication at the right time and the right place.
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Enhanced online presence Reaching out to the new-age consumer The majority of our consumers are online and digital technologies have helped change the way we reach out to them. We have rolled out several innovative promotional campaigns that have received awards for their uniqueness and effectiveness.
Last year we did a voiceenabled digital banner around Mother’s Day, a first-of-its-kind in India.
Going ahead we plan to expand in the space of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
To highlight an important feature of the camera which allows two-way communication, we developed this voice-enabled banner which allowed users on various digital platforms to interact with the banner ad and sing a lullaby to the child in the banner ad. This was recognised as an innovative way of showcasing a key USP of the offering. We intend to keep doing similar things to build excitement in innovative ways around a serious category like security and make it relevant for our consumers. We have used systems to map their journeys from awareness to action across platforms. This campaign had a significant impact on sales. We clocked in sales better than what was forecast and were sold out for almost a week.
We have enhanced our presence online, by working on improving consumer experiences on all our digital platforms, be it the website, social media platforms or e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart. We have also worked on having an effective content strategy to engage with our users. Â Marketplaces like Amazon have non-certified dealers who sell our products with no after-sales service. This hampers our brand name. As a way to overcome this, we have revamped our content on Amazon and have explicitly named all our certified dealers in the content which goes on Amazon. We have also ensured that we encourage users to review our products, to build on credibility and trust. These collective efforts have helped us scale up our business by 80% on our ecommerce platform. We also have an online reputation management system integrated with our service team to ensure we respond to complaints and grievances in real time to ensure consumer satisfaction. As an additional avenue, we have also developed our own ecommerce site to encourage users to buy authentic Godrej products, with proper after sales service. This wave of digitisation has helped the business to be far more agile and responsive to changing consumer needs and market dynamics.
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INSIGHT
The Emerging Indian Consumer India is witnessing the creation of new markets and newer customer bases, ready to be tapped. Swati Rathi, Godrej Appliances
India continues to be a big growth story. Inspite of the current economic downturn and the ongoing debate on actual GDP statistics, when seen relative to the world economy, India boasts of a healthy growth and consumption story.
Consumption expenditures are expected to reach nearly $6 trillion by 2030. India’s nominal year-over-year expenditure growth of 12% is more than double the anticipated global rate of 5% and will make India the third-largest consumer market by 2025. Rising affluence is the biggest driver of increasing consumption. Of India’s five household income categories (elite, affluent, aspirers, next billion, and strugglers), the top two income classes are the fastest growing. The share of elite and affluent households is expected to increase from 8% to 16% by 2025. Behind the growth headlines is the key story: consumer behaviours and spending patterns are shifting as incomes rise and Indian society evolves. The future of consumption growth will be woven on the aspirations of a different but growing India - be it the rich and densely populated metro cities or the geographically dispersed, developing rural towns.
Urbanization India’s continuing pattern of urbanisation is uniquely Indian. The migration to urban centres is not concentrated in a few cities as it is in countries such as Indonesia or Thailand. In India, the population is booming in scores of small cities across the country. About 40% of India’s population will be living in urban areas by 2025, and these city dwellers will account for more than 60% of consumption. Much of this growth will take place in quickly urbanising small towns. The bulk of emerging consumers on India will hail from these geographies and brands need to keep this in mind. This has implications on factors like reach – both product and service,
as well as communication. Brands need to appeal to them in their own language. Godrej Appliances has started adopting a vernacular presence even on digital media for relevant products, as well as increasing the number of local languages spoken in call centres. But the journey will require many more such initiatives.
Nuclear families – Time pressed consumers More than half of India has been living in nuclear families since the 1990s, so nuclear families is not really a new trend. The smaller family size on one hand encourages personal choices and consumption of different categories, on the other hand, it puts pressure on family members in terms of time to manage day to day chores. This is even more pronounced in families where the woman is also working. It is in this scenario that ecommerce purchase is growing. What is of note is also that the young Indian consumer of tomorrow has been brought up in a nuclear set-up and is used to looking for convenience over everything else. As cities and towns get more urbanised, travel times and stress go up, time-pressed consumers will pay more for products and services which genuinely make life easier.
Connected consumers looking to upgrade their lives India’s consumers are more informed about consumption options than ever before. The increasing internet penetration lev-
els led by smartphone proliferation will make this even more pronounced. And with improvement in infrastructure and bandwidth, and large-scale investment in the field by companies like Jio, data usage is set to pick up exponentially. Fueled by the increased awareness, exposure to global trends, unending quench for better quality of life by adopting better products, the connected Indian consumer is on the lookout for branded product upgrades. Rural India is not untouched by this phenomenon either. Although premiumisation and new category adoption will primarily be led by upper-middle and high-income consumers, but with increased penetration of internet, the access to high-end and premium products is no more limited to the urban. Making restructuring of the portfolio by providing the right mix of premium and mass products in various categories of appliances is crucial. At the top end, this is also paving way for smart technology and IOT enabled products to cater to the lifestyles of tech-savvy always -connected consumers, whether it is appliances or security solutions or perhaps even furniture! These customers are willing to adopt and play with technology – and hence the rise of AR, VR and Voice Enabled devices. Connected consumers continue to be value-conscious and are utilising technology every day to drive better bargains. Price and various offer comparisons on smartphones allow consumers to demand the “right price”, be it on online platforms (e- marketplaces) or a retail shop.
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Health – A new status symbol In a social world, flaunt value comes from Experiences. With 23% of Indian consumers already on social media and with the number growing fast, upgradation of lifestyle will mean chasing experiences which can be flaunted. Hence, travel and dining out are new status symbols and so are adventure and new hobbies. This is especially true for millennials and Gen Z who are on top of the purchase hierarchy. An interesting spin off is its impact on physical health! In a world of selfies - looking good and being fit is paramount. And personal transformation into fitness role models is the new social high. People want to transition to good health – not just to feel good about themselves but also to flaunt it! This has implications for new fitness categories as well as existing categories and brands. How does Godrej fit in their journey towards rich experiences and good health is something we should all think about. From healthy features in Godrej Microwave Ovens to allergy protection in our Washing Machines, at Appliances we have been looking at opportunities across categories.
In a world of immediate sharing, consumers are unforgiving The connected consumers of today give instant feedback and reviews on their experiences of products or services and demand more transparency. This tilts the power in the favour of the consumer. Consumers that share their experiences with the world are unforgiving of brands serving them below their expectations and are not hesitant in playing their disappointment in front of the world. Online listening and agility in response is key for any brand to stay relevant. Maintaining the highest level of product quality consistently has never been as important as it is today. What is interesting is that expectations from products and services are not being set within the confines of that category but are being influenced by consumer experiences across sectors. This means it is not enough for brands to be best in class on consumer experience within its category, but a forward-looking brand should be benchmarking the best experiences even beyond its category. Godrej Appliances, for example, has worked hard and attained the best consumer satisfaction ratings. For us, the journey ahead will be to go beyond and look at after-sales service in sectors beyond appliances and work towards meeting newer benchmarks.
Environment consciousness The emerging Indian consumer is becoming increasingly conscious of the environment, through their exposure of the outside world whether it is through social media, news, peers, travel and the increasing government regulations and initiatives. The next gen, i.e., Gen Z, looks for brands that have purpose and are taking steps in the direction of sustainability. Even though this may not translate to premium for sustainable solutions across all categories today, consumers are beginning to understand the impact. At Godrej, care for the environment is one of our core values and we continue to abide by this value in all future endeavours.
Disruptions – Beyond products and ownership Another hitherto niche trend – in particular amongst Gen Z is the mindset of going beyond product ownership. Instead of being caught up in the ownership and maintenance hassles, young emerging consumers are looking at freedom while still getting the convenience. And hence the rise of services from Ubers to carpooling to rental business models and so on. As rapid socio-economic changes shape the consumption story of India, the country is witnessing the creation of new markets and newer customer bases, ready to be tapped. The only way for brands to gain a competitive advantage in this complex environment is to be agile and relevant, and constantly seek ways to offer rich consumer experiences throughout the customer’s journey – from exploration to purchase to usage and even beyond.
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C H RY S A LI S I CU B E DS BY G O D R E J I N TE R IO ICU beds that make compassionate patient care possible It has been proved that better patient care experience can lead to faster recovery. With a view of this, Godrej Interio developed the best-in-class patient care system for making hospital stays as comfortable as possible. Keeping safety and convenience in mind, these beds have been designed for ICUs and ICCUs in accordance with international standards. The Chysalis Range of Nova and Nova Plus motorised beds have a host of advanced features to make patients comfortable, as well as to assist caregivers. The integrated control panels in the beds enable patient with considerable autonomy and the full-coverage sideboards ensure patient safety. The sideboards are also air mattress-compatible. All contact surfaces of plastics and metal have been made anti-bacterial to protect against hospital-acquired infections. The auto-regression feature reduces the abdominal pressure of the patient while raising the backrest. For
complete safety as well as better maneuverability, the twin-wheel castors have been provided with both a central and directional lock facility. In case of emergencies, the beds can be readily adjusted for administering CPR. The Nova Plus beds have other additional features like in-bed weight measurement, bed-exit alarm and auto-compensation of weight that allows caregivers to follow a series of medical protocols for critical patients, without moving the patient from the bed. The Nova and Nova Plus beds are designed to be compatible with a common set of accessories like IV pole, oxygen cylinder holder, urine bag or linen tray holder to make them even more convenient for caregivers. Nova and Nova Plus are tastefully designed, intuitive and hope to deliver an enhanced patient care experience. The Chrysalis range of beds are ideal for hospitals, nursing homes and home care.
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The Remarkable Story of Godrej Aerospace A story of service to the nation and forbearance that propelled Godrej Aerospace to the global arena. Surendra M Vaidya
The journey of Godrej Aerospace began in 1985 when when our founder, Mr. Naval P. Godrej (NPG) took the strategic decision of Godrej entering this industry, to enable ISRO to take forward India’s strategic independence in space.
Mr. N.P. Godrej with an ISRO scientist and Mr. G.K. Datar.
The journey began with manufacturing of simple components to ISRO’s requirement and gradually, it progressed into making subsystems for launch vehicles. In 1989, we were chosen to manufacture the second stage liquid engine for ISROs PSLV. This article is a brief account of our journey with ISRO over the last 35 years.
We could successfully demonstrate our capabilities to the primes and our commitment to be a long-term player in aerospace.
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The Vikas Engine
The Cryogenic Engine
The Supersonic BrahMos
The development of the Vikas engine was a mammoth task and was divided between Godrej Process Equipment and Godrej Tooling. For me, it was a unique experience, as for the first time, there was a work share agreement between two organisations, Godrej and MTAR. It goes to the credit of NPG, and later, Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, to set a common goal for Mr. G K Datar and Mr M Surendranath (heads of Process Equipment and Tooling respectively) and make them deliver on the goals set. It was quite challenging as these two stalwarts had diametrically opposite personalities and ways of working. Every Saturday, a meeting at Godrej Tooling (known as the Tool Room at that time) was held to review the progress of this engine. After years of effort, we (G&B and MTAR) delivered the first engine in 1994.
In 1993, we were approached by ISRO to participate in the development of the Cryogenic engine program on a nomination basis. We were given an opportunity to visit the USSR facilities under Technology Transfer Agreement, however, unfortunately, by the time we could start visiting these facilities, the USSR was split into Russia and other countries and we were forced to exit TOT and be satisfied with additional, readto-use stages to be deployed under Russian supervision. Our team returned with about half of the promised technology. From this stage onwards, ISRO, MTAR and we had to strive to develop all technologies to produce the cryo engine.
In 2000, DRDO approached us to participate in ‘BrahMos’ an Indo-Russian JV for manufacturing fuel management systems and ramjet. BrahMos was the first of its kind supersonic missile and it was projected that India would require about 200 of them with half of them being produced in India and the remaining in Russia. We were awarded this project on a nomination basis and were required to complete the development phase in about four years, including setting up of facilities. Timely completion of the project was the essence of the contract. Godrej Aerospace developed the first engineering model in just about 20 months and delivered the first ground test assembly in 2004, thus meeting the JV’s expectations. The first flight-worthy assembly was delivered in 2006. In the same timeframe, ISRO had placed orders for Vikas and Cryogenic engines for their longer-term requirements. This helped us shift BrahMos facilities to Plant 8 and ISRO related facilities exclusively to Plant 16. Unfortunately, by this time, the spirit of partnership between India and Russia had begun to weaken, giving rise to all kind of operational differences. As a result, many hurdles arose which slowed down the production to about half of what was planned. Consequently, despite having invested heavily in exclusive production facilities for BrahMos, we were not in a position to deliver adequate quantities to break even. The losses started to mount and we had no option but to look for additional business from other sources to make Godrej Aerospace a viable proposition. To our good luck, in 2006, the Ministry of Defence announced the New Defence Procurement Policy (DPP 2006) which for the first time made it mandatory to have an offset clause in all defence procurement. The offsets had to be produced in India’s private sector. We thought that was a bonanza for us as we had rich experience in manufacturing and ours was the only fully integrated facility in the private sector. As an outcome of this policy, we could secure a few orders from Israel, but these were for components only having scope for limited value addition. Also, being offset orders, the primes (the main contractors) had no urgency in taking delivery of these orders. Taking advantage of this slack, we began getting ourselves qualified for quality assurance systems such as AS 9100, Nadcap, and the like. We could successfully demonstrate our capabilities to the primes and our commitment to being a long-term player in aerospace.
A similar work sharing model was adopted by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who was then deeply involved in DRDO’s integrated missile development program. G&B contributed to all of the five missiles of this program, namely, Agni, Prithivi, Trishul, Nag, and Akash. We developed more than 40 sub-systems for this program. Then came a phase where we started getting impacted adversely on account of the sanctions imposed by a group of countries on the companies who are participating in India’s Defence and Nuclear programs. As a result, the progress on various projects had considerably slowed down.
Finally, at the end of a decade, in 2004, we could establish all the required facilities, qualify the required processes, produce the first hardware and deliver it to ISRO. Beginning 1985 until 2000, we had good learning and understanding for the development of more than 60 sub-systems for ISRO and DRDO and were working in small way for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited, India’s only Aerospace Public Sector Units.
Until 2000, Godrej Process Equipment used to be responsible for all aerospace work such as project management, welding, sheet metal work, special processes, assembly testing, and the like. Most of the precision machining was carried out by Godrej Tooling and to a small extent by Godrej Machine Tools (now Godrej Precision Engineering). This arrangement, though not an ideal one for growing the business, was good enough to carry out the level of work that was entrusted to us.
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Back to Components‌ Having created confidence in our capabilities amongst the primes, we started getting sizeable orders and soon, capacity constraints emerged. Also, as the business volumes grew, the primes began insisting exclusive facilities. The primes assured us larger stable volumes but in turn demanded exclusive facilities which gave birth to our third manufacturing facility exclusively meant for exports in Plant 4. This shift of manufacturing components for the primes as against those for defence agencies created two major challenges for us. We were used to third party inspection, but in doing business with the primes, we had to self-certify our production for quality and take a high value of product liability insurance. We had to also develop detailed manufacturing procedures as the procedures followed by the incumbents were not even known to the representatives of the primes. In addition, we had to source the required materials with no advance and payments only after 45-90 days of delivery. Technology-wise too, there was a big difference in this business as compared to what we were used to. Now, we had to manufacture components that were used again and again as against single-use components used in launch vehicles. The commercial aircraft components had to undergo thousands of cycles of use, day in and day out. Also, there were human lives that depended on the reliable functioning of these components. All this meant that quality could no longer be compromised, and we had no choice but to deliver at global standards of quality to stay in the market. With sustained team efforts, we succeeded and today we not only have larger volumes but also enjoy a reputation for quality across the aerospace industry, globally. As we continued to do well in export markets, domestically too, we had taken important measures such as renegotiating existing contracts to boost commercial viability of our business with ISRO and DRDO.
Today, we have a very healthy order bank and several long-term contracts with both domestic and international customers.
Quality could no longer be compromised; we had no choice but to deliver at global standards. Satisfied with our performance, these customers are keen to enhance their business with us and want us to take bigger challenges such as manufacturing to specs and manufacturing an entire product. In the wake of making progress on this dimension, we have made good progress by investing in rubber and composite facilities, and have secured substantial orders from BrahMos and GKN UK. We have, for the first time, received approval from CAA (UK agency which gives airworthy certification) for fuel tanks to be deployed on Airbus and Kawasaki helicopters. Our success in recent ventures has resulted in many global players approaching us to consider JVs and investments in their facilities elsewhere across the globe.
We believe we are just a few steps away from getting full production clearance for our Line Replacement Units (LRUs) like actuators, valves, regulators and so on. This will be a major achievement for Godrej Aerospace and can lead us to maintenance and repair operations (MRO), a service industry, which is slated to grow over $500m in the next five years.
Global Footprint I believe this journey of Godrej Aerospace is unique. Despite many ups and downs, delays, obstacles and the like, with our commitment and dedication we have succeeded to a large extent and have laid a strong foundation for growth in the future. We have been changing and adopting our strategies and approaches in the face of new challenges coming our way, almost every three years. It is indeed an extraordinary journey which could not have been undertaken without the guiding vision and passion of JNG and the unstinting support from the teams at Godrej Aerospace, as well as teams from other businesses such as Godrej Tooling, and corporate departments.
Aerospace Business requires a long horizon for attaining success, particularly in India, which has huge dependencies on firms abroad. We believe with the new facilities coming up at Khalapur, we will be able to take a major step forward towards becoming an aerospace business of global significance.
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Satisfied with our performance, customers are keen to enhance their business with us and want us to take on bigger challenges.
Right - Mr J N Godrej greeting Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at Godrej Aerospace. Bottom - Assembling of BrahMos F3 Section.
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BOOKMARK
Revitalise Product Portfolio The push for more future-ready products will ensure higher efficiencies across the business. Shyam Motwani, Godrej Locking Solutions & Systems
Over the course of the last decade, innovation has been a cornerstone to our success in the market. Design-led innovation is at the heart of it and we are consciously ensuring that the products have a strong fit in the market.
This is done through a thorough analysis of the trends in the market – both domestic and global. This approach has yielded rich dividends in terms of acceptability of the new products. In FY ‘19, we achieved 175% of the planned values for our new products. Our product vitality (sales contribution by 3-year launches) was about 20%. Premiumisation and solution selling are relatively new approaches adopted with products that are designed to take consumers along the product upgradation pathway. For this, we have partnered with a design consulting firm “Futuring Designs Private Limited”, which has a team of qualified Industrial Designers who work on projects of Godrej Locking Solutions & Systems (GLSS). Together, we have created a pipeline of some exciting products for the market:
SKIDO
AMANDO
Smart Kitchen Drawers and Organisers (SKIDO) is a uniquely-designed Kitchen Solution specifically for the Indian kitchen. When we started out in this category, we found that none of the existing solutions in the market were versatile or flexible enough to accommodate the range and variety of utensils typically used in Indian kitchens. SKIDO is an innovative solution which caters to this need and delivers a solution that gives efficiency in storage, ease of usage, flexibility, and makes working in the kitchen less stressful.
GLSS has introduced some stunning designs in the Premium Mortise Locks segment in the past few years. All the designs are created by best-in-class industrial designers and to prevent imitation, the designs are registered. This year, we have introduced a new range of premium mortise handles under the brand-name “Amando”. The name takes after the “Italian sense of fashion and sensibilities” and is intended to convey the premium positioning that is being adopted. The designs have already received good acceptance in the market and we are now considered as a serious player in this segment. Most of the designs have also been awarded the coveted India Design Mark.
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RIM – Carnation With the objective of creating a breakthrough in Rim Locks, GLSS started the refresh of the category by calling it “RimCarnation”. The consumer purchase behaviour in this segment earlier tended to focus on functionality and material. But with the Rim-Carnation project, GLSS introduced some unique, innovative, aesthetically attractive and technologically-superior products, which have helped consumers upgrade their choices in this space. Consumers have now started to view RIM locks as integral to décor. The Astro, Altrix, Pentabolt Aries, Utlra XL+ RIM series of locks are key products of the Rim-Carnation project.
identified three areas of growth: » Kitchen Fittings: We have been extremely successful with our Kitchen portfolio with a 100% growth in sales in FY ‘19. We are expecting an encore in FY ‘20 by doubling current numbers. » Door Fittings: Door fittings remain a focal point for us, as it gets us into the bottom tier of outlets from which we can sell our full range of locking & architectural fittings. We are strengthening our presence in this category of outlets by racing to introduce additional products that will augment our range, e.g., door hinges, towerbolts, aldrops, etc. » Glass Fittings: We have worked on our product range within the Glass Hardware space and we believe that by leveraging our brand, distribution strength and the promise of quality, we are now ready to compete with established competitors.
This year, we have revamped the stage gate process for NPI/ NPD to account for market dynamics. Some of the key elements of this process include: » Robust needs exploration which takes into account the requirements expressed by a wide range of stakeholders, viz., end users, architects, interior designers, contractors, carpenters, etc. » Stage gates for every important milestone to ensure a Go/ No-Go call to be taken by a cross-functional team from sales, sourcing, product, design and manufacturing.
» Rapid prototyping, quick dipsticks, field testing and test market of launches to gather feedback on the product before full-scale launch The process has been made robust to handle exceptions such as Running changes (product-line changes, i.e., aesthetic and functional), Made to Order requests (i.e., existing customisation of an existing product), Engineered to Order requests (i.e., new customization of an existing product). The rigorous tracking of activities ensures the timely launch of products that are well-tested and completely in sync with market requirements. About nine years ago, to exploit adjacencies for business growth, we made our foray into architectural fittings & systems, which now has come to represent the 2nd core business with ~40% sales contribution. As we continue to grow in this space, we have
As we introduce innovations that meet the needs and preferences of emerging new-age consumers, we are also taking a conscious call to rationalise our existing product portfolios to remove the low velocity, low margin SKUs. Discontinuation is being planned on select SKUs either through price increase or liquidation to realise one-time sales.
This push to create space in the current portfolio for more future ready products will ensure dual objectives of consumer centricity and higher efficiencies across the business.
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INSIDE G&B
Sustainability for a Better Tomorrow Developing profitable business strategies that deliver tangible social benefits. Tejashree Joshi, Godrej Construction (Environment & Sustainability)
Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd (G&B) is committed to sustainable business development and being a responsible corporate citizen over many decades.
G&B aligns its sustainability strategy with the Godrej group’s Good & Green vision and goals formalised in 2010, to make social and environment investments to build a greener and inclusive India, by adopting a shared value approach. This implies the development of profitable business strategies that deliver tangible social benefits.
“Good & Green” inspires us to focus on environmental sustainability. It also nudges us to monitor the direct and indirect impact of our processes and products on the environment. In the first, ‘Greener India’, we aim to achieve zero waste to landfill, carbon neutrality and a positive water balance, while reducing specific energy and water consumption and increasingly use renewable energy. The second is ‘Good & Green Products’ under which we strive for generating one-third of our portfolio revenues through good or green products or services. A good product for us is that which serves the underserved. A green product is one which has minimal environmental impact over its life cycle. So, how have we progressed on this journey so far?
Being Water-Positive G&B has been water-positive at its own manufacturing locations since 2015-16. This is credit to the various initiatives undertaken within our campuses, like increasing use of recycled water, and rainwater harvesting for offsetting fresh water withdrawal. Being water positive is a significant achievement for us and we intend to sustain this status hereon. For all our new setups, we build in systems to ensure reduced water usage by installing water-efficient fixtures, use of green chemistry, and deployment of responsible practices in production processes that reduce water consumption and wastage, 100 percent treatment and recycle of waste water generated, and maximum onsite harvesting of rainwater. By 2020, we estimate a 50% reduction in specific water consumption.
Improving Energy Efficiency, maximising use of Renewable Energy We have surpassed our target of achieving 25% reduction in specific energy usage and now we aim to achieve 50%. This has been possible due to continuous efforts in increasing energy efficiency by undertaking numerous large and small improvement projects by all our businesses. On the other hand, renewable energy is becoming increasingly affordable as prices fall. Against our plan to use 30% of our energy requirement through renewable sources by 2020, we are likely to achieve 25%.
Top - 200 hectares’ mangroves plantation at Bharuch, Gujarat Bottom - Common Effluent Treatment plant - 1200 cubic meters per day
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Top - Sewage Treatment Plant (Industrial area) - 750 cubic meters per day Left - Aerial view of mangroves
Achieving Carbon Neutrality With our efforts in energy efficiency and increasing use of renewable energy, the intensity of our GHG emissions has been decreasing and we have been able to maintain our carbon footprint at 2010 levels despite higher production, more business and increase in manufacturing footprints. At the same time, mangroves in Vikhroli and our industrial green cover provide many valuable ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and climate regulation. While striving to increase the green cover at all our manufacturing locations, we are using innovating techniques like dense urban forestry in limited available spaces. We are simultaneously undertaking tree plantation projects around the communities we operate in, like the afforestation project in Khalapur over 6 ha forest land and 200 ha mangroves plantation in Bharuch.
A good product is that which serves the underserved.
Good & Green products
Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Identifying waste as a misplaced resource, we have set the goal to achieve ‘Zero non-hazardous waste to landfill’. As on date we have all our campuses including the commercial leased spaces and residential colonies in Vikhroli not disposing any non-hazardous waste to landfills. It’s all recycled. We are on the way to obtain a third-party assurance confirming the status of ‘Zero waste to landfill’. We have also reduced our hazardous waste generation by 36% and estimate to meet our target of 50% by 2020. In our total waste footprint, we have consistently maintained contribution of hazardous wastes well below 2% and hazardous wastes landfilled less than 1%.
The approach to sustainable business begins with integrating environmental concerns right at the conceptualisation stage of a product or service. Product stewardship therefore means that both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to understand and improve the sustainability performance of a product, starting as early as possible in the product development process. Green Building, GreenPro and other product level certifications have encouraged businesses to adopt a lifecycle analysis (LCA) approach and identify and minimise hotspots of environmental impact by redesigning and elimination or substitution with lesser impact materials or processes. This approach also promotes businesses to take up product stewardship while considering the impact at the disposal or at the end-of-life stage. At G&B we encourage design and product development professionals to understand the bigger picture about product stewardship, in how to scale LCA to all products developed in the early design and production phases, and design more environmentally compliant products to reduce end of life liabilities.
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INSIDE G&B
Today, with the ever-changing regulatory framework that gets more stringent every passing day, this requirement is rapidly becoming a part of business cost. Take the example of extended producers’ responsibility imposed on industry for e-waste and plastic waste that makes product stewardship mandatory. From an approximately 23% share of Good and Green products in the total business value, G&B is resolutely moving towards achieving a larger share to about 1/3rd of the total business revenues by 2020.
Where do we head from here? At a global level, humanity faces a growing number of systemic challenges affecting the environment on which our future rests. We today enjoy unprecedented technological, scientific and financial resources, which should be used to plan a path towards a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive future.
Mangrove saplings being taken for planting.
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Innovation for a Greener Economy Concerted efforts need to be made to bring in innovation to combat climate change. Design for Environment and the Life Cycle Analysis approach needs to be adopted right at the conceptualisation stage of products or services to make them with lower environmental impact.
Higher Energy Efficiency and Use of Clean Energy Energy efficiency is key to ensuring a safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy system for the future. Every kilowatt saved by increasing energy efficiency is a kilowatt that didn’t have to be produced. The need of the hour is to increase energy efficiency and low carbon technologies in industrial processes. Energy-intensive commercial buildings should move towards adopting ‘Net Zero Carbon’ designs over the current Green building standards. Increased share of renewable energy will help de-risk businesses against climate-related challenges and the future possibility of carbon tax.
Adopting Carbon Pricing Scientists believe that about 1.5 degree Celsius of warming is already locked in through the amount of greenhouse gas already emitted in the coming years. A carbon price follows the polluter’s pay principal and helps shift the burden of damage back to those responsible for it and can reduce it. It also gives an economic signal that polluting businesses will have to decide whether to discontinue polluting activities and reduce emissions, or continue polluting and pay for it. A robust carbon price will allow flexibility to businesses of when and where to invest in low emission technologies.
It is pertinent to note that carbon pricing not only helps reduce greenhouse gases but also reduces air pollution and helps raise revenue that can be invested for transition to a low carbon economy.
Imbibing Biodiversity Sensitiveness in Business Biodiversity is severely affected due to indiscriminate extraction of natural resources and unscientific practices adopted for compensatory actions undertaken. Once an ecosystem is lost, the damage is irreversible. Biodiversity and natural capital contribute to every link in the business supply chain. Businesses need to be aware and sensitive to this fact and need to adopt responsible and sustainable sourcing practices. Even landscaping as an activity within industrial setups should be sensitive to local micro flora and fauna and should have a focus towards protecting and enhancing these micro climates. Nature provides us with valuable ecosystem services and protecting the true value of these services will sensitise humans to appreciate, protect and nurture them.
In Conclusion The World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Perception Surveys show environmental risks having grown in prominence in recent years. This trend has continued this year, with all five risks in the environmental category being ranked higher than average for both likelihood and impact over a 10-year horizon. This follows a year characterised by high-impact hurricanes, extreme temperatures and rise in CO2 emissions.
We have been pushing our planet to the brink and the damage is becoming increasingly alarming. Every effort, big or small, will count, and we need to imbibe sensitivity towards the environment in every thought and action.
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INSIGHT
Fostering Critical Thinking Through Education Critical thinking is the cornerstone for developing a culture of learning which can nurture harbingers of change. Rekha Pandey, Principal, Udyachal High School
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” – Albert Einstein
These words of wisdom by the great Albert Einstein captures the role of education in fostering critical thinking. The education landscape is very dynamic and to prepare students to excel in their careers and life is both a challenge and a responsibility for today’s educationists. Critical thinking is the one skill that separates leaders from followers. It is one of the vital skills that must be inculcated among students during their formative years. The imparting of critical thinking knowledge into the school curriculum provides a fillip to the learning and thinking of students. The present curriculum in schools, by and large, leaves students as passive receptors and does not provide much opportunity for meaningful interaction among their peers and teachers too. The use of critical thinking can bring a change in the learning outcomes in schools.
Critical thinking is the one skill that separates leaders from followers.
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What is critical thinking? It is the ability to analyse information objectively and make a reasoned judgment. Critical thinking evaluates various sources such as data, facts, observable phenomena, and research findings. Good critical thinkers are able to draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information and differentiate between material and immaterial details to solve a problem or make a decision. At Udayachal High School it has been our endeavour to inculcate critical thinking in our lessons, which enables teachers as well as students to define a problem, identify assumptions, examine evidence, and interpret to develop appropriate solutions. The initiative of collaborative teaching has been implemented with the aim to infuse creativity in classrooms and break the mould of traditional teaching methodologies. Be it the amalgamation of lessons on sound waves with the rhythms of different musical instruments, or be it rendering history lessons through Marathi poetry!
Such teaching methods stimulate the cognitive ability (learning and problem solving) of both the students and the teachers. Critical thinking can be a catalyst for students learning a subject like Mathematics. A topic like trigonometry can be better explained if students are trained to approach the sum using critical thinking skills. It is possible that students can come up with different approaches to solve the same problem and employ the method which they are more comfortable with or understand better. This
teaching methodology is preferred over teachers providing a standard solution to students who just follow and learn the solution without thinking or understanding it. Teachers should encourage students to ask questions so even their minute doubts are taken care of.
Teachers must encourage the use of problem-solving skills as it helps the students define and understand the problem clearly, make assumptions, examine evidence and use the existing knowledge to arrive at solutions. Critical thinking can be used for other subjects like Science, History, Civics and Languages too. In a subject like Civics where students are merely provided information regarding various government bodies and their rights and duties, they can be encouraged to think critically through simulations. For example, the participation of UHS in a Mock Parliament is a case in point. Here, students donned the roles of lawmakers and debated crucial issues, providing innovative insights and resolutions. By using critical thinking, teachers can make students aware of important local as well global issues, and crucial developments related to politics, economics and society. Also, various science projects undertaken by the school emphasise determining solutions to various environmental issues using innovative methodologies; be it waste management or water conservation. Students are trained to become competent to provide out-of-the-box solutions to the problems faced by our society and country. Critical thinking plays an important role in sports and physical education, where teach-
ers and instructors can train students to use their experience and analysis, particularly in games like chess, football, handball, cricket, athletics, and many more, which require not only physical prowess but also intellectual ability.
Critical thinking can enhance the understanding of the game and enable decision-making when under pressure. Students also learn to strategise and improvise during games to prevail over their challenges and weaknesses, and leverage their strengths to play to their potential. The pantheon of all-time greats - Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Vishwanathan Anand, Roger Federer, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, all used critical thinking that helped to achieve greatness. With the advent of new technologies, there is a paradigm shift in the way the world functions.
The fusion of technology and intellect laced with critical thinking has expanded the realms of possibilities. It has become all the more important that young minds harness technology to make this world a better place. Today, critical thinking is a highly preferred skill at the workplace. The skill gap that currently exists is a major concern for employers globally. With automation and robotics taking tasks from humans, many existing jobs will become obsolete over the next decade. Inculcating critical thinking from a young age can go a long way in preparing young minds for the future ensuring they are employable, and can fulfill the demands of industry. Moreover, enhancing cognitive ability not only leads to successful careers but also improves quality of life. I believe that critical thinking is the cornerstone for developing a culture of learning, which can nurture harbingers of change.
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FOCUS
Divest and Grow “The essence of strategy is also choosing what not to do!” George Menezes, Godrej Electricals & Electronics
Talk of growth, and what comes naturally to mind is: widening of the product offerings, adding new categories, expanding into newer markets, forming strategic alliances and so on.
Businesses try their hands at either or all of these approaches in their quest to grow. Rarely does one embark on a seemingly regressive approach of “divesting first, to grow later”. A step backwards, sometimes, is the best way forward! The starting point, of course, is to first trigger such conversations amongst all stake holders. In social interactions, people avoid unpleasant topics and tend to keep conversations in their comfort zone. However, when it comes to business, we are hard-nosed. Alas, it is not so! Here too, we avoid getting into unpleasant, uncharted territory, where old rules apply no more. However, at Godrej Electricals & Electronics (Godrej E&E) we did precisely that. We took the dialogue from the centre to the edge, questioning existing paradigms, decimating some of our past hypothese and redrawing business contours all over again. They say, change is discomforting, but radical change is hugely risky.
Unless the change doesn’t push beyond one’s comfort zone, there is no change at all. We embarked on this journey to alter the destiny of Godrej E&E. Godrej E&E, as you all know, used to be an internal services department, a cost centre which provided the electrical and electronics support to all G&B factories and premises. A decade ago, we decided to try our hand at building an external business, leveraging resident competencies. We began with an offering of energy-efficient compressed air solutions where we had tied up with a US-based company, for their ‘Air Flow Controllers’, where paybacks were very attractive. Soon, we added more offerings
such as compressors, blowers, air piping to get into the air management space. We grew by partnering with global players who were entering India. We also built Green Building Consulting Services (GBCS), which initially offered facilitation services for certification and thereafter ventured into allied product categories like energy simulation, building information modelling and intelligent building management services. So far, so good, right? Our big leap came thereafter when we entered the power infrastructure space, encouraged by the buoyancy fueled by huge government spends. When most businesses at Godrej spoke of order sizes of 5, 10, 20 crores… here was Godrej E&E eyeing order sizes 20 times the size, at 300 and 400 crores. We bid aggressively and had under our belt an order bank of >1000 crores. A huge achievement then.
While we came from a conviction that we had it in us to succeed, we had completely underestimated:
We were ecstatic! Little did we realise the gargantuan challenges of operating at that scale.
» the vagaries of the environment » the vulnerabilities of the project infrastructure space » the huge working capital requirement » the consequential liabilities of time over-runs.
This euphoria also fostered a kind of race between other verticals of Godrej E&E. Akin to the power infra team, our electrical team ventured into the mechanical, electrical and public health engineering (MEP) space, as urbanization was on the rise in India and developers were setting up commercial and residential spaces. Our electronics side of the business was not far behind; they forayed into multiple segments of industrial electronics such as embedded systems, automation, systems integration, etc. So, in a short time of just 2-3 years, here was Godrej E&E, which had about a dozen and a half lines of business, with diverse products, varied customer segments and spread across multiple locations in India.
We took debilitating hits on both fixed and variable cost due to project delays, inventory write downs, DLP exposures and liquidity damages etc. We were badly battered and bruised. We had to go back to the drawing board and revisit the business fundamentals» » » » »
Were these spaces growing? Were these spaces profitable? Were there enough barriers to entry? Was there a cultural fit with Godrej? Could we scale up and perform?
» Were we differentiated enough to WIN? We reflected deep and hard, and took the tough call of re-drawing our portfolio. Looking at the vulnerabilities of the past, the gravity of the present, and the future that we had envisioned, we took the call to vacate all vulnerable spaces, and instead focus our energy on growing ‘Core’ businesses.
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We revisited our strategy and carefully chose 4 Drivers where Godrej E&E could build differentiated businesses. All these businesses were in spaces that were in alignment with the Government’s vision of ‘Nation Building’. These were, » » » »
Power Infrastructure Urbanisation Renewables and Energy Efficiency
A step backwards, sometimes, is the best way forward » In the power infra space, we completely exited the distribution space, and simultaneously entrenched our footprint in the EHV space which is sub-station centric and is high on engineering and design. We restructured, inducted new industry talent and formed strategic partnerships with OEMs, to offer competitive, differentiated solutions.
» In the MEP space, where 70% of our business was coming from the residential sector, we took a bold call of shifting gears from residential to commercial spaces, which had shorter turn-around times and greater opportunities for value creation. Commercial projects are mainly driven by large corporates, global developers, PE funds, etc., unlike the domestic, cash-strapped builders whose projects are endlessly delayed. This de-risked the business to a large extent. Furthermore, the sub-segments of health, hospitality and retail were the emerging spaces for us to grow. » In the renewables space, India has set out a laudable vision of 175 gigawatt (GW) energy, of which solar alone is 100 GW. We have chosen to play in the solar rooftop segment where Godrej E&E can differentiate itself vis-à-vis the rest. This is based on our integration capabilities in the electronics space. In the future, we intend to integrate multiple sources of energy to deliver the lowest cost solution to the end consumer.
Godrej E&E’s Portfolio mapping was done on the dual dimensions of » segment attractiveness, and » the ability of Godrej to differentiate.
Furthermore, to be sure of the choices we made, we brought in an independent strategy consultant to validate our portfolio choices.
As we reorganised our Portfolio, we simultaneously worked on two more thrust areas to build a ‘high performing’ organisation. First, revamping the organization to rightsize, up-skill and re-deploy talent, to deliver both on productivity and building brand image. Second, we adopted a ground-up approach to building all key processes right from business development to execution. The focus was on one singular outcome of “Be On Time, Every Time”. In the project business, this is the ultimate outcome that matters, and we at Godrej E&E are leveraging this dimension to differentiate us. To quote Michael Porter, “The essence of strategy is also choosing what not to do!” Today, 2/3rd of our business portfolio has been shed and 1/3rd is retained. With our remaining portfolio, we are planning for growth that is multifold.
We believe that our strategic choices will steer Godrej E&E towards winning in the future. Godrej E&E is well on its course to becoming G&B’s ‘Hero’ business!
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N EO DI E S E L BY G O D R E J M ATE R IA L H A N D LI N G For greater operator comfort, visibility and safety. As customers are focusing on reducing material handling costs to become competitive, buying forklifts at lowest cost is being put aside and there is a marked shift towards spending more to get greater value and reliability. Godrej Material Handling (GMH) decided some time ago to respond to this trend by introducing premium, diesel-powered forklifts, with an assurance of enhanced performance and reliability.The Godrej Neo range diesel forklifts are meant to cater to this more demanding segment. Neo diesel comes equipped with a new transmission that conforms to International standards of reliability and efficiency. The cast steel steer – axel is specially designed for Indian conditions and offers a life of 8000 plus hours. The floating shaft design reduces energy losses in the transmission train, boosting efficiency. Similarly, hydraulic pumps with power takeoff design assure higher fuel efficiency. The truck design optimises the number of parts used for greater reliability. In addition to the above, Neo diesel comes with advanced and reliable wet disk brake
technology assuring safe operation even during long duration duty cycles. The air filter system has a prolonged life with a metallic body, and redesigned hydraulic filters with integrated dipstick allow for easy preventive maintenance. Upgraded filter elements assure higher quality of oil during usage. The Godrej Neo range has used the principles of ergonomics to reduce operator fatigue to enhance safety. Vibrations are minimised by about 40%, and the effort for shifting gears is reduced substantially by using electric gear shift mechanisms. The design of the counterweight and dashboard are modified to increase operator visibility. All these features taken collectively result in greater operator comfort, visibility and safety. Godrej has always strived to meet ever changing customer needs and deliver authentic value. This is achieved by listening to the voice of customer intensely and continually, and initiating prompt remedial actions. Godrej Neo offers value of leading International makes at local cost – perhaps the highest value that customers can get.
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BOOKMARK
Excellence in Quality of Aesthetics Delivering aesthetically superior products will inspire to surpass our previous best and scale newer heights. Suhas Kulkarni, Godrej Appliances
In today’s competitive scenario, customers have many options when they visit showrooms or online platforms to buy products.
The Importance of 3F A few years ago, Godrej Appliances (GA) GOVERNMENT EXPECTATION FROM was struggling to find its rightful place in the INDIAN MANUFACTURERS , MII * industry having been the pioneer of refrigerators in the country at one point. Leading foreign players were exerting tremendous pressure on local players, hampering their growth and profitability. LEVERAGING ESTABLISHING Simultaneously, of our cusPROCESSexpectationsPARTNERSHIPS tomers were changing and increasing expoUPSTREAM FRAMEWORK nentially with rising incomes and greater exposure to markets abroad. The road ahead D R IV IN G looked very challenging indeed. 3F C U LT U R E
The New Vision
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It is an approach to quantify aesthetics. Beyond fit, feel and finish, it includes form and perceived functionality of the product. In deploying 3F methodology, quantification is the key, and as we know, “What gets measured gets improved”.
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3F quantifies aesthetics beyond fit, feel and finish.
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ENHANCING ENHANCING Godrej Appliances adopted the vision of PEOPLE PROCESS becoming the challenger in the industry by SENSITIVITY CAPABILITY 2020. This ambitious vision cannot be fulfilled with just technologically-improved products. C U products had to haveNthat extra pull in M The O ST CO TI INT A O G R terms of M attractiveness. ENSIFYIN ER ASPI This understanding was also supported by FEEDBACK ON AESTHETIC the critical* CRITICAL feedback that we receivedQUALITY from # IMPORTANCE TO ENHANCE AESTHETIC QUALITY our senior management as well as our board IN INDIA MII : MAKE of directors. GA had no choice but to search for a solution for enhancing attractiveness of its products. It responded by adopting the framework of 3Fs. S#
PR O D UC T Q UA LIT Y
There are always some standout products while others simply fade into the din of the background. It is the elements of 3F that makes products stand out and attract F UN CTIONAL QUALITY customers. Conventionally, product quality meant functional quality and its core performance. RELI ABILITY In recent years, the concept of product quality has been enlarged to include quality of aesthetics as well. Currently, product qualA ESTHETICS QUALITY ity is seen to have three important pillars Functional Quality, Reliability and Aesthetic SUSTAINABLE Quality. The Functional Quality ensures the product’s desired functionalityPREDICTABLE and core perPROFITABLE formance. Reliability ensures consistency in performance over the product’s lifeGROWTH span. * The pillar of Aesthetics Quality plays a major role in providing emotional reasons as opposed to rational reasons for choosing a product. In an era where appliances are tending to become commodities, aesthetics remain the vital differentiator, given similar technical features. The product that has superior aesthetics is likely to be chosen.
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3Fs of Product Quality
FU N C T ION A L QUA LIT Y
P RO D U C T Q UA L I T Y
RE L IA B IL IT Y A E ST HE T IC S QUA LIT Y
SUS PR P
3F Relevance in Business GOVERNMENT EXPECTATION FROM INDIAN MANUFACTURERS , MII *
ESTABLISHING
LEVERAGING
PROCESS
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BOOKMARK
3 F P RO C E S S MOVEMENT 3 F ASSESSMENT DONE OF ALL REF & WASHER PLATFORMS
3 F PROCESS DEVELOPED JAN’17 - APR’17
MAY’17
JUN’17
JUN’17 - DEC’17
DEC’17
JAN’18 - MAR’18
JUN’18
Pre-work at
Kick off of 3F
3F process
Assessments done
3F roadmap
Roll out of 3F to
Covered all
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initiative
launched and
by functional
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larger team,
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establish 3F
formed 3F
heads and senior
@Mohali @HO
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core team.
members
@Shirval
platforms for 3F assessment.
3F PROCESS DEVELOPED AND LAUNCHED FOR GA
ALL GA PLATFORMS ASSESSED ALONG WITH BENCHMARKING MODELS
PHASE 1 COMPLETED
PHASE 2 COMPLETED
3 F AS SESSM ENT S T A G E S PROJECT BRIEF
CONCEPT FREEZE
DESIGN RELEASE
TOOLING DEVELOPMENT
PRE-PILOT PRODUCTION
PILOT PRODUCTION
PB
CF
DR
TD
P re P
Pi l o t P
3F -1
3F-2
3F-3
3 F- 4
3 F- 5
3 F -6
NEW PR OD UC T D E V E LO P M EN T P R O C ES S TOTAL SPAN OF PRODUCT INTRODUCTION TO MARKET
Awareness and Deployment of 3Fs
New Product Development (NPD) and 3Fs
We have developed a methodology to quantify the 3F of products and acquired hands-on 3F assessment experience. 3F assessments happen using scientifically defined sets of attributes for predefined zones as per the products category. In order to get a sharp focus, Kamal Nandi – Business Head, Godrej Appliances, asked all functional heads to carry out 3F assessment themselves so that they could internalise the concepts and use them for driving 3F in their respective areas.GA rolled out the 3F process involving many groups for a wide-scale participation in assessment workshops. This was done with larger teams at Shirwal, Mohali, and HO locations, and then extended to key supplier partners. Progress on the 3F initiative is reviewed monthly at a senior level.
Product development starts with gathering customer wants and needs, stated or implied. These are then dovetailed into the development process for prototyping new products. A 360-degree feedback is taken to develop products that meet customer requirements. 3F assessment is now an integral part of the NPD process for GA products. Assessments are done at different product development stages, which enables action plans for improvement of the 3F score. Assessment starts with a set of competitors models to understand market trends. At each new product development tollgate, 3F assessment is done for GA products. We monitor the 3F scores for production models as an integral part of our Quality Management System. We also track 3F scores of competing products to remain competitive.
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IMPROVE & SUSTAIN JUL’18
Way forward 3F next actions
IMPROVE 3F SCORE PHASE 3 IN PROCESS
SERIES PRODUCTION & BEYOND
SP 3 F-7 Q M PROC E S S
Left - QUBE Top - NXW Glassdoor refrigerator
Early Success In our current 3F projects, we were successful early on. Recent new product introductions have shown significant improvement in 3F scores which is on par with or higher than the competition.
best-in-class 3F scores are doing well. These products have now become a benchmark for 3Fs in their respective product categories.
Some of our products are attracting customers in a significant way and we are receiving favorable feedback.
Until now, 3F assessment has been done for 100 plus GA and competitors products. These assessments have led to continual improvement in the 3F scores of our products.
The recent introduction of the ‘Allure’ washing machines has a best-in-class 3F score in the industry for a similar product category. Allure has won the India Design Mark Award in 2019. Allure’s aesthetics have been widely appreciated by dealers and customers. Also, NXW glass door and QUBE launched with
Allure Washing Machine
Progress so far
Way forward GA has planned the 3F Road map which is aligned to its vision to be in the top 3 in home appliances in India by 2020. To fulfil this vision, the 3F initiative is one of the most critical enablers. Delivering aesthetically superior products will make a significant difference in inspiring our people and partners to surpass their previous best and scale newer heights.
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SUCCESS STORIES
Creating a Better Learning Environment, Together Interio went beyond the brief, creating a vibrant and colourful environment conducive to learning. Sushil Thariyani, Godrej Interio
Education is key to economic growth, social transformation, and national integration.
Godrej Study Benches
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Commitment and out-of-the-box thinking can lead to outcomes beneficial to all. Godrej Staff Desks and Chairs
All children are to be provided free and compulsory education up to 14 years. It lays emphasis on the need for a radical transformation of the education system to improve its outcomes at every stage with much greater attention to science and technology.
The Delhi Government considered the education policy seriously and took a bold decision of completely overhauling the education infrastructure of its schools. The National Policy on Education aims to provide education of a comparable quality up to a specified academic grade, to all students irrespective of their caste, creed, domicile or gender.
The government also formalised this decision by making it a part of their manifesto, and the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr. Manish Sisodia, and the Minister of Public Works Department (PWD), Mr. Satyendra Jain, were assigned to fulfil this commitment. The Delhi Government started the process of transformation by hiring highly qualified teachers to improve educational standards.
The Government found that the infrastructure of the current education system was in shambles and it rightly decided to upgrade it through fresh construction and renovation of 8,000 classrooms in existing schools. The Government also wanted to provide well-stocked libraries, and well-equipped science and computer labs.
It is at this juncture that Godrej Interio decided to partner with the Delhi Government to realize this vision. In June 2016, the Delhi Government along with the PWD, organised a school furniture exhibition at the Delhi Secretariat, where several furniture manufacturers were shortlisted to showcase their offerings in school furniture. All the manufacturers were assessed by a committee, which included the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, PWD Minister and the department’s senior officials.
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SUCCESS STORIES
The evaluation resulted in the shortlisting of four manufacturers who were asked to furnish two classrooms in a running school in East Delhi.The furnished classrooms would then be evaluated by the committee.
Going beyond the brief, Interio decided to work towards the complete makeover of the classrooms for providing a vibrant and colorful environment that was conducive to learning. This was more challenging than was envisaged as the classrooms were in poor shape. Adding to this were the budget constraints, restricted scope for improvements in design, and tight deadlines for completing the task. The Delhi team surveyed the site and met with the school principal and teachers to understand their expectations for new classrooms. The above challenges and the expectations pushed us to think beyond the plain installation of furniture and move
towards creating an overall learning experience for the students. Architect Reetika from the Delhi branch, came up with a unique design which allowed her to play with colours including that of the ceiling having metal trusses. ‘Green’ was selected to make the classrooms look brighter and more cheerful. Godrej GENII Dual Desks in the classrooms were used for the demo in 2 fully functional classrooms along with other competitors, for evaluation by the students who are the actual users, and the committee. The students’ feedback was taken into account by the committee for decision-making.
The Dy. CM was so impressed with Interio’s offerings and the overall thought that went into designing these classrooms, that he asked the PWD team to replicate Interio’s design across all schools in Delhi.
Taking the matter further, Interio’s Delhi team worked closely with the PWD team and demonstrated the full furniture range for schools, such as libraries, science labs, computer labs, offices, etc. This initiative was also appreciated by PWD. Interio’s design team went out of their way to meet frequent requests for making modifications in the products as suggested by the PWD and the Education Directorate. Having realised Godrej’s commitment towards helping them make their vision a reality and a fair appreciation of the team’s capabilities, Interio received an order for furnishing 96 schools.
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This was only the beginning of the huge initiative of revamping the Delhi Government’s education infrastructure. Everyone worked as a team and executed the order to the complete satisfaction of the government. Post execution, the Delhi team visited the schools to take their feedback.
The school administrators were delighted with the transformation Interio had helped carry out. Interio received appreciation from the PWD and the school administrators for executing this major overhaul. Phase 2 of this project will be undertaken this year. Being deeply committed to the higher cause coupled with out-of-the-box thinking can lead to outcomes beneficial to all.
Godrej Interio’s furniture for libraries and conference rooms
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PERSPECTIVE
On Beauty “Real beauty has much to do with goodness and authenticity.” - Shakti Maira Team CHANGE
After the release of renowned author, Shakti Maira’s book, “The Promise of Beauty & Why it Matters”, Team CHANGE interviewed him to get an insight on his perception of beauty.
1
How did you get so interested in the concept of beauty? And when? The experience of beauty has always been in my life. Aren’t most people drawn to beauty, and, also its absence, which is almost universally a sign of things going wrong? Beauty exists at many levels - there is outer beauty and inner beauty. There is a superficial beauty - skin-deep beauty, and there is systemic beauty. When I think of both the concept and the reality of ‘beauty’ I am thinking about something more than just ‘prettiness’. My interest in the concept of beauty and the place of beauty in our lives sharpened upon my return to India in 2001, after living more than 20 years in a small town in New Hampshire - 5,000 population, nestled in rolling hills, lakes, forests and fruit orchards.
I saw so many rips, rents and gashes in the fabric of beauty in India. This urged me to think about beauty - its place and role in the scheme of things and its special importance in our lives. India has dramatically gone from being a culture that was historically steeped in beauty - visible in its architecture and arts, and very importantly, in the beauty of our everyday things - gharas, surais, lotas, tokris, saris, alpanas… (it’s a huge list), to now becoming a society where beauty has disappeared in most dimensions. India is littered, filthy, smells bad, and is full of cheap and unattractive Chinese manufactured products. Its cities are overflowing, and whatever urban architecture we have is a hodgepodge of
confusions and vanities, the quality and care with which our roads, bridges and all aspects of infrastructure are made is shameful… as you might imagine, the list of what has become ugly in India is another very long list.
2
What according to you is beauty? How does your definition of beauty help the reader get a better understanding of it? I tried to get an integrated view of beauty and had dialogues with eighteen accomplished minds within and outside India physicists, biologists, neuroscientists, artists, philosophers and social scientists. The key insight that emerged from these dialogues on beauty, which are an essential part of my new book, The Promise of Beauty & Why it Matters is that ‘Beauty is the manifestation of relational excellence’. To understand this, we must begin by remembering that everything in the world occurs in relationships. In internal relationships and external relationships.
And, in all relationships there is a need for balance, harmony, proportion and rhythm. When these relational qualities are outof-whack, there is disorder, an absence of beauty. Ugliness occurs when there is a lack of balance, proportion, rhythm and harmony. Secondly, to understand beauty, we have to step beyond the superficialities of skin and
looks. Beauty is definitely more than skindeep; it goes beyond prettiness and decoration. Beauty goes deeper, beyond the seen. It exists in inherent order and wholesomeness. It exists at the level of ‘things’ and ‘systems’. We think of beauty usually as a visual phenomenon - which could be described as excellence in ‘form’ and the other dimensions that constitute our visual world - such as colour. But beauty is also experienced in sound - in music, in birdsong. Beauty is also experienced in taste, smell and touch.
All our physical senses are doorways to the experience of beauty. Moreover, beauty exists in our non-physical and mental worlds too - it occurs in mathematics, in thoughts and concepts, in emotions. Another key dimension of beauty is at the level of systems. Beauty exists in excellence of systemic relationality, of which Nature is the great example. It also exists in other systems - human habitats, families, organisations and, I believe, even in social systems such as economics. This is all explained in the book. Beauty occurs when there is relational excellence within things - objects, musical notes, even emotions and thoughts, when there is relational excellence between things, such as objects and perceivers. Many of the participants in the dialogues thought it likely that the human perception of beauty is a resonance phenomenon - when external beauties stir the relational excellence intrinsic within us. So, as you can see, beauty is both subjective and objective. As humans, we experience beauty subjectively, and the experience var-
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ies - it is rightly said, ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’. At the same time, there are certain attributes that create conditions for a broadly shared experience of beauty. This certainly occurs in Nature and also in many human creations - art, music, clothes, vessels, watches, computers… I should mention here, that there are some patterns and forms that are almost universally perceived as beautiful - The Fibonacci series, fractals, the Golden Section, are the best examples. These are mathematical and are widely found in Nature, and being part of Nature we too are made of these, which might help explain why they resonate deeply in us.
It is very important to understand that beauty is more than a decorative prettiness. Real beauty has much to do with goodness and authenticity. This is captured in Indian and Western aesthetics in the almost identical axioms of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
3
In today’s technology driven, fast-paced world, does beauty really matter? If yes, please explain. Very much so, if you understand the systemic aspects of beauty. The ecological crisis is an excellent example of technology having pushed our natural environment into disorder, disharmony and out-of-balance. If there was a wider understanding of inter-relatedness, and the importance of balance,
harmony, proportion and rhythm, we could avoid the negative or ugly impact of rapid, technology-driven change. In fact, beauty is an excellent analytical tool for understanding the environmental crisis we have, and the solutions we seek. This came up in several of the dialogues. Any institution that is serious about ecology and the environment will find beauty as a practical framework for resolution and prevention.
4
Isn’t your notion of beauty contradictory to the widely prevalent notion of beauty in our midst? Only if you misunderstand beauty. Deep beauty is not about adornment and decoration. It is not an add-on. Real beauty actually occurs when all the unnecessary excess has been eliminated - when there is simplicity, practicality, elegance. This is true in architecture, in product design, actually in pretty much everything. In India, one of the reasons for an increase in ugliness is the widespread notions of showing-off - homes, clothes, marriages are drowning in ugliness because they are loud and wasteful - the opposite of simple and elegant.
5
All around us ‘ugliness’ abounds, why is this the case when beauty has been present for centuries in our revered texts as well as in monuments/structures? Your comments. We are part of a world-wide crisis in ‘relationality’. Instead of being trained and cultured in the skills of balance and proportion, rhythm and harmony, we are driven by unsustainable ideas of growth and change. I agree, it does seem India has become almost an aesthetic wasteland. There are many historical causes for this. There have been many discontinuities - British Colonisation had a major impact on Indian aesthetic traditions. We must also consider the impact on Indian aesthetics of Bollywood, and most recently, of a globalisation that is shaping our sensibilities in ways that have little to do with our own culture and contexts. We have largely become apers and imitators.
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PERSPECTIVE
A beautiful organisation would be one where there is an ongoing concern for harmony and a measured, efficient pace of work.
6
In your book “The Promise of Beauty”, you state that beauty is relational and has the key attributes of balance, proportion, harmony and rhythm. Could you please explain this by giving an example?
fy function and form - having fewer keys, a mouse, a touch screen, a magnetic power cord that snaps together saving the user from fumbling… The Apple approach is an exemplary case study in design that uses the principles of harmony, balance and proportion based on user relationality to make products that are easy and intuitive to use, and which are streamlined and elegant, to look at and to hold and handle.
How about a simple clay gharra? A potter cannot make it without balance and proportion - it will collapse or fly off his wheel. It cannot be made without a sense of rhythm, the speed of the wheel must be just so to raise the form, hollow it and bring it to a narrowed neck. Without the requisite harmony between clay, water and the potter’s hands, not to mention his attention, it will not form. Without the requisite wall thickness, it will not fire into a gharra that will be strong enough to hold and carry water, or be hit and played as a ‘ghatam’ by a Carnatic musician. A well-documented industrial example is the design of Apple products. Steve Jobs spent hours with the design teams as they developed ideas and alternatives to simpli-
There are many examples of Nature’s use of the principles of beauty - balance, harmony, proportion and rhythm - in its designs. It for example extensively uses a proportion we call the Golden Mean or Golden Section, which is a simple and elegant proportion where in any line, there is a point where the smaller section has the same proportion with the larger section, as the larger section has to the whole line. It’s 0.623. This proportion when repeated in a series of smaller or larger rectangles, creates the basis for spirals and the geometry of fractals. These are end-
lessly used in Natural structures and forms, such as trees and flowers, shells and in cell structures, even in the shapes of entire galaxies. It is an amazing geometry resplendent in proportion, balance, harmony and rhythm. Historically, artists, in all art forms, have concerned themselves with the issues of balance, rhythm, harmony and proportion. It is important to understand that none of these principles are fixed, static or eternal. They are always relational, dynamic and context driven.
7
Do you believe that beauty can be designed into products in a deeper way as you see it? What should be done to make the objects of daily use more beautiful? Yes, for sure. Let’s take a product. It is usually made of many parts and relationships. Engineers are good at designing - bringing together ma-
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terial, function and form. They also need to design keeping in mind the relationship of the user with the product. Some designers do this better than others. Engineers are better at handling the quantitative relationships involved. But not so good at the qualitative aspects. Optimising quantitative factors can sometimes lead to poor user experience and poor aesthetics. Many relational qualities go beyond the quantifiable.
There is a balance or harmony that can be felt by the hands or seen by the eyes, and this has to become part of the designing and engineering of products. As we discussed earlier, making things simple to use is part of the challenge of making the use of a product a beautiful experience. It is my belief that we can also create beautiful systems. A beautiful organisation, for example, would be one where there are fewer imbalances and dis-
Beautiful organisations are always relational, dynamic and context-driven. proportions, where there is an ongoing concern for harmony and a measured, efficient pace of work. The point is that these aesthetic and qualitative concerns have to become explicit in designing management processes and organisational structures. And, there is no finality in systems - we have to ask these questions about relationality on a continuing basis. To these things there is a need for aesthetic skills and training.
8
We have many encounters that can be termed as not beautiful. What can one do as an individual to experience more beauty in everyday life? Well, we can pick up litter, and certainly not litter ourselves. We can choose simplicity and goodness over showing-off. Spending more time in Nature. Engaging in the Arts. Slowing down and smelling whatever metaphorical roses life has brought to us!
9
Businesses are, in a way, determining what a common person experiences. What can businesses do to create experiences that are beautiful? Broadly, by making great products and services, by forming good organisations and being excellent social and environmental citizens. By consciously and continuously focusing on the quantifiable and qualitative aspects of balance, harmony, proportion and rhythm.
10
Would you agree, that at a national level, we ought to strive to create more beautiful cities than smart cities? If yes, would you please elaborate. The definition of smart cities has been ill-conceived. You cannot have a smart city without it being beautiful. This subject comes up in some of the dialogues in the book.
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And finally, the question you have asked in your book to all interviewees – What has been your most profound experience of beauty? I did indeed ask each of the participants in the beauty dialogues this question and there was a fascinating spectrum of responses. To know what they shared, and indeed my answer to this question, I would ask your readers to read the book. Here’s a suggestion - how about your company having an employee books program, where every quarter employees are given a book to read? You can kick this program off with The Promise of Beauty and Why it Matters! I know my publisher will be delighted to receive a bulk corporate order.
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INSIGHT
Unleashing the Power of Experiential Marketing in the B2B Space Digitisation alone cannot transform businesses; experiences and people can! Sujit Patil, Vice President & Head, Corporate Brand and Communications, Godrej Group
The B2B marketing landscape has constantly evolved. Going forward, disruptions like AI and machine learning will radically change the way B2B buyers interact with brands online. The onus would be on the marketers to stay agile and pick a mix of tools that enhance the customer experience.
For most B2B companies, a sacrosanct bundle of marketing tools consists of website, newsletters, webinars, owned research reports, email databases, a bit of thought leadership white papers, exhibitions, videos to an extent and early experimentation with social media! There was also a time when PR (earned traditional media) was quite effective in a way that if a credible publication wrote a feature on your brand, it was assumed that your prospect will read it. But with the advent of social media and 24 hour news cycles, stories get archived quickly, which means you either have to be a really sought-after brand and searched by the prospect, or face the possibility of being drowned in the deluge of content. It doesn’t mean that the said feature of your brand has no value, but certainly the impact has diminished. A smart marketer can certainly repurpose and amplify the feature through the available marketing tools discussed earlier. Social media platforms have also changed algorithms to suit themselves. So, unless you engage in paid promotions, the reach you get on a Facebook or LinkedIn page, organically, would be significantly lower that what it was about 5 years ago. Owned social media properties are potent, and with appropriate SEO, SEM and smart targeting of the appropriate target group, sound connections can be established. But why should a B2B marketer limit it to just sharing information with prospects when they can create differentiated experiences? By creating differentiated experiences, a B2B
brand can showcase their purpose, offerings, and evoke emotions that are memorable. Experiential engagements and in-depth interactions in real-world situations can lead to better brand affinity. The sale conversion ratio can be positively impacted! A classic example is of GE creating “Movie sets” of healthcare settings and getting doctors to explain how “Healthyimagination” plays a role in these settings. This was GE’s initiative that promotes healthcare solutions. “Design Dekko” by Godrej group is yet another emerging platform that aims at building a community of architects and interior designers. The on-ground pop-ups have multiple brands from within Godrej and external to it that come together to experientially engage with the community.
Experiential marketing, influencer engagement and community building strategies can benefit B2B businesses in many ways:
Conversations and immersion with the brand Prospects are more likely to discuss and share experiences with teams, families and write about them, hence expanding the reach on social media. L’Affaire (Godrej Groups’ experiential marketing platform for the lifestyle space) with an experiential engagement of over 700 influencers, generated over 35 million impressions, 40 videos and over 100 testimonials for Godrej.
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Well-informed, potential customers Rajat Mathur of Interio felicitating Jatin Kampani
Learning through a touch-and-feel experience of products is any day better than reading about it in a brochure. For example, the USP of the “EVE” Wi-Fi network camera (two-way communication capability) from Godrej Security Solutions was demonstrated at L’Affaire through live interaction amongst the prospects, and a video screen having the camera embedded in it, talking to them. This experiential engagement generated a significant amount of leads.
Positive disposition towards the brand A positive feeling generated through a memorable experience will lead to a better opinion and recall of the brand. I guess sample flats are made just for that reason! A great opportunity for our U&Us business to actually tie up with builders and create sample flats to demonstrate their capabilities.
Opportunity to be appropriately flamboyant
Enhances organisational thought leadership
B2B marketing does not have to be always “Basically-2-Boring”, as assumed by many! While B2C seems more flamboyant, B2B can spring up surprises. It’s all about fresh thinking. Caterpillar’s “Profoundly Disconnected” initiative in the US was launched with Mike Rowe, a former host of “Dirty Jobs” who was also an advocate for skilled labour. Caterpillar was able to increase brand visibility and also recruit for their work force. This partnership worked well as the influencer’s passion (Rowe) aligned itself to Caterpillar’s position as a creator of skilled labour jobs. Caterpillar benefitted from this partnership. This example can be an inspiration for Godrej Material Handling. It proves that an appropriately selected celebrity endorser can make a difference, even in the B2B space.
A key differentiator for a B2B brand is thought leadership in the space it operates. Experiential events, influencer testimonials and endorsements by KOLs (Key opinion leaders) can enhance the respect a B2B business commands in the industry. Godrej Group has launched the “Future of Series” that brings together stakeholders relevant to a key theme or issue that the brand is trying to address, and facilitates conversations and crosspollination of ideas. “Owning” spaces is the strategy. For e.g., #HarGharSurakshit (Godrej LockSS) was launched to own the space of home safety, and #FarmerNomics was launched to demonstrate Godrej Agrovet’s thought leadership in the space of doubling farmer incomes. Similar conversations can bring together a community to discuss the issues around material handling and logistics in the country, and can certainly help Godrej Material Handling to be seen as a leader. Several opportunities exist for B2B businesses to embark on influencer engagement and experiential marketing strategies. Social media handles, newsletters, websites and other marketing tools will do their job of starting and sustaining conversations. However, engagements that ‘Wow’ prospects with memorable experiences will only emerge as strong drivers of growth. Digitisation alone cannot transform businesses, experiences and people can!
Build a community of prospects/ influencers
Sarah Todd conducting a cooking masterclass
Experiential owned media events/ properties are the best platforms to mobilise key influencers who are then able to churn out authentic content around your offerings, as they have experienced your brand and understood its purpose better. Vikhroli Cucina, Godrej group’s platform for the food community, has been running for 4 years now, and experientially engages with thousands of food influencers (chefs, bloggers, chroniclers, hoteliers) every year bringing them closer to over six of Godrej businesses in the food space.
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FOCUS
The Service Edge All our initiatives are driven by the objective of making our service the best in the industry. Ravi Bhatt, Godrej Appliances
Every customer of Godrej Appliances carries home along with the appliance, the Godrej brand assurance of trusted service.
This year has been a year of celebration as an independent market survey has declared us to be in the Number One position in after-sales service in the appliance Industry. A moment of pride for us, considering that there are three large multinationals with much deeper pockets competing with us. Putting customers first in all our endeavours has culminated in the number one position.
It is fortunate that we have been continuously guided and inspired by the owners and the leadership team to provide the best possible service. The journey has been about understanding the service needs of our customers, setting up systems and processes, building skills and infrastructure, and imbibing a service culture in our people both within the business and our partners.
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Top - Ravi Bhatt (second from right) explaining the exhibits to Mr. J N Godrej and Mr. Anil Verma.
Customer Focus
On Time, Every Time
Service needs keep evolving, and we have been able to identify nascent trends, which have helped us serve our customers better. For e.g.,
Good service starts with the reliability of service assurance. This kind of reliability starts with standardised processes.
» We were the first appliance brand to start 24X7 toll free call centres. » Keeping in view the emergence of nuclear families and the trend of both spouses working, we decided to offer service late in the evenings as well as on Sundays. » To make it easy for our customers to communicate in vernacular languages, we provide 13 language options at our call centres. » With customers getting increasingly digitally savvy, we offer them many options for booking their service calls such as call centers, missed calls, mobile apps, website and through visits to our dealers. » To retain the thrill of acquiring the first AC intact, we have introduced same day installation service.
Our 700+ service centers have 4000 technicians who handle about 3 million requests every year. To keep commitments at this volume, we have designed immaculate processes which are being monitored and improved continually. Today, Godrej Appliances has the largest network of service providers across the country. Our service network, spread over 24 branches and managed by 150 service managers and executives, ensures that our customers get the best and most consistent service experience at every touch point. Adequate dashboards and systems provide
information to the last mile branches and HO for monitoring customer satisfaction. Our promise of service to our customers is that our technician will reach them within the committed time, no matter the location, whether - Kutch to Kohima or Kanyakumari to Kashmir. This has meant our technicians installing medical refrigerators in remote, floodaffected areas of the North East, repairing appliances in difficult terrains and far flung outposts of the country. In most places in the country, we promise the first visit within 24 hours of the call getting booked. To keep this promise, we have appointed 500 nodal technicians across the country that are closer to our customers where our regular service centres are not present. Periodic audits are carried out at all locations to ensure that service processes are complied with.
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Infrastructure In our objective to serve our customers as quickly as possible, we have equipped our service providers with branded service vans. These vans have power generators, standard tool kits and spares. They move across territories to ensure that the appliances are in working condition during the first visit itself. The activation of 200 vans across the country has helped us to improve service levels in tier 2 and 3 cities and upcountry towns. It has also provided constant visibility of ‘SMART CARE’, our service brand. This has been appreciated by our trade partners. As required, we keep expanding our mobile van network to new locations. We are the first in the industry to have these innovative concepts deployed in the marketplace.
Skill Development We have 24 fully-equipped Excellence Centers across the country where technicians are trained and evaluated on various competencies. To take care of the difficulties of updating technicians, particularly for new models and products, we are relying on digital training aids. Recently, we have invested in a state-of-the-art recording studio at Vikhroli, which has made it easy to make videos of products and services to be used by our customers and technicians. For field engineers, we also have a help desk to resolve their technical queries and help them with onsite resolution of issues. Service training is a key enabler for providing best-in-class service.
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Benefits
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Add Symptoms & Action
» Visibility More visibility of actual exectution in the field. » Real-Time Update Once a call is updated through the mobile app, updated information will be received in SmartNet instantaneously. » Reduce Back Office Manpower There is no duplication of work. Update given by technicians need not be re-entered in SmartNet by the back office. » Direct Connect with Technicians - Using mobile app we can directly connect with technicians
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KPI Overview After Sales Service
Cultivating a Culture of Service Along with the systems and processes and the hardware of services, we have kept the softer aspects of providing good service also in mind. So along with improved professionalism, there is a ‘Personal Touch’ in the service that is delivered. » Technicians are given higher levels of soft skill training. » Customers are involved in the complaint closure process with the CSN number and feedback. » Managers and executives are authorised to take on-the-spot decisions in the field. » Dealers are motivated by issuing of ‘Zero Pendency Certificates’ for having reduced number of pending customer service complaints.
All these and other innovative measures have made Godrej Smart Care a brand that is widely recognised as a reliable assurance of timely and good service. Service has been a fundamental driver of Godrej Appliances. We strongly believe that an effective after-sales service is a strong differentiator for us. All our initiatives are driven by an overarching objective of making our service the best in the industry. In the competitive environment that Godrej Appliances operates in, the excellence in customer service is a winning strategy for the business. On us reaching the No. 1 position in service, our senior leadership has set a new goal for us and that it to be a ‘Role Model’ in service. We have already begun our journey to reach this new milestone.
2018 Godrej & Boyce (2498)
1 16
43
39
82
1
Extremely Dissatisfied
3
24
44
29
73
3
Dissatisfied
Whirlpool 15 20 (682)
45
29
58
6
Satisfied
Samsung 13 22 (628)
43
31
74
4
Very Satisfied
Competition* 13 22 (1940)
44
30
74
4
Extremely Satisfied
LG (684)
2017 Godrej & Boyce (1558)
31
46
21
67
1
LG (285)
29
43
26
69
1
Whirlpool (256)
39
37
21
58
2
Samsung (271)
27
43
29
72
1
Competition* (812)
32
41
25
66
2
*Competition indicates consolidated competition
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QUBE BY G O D R E J A P PLI A N C E S A personal food and beverage cooler In 2019, Godrej Appliances launched the QUBE, a unique lifestyle product, powered by an advanced solid state electronic cooling technology that cools but does not freeze. The new Godrej QUBE is Green; it is refrigerant free, compressor free and works instead on a thermo-electric chip, making it more environment friendly. Godrej is the first brand to launch this revolutionary technology for the Indian market. Godrej Appliances has leveraged this advanced thermoelectric cooling technology in the QUBE and unlike all the other cooling solutions available in the market, the QUBE is a zero-frost product, which means no defrosting. Its compact size, silent operation and aesthetically appealing design, makes
the Godrej QUBE ideal as a personal cooling device for food and beverages. The Godrej QUBE has many other features, like LED lit interiors, stabilizer-free operations, compatibility with home inverter, magnetic auto-door closure, and easy maintenance. It is suitable for living and work spaces – be it bedrooms or offices, shops or hotels, hostels or guest houses. The Godrej QUBE delivers best-in-class performance and convenience to users. A blend of style and comfort, Godrej QUBE is a perfect little cooling device for your personal space. The new QUBE comes in two colours – Metallic Grey and Black and is available across India.
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BOOKMARK
How you sit > Where you sit Over time, lack of movement and static postures result in work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Dr. Reena Valecha, Godrej Interio (Ergonomics Research Cell)
The new-age work scenario is demanding. It demands your time, energy and concentration with little regard for your health.
long hours of sitting
long hours of sitting
repetitive work
repetitive work
Competing in the corporate world means you might end up working long hours, leaving little time for exercise or rest. Increased connectivity has reduced the need for us to move around the office, which in turn compounds the ill effects of an already sedentary lifestyle. Lack of movement and static postures take their toll, and over time, result in work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
76% 76%
suer from sitting related aches and pains suer from sitting related aches and pains
56%
68%
56% back pain back pain
68% neck pain neck pain
awkward positions
What are MSDs? Musculoskeletal disorders or MSDs are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support the limbs, neck and back. These disorders are caused by working in the same position for long hours, thus straining certain muscles and joints. Today, most of the working class suffers from some form of MSD.
awkward positions
Sitting in same posture for more than 3040 minutes leads to stiffening of the joints. Lack of natural movement causes the erosion of certain areas of the spinal column. Sitting in the wrong position also leads to poor blood circulation in the lower extremities, which may lead to swelling of the ankles and eventually to varicose veins and blood clots.
Common Symptoms Some of the signs of an MSD could be pain in the neck, back, knees or other body parts. The pain could be a dull ache, a sharp, stabbing pain or even a burning sensation. One could also experience tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers, sore wrists or elbows. Swelling, inflammation or stiffness in joints are other symptoms.
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Some causes of musculoskeletal problems
How to avoid MSDS and stay healthy
If you have ever suffered from back pain, then you would surely know how debilitating it can be. Your movements become restricted and even your daily activities can become extremely painful. Sitting and working for long hours, binge-watching your favourite shows or even driving for long hours can put your back and spine at a huge risk for injuries. Here are a few pointers of what not to do to prevent MSDs.
» Right Posture - Adopt the right sitting,
standing and work posture. » Regular Exercise - Regular exercise as a rule to keep your muscles flexible and relaxed. » Stay Active - Consciously be physically active during your standard work day.
Be warned Once MSDs reach the ‘chronic level’ they can never be fully cured! That’s right! The remedies for the pain which we generally ignore or take lightly by popping pain killers, applying ointments or taking a day off from work, will not work any more. Orthopaedic treatments, X rays, medication and physiotherapy sessions are temporary cures but once you resume work the pain reccurs! PREVENTION is the best remedy!
The Gadget Hunch Bending over a laptop or smartphone for long hours on regular basis can lead to disorders of the neck, upper back and shoulders
files and boxes under your worktable will force you to adobt uncomfortable postures.
files and boxes under your worktable will force you to adobt uncomfortable postures. ruoy rednu sexob dna selfi ot uoy ecrof lliw elbatkrow .serutsop elbatrofmocnu tboda
Sitting Posture
Sitting halfway through the chair or without back support leads to pain in the midback. Files and boxes under your worktable will force you to a dopt uncomfortable postures.
Adopt ergonomically sound practices morf reffus
detaler gnittis %67 Workspace Ergonomics is a much-talked sniap dna sehca about topic these days and it is important for us to know how it impacts our health and productivity at work. Ergonomics plays an important role in creating productive workspaces and enhancing employee wellbeing. Daily, on an average, office workers sit at their desks % 8for 6 about 8-9 hours% 6 5 and hence, they need to be made aware of the dangers of poor work postures, unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles. nitips: ap kcen niap kcab Here are some
Desktop Tips
Watch how you sit Do not hunch over your computer or move too far away from it. Both postures are harmful. Try and maintain neutral posture of back as often as you can.
Keep your screen at eye level Ensure that the top of the screen is at the eye level. Use accessories, if required, to raise the screen to the right height.
Keep moving through the day You may have the right chair, maintain right posture but if you continue to sit on your chair for long hours you can still cause damage to your joints and spine. Neither too much of sitting nor extended periods of standing are advisable for optimum spine health. Change your posture every 30-40 minutes. You need to move! Here are few ideas to keep your body in motion. » » » »
Take a walk after lunch. krow evititeper Walk while you talk. Have standing meetings. Have a regular exercise routine during the day.
snoitisop drawkwa
» Top of the monitor screen should be at eye level. » Keyboard and mouse should be at one level. » Shoulders should be well supported either on armrest or table top » Distance between user and monitor screen should be at one arm reach.
Laptop Tips » Laptop use: Accessorise your laptop with external keyboard, mouse and a laptop stand for greater user comfort. » Raise the laptop screen to eye-level by stacking up available books, if you don’t have a stand. » Avoid bending over your gadget.
Wellness@Work is an initiative of Godrej Interio to spread awareness of the importance of ergonomics for creating and maintaining healthy workspaces and employee wellbeing. This initiative has been running for over a decade and its contents are regularly communicated through emailers, workshops and engagement programs.
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Godrej Horticulture wins the Coveted Trophies Looking forward to implementing innovative horticulture techniques and developing sustainable landscapes. Aarti Bhambore, Godrej Construction Horticulture Management Services (HMS)
The focus was on sustainable and cost-effective urban gardens and their maintenance, meant to promote public awareness about sustainable urban greenery.
As in the previous years, this year too, G&B Horticulture services has won two prestigious awards. The first being, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) Tree and Flower show held at Rani Bagh on 1st, 2nd and 3rd February 2019. The second event being, the 58th Vegetable, Fruit and Flower show organised by the National Society of the Friends of the Trees on the 9th and 10th of February at D J Ruparel College. At the MCGM event, the Chief Guest
was the Deputy Mayor of Mumbai, Ms. Hemangi Worlikar, who awarded the prizes at the ceremony. At the Friends of Trees event, the prizes were awarded by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, India, and Ms. Nidhi Chaudhari, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special) MCGM. The awards were given in two categories – Garden and Display of potted plants. The parameters used for judging in the garden cat-
egory were aesthetics, colour combination of flowers, foliage, sustainable horticulture maintenance of these gardens, maximum inclusion of indigenous species, etc. Just to draw the attention of readers, some of the award-winning gardens in Pirojshanagar are the garden around Udyachal Primary School, Terrace garden at Godrej Business District 02, the traffic island at K C Chowk at Fort, and the garden around the Accenture premises, Plant 3.
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This year the competition was tough, as many leading organisations such as the Central and Western Railways, L&T, HPCL, BPCL participated. The focus was on sustainable and cost-effective urban gardens and their maintenance. These events are meant to promote public awareness about sustainable urban greenery. They also provide a platform for sharing information of the best practices in horticulture and exchanging views to enhance the greenery in our city.
In closing, we would like to thank Dr. Mrs. Pheroza J. Godrej for guiding and inspiring us over the years. We look forward to enhancing the urban greenery by implementing innovative horticulture techniques of care and maintenance and developing sustainable landscapes based on Green building guidelines for environment conservation. Team CHANGE congratulates the entire Horticulture Team for their consistent excellence.
Top four - Gardens maintained by Godrej. Bottom, From Left to Right - Balaswami Malella, Omkar Todankar, Ashish Gaikwad, Surendra Kumbhar, Aarti Bhambore, Dr. Pheroza Godrej, Kaezad Karanjawala, Girish Chaudhari, Nivrutti Hegde, Nitin Gaykar, Yella Reddy, Rambharose Verma
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INSIDE G&B
Godrej Annual Blood Donation Drive – 2019 Godrejites from across the country came forward in large numbers to make a positive difference in the lives of those in need. Nariman Bacha, Corporate Personnel & Administration
Execution is all about getting things done by people. Therefore, it is of prime importance how people are treated by their seniors and the way they treat each other. We have to accept the fact that the days of control and command are over. We can’t afford to push people against their will, nor can we incentivise them enough to work together.
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Top - Happy blood donors Left - Lighting the ceremonial lamp- L-R Mr. J.N. Godrej, Dr. Mrs. P.J. Godrej, Mrs. Smita Godrej Crishna, Mrs. Freyan Crishna Bierri and Mr. D. Remmei
This initiative will help save about 19,000 lives. Every year at Godrej, we honour the memory of our founders Naval P Godrej and Dr. Burjor P Godrej on the anniversary of their passing by holding the Blood Donation Drive on 8th and 9th August across all Godrej locations in India. The drive in Mumbai was inaugurated by Mr. D Remmei, Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Mumbai, at Godrej Memorial Hospital and Godrej Pragati Kendra. Mr. Jamshyd Godrej and the Godrej Family were also present at the inauguration of this event, as the cause of blood donation is very close to their hearts.
Helen Keller rightly said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much�.
This was aptly proven by Godrejites across the country who came forward in large numbers to make a positive difference in the lives of those in need. At Mumbai, the drive was organised at 8 venues with 8 Government Blood Banks, which witnessed a good response with collection of 3128 units. The collection at other country-wide locations was 1380 units, manufacturing facilities was 1338 units and Godrej Electricals & Electronic project sites were 445 units, giving a total collection of 6291 units from Godrej. This will help save nearly 19,000 lives. The entire event saw good team work from the Corporate P&A department, Godrej & Boyce Shramik Sangh volunteers, Staff of Blood Banks, Godrej Memorial Hospital, Pragati Kendra Mahila Manch volunteers and support services departments. Team CHANGE thanks all the donors and appeals to all Godrejites to support this annual initiative with enthusiasm and compassion year after year.
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Living in the “Now” Through Music Music and artificial intelligence together, will go a long way in helping mankind live harmoniously and joyfully. Team CHANGE
Team CHANGE had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing renowned singer, musician and teacher, Ragini Rainu. Here are her views on music, and what it can do for you.
1
Did music choose you or did you choose music? Tell us how it all began. I belong to a family where music is considered as important as any other necessity of life, like having food, money, etc. In fact, music is considered food for the soul. I can say with pride, music was a conscious choice for me. As a child, I leant it from my mother Smt. Jagdeep Kaur, a well-known teacher from Jammu and from Sh. BS Bali, a renowned vocalist, also from Jammu. In 1996, I was blessed to come under the tutelage of my guru, the legendary musician Pt. Bhajan Soporiji who gave a new dimension to my singing and led my voice onto the path of Sufi Singing.
2
As a teacher of music, what makes you different from other teachers? I think it’s a blessing to be able to pass on one’s knowledge to others. I think all teachers have this in common and the only thing that is different is how it is interpreted. I believe in recognising the abilities that each student has and then shaping it around their individual musical talents and capacities in such a way that music becomes a source of enduring joy rather than a suffocating endeavour.
3
What aspects of our personalities, especially the negative ones, can be minimised if not eliminated, with the help of music? Music can help you if you believe in yourself. If you do this, then, you can realise where alignment is needed, and music can facilitate such alignment. The resultant healing can be emotional or physical.
4
Can music create new possibilities for us? How? Yes, presently, music is one of the most lucrative fields. The possibilities are also enormous. Very soon music will become a part of deep medical procedures, agriculture and much more. Music and artificial intelligence together, will go a long way in helping mankind live harmoniously and joyfully.
5
Hindustani classical music has been an important part of our culture for centuries. Do you think it will continue to attract audiences in the face of the so-called ‘modern music’ popular with younger generations? For anything to survive it is important that it accepts the change of time. Experimentation and innovations are vital for anything to survive. Classical music too, despite its demanding discipline, has gone through this process of change. Modern music changes every few months as its basis is popularity in society. However, classical music is so deep rooted that even though it has gone through several modern social onslaughts, it still survives like a jewel in the crown of Indian culture.
Experimentations and innovations are vital for anything to survive.
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6
You like Sufi music. Could you please share with us a few of your favourite Sufi songs? I deeply relate to Sufi poetry and have enjoyed the messages of legendary Sufi Saints and writers that they have passed on to us through their poetry. To me, each verse is like unfolding the layers of the mystery of life and deep truth of survival and moving ahead in the search of the ultimate energy – the Almighty, which is within us. This is beyond the barriers of religions. The poetry of Baba Bulleshah, Baba Farid, Hazrat Amir Khusro are a few that I love.
Music creates a deep positive impact on our nervous system and balances the emotions thus bringing inner peace.
7
Any advice to our young readers so that they can engage a little more deeply with our traditional music and benefit? Just listen to music. There is no bad music. Just listen and sing along. It will make you happy. Rest will happen magically.
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INSIGHT
Winning Customers by Creating Better Experiences Products with higher uptime and greater reliability will enable us to grow our business. Anil Lingayat, Godrej Material Handling
Increasing competition has forced manufacturers to continually upgrade experiences delivered by their products, services and solutions.
In 2016, Godrej Material Handling (GMH) had successfully put in place an entire fleet of forklifts at Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Jharsuguda, Odisha. The success of the partnership taught us many lessons, two of the most important ones being: Âť The uptime of forklifts is extremely crucial for continually winning business Âť Cost of maintenance is an important factor in buying decisions
As the buyers are shifting to purchasing materials handling equipment at the lowest cost of ownership, these parameters have become extremely important for winning business. About three years ago, GMH was passing through a phase of low growth, and the challenge was to survive and grow as planned. Renting forklifts as an opportunity to grow was there, but GMH had never formally approached this business.
From the lessons learnt at VAL, GMH developed an approach to enter this market in a systematic and bigger way. The key success factor for this segment is uptime of the equipment. Likewise, with the entry of global brands, the benchmarks for reliability of equipment have been raised, greatly. In fact, to stay in the business, we would have to increase our reliability by a whopping 50%! These twin challenges made us take a serious look at our business strategy itself. After many intense sessions, we honed in on digitisation of our business as the key strategy for winning in the marketplace in the future.
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Here are two examples of how we used digital technologies to improve our performance.
Using IoT to improve uptime Using digital technologies for higher reliability About two and a half years ago, we started deploying IoT in our Forklift Trucks. We created a team of young engineers and partnered with a start-up to develop our own low-cost IoT solution. It was piloted in 24 geographically remote locations and was to be operated for at least 5000 hours so that reliable data could be captured. This pilot helped us to learn and understand how to exploit IoT and derive its benefits for our applications. We have taken this initiative forward and are developing an advanced version of the solution. Our own digital platform helps us monitor the condition and performance of the equipment. Analysis for each equipment is obtained to create customised solutions for maintenance of each equipment, inventory of spare parts required, and training of crew for running and maintaining the equipment. The data collected will help us alter behaviours of the operators for better usage of the equipment, as well as to guide the technicians of our customers and dealers to become proficient at solving problems that occur regularly. This, we believe, will improve the uptime of the equipment, significantly. To us, it would mean that we would have the operating parameters of our equipment under different working conditions, thereby enabling us to take proactive steps for preventive maintenance. We also intend on using this data to improve our designs and customise service offerings to give higher value to our customers. We believe IoT is going to help us create better offerings for our customers and improve the efficiency matrix.
To compete effectively in the market, we decided to go back to the drawing board and redesign our forklifts. We began by digitising our design process and started using advanced methodologies and tools such as PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis), flow analysis, as well as analysis of hydraulic and electrical systems, to redesign our trucks. All this work has a single objective, namely, to enhance the reliability of various systems of our forklifts, and promise best-in-class overall reliability. Lately, we have used digital simulations for product redesign.
Our efforts in these areas have been acknowledged and our teams have won several awards for their pathbreaking work. In addition to these two initiatives, we are attempting to digitise our rental business, inspection and manufacturing processes, as well as the delivery of customer service. Promoting efficiencies in our supply chain is also being seriously looked into. Team GMH is proud to share that digitisation has become a way of life, particularly in marketing, where many activities are digitised, and the marketing spend is focused towards leveraging digital opportunities. We believe products that have higher uptime and greater reliability will enable us to grow our business in the coming years.
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BOOKMARK
Shooting for Gold It is a long and arduous journey ahead, which is both challenging and demanding. Girija Saravanan, Godrej Commercial team (Coimbatore)
Niveditha V Nair secured Gold medals in two categories with a thumping margin over her compatriots, and broke two National records!
Nivedita at a national event.
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Niveditha V Nair started Pistol shooting in mid-2016 and has been a student member of the Coimbatore Rifle Club. Though she was a beginner, she managed to bag a Bronze medal in her first competition at the Tamil Nadu Shooting Championship 2016 and later in 2017. Her first Gold came in the South Zone Shooting Championship held at Chennai in 2017 in the 10M Air Pistol Women’s category. It was in the 62nd National Shooting Championship held at Trivandrum where she managed to get her personal best score, and was recognised as a renowned shooter by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). She also qualified for the trials held at New Delhi for selection to the Indian National Shooting Team. However, greater experience and skills were required to qualify for the Indian National Team. It was then she was selected to represent Tamil Nadu for the 1st Khelo India School Games held at New Delhi, where she was the only female pistol shooter from the four southern states. Her moment of reckoning came in the All India Kumar Surendra Shooting Championship where she qualified for the finals of the mixed youth event, alongwith a fellow shooter from Coimbatore, for a second time in two years. In the last Tamil Nadu State Shooting Championship, she secured 5 Medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze). Though she was participating only in the 10 M Air Pistol category, she participated in one more category
of 25M Sports Pistol, where she bagged an individual and team gold in the Juniors. However, in the 28th All India G V Mavlankar Shooting Championship held at Chennai, she participated in both the Senior and Junior Women’s category to secure Gold medals in both categories with a thumping margin over her compatriots, and broke 2 National records with a score of 287/300. Our family is small and consists of three members – My daughter Niveditha, my husband and me. My husband works with one of the NGOs in Coimbatore and also doubles up as her Coach, having served in the police force and the National Security Guard as a shooter. Niveditha was born in the year 2001 and studied in Maharishi Vidya Mandir Chennai till her 10th Std and moved to Coimbatore to join PSBB Millennium school. The school has been very supportive of her dreams in sports. Presently, she is in her first year of BBA in PSGR Krishnammal College for Women in Coimbatore. She is a trained Bharat Natyam dancer and had her Arangetram in 2016. She continues to pursue her passion of the classical art form. To fulfil her ambition to represent India, she follows a strict physical training schedule and meditates regularly, besides a fullfledged shooting routine 6-days a week. It is a long and arduous journey ahead, which is both challenging and demanding. Team CHANGE congratulates and wishes her a successful journey ahead.
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PERSPECTIVE
Eat Well, Run, Sleep, Repeat Reflect on how you want to live and then do what it takes to ensure that you live in that way. Vikrant Balakrishnan, Fitness Champion
Out of all the people who attempt long term weight loss, only 8% succeed. The successful weight losers inevitably transform their way of living.
Growing up a skinny kid has its own challenges. Well, maybe not when you are growing up but later on in life when you’re too busy earning the big bucks. You’re so used to being that 11-12 year-old skinny kid, not having to worry about what you’re eating because you’re always running around and having people stuff you with food, that you completely forget that now you’re at a 9-6 job (obviously with ‘flexible’ timings), with the eating habits of a ravished 12-year old, but not exactly the same metabolism. This is exactly what happened with me. As someone who played sports growing up right until college, the concept of working out or eating healthy never occurred to me because frankly I was never in a situation where I didn’t fit into my clothes or couldn’t run 200 metres without gasping for breath.
So, when at the ripe old age of 26 I saw myself in the mirror one morning, I almost cried out in shock because I thought I had woken up as a different person, I realised that some drastic steps had to be taken.
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For someone who had never weighed more than 72-73 kgs., seeing a 97kg version of myself gave me a debilitating proverbial heart attack. I was never this person that I saw in the mirror, a part of me realised that this was a result of mental lethargy as well physical. I knew this was not the person I wanted to be and overnight I changed the way I was living my life. I don’t really believe in phasing out something that I want to change immediately. I quit smoking immediately, I went off alcohol, stopped eating outside food and quit sugar completely. I started getting up early in the mornings to go for a run. The first month was extremely difficult and I would be lying if I didn’t say that there were days that I felt like slipping back into the old routine or breaking one of the rules that I had set up for myself. In my first three months I lost close to 10 kgs. and yet never took a cheat day. I knew what my goal was and till I reached that, rewarding myself didn’t seem right. Simultaneously, I started with some yoga and meditation and stayed at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore for almost a week. The biggest take away from the whole experience was how we are so emotionally attached to the food we eat. For almost a week I ate food which was not cooked, it was only in the end I realised that food is technically just fuel for the body. I know this sounds like a very dull take on life in general, but I’ve realised it to be true. I stopped eating non-veg overnight and my days stopped revolving around what I was going to eat. With this outlook I found it so much easier to control my impulses to eat food that I had decided to lay off. Till my body and mind had become comfortable with these changes I stayed away from social settings that would most likely test my newly found resolve. A year down the line, I’ve lost close to 20 kg and the changes that seemed so harsh and sudden have become a part of my lifestyle.
People keep asking me “Why are you punishing yourself? Enjoy life a little bit.” Here’s the thing, I’ve never loved life more than right now and all the things that I’m doing make life more enjoyable. This is not a sermon on living a good life, healthy life, etc., I’ve always believed in each to their own. This is my personal view on consciously deciding how you want to live and then doing whatever it takes to ensure that you live it the way you want to.
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T U FF BY G O D R E J CONSTRUCTION A range of Green construction products and materials Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste is becoming a major environmental concern for cities across the world. Mumbai alone generates over 1500 metric tonnes of construction debris every day, and most of this debris is dumped in landfills; some of which have exceeded their capacity. This is posing a serious challenge for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Godrej Construction (GC) spotted a business opportunity of recycling C&D waste and set up a factory that converts this waste into building and construction materials, which can be used for real estate and infrastructure projects. GC engages with builders, developers, contractors and government institutions to help identify and collect construction waste that can be used as raw material for its Recycled Concrete Materials (RCM) factory at Vikhroli. The concrete debris is pulverised using concrete recycled plant machinery, which crushes the waste into granular aggregates. The recycled concrete made from these pulverised materials is then poured into moulds for concrete blocks, pavers and other products of different shapes and sizes, known as ‘TUFF’. The specifications, strength and other characteristics of TUFF recycled concrete blocks and pavers are the same as those products made of virgin materials. The strength, water absorption, abrasion resist-
ance, etc., are designed and engineered to meet the specifications prescribed in the Indian codes and standards. Recycled concrete materials has a two-fold impact on the environment: » The use of RCM helps lowers the quantity of stone aggregates mined from the quarries. » The use of RCM helps reduce the tonnage of C&D waste dumped into landfills.
TUFF products are now beginning to be used in construction projects by many renowned real estate developers. Currently, Godrej Construction is partnering with several architects and engineering consultants to explore opportunities for the use of recycled concrete in newer applications. TUFF products are also being considered for infrastructure projects and for making Tetrapods and Accropodes that are used as wave-breakers along seashores and coastal roads. TUFF products are highly Green and conserve 5000 litres of water and reduce 900 kg of CO2 emissions per tonne of concrete recycled. Godrej Construction’s Recycled Concrete Materials has already won numerous awards including the Realty Plus INEX Award for Sustainable Product of the Year, Accommodation Times award for Most Innovative Product of the Year, and Times Network National Award for Product of the Year.
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INSIGHT
Compelling Scoreboards The fundamental purpose of the ‘Player’s Scoreboard’ is to inspire the players to win. Kartik Modi, G&B Business Excellence
‘Visible Player’s Scoreboards are a powerful means to engage employees, drive results and instill the mindset of winning.’
To execute well, deep engagement with one’s role and the business is crucial. Knowing one’s lead and lag measures is one thing, but actually keeping score makes all the difference. A visual scoreboard updated regularly removes all sorts of distractions and enables people to see at a glance whether they are winning or not. This results in profound, deep engagement. Typically, every week or every month, MIS of businesses keep throwing out spreadsheet after spreadsheet inundating users with a plethora of data, which is all about historical trends, projections, analyse and so on. This data is essential, but it is meant for the leader of a team, a senior manager or a business. It doesn’t tell a team member if his team is making a difference or not. Are they winning or not? The kind of scoreboard we need tells each member of the team through a few simple graphs where they are and where they ought to be. It also shows the areas where more efforts or resources are required to catch up on the plan. This kind of scoreboard is called the Player’s Scoreboard. Such a scoreboard is generally built by the team and its leader so that they can instantly know where they stand and gauge the likelihood of winning.
What does this kind of scoreboard do? It enhances the engagement and intensifies the play. The resultant behaviours indicate improved team work and the willingness to take a better shot at winning. Only a fully engaged team can play the game at such a high level of intensity and that too only when they know that the game matters and they are aware of the score. If the scoreboard is too complicated, then the chances are that only the leader will understand it and not the players. The fundamental purpose of the Player’s Scoreboard is to inspire the players to win. Characteristics of a good scoreboard: » It should be simple. It should have not more than 5 or 6 distinct pieces of data tracked and displayed. Selecting such data may take time and effort which should not be compromised, for a beneficial outcome. » It should be visible. In the absence of a visible scoreboard, the goals and measures, particularly the lead ones, are likely to be forgotten in a matter of weeks, weakening the urgency to do things that matter. Visibility also drives accountability. It makes
results important to each and every team member, promoting team work. Even if the teams are geographically dispersed, technology can be used to have real time visibility. » It should show both lead and lag measures. This helps bring the scoreboard to life. The lead measures show what the team can affect, and the lag measures show the results that are desired. Unless the team knows both, interest in the game can be lost, readily. The team must know what they’re doing and how well, and in turn, what they are achieving. The level of engagement is enhanced as a result of such visibility. » It should be clear at a glance. It should show where the team stands in just a glance at the scoreboard. If the team cannot quickly determine whether they are winning or losing, then they are just looking at the data and not the game itself. In such a case, the team needs to rework the scoreboard and make sure that it can tell within 10 seconds it is winning or not.
The Player’s Scoreboard is a powerful device for changing the behaviour of people at work, or for that matter anywhere else, even if the situation is dire.
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Beat The Goat Book 428 Exhibitors for Outdoor Convention by Oct. 30 400
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Source - The 4 Disciplines of Execution
With a compelling scoreboard, you can create a game for your team and create the possibility of winning. The secret of the game being winnable is the relationship between the lead and lag measures that plays out on the scoreboard every day. If the game is unclear, low level of engagement ensues and the team loses the game even before they start playing it. Visible scoreboards are supported by sound theoretical research and the findings, particularly, elicited in Frederick Herzberg’s 1968 HBR article ‘One More Time – How Do
You Motivate Employees’. Dr. Herzberg emphasises that people who are satisfied with their jobs are motivated. This is because their jobs give them the opportunity to experience achievement. 43 years later, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer noted the importance of achievement to team members, which they called “The Power of Progress Principle”. They concluded that achievement is fundamental to human nature and their wellbeing. Sadly, few managers know this or even understand it. The key is to learn how to leverage progress to boost motivation. Visible Player’s Scoreboards are powerful means to engage employees, drive results, and instil the mindset of winning.
People who are satisfied with their jobs are motivated. Their jobs give them the opportunity to experience achievement.
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What Business History Tells Us about the Future of Globalisation The lesson for business leaders is that it is their responsibility to create more winners than losers. Vrunda Pathare, Godrej Archives
A summary of the 13th Godrej Archives Annual Lecture delivered by Dr. Geoffrey Jones, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History at Harvard Business School, USA.
Globalisation has been a critical issue for business history. Historians have been tracking the origins of globalisation and have been mapping the contributions of businesses rather than just markets and technologies that have influenced their international expansion via globalisation. Today, the world is on the verge of de-globalisation, which is manifested in the recent Brexit and other developments.
It is at a moment like this when huge uncertainties prevail, that business history can help future generations of business leaders to understand what drives such changes and equip them to steer their way through the future. Global business had its beginnings in the ancient world, and the flourishing international trade that was witnessed in the old Assyrian as well as Roman Empires, who had established trade links with the Eastern
World. However, it is the Spanish conquest of the New World (America) that laid the foundation of the first global economy. The 19th Century witnessed a major wave of globalisation that brought in worldwide economic integration. While analysing the factors that were responsible for rapid globalisation, Dr. Jones remarked that modern economic growth as witnessed in 18th Century Europe, accelerated the search for new markets. This search was made possible by the advent of technologies that dramatically reduced geographical distances. Developments such as railroads, steamships, etc., helped entrepreneurs manage their businesses across borders and enabled them to establish enduring trade and capital flows. Further, the communications revolution brought in the most remarkable innovation, the telegraph, which played a crucial role in globalisation. It enabled information to move very quickly and was soon followed by the introduction of telephones in the late 19th Century. While in the 18th Century, it took months for information to reach Mumbai from London, by 1870, any information from London could reach Mumbai in just 30 minutes. It was the biggest transformation one has ever seen in communications -- much
“It’s wonderful to become rich, becoming rich drives innovation, but you then have a responsibility for your society.� - Andrew Carnegie
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more impressive and fundamental than the world wide web, in Dr. Jones’ opinion.
The communications revolution enabled global capital markets to emerge and help create multinational enterprises, which proliferated products and brands worldwide. Also, liberal economic policies and the Gold standard enabled money to flow across continents. Linking the value of currencies to the value of gold, enabled everyone to invest anywhere in the world. For example, the Singer Company, a very small company in the United States which started in 1851, spread across the world so rapidly that by 1914, 90% of sewing machines in use were of Singer make. Surprisingly, their biggest market was Russia. Singer interestingly figured out the way to sell an expensive machine to people with low purchasing power by introducing instalment plans. Firms from small European countries, especially Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, also became very
active internationally during this first wave of globalisation. The biggest losers in the 19th Century however, were India and China. Globalisation was forced by the Imperialists on them, and any resistance was subdued by the military force demonstrating the coercive dimension of globalisation. In the case of China, it was forced to import opium, and military power was used against the Chinese to push open their economy to globalisation. India too underwent a forced globalisation shock because the British imposed free trade on India. This further resulted in the decimation of the handicraft industry as inexpensive manufactured goods started flooding in.
According to the latest data in 1820, both India and China accounted for one half of the world’s GDP, and by 1914 they accounted for a mere 15% of the same. This is perceived to be the darker side of globalisation.
In developed countries, we see a very clear pattern of inequality rising with globalisation. By 1928, the top 1% of the population owned 23% of the wealth of the United States. Businesses tend to reinforce trends rather than counter them, and as a result, businesses worked to make some people very rich. For example, the wonderful Guggenheim Museums in New York, came from exploiting impoverished workers of Mexico and Latin America. Modern economic growth was concentrated in certain locations, making it difficult for other locations to catch up. While exploring what led to the disintegration of the first wave of globalisation, Dr. Jones remarked that there were warning signs much before the collapse of the global economy in the 1920s.
Globalisation increased economic growth, resulting in excessive consumption of natural resources, which led to massive deforestation and pollution.
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Policies and not just technology drives de-globalisation. Mr. Adi Godrej posing a question to Professor Jones
Also, it increased inequality amongst the nations. The world also witnessed a change in the sentiment towards immigrants in the early 20th Century when countries like the United States and Australia introduced racebased immigration rules. The first World War intensified these sentiments.
In the 1920s, in many countries, cosmopolitanism decreased, leading to marginalisation of many ethnic groups. Alongside such developments, there were many persons who wanted a different role for business and were advocating it strongly. For instance, Andrew Carnegie, who created the first charitable foundation in 1911. In an article ‘The Gospel of Wealth’, he wrote, “It’s wonderful to become rich, becoming rich drives innovation, but you then have a responsibility for your society.” Even though this ideology didn’t become the mainstream in the United States, it did create a tradition of people who wanted to give back to society. In the 1920s, Dornum, the then Dean at the Harvard Business School, expressed his concern about the inequality in the United States and about the responsibility of businesses for mitigating it. He believed that businesses have to recognise their responsibilities for the future of civilisation and that they should be enhancing the security and happiness of
people. He was concerned about the fact that if businesses didn’t act, the governments would intervene, to their resentment. He established the Isidor Straus Professorship for History, because he thought teaching history to future business leaders was among the best bets to get them to act responsibly towards the future. Shibusawa Eiichi, one of the most important Japanese business leaders in the late 19th Century, also very articulately put forth the case, which we now call ‘stakeholder capitalism’. He was an amazing venture capitalist who founded 600 companies and pioneered the Japanese financial system. He stated very clearly that businesses have a responsibility towards society and other stakeholders.
He was not talking about just corporate social responsibility but about his belief that every single thing that a business does should contribute to society. Dr. Jones lamented that nobody listened to these voices and soon, the world de-globalised. He added that there was also a shift in the sentiment and people were beginning to believe that the state was the instrument to create social justice.
Everywhere across countries, from India to the United States, the state in various ways started taking over the issues of education, distribution of wealth, and everything else. We saw massive restrictions on capital flows, people flows and trade flows as the governments shut them out. Thus, policies and not just the technology drives de-globalisation. One may argue that in today’s world of social technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and everything, we can’t possibly de-globalise. However, these technologies, even though they have connected us like never before, make it is easy to communicate our dislikes as well. These technologies, when used by governments, become more brutal and outright dangerous when used by an authoritarian regime.
Now the question arises: Is de-globalisation good or bad? Not withstanding the darker side of de-globalisation, it also produces a number of good outcomes. There is a sharp fall in inequality. De-globalisation is accompanied by massive social improvement in the lives of people in the non-Western world.
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For instance, the British left India with low literacy levels, but in the ensuing years, India saw strong advances in several social indicators. The same was the case with the Soviet Union.
De-globalisation also allowed firms from many countries to catch-up with western incumbents. The stories of Japan and South Korea are good examples of countries catching up. Indian IT services too began in pretty much the same way when IBM left India. And, by the time liberalisation was ushered in, th e IT services industry became well-established across many sectors and countries. During de-globalisation periods, the global firms became quite local, as they had to align closely with local norms and governments. For example, Unilever exported shoes (noncore product) to the Soviet Union, and it happened because the government had set export targets for multinationals.
Dr. Geoffrey Jones summedup his lecture by putting down the following lessons: First, there is nothing linear about globalisation. It is a secular process, and that too, for its particular reasons. Secondly, globalisation almost by definition rewards the winners and makes the losers aware that they are losing. So, in the inter-war years and through the 1950s and ‘60s, there was a massive sentiment change where people believed globalisation was undesirable, and the alternatives were better. Thirdly, de-globalisation occurs when sentiments shift and when people start saying we are going to build walls or we’re going to have restrictions, or we’re going to renegotiate the trade agreements. The role of businesses as advocated by Dornum in the 1920s, now makes complete sense. In the last 50 years, as businesses have failed to fulfill their responsibilities, the US government has intervened by instituting a plethora of restrictive regulations in virtually all industries. So, in Dornum’s words, the lesson for business leaders is that it is their responsibility to create more winners than losers. This lecture was delivered in 2017.
Seated from L to R: Vrunda Pathare, Dr. Geoffrey Jones, Dr. Pheroza J Godrej and Mr. I P Singh Standing from L to R: Tushar Kansara, Rafiq Shaikh, Amruta Marathe, Jayamala Mandvikar, Sudha Sawant, Yashraj Gandhi, Harini Alladi, Kishor Vaity, Vishnu
There is nothing linear about globalisation. It is a secular process.
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The Art of Questioning As we immerse ourselves in the act of doing, the act of thinking often takes a back seat. Debashish Sahu, President’s Office
Knowing a fact is one thing, but using that fact to ask a question in a relevant context is quite another.
If you have ever watched the U.S game show “Jeopardy” broadcast on NBC, you will be piqued by the unique format of the show. Unlike our Indian game shows like KBC, in Jeopardy, the answer is given to the contestant and she has to frame the question. If the right question to the answer is framed, the contestant stands to win a cash bounty. A bit lost? I too was when I first came across it. Let me make this easy to comprehend through an example. Say I tell you “in 1498, a Portuguese sailor touched down at the port of Calicut and with it opened the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia.” What should your question be? Try it before reading on Your question to this answer should be “Who was Vasco da Gama?” or “What was the contribution of Vasco da Gama?” or “How did Vasco da Gama’s voyage changed the history of India and Asia?”.
All of these questions are the right answers. Now there is something really interesting happening here. For one, knowing a fact is one thing, but using that fact to ask a question in a relevant context is quite another.
What I am doing right now, how is it going to remain relevant 5 years down the road? It is the latter skill that Jeopardy tests. If you connect Jeopardy to your daily life you will discover many similarities. Let’s take daily life to begin with. Say you want to buy a house in Thane with the intention of giving it for rent for the first 5 years before moving in. You scout for properties online because you don’t have enough time to physically go out looking for them and brokers are more of a nuisance than help (age of the internet!). You know for a fact that in certain areas, say Ghodbunder Road, a metro and a huge TCS office is coming up, how will you use this information in this case? If you ask yourself the following question, which location should I buy a house in which will give me maximum rent for my investment? Aided by your knowledge of the above fact regarding the upcoming metro and TCS office, you will zero-in on Ghodbunder Road as a good starting point.
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Of course there are many criteria to evaluate, but this simple example highlights the power of fact when coupled with raising the right questions. Now let’s look at your work lives. We are deluged with facts and information day in and day out from countless sources. One challenge is determining what to accept and what to discard. But say you crossed that obstacle. Are you one who just registers the information or fact as a discrete piece in the recesses of your mind, or are you the one who uses the stocked-up information or facts by asking the relevant questions? For e.g., if I am coming across information daily that data is going to become the new oil and that AI is going to change the job landscape in the near future, then am I asking the following questions to myself. How should I brace for this change? What I am doing right now, how is it going to remain relevant 5 years down the road?
How do I use this change to equip myself to add value to the work I am doing? Likewise, if the competition is launching new products, am I simply noting them down as a part of gathering market intelligence or am I trying to figure out patterns for unearthing hidden moves of the competition? It certainly seems intuitive, but as we immerse ourselves in the act of doing, the act of thinking often takes a back seat. We treat facts and information as discrete pieces rather than linking them together to answer relevant questions. In turn, what happens is we often end up reacting rather than taking proactive measures to mitigate risks, be it on the personal or professional front. Left to themselves, facts, information or observations aren’t worth a Rupee, but when coupled with relevant questions, they become priceless, and more often than not, make the difference between winning and losing.
Through human evolution, it is the questions which when asked at certain times and in certain contexts, that have brought us to the point at which we are today. If an apple falling from a tree led to the theory of gravity, it was the tree being there in the first place that led to the field of botany. If you are good in this art of asking the right questions, then you not only stand to win big in the game of Jeopardy but also prevent yourself or the business from falling into a situation of jeopardy.
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The Real Difference » Name the five wealthiest people in the world » Name the last five Padma Bhushan award winners » Name the last five winners of the Miss India (Universe) contest » Name ten people who have won the Nobel prize » Name the last five Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress » Name the last five of the World Series Winners
Now here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one: » List a few teachers who aided your journey through school » Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time » Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile » Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special » Think of five people you enjoy spending time with
How did you do? Easy? The lesson? The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They’re the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
The people who make a difference in your life aren’t the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They’re the ones who care for you.