C O N T E N T S Between Us
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Leading With a Vision
Let’s go for it
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New Year’s Message
Cover Story
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Understanding Visionary Leadership
Manufacturing Leaders
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Prof. Shoji Shiba - An alchemist for visionary leaders
Reflect. Restore. Reimagine
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Cooverbai Vakil: Educating people, changing lives
Environmental concerns
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Envisioning a greener tomorrow
Know your Divisional Head
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Breathing life into Lifespace
Making a Difference
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Aiding positive people
First Person Account
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The Yearning to live
Home Base
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Our Achievers
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BETWEEN US
Leading with a Vision THE great visionary leaders Mahatma Gandhi, JN Tata, Pirojsha Godrej, Vikram Sarabhai and several others had made awe inspiring contributions for nation building which remain unparalleled in the history of India. The leadership they provided was driven by the powerful vision they had for changing lives of millions of Indians. Likewise to reshape and reposition an organisation, this crucial element of Visionary Leadership is essential though not readily available. To know more about this challenging concept we have in this issue of CHANGE, one interview and three articles on Visionary Leadership displayed in different domains. Prof. Zubin Mulla in his piece tells us about what visionary leadership is and how it's different from leadership, as we understand. Editorial Board Anil G Verma G Sunderraman Harpreet Kaur Nalini Kala Megha Moorthy
Co-ordinators Ratul Mazumdar (East) FK Khapoliwalla (West) Sushil Thariani (North) Vinod Kumar (South)
Distributors Nariman Bacha SR Marolia Consulting Editor Indrapal Singh
Designed by Uday Kamat C Karunaharan Cover Design Godrej Infotech, Web page development team Printed by Genius Printers Pvt. Ltd.
Edited and published by Indrapal Singh on behalf of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Mumbai-400 079. For private circulation only.
Prof. Shoji Shiba who is the father of Visionary Leadership for manufacturing programme in India gives us deep insights into what we ought to do to push our manufacturing sector to greater heights for not only creating millions of jobs but also meaningful lives and prosperity. Dr. Maya Mahajan tells us about the role Mr. SP Godrej played in creating awareness of the environmental concerns and why we should protect and nurture our trees and the wild life. Cooverbai Vakil provided the vision and direction for educational initiatives in Godrej. She was indeed a leading light that shaped our schools and their approach to education at all levels. Homebase section has many interesting pieces on what is changing and what is happening in the company. Noteable among these are report on our annual Diwali function and how our EON brand from the Appliance Division are gaining greater market share with each passing day. It is now widely acknowledged that 'Design' in general will be the key determinant of satisfaction of customers and organisation in future. In order to provide a perspective on the importance of design in every aspect of life we have chosen the theme Design to Delight as the theme fore the next issue of CHANGE. Please send us our contributions including photographs to make this issue of CHANGE both informative and useful. We have just ushered in the year 2008. Our team at CHANGE wishes all the readers a very happy and prosperous New Year. Enjoy Reading. Keep Reading.
Indrapal Singh
1
LET’S GO FOR IT
New Year’s
Message India and Godrej both seem to be moving in tandem towards something great. In this kind of an upbeat ‘Chak De’ mode, how do you think each Godrej employee should contribute? I personally feel that we’re living in some of the most exciting times of our lives. I have never been more excited before than as I am today. What I see is virtually like a metamorphosis; both on the economic front and the people front. I have never seen more motivated people. Some time ago, we had a conference in Goa with the Appliances division. These guys would dance till 4 O’clock in the morning and be ready to work from 9 because - everybody was charged and everybody was willing to take on challenges. This has been the India that we are looking for. It is not only in Godrej, I see it across the broad spectrum of happenings. It is just not our cricket team which wins here but it is certainly a more defined factor and I see that India is really, really on the march and Godrej is marching side by side. See our businesses, see our growth, see the concept of innovation we want to bring across every single business. I think Godrej is really, really in sync 2
with India, we are marching together hand in hand. What do you think are the obstacles in the way? How do we retain our people? How do we motivate them? How do we give them new challenges? And that’s not only Godrej, every business I talked to on the CII platform, there is a shortage of people and there is concerted thinking that by the year 2010 or 2012 people will have to work with only 60% of their strength. So I think the biggest problem which we will face in Godrej and the country will face, is getting and retaining talent. We have a wide variety of people working in Godrej, having experience ranging from 20 odd years to 1 year or so. What is the one message you would want to give to everybody across the organisation? My message to all of them is just believe in yourself and there is really nothing impossible. There is so much we need to do, there is so much innovation we need to do - but you must believe in yourself that I can do it and once you do that, it is like adrenaline in your system and that’s what we need.
In a freewheeling interview, President and Executive Director, PD Lam sends his New Year’s message through CHANGE.
What is the one thing we at Godrej should stop doing, start doing and continue doing? I think we should stop going by just rules and regulations or believing in a form of socialism that we have done so far. I think today everything must be based on merit, everything should be based on performance and age should not be a criterion. I think we should start more intensive training. I would like a structured training programme from the top most people that every employee, right from a senior executive to the Chairman goes through - six or seven days where we can get exposure to what is happening in the world. That is really critical to in order to translate the day to day working to show that we are of global standard - that is what we need. I think we need to sustain our values. People outside perceive Godrej as trustworthy. We may do things that are wrong, but don’t do it deliberately and we then want to rectify it. I think that we need to inculcate our values in the young people to make them feel proud. Once that happens, we can take on China; we can take on the world! As told to Nalini Kala & Megha Moorthy (with inputs from Harpreet Kaur)
COVER STORY
Understanding
Visionary Leadership Leadership, historically speaking: The topic of leadership has always excited people. From the earliest times, our mythologies and folklore have been filled with stories of charismatic leaders who have bravely led the human race successfully through the trials of their time. Even in business, the study of leadership is not new. Whether an organisation does well or whether it does badly, good or bad leadership is the most common explanation. Early leadership studies were mainly focused on the role of rewards and punishments in bringing about desired changes in behaviour. These studies assumed that the only way to influence followers was to provide desired rewards and to avoid undesired punishments. However, more recent studies have highlighted the role of charisma, vision, and inspiration in engaging the attention and energies of followers towards common goals. If we reflect on our own experience and look for an individual who has inspired us, touched our life, and transformed us, we will find that we were not inspired so much by material rewards, as we were by the charismatic personality or the compelling vision that was provided by the individual. This type of leadership which completely engages followers and takes them beyond mere rewards and punishments has
for novel solutions to existing problems. This crucial aspect of independent thinking is what distinguishes authentic leadership from mere indoctrination. Finally, visionary leaders recognise their followers as complete human beings and act as mentors to their followers. come to be known transformational, visionary, charismatic leadership.
as or
Who qualify to be Visionary leaders: Researchers across cultures have found that transformational/ visionary leaders display four common types of behaviours. First, visionary leaders are highly charismatic individuals who are role models for their followers and can be trusted to do the right thing. Doing the right thing in the face of adversity requires courage and visionary leaders possess the required strength of character. It is this quality that attracts followers towards them and makes followers emulate them. Secondly, visionary leaders are able to provide an inspirational vision which motivates followers to look beyond the mundane activities of the jobs. An inspiring vision not only presents a glorious future but shows how the individual can work towards it in his/her current job. Thirdly, visionary leaders encourage their followers to think independently and creatively, to challenge the status quo and to look
One of the most crucial elements of leadership is the content and communication of the vision. A good vision must not only inspire and engage followers; it must also make the followers believe that it is something that is achievable by them collectively. Most inspiring visions have a common theme of dealing with change by making people work together towards ideal goals. But what is it that makes the crucial difference between a vision that remains a set of good intentions, and a vision that inspires followers to enthusiastically engage themselves in pursuit of its implementation? Let us see a few instances of successful and unsuccessful visions to understand this. Deming – neglected by Americans, but inspiring the Japanese: From 1942 to 1944, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, then a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense, conducted twenty-three seminars of eight days each for the engineers on techniques of statistical quality control. For his time, Deming’s message was quite revolutionary; he stressed the 3
human factors in production as much as the technological elements. However, as Deming would recall later, “the courses were well received by engineers, but management paid no attention to them at all.” In fact, American managers ignored Deming’s ideas for almost four decades. On the other hand, in 1950, when Deming was invited to conduct a series of seminars by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers, his ideas were wholeheartedly accepted. Deming was able to convince the Japanese about a whole new philosophy of management, which would actively involve workers in finding ways to improve the quality of goods they produced and help them design the entire process such that it revolved around serving the needs of customers. Enthused by the power of Deming’s ideas, the Japanese soon overtook the rest of the industrialised nations of the world. Why were Deming’s ideas which inspired the Japanese, ignored by the Americans? It is easy to blame the audience and say that they were not mature or intelligent enough to recognise the wisdom of the leader’s vision. There are numerous such examples of leaders whose dreams for transformation fell on deaf ears. Consider Robert Owen, an industrialist in the early nineteenth century who first campaigned for decent working conditions such as reducing the working hours from 13 to 11 and for abolishment of corporal punishment in factories. Owen’s ideas were outright rejected not only by the industrialists but also by the courts and the intelligentsia. Even Peter Drucker, was unable to convince General Motors in 1946 when he advised them to give up their highly bureaucratic structure and to gear up for global competition, increasing automation, and a change in customer preferences. Do these examples suggest that leaders are at the mercy of their followers’ maturity or intelligence in executing their vision? Once spurned, should a leader then seek other constituencies better suited and more worthy of his or her inspirational message? Or should the leader keep using logic and 4
arguments to convince the followers of the vision? How often have we tried to convince a family member, a close friend, or a colleague about what we thought was good for him or her, with exhortations such as: “This isn’t good for you!”, “Stop smoking!”, “Don’t overeat!”, or “Start exercising!” Such attempts at transformation despite being supported by endless logical arguments rarely succeed in winning over the target. Even when successful, they only yield half hearted compliance, never enthusiastic commitment. What then is the secret of inspiring another to wholeheartedly commit to a vision? Commitment to a vision can only occur when three conditions are fulfilled. First, the leader must possess credibility. Credibility means that the leader must possess integrity, reliability and trust in the eyes of the follower. Credibility can be established either through close relationships or through expertise. The second prerequisite for commitment is that the vision be based on universal values (e.g. oneness, equality, and non-violence) which can encompass diverse audiences. Narrow sectarian or divisive values which promote an “us versus them” mindset may engage followers in the short term, but they cannot form the basis for enduring transformation. Third, the leader’s communication must be easily understandable by the followers. Communication can be reinforced through stories, anecdotes, metaphors, and analogies. Finally, leaders must not ignore the emotional aspect of the follower’s personality. Rationality and logic provide the building blocks of an argument, but emotions form the glue that holds the blocks firmly in place. More than anything else, the leader’s vision must address the followers’ authentic needs. The leader’s first task is to empathically listen to followers and understand their real needs, their ideals, and their aspirations. The next step is to make people aware or conscious of their deepest aspirations in the form of a compelling vision. Finally, the leader’s task is to make those values so compelling that the followers are moved to purposive action.
Godrej and Visionary Leadership: One of the best examples of visionary leadership was provided by Naoroji P. Godrej (NPG). NPG’s genuineness, simplicity, and concern for his people made him an extremely loved and respected leader. After India became independent, the dream of every Indian was a technologically selfreliant nation. At that time there were no indigenous manufacturers of typewriters and British companies were making a huge profit on the typewriters that they sold in India1. Making an Indian typewriter was an important step towards the vision of a technological self-reliant India. Because, the leader’s vision was rooted in the authentic needs and aspirations of the people, they were inspired and gave their best to making the Godrej typewriter a great success. Conventional leadership wisdom describes a leader as an intelligent individual occupying a senior position in the organisation, who dreams up a great idea, and through his superior oratory skills convinces a group of passive followers into following his ideals. This mode of leadership may at best lead to very superficial and shortlived changes in followers. Authentic and enduring transformational leadership, on the other hand can occur at all levels in the organisation and it always starts with understanding followers’ genuine needs and grows by engaging them in pursuit of an inspiring vision built out of their own unspoken needs. Zubin Mulla About the author: Zubin R Mulla is a Professor of Organisational Behavior and Human Resource Management at Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and has a post graduate diploma in business management from XLRI Jamshedpur. He is also completing his doctoral research at XLRI Jamshedpur in the area of transformational leadership and Indian culture. During the years 1994 to 1997, Zubin Mulla worked as a Design Executive in the Machine Tool Division. Some of his other writings and research can be found at www.zubinmulla.com.
MANUFACTURING LEADERS
Prof. Shoji Shiba - An alchemist for visionary leaders Prof. Shiba is a remarkable man. Known world wide as one of the greatest living experts of Total Quality Management (TQM), he is an author, a consultant, a mentor and above all a connoisseur of art, food and wines. An aesthete.
A
prolific writer, who has authored several books, Prof. Shoji Shiba has published scholarly articles in prestigious journals across the world. Prof. Shiba has been a consultant to leading corporations in Japan, U.S.A, and Europe. He has given his advice to the governments of China, France, Hungary, Chile and several others. These countries having benefited greatly from his interventions have bestowed on him many high level honours. Prof. Shiba is a professor at MIT, U.S.A and leading Universities in Japan. He is a painstaking teacher who is highly gifted and yet he goes a long way to ensure that managers learn what he teaches them. A spiritual person. He introduces managers to new concepts and skills for revolutionising the practice of management in different industries. Deploying his unique teaching style, he makes managers rapidly learn to unlearn, look through the invisible and unknown for sensing the future. He is a master in imparting observation skills to gather consumer insights and improvement opportunities in the shopfloor.
In addition to receiving the Deming Prize for Individuals, Dr. Shiba's r ecent h o n o u rs i n c l u de b e i n g named an Academician of the International Institute of Quality in January 2002, and a recipient of MIT's Teaching Award in 2001. He was also conferred the Dronacharya Award by the Government of India. On an invitation from the Government of India and the CII, he has launched a nation wide programme for developing leaders for India's manufacturing sector. The programme known as 'Visionary Leadership of manufacturing' (VLFM), is aimed at developing 500 hundred managers- a critical mass, essential for lifting our manufacturing to heights hitherto unscaled. This programme has evolved from his pioneering programme at MIT. This initiative is blessed by our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Minister of Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal.
What is your vision for VLFM? How do you plan to take it forward in the years to come? There is a need to focus on manufacturing. India is a very large country. When we want a major change, we need a critical mass of people who would initiate such a change. Over three years, we intend creating 500 visionary leaders. 500 is enough of a critical mass to make a beginning. But, even this may not be enough.However, these visionary leaders may drive the manufacturing sector of your country like a locomotive the way a locomotive is in front of the coaches. Even in the United States, about 700 visionary leaders were created to pull ahead the manufacturing sector. In India, there are simultaneous programmes going on at IIM Kolkata, IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. We are focusing on manufacturing in the private sector so far. They are more serious than the public sector that's the case in Japan and USA. However, in India it could be different. Also, the private sector is facing strong competitive challenges. 5
In order to expand, their share of global market, what should Indian companies pay focus on? They should focus on the customer who buys their product. They have to focus on the customer. Also customers in India are changing very rapidly. If you don't focus on the customer, you cannot serve them well enough. Customers of yesterday are different from today's. Hold a summit of your customers and see for yourself. Anticipate change in the customers to meet their requirements. That is the key. If the customer is the focus, why don't we hear people in the company and CEOs talking more about customers? It is common sense, really. The problem is that people working in the organisation, especially people working in manufacturing don't see the customers. They just see the day to day work. There's a huge difference in the mindset if a person working in the factory has his focus on the final customer. Japan's success in 1970 can be almost entirely attributed to focusing on the customer. What are your views productivity improvement?
on
Well it is better not to think about productivity. Focus on productivity is purely internal. It makes sense to focus on productivity if your country has a stable environment. But society in India is changing drastically. Therefore its much better for the company to focus on the customer. Of course productivity is important, but if your product is not in sync with your customers' needs, even if your productivity is really high, you cannot sell the product because no one will buy it. How is the American mindset different from the Asian mindset? Any major differences? As far as business is concerned, there is no difference between US, Japan and India. Business is the same everywhere. One plus one will be the same universally, the same logic applies to business also, because management is a science not an art. If it were an art, 6
it would differ from country to country. But science is a science. Hence no difference amongst countries. If science is different, one would wonder why in your course you teach people to appreciate art, dance and theatre ‌. There is a reason I focus on arts in addition to science. You need to understand the new subtle changeovers in customers. You cannot understand the subtle points of customer behavior and predict future changes only with science, you need more intuition. To be intuitive, you need to have a holistic view of human beings, for which arts is essential. If we just approach business with too much science, without intuition, it will become like a compute programme. (Laughs). A computer cannot understand human aspirations. How do we encourage a larger participation of people in the organisation?
This classroom is designed differently. What's the idea behind it? This learning environment has three characteristics: No teacher: To teach is a word of arrogance. All are teachers and all are students. There is no hierarchy, no platform. We can only create an innovative teaching environment. It is really learning and not teaching. Flexibility: Sometimes we use tables, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we work in groups and sometimes we work individually. Sometimes we make presentations. We learn skills, with very little theory. Therefore the teaching environment must be flexible. Unique approach: Our lectures are very short and we believe in visiting sites, observing the sites and working on them in the classroom. It is to create many environments in the
Managers are responsible. People come to work with such a lot of enthusiasm, why not motivate them to give suggestions. Can you share with us what managers could do to motivate workers? They could focus on three important things. First, the top manager must visit the site and see for himself how things are. If he does not walk around, he will never know his own shopfloor. Hence, he will not be able to communicate with conviction to motivate people. Second, observe facts and do not go by opinions. If facts tell us, things are not good enough, then use scientific tools to make them better. The use of science is essential. If we apply science, things will surely get better. If managers don't visit the site and still initiate improvement programmes, it would be based on opinions, not facts. Scientific tools will not be effective then. Third, develop a programme to motivate people based on facts applying scientific methods. That's really the way to motivate people.
Prof. Shiba observes that India had a great visionary leader in our previous president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He had met him in July 2004 when Dr. Kalam had asked him to come to India to help the manufacturing sector become a global force. Prof. Shiba acceded to Dr. Kalam's request and committed himself to help the manufacturing sector in India. That, essentially, is the genesis of the VLFM initiative.
classroom. If we visit a factory, then we come back to the classroom and create an environment of the factory. If we visit a showroom or a retail outlet, we create that environment in the classroom. The trick is to become like a magnet and attract the environment, so that it can be worked upon in the classroom. The reality that we bring in the classroom is the core of our approach, which makes it unique. Also, our classroom is always open for free flow of ideas and reality. There is a symbol behind the Tshirts the participants are wearing. What does it symbolise?
symbolises incremental improvement. It is our present. The overlapping curves, symbolize the breakthrough, which is our future. Thus we need three eyes. One to deal with the past, one to manage the present and one to create a future. How does it relate to the customer? In the past, we needed control to serve customers. Then we had to make incremental improvements to meet the changing needs and now these are not enough and we require breakthroughs to create tomorrow. That's a beautiful explanation. Please remember. Those who have already bought our products is the past, those who are currently buying is the present and those who would buy our products in the future is tomorrow. Hence we need three eyes and must keep all three eyes open as they focus on three different kinds of customers. The top management must have all the three eyes open.
It is Buddha smiling. Buddha has 3 eyes and if Buddha smiles, the customer smiles. See the straight line, it is the past. Control is the past. The line with steps
As most of our managers cannot benefit directly from this programme, what would you recommend they read? They should read my book 'Breakthrough Management'. If not read fully, at least keep it on
The table as a companion a personal tool kit. Before we conclude, would you like to make any observation about Godrej? When I'm conducting this programme in Mumbai, I live in a bungalow in Hillside Colony and I normally walk to the Centre. At that time, many people are walking in and coming towards the factory. I notice all faces are shining and looking pretty cheerful. Compared with Japanese workers, people here look much more cheerful. Even the children walking to the school look very cheerful. Here people look much happier. I don't know why, but I feel very happy to see these happy people everyday. Maybe the Japanese are very tired, maybe even lost. But I saw the same enthusiastic faces in the 60s and 70s in Japan. Every person coming to the factory then had the same enthusiasm that you see here. Today, unfortunately that passion has disappeared compared to India. So I strongly believe your country is now developing and is on the rise. Everyone has a feeling that they have a future. That's the reason for enthusiasm and cheerfulness. That's my observation and interpretation. Do share it with your people. Indrapal Singh (With inputs from G. Sunderraman)
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My interactions with Prof. Shoji Shiba
I heard Prof Shoji Shiba San for the first time during the CII Manufacturing Summit 2006. Speaking to a large gathering of over 500 delegates he caught the attention of all with his keen observation and sharp & crisp comments and built a rapport with everyone instantly. I met him in person during VLFM. What an experience it was! I can describe Prof Shiba as extraordinarily soft spoken, gentle and polite, treating his mentees with kindness yet demanding when he sensed even the slightest slackening in attention. His focus on basics, such as-What to observe & How to offer comments besides an almost devotional approach to the process of learning and a firm conviction that everyone can improve struck me as key qualities that must be making the process of learning efficient and permanent.
Kaustubh Shukla COO, Industrial Products Group
My colleagues who are attending the VLFM programme can not thank the company enough for providing this opportunity. I sense that the team of enlightened leaders in Manufacturing coming out of the VLFM programme has the capacity to change future outlook of Manufacturing in India.
Our Storage Solutions Group is to grow exponentially in the coming years. VLFM provides inputs that will help us to grow our business. Supply Chain and Design are two key pillars of our Business. Firstly VLFM makes us think Big M as against our traditional small m. Traditionally our focus has been on the factory alone (small m) without considering the rest of the chain (Big M). Secondly VLFM is structured on “Learning by Doing” as against Learn in class & Practice separately. This ensures that whatever we learn is only by doing. Credit goes to Prof. Shiba for planning the programme in this manner. P Bala Storage Solutions Group
Thirdly VLFM exposes us to the “Best in the field Thinking”, both in the subject as well as the Leadership series. Learning from Gurus such as Prof. Shiba, Prof. Furuhashi, Dr. Kano, Prof. Mori, Prof. Tsurushima as well as listening to CEOs as opened our horizons. Since the learning is by doing, the Homeworks require us to apply the tools to our business. We are confident that our business will benefit from our contribution.
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It has been a once in a life time opportunity for me to learn from Prof Shoji Shiba. I have learnt to: • Use only language of facts for ease in decision making • Practice ("Wax on Wax off "), as practice can only make a man perfect • Have a big dream to be fulfilled in a life time • Always plan before you commit any thing • Understand that 60% job completion in time is better than perfection delayed • Find out customer's latent requirements through Voice of customer, observation and focussing on periphery • Make final decisions based on my own knowledge and wisdom.
Anand D Bagdare Quality Assurance PES Division
VLFM has given me 1 Global exposure 2 Competence to see the invisible 3 Ability to Focus on Big M
This programme holds a lot of promise for a business like ours wherein our success is based as much on operational efficiency as it is on adding value to our customers.
AM Vishwanathan Vice President, Storage Solutions Group
Not only does it create a cadre of leaders from within our 'operations team', it provides a fresh insight into all aspects of our business, which we have found extremely useful and interesting.
You may have certain perceptions of the Union as flag holding activists; but we are not like that. We hardly ever leave the negotiating table. Our Company has certain principles and we uphold them. We are on the rolls here and therefore know the ground reality. Whatever suggestions have been made as a part of the VLFM will be implemented and that is our word. We take it upon ourselves to motivate the workmen to implement these suggestions. BD Joshi-President & RR Yadav-General Secretary, Godrej & Boyce Shramik Sangh
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Prime Minister’s Message
A fax sent from the Prime Minister’s office on the VLFM Programme The Prime Minister is happy to note that Confederation of Indian Industry has started the Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing Programme, an initiative under the Joint Co-operation Aggreement between the Government of India and the Government of Japan. While providing impetus to the growth of manufacturing, this programme will also enhance the government’s skill building initiatives critical to developing competency in India’s manufacturing sector. The Prime Minister believes that Indian manufacturing must become competent for innovating new products that meet the need of this country and for exports. The Prime Minister conveys his best wishes to CII for success of this path breaking programme of National importance. Dr. Sanjaya Baru September 28, 2007
Glimpses of the Programme
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REFLECT. RESTORE . REIMAGINE
Cooverbai Vakil:
Educating people, changing lives Vrunda Pathare traces education through the years, in colonial and postcolonial India and highlights the contribution of Cooverbai Vakil, a visionary in the field of education.
Education and colonial India: Way back in the year 1870 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, Keshub Chandra Sen while speaking about England’s duties to India said: “The first great duty which the British nation owes to India is to promote education far and wide. It is desirable that you should establish railways and telegraphs, that you should open up works of irrigation, and that you should try in all possible ways to promote the material prosperity of the country. All these certainly are desirable; but, after all, these are only external refinements of civilization, for
unless the heart of the nation is reformed and purified, there cannot be anything like true and lasting reformation… Education is the chief remedy for all those great evils which afflict the country.” In spite of such appeals, the progress of education remained rather slow during the British period. Between 1881-82 and 1946-47, the number of primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates in British India rose from 3.2 per cent in 1881 to 7.2 per cent in 1931 and 12.2 per cent in 1947.
Aunty with students of Udayachal School. Also seen in the photograph is Mrs. Jyotsnaben Mehta
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Pirojsha’s vision: Late Shri Pirojsha Godrej while building up the Industrial Township at Vikhroli in late 1940s thought of addressing the issue of illiteracy in his own way by providing education to his workers’ children. Pirojsha was disturbed by the plight of these children who, having nothing else to do, were just whiling away their time in the streets. He discussed this with Naval. His vision that education will ensure a bright future for them gave birth to the idea of setting up the school for them. When Naval mentioned this to Soonuben, she approached her old teacher and the noted educationist, the late Mrs. Cooverbai Vakil who also happened to be a family friend. Her experience in the field of education helped Godrej in shaping the character of the school in the early years. Cooverbai Vakil and the Udayachal Schools: Cooverbai Vakil was a product of Shantiniketan where among other things she studied music, art and drawing. She had also taken training in Indian Classical music in the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Bombay. Thousands of children had learned from her Indian music, besides dramatics and art. Aunty brought this spirit of Shantiniketan, the love for nature and arts to the Udayachal 12
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The foundation that was laid by her was strong enough to withstand any wrong influences from outside. And working holistically with the whole family — students, home and workplace — the concepts and thinking of the employees was changed towards a more modern outlook
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Literacy in Independent India: The problem of illiteracy continues to persist, even after 60 years of independence. 30% of the world’s illiterate population comes from India. Lack of education has resulted in growth of unemployment, poverty and a substantial increase in rate of growth of population. Illiteracy has proven to be a major handicap in the development of our country. UNESCO therefore remarked that “Literacy in India is an indispensable means for effective social and economic participation, contributing to human development and poverty reduction.” Dr. A PJ Abdul Kalam in his ‘India 2020: The vision for New Millenium’ has identified education as one of the five prerequisites to achieve the vision of Developed India.
Along with her husband Prof. Jehangir Vakil, who later became a Principal at Shanti Niketan, started in 1928 the Children’s Own School in Poona. The school was renamed as Pupil’s Own School after few years. She came to Bombay in 1933 where, at Vile Parle where she conducted the Pupils Own School till 1944. She was in Shanti Niketan again from 1944 to 1949.
it was necessary to persuade a few parents to send their children to school. The children had to be brought to school, washed and cleaned and fed too. The teachers performed these tasks most willingly. Cooverbai was their constant source of inspiration. Her dedicated efforts translated Pirojsha’s vision into a reality – a school building that stands today as a magnificent edifice on the campus of Godrej Industrial Township at Vikhroli. Acknowledging her contribution to the field of education, the Government of India conferred Padma Shri on her in the year 1972.
Cooverbai Vakil being felicitated at a school function. Seen in the picture are Mr.Naoroji Godrej and Mr. Sohrab Godrej
Among her distinguished students were: Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Mrs. Soono N Godrej, Mr. Kanti Gandhi, Dr.Balakrishna Kalelkar, Mr. Kamalnayan Bajaj and Mrs. Vijaylakshmi Pandit’s daughters Chandralekha, Nayantara, Ritakshara. ‘Aunty’ as Cooverbai was called by all in Godrej helped the Directors in the early years in taking many a policy decision, supervised the internal administration of the schools and worked with the teachers providing them with practical inservice training. The school was started as Balak Mandir. Initially the classes were held at the grain store in the Godrej welfare centre with a handful of children. In the early years,
Soonuben once recalled, ‘Without Mrs. Cooverbai’s help, guidance and encouragement, it would have taken us much longer to achieve what we did. The foundation that was laid by her was strong enough to withstand any wrong influences from outside. And working holistically with the whole family — students, home and workplace — the concepts and thinking of the employees was changed towards a more modern outlook, whereas in the old days their highest ambition was Standard VII pass for their children!’
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Her dedicated efforts translated Pirojsha’s vision into a reality – a school building that stands today as a magnificent edifice on the campus of Godrej Industrial Township at Vikhroli.
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schools. Shirin Choksey, formerly Principal of Udayachal Pre-primary and Primary School reminiscences, “She (Cooverbai Vakil) believed in allround personality development… in giving children the freedom to develop…”
We are grateful to Ms. Cooverbai Vakil for laying the foundation of the Udayachal schools. Vrunda Pathare Godrej Archives 13
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Envisioning a
greener tomorrow
ndia has produced visionary leaders in all walks of life; environmental conservation is no exception. From Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation, to Sunderlal Bahuguna, Dr. Salim Ali, MC Mehta and Medha Patkar - we have a long list of celebrated environmental leaders who greatly contributed to the welfare of our natural environment in multiple ways. There are several remarkable environmental leaders who are far less highlighted, but still have done as much as or even more significant contributions to conserve our environment. The role of the Godrej family in conserving the environmental resources, especially of Mumbai region is well-known. The bold initiatives by Godrej to conserve thousands of acres of mangrove ecosystem on their private land since 1980s was only possible because of the visionary leadership of Godrej who envisioned the importance of nature and
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biodiversity conservation at a time when these concepts were at its infancy in this country. We can only be grateful when we look back into the life and deeds of those inspiring leaders from Godrej. One such visionary was Sohrabji Godrej. Sohrabji grew to share his father’s (Pirojsha) deep concerns about population explosion and Environmental degradation and was a renowned and passionate environmentalist. His love the for environment and understanding of the population-environment nexus earned him the sobriquets ‘Mr. Environmentalist and even ‘FP Godrej’ Godrej’s Mangrove Project: In 1985, several years before any formal Indian legislation came into this country regarding the protection of Mangroves, the Godrej’s Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation initiated a Mangrove Conservation Project. It was
Maya Mahajan chronicles Sohrabji Godrej’s contribution to the enviroment, and highlights the fact that Godrej continues to follow his guiding principles even today.
started with the initiative of Mr. Sohrabji P Godrej (the then Chairman of Godrej Company) & some of the great scientists including Salim Ali, botanist Dr AK Ganguli & Dr Homi Sethna. The company felt that they owed a lot to this city and saving Mangroves could be a wonderful instance of them demonstrating their Corporate Social Responsibility. There was around 1750 acres of land adjacent to Thane creek on its western bank owned by Godrej since 1940s. Initially, land was fallow and many ornithologists and bird-lovers used this area to watch birds. Sohrabji recognised the importance of this Mangrove area and he took the bold decision of reserving such a large portion of their precious Mumbai land for the cause of the environment Mangrove project of Godrej had a three-pronged approach, Research, Education & Conservation. Since 1985, Soonabai Pirojsha Marine Ecology
Centre is active in management of this vast Mangrove area. There was very little awareness about Mangroves in society. So the educational approach was adopted to create awareness about the importance of mangroves for ecological and economic sustainability. An Interpretation Centre was established to impart environmental education by using mangroves as a platform. The centre has facilities for a nature trail, theme parks, small marine aquariums, information through posters, presentations, film shows, books etc.
Plantation of mangrove plants was also undertaken in over 100 acres to improve the cover and biodiversity of the mangroves. A security post was set up with a watchtower and a boat was bought for patrolling the area. Sohrabji and Environmental Organisation: Sohrabji became ‘Friend’ of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). He was also vice-president and vice-patron of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), India’s premiere organisation dedicated for nature Conservation. Godrej’s association with BNHS continue till date. In 1969, when the Indian chapter of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-India) was Established as a charitable trust as a wildlife conservation organisation, Sohrabji was its founder-trustee.
WWF’s aim is to encompass conservation of habitats and ecosystems and to lend support to the management of the country’s protected area network and ultimately stop and eventually reverse the environmental degradation.Godrej donated one crore rupees for the building of the Indian headquarter of WWF-India which is named after Pirojsha Godrej (Pirojsha Godrej National Conservation Centre) Mr Sohrabji was the vice-chairman of the People’s Commission on Environment and Development, India, which was instrumental in conveying the nation’s popular inputs to the Earth Summit. He was president of the National Society of the Friends of Trees and also of the Mangrove Society of India. He was a founder-member of the Salim Ali Centre of Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) of Coimbatore. The Indian Merchant’s Chamber honoured Sohrabji Godrej for outstanding contribution in enhancing the image of the business community by personal service. He was also closely associated with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Committee on Environment, the ASSOCHAM Committee on Industrial Pollution and Safety, the Indian Natural Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage (INTAC), and so on. In Sohrabji’s biography (titled ‘Abundant living, Restless striving, a memoir’) he has poignantly mentioned about his recalling of an occasion when he was offered the prestigious membership of the WWF’s ‘1001 Nature Trust.’ The membership fee then was $ 10,000. He hesitated to approach his Father because at that time the company was passing through a critical period, his father Mr Pirojsha Godrej was heavily in debt, and all the money he could spare was going into the industrial garden township at Vikhroli. Sohrabji did, however, broach the subject to Father, expecting a flat ‘no.’ To his pleasant surprise he welcomed the idea: ‘If we can’t spare money for such causes,’ Pirojsha said, ‘what’s the use of making money?’ In fact, his father seemed quite impressed (and not a little bit surprised) by the fact that he had been approached
by this prestigious organisation. He travelled extensively and had visited 160 countries, including the frozen continent of Antarctica. He was deeply concerned about the global problems such as population explosion, degradation of environment, wildlife and heritage. The black patch which he used to wear on his sleeves symbolised his concerns about nature. Sohrabji’s Philosophy: In his speeches and writings Sohrabji pointed out that the worst consequences of overpopulation - the population holocaust, as he calls it- is that the community and its environment cannot function as an ecological unit in Nature. Land cover, which is already inadequate, is being further denuded. About fifty years ago 45 percent of India was covered by forest and it had next to Brazil, the largest varieties of trees and plants. Today the forest area had been reduced to a mere 12 per cent. Our lifelines, the rivers, the fabulous gigantic Himalayan ranges, vast life-giving forest areas, all had been polluted or devastated. In a city like Bombay over-reclamation had weakened the shoreline and was destroying its sustaining wetlands. Wetlands, in fact, were a neglected source of wealth. Gandhi’s words about the importance of village uplift had been forgotten with the vast majority living in squalor. Our wildlife was threatened along with its habitat. The tiger, for example, required vast and extensive territory of its own type for survival, which in turn could preserve the habitat mainly forests. In 1983, when he was the Sheriff of Mumbai, he initiated a campaign against Noise Pollution. He made people realise that Diwali is a “Sarvajanik Diwali”, celebrated annually, is a unique example, which demonstrates that Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise by celebrating Sarvajanik Diwali. He also used to head The Forum Against Noise Pollution. Like Sohrabji, his brothers, Naval and Burjorji also shared the concern about environment degradation and population which were inherited from their father. Even today the concern for the environment continues to be essential to the spirit of Godrej. 15
Awards conferred on Sohrabji Godrej for his contribution in the field of Environment
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Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Purskar 1991
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WWF 25 th Anniversary Benefactor Award by HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh 1991
1994 Distinguished Service Award for 1994 by the Rotary Club of Bombay
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‘Man of the Trees Award’ by the National Society of the Friends of the Trees 1997
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BOGs - Dr. BN Purandare Outstanding Services Award for Services in the field of Family Planning, by the Bombay Obstetric and Gynaecological Society 1997
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Golden Peacock Life Time Achievements award by the Institute of Directors 1999
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Padma Bhushan 1999
Indian Merchants Chamber Diamond Jubilee Endowment Trust Award for outstanding contribution by a business man in enhancing the image of the business community by personal service 1992 The Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award for 1992-93 by the Indian Science Congress Association
Godrej Today: Godrej has received the prestigious Green Governance award for their Conservation and Restoration of Habitat project from the hands of the Honourable Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. The award is reckoned as a testimony to Godrej’s commitment to the global community to protect the mangroves and promote its conservation through an extensive environmental education campaign. Godrej & Boyce has been setting aside a portion of its profits towards its environmental efforts. Godrej was involved in setting up the Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre with the CII which was conceived by the house of Godrej and the CII, in partnership with the Andhra Pradesh Government with the technical assistance by USAID. Incidentally, the Green Business Centre is the first building in the India to receive the LEED’s platinum rating, making it one of the most environmentally advanced buildings in the world. The center is focused on promoting Green business and Green Consumerism in India. Godrej is now reaching new heights of environmental excellence and the Construction division has now obtained an international certification for Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) in October, 1997. By 2001 the Pirojshanagar Township was also certified for ISO14001. Greener technologies are increasingly being followed by Godrej in all 16
possible fields. This involved switching to cleaner process, recycling of materials and water, efficient resource management, waste minimisation and so on. The, residential project of Godrej Garden Enclave Project, the company has decided to implement a comprehensive rainwater harvesting scheme with a purpose of utilising this abundant natural source of water for flushing and gardening requirements of the residential buildings as well as for recharging the ground water aquifer. According to the Energy Conservation Act (Encon) came into effect from 2001, Energy intensive Industries and commercial building with a connected load that is greater than 500kw / 600kvaw Energy conservation system was made mandatory. Godrej & Boyce, being a light engineering company, does not fall within the ambit of this law. However, Godrej voluntarily complies with Encon system for the last two decades. Such initiatives towards sustainable management of environment at Pirojshanagar a better place to live in for all of us and we are sure Godrej would strive in the future too to retain its leadership in environmental excellence. Godrej’s concern about environmental and ecological problems is not limited to Mumbai. They have also contributed towards the management of the ecology in the
Ganga Basin, which has a drainage area of 8,60,000 sq. kms., accounting for over 40% of the country’s irrigated land and sustaining 37% of the population. The Godrej Ganga Ecology Panel’s major role is to create public awareness and sensitising the people living on the banks of the Ganga in realising the goals of the Action Plan involving the preservation of Heritage Monuments. The contribution by Godrej to the environment and the role of Godrej family over generations to the environmental conservation is unparalleled, especially in the corporate world. We, at Godrej, are lucky to be the part of a company with exceptional levels of environmental and social responsibility, thanks to our visionary futurist leaders. - Maya Mahajan With inputs from Dr PR Arun Reference Karanjia, B.K Final Victory: The LifeAnd Death-of Naval Pirojsha Godrej, Penguin Books India Pt. Ltd., 2000 Karanjia B. K., Godrej: A Hundred Years, Vols.I and II, Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 1997 Karanjia B. K. Abundant Living Restless striving A Memoir by Sohrab P. Godrej
KNOW YOUR DIVISIONAL HEAD
Shyam Motwani
Breathing life into Lifespace Educational background: Mechanical Engineer and MBA in Marketing Your family: My wife Radhika is a housewife and son Roshan is in the tenth standard. Your strengths: Clarity of thought, I value action and speed. A habit that you would like to get rid of: Smoking. I am a very sparse smoker. I smoke about 2-3 cigarettes but I want to kick that habit. Your hobbies: Watching television, listening to classical music and reading. I am a religious minded person so I spend a lot of time listening to vedas and mantras and listen to a lot of bhajans. Your favourite book: The future at the Bottom of the Pyramid, one of the greatest inspirations for me as an Indian professional. Favourite film: Sholay and Amar Akbar Anthony Favourite subject: Maths Favourite song: My current favourite is Mujh ko maloom hai, ishq masoom hai from Jaaneman. Favourite cuisine: I am very fond of Sindhi cuisine. I love Sindhi kadi, Sai bhaji and pakwan dal. Two things about you that no one knows: I am obsessed with housekeeping and I love cooking. You dislike: Hypocrisy and backbiting You are most proud of: Achieving what I have professionally against all odds You are most afraid of: Heights and water. I always believe that my death is going to be in water. Any social cause you have been associated with: I contribute to CRY. I prefer to help someone who wants to educate his/her child. Your motto in life: I want to achieve happiness not through material wellbeing but by being at peace with myself and my family. Your hero: JRD Tata Your brand statement: Sincere, well meaning, street smart and above all a great human being.
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here is an instantaneous exuberance to Shyam Motwani that cannot go unnoticed. You enter his cabin and you know you are there for business. No idle talk, no lack of focus - lets get started. Very candid about his life, his mistakes, and his achievements. He may have been dealt wrong cards, yet he does not complain but plays on with ingenuity, vigour and resolve. Resilience in the face of adversity seems to be a defining theme. Action and speed are the words governing his approach to business. He comes across the kind across of person who makes you believe that dreams are forever - they just take a different course sometimes. Tell us a little about your schooling and your childhood. When I was a child and in school, Mathematics used to be my favourite subject and I was always fascinated by automobiles, motorcycles, aeroplanes and rockets. So many of them used to fly over our building and I used to always wonder who builds these machines and how are they built? I used to always tell my mother, that 17
some day I want to build aeroplanes, or maybe cars. However, my father was really keen that I take up Commerce and become a Chartered Accountant. My mom on the other hand used to always encourage me to do whatever I liked. I was the eldest in the family so and being the eldest boy in the family she obviously wanted me to do exactly what I had in mind.
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I have never felt the lack of a big institution associated with my name. It has never come in the way of my career progress.
As a student I wasn’t very brilliant, but I was above average all through school. As in I would never stand first, but always be in the top five. I took up science after my tenth standard. I did well in my 12th standard but it wasn’t good enough for me to get an admission in Bombay. I was aspiring to be in VJTI or Sardar Patel College of Engineering. But that was not to be because although my PCM scores were high, my aggregate was low, because my English scores were low. That was a huge disappointment. And what I always never thought was going to be a worry turned out to be a worry. I had applied to four Regional Engineering Colleges including Surat. I managed to get admission in all four of them. My mother was not too keen that I go out of Mumbai to study, but I wanted to live independently, so I was rather looking forward to it. Finally, I chose Surat because it was closest to Mumbai.
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Even though we weren’t exactly wellto-do back then, I managed to continue with my good academic record even in engineering. I got a Government of India scholarship all through the 4 years of my engineering. So all my tuition fees were paid completely and they used to pay me some pocket money for books and periodicals. As a part of campus placement, I got two or three offers, from which I decided to take up a job at Bharat Bijlee. You joined Bharat Bijlee as a graduate engineer trainee. Tell us about your initial years. I was pretty excited about joining Bharat Bijlee because of the Siemens connection. And it was an exciting place really. It was the dream come 18
true for me because after my induction I got into hard core engineering - into the foundry of Bharat Bijlee. I was looking after castings for motor bodies and transformer sections. I used to come back home everyday with a lot of soot all over my clothes. But it was wonderful working there and I was particularly interested in industrial engineering. I actually wanted to do a post graduation in Industrial Engineering. My mentor at that time who happened to be the head of industrial engineering, thought that there was merit in me looking at that occupation in Bharat Bijlee. So they offered me a job in industrial engineering and I was doing work study and time study of the workmen in several factories in Bharat Bijlee. So I moved from foundry to motor manufacturing, from motor manufacturing to transformer manufacturing, from transformer manufacturing to elevate the manufacturing and then back to the foundry. For one full year I really worked very hard. So that one year was very, very useful for me so far as learning in engineering is concerned. You seem to have really enjoyed your stint as an engineer in Bharat Bijlee. How did you suddenly decide to do an MBA? Yes I was. But then there was peer pressure. People were saying what are you doing in engineering? You should be doing an MBA today. So people were really encouraging me to do an MBA. So I applied for CAT and I did well in my IIM entrance test. But at the last minute, I got kicked out in the group discussion, personal interview stage. But fortunately I had also applied to other institutes also. I took admission in Somaiya, because it was closest to home and I felt that at the end of the day it is really not about the institute – it’s just about individual brilliance and individual application. And true enough, I have never felt the lack of a big institution associated with my name. It has never come in the way of my career progress. I was personally very confident about what I was doing and I got good grades in my MMS and was recruited by Godrej Soaps as a part of campus recruitment.
How was your stint in Godrej Soaps? It was an exciting opportunity. And the biggest attraction was a company car at the end of one year. For a 24 year old boy to be offered a car was really a big thing at that time. Hardly anyone in my family had a four wheeler at that time. So that whole transition, the whole journey from higher secondary school to college, to engineering, to management and then to Bharat Bijlee in between and thereafter Godrej Soaps was fantastic. I look back at those years with a lot of nostalgia. I spent nearly ten years in Godrej Soaps. And in that period I had the good fortune of working with some fabulous people. Dr. CN Sharma, who recruited me, Dr. Pratap Roy, who was head of Marketing at that time (he was also a theatre personality), CK Rao, who was a very big personality as far as Godrej Soaps sales and marketing was concerned. And when I was in Soaps, I worked on several assignments. I started my career in brand management. I was associated with the new Cinthol relaunch. After around 15-16 months in Marketing, I was picked to head Sales in Gujarat. I headed Sales for Gujarat for more than five years from 1987 onwards. It was a wonderful experience because I was living independently. And I strongly believe that sales was the place to be in at that time because it disciplined ones life a great deal. Then I moved back into brand management after 6 years and then I was category head in the foods business. So I used to handle the entire business of tetra packs – Noble Soya, food drinks, Jumpin, tomato puree and our oils business. So that was another category management experience, which had both marketing and sales as part of the responsibility. So I began to head a function, I think this journey was very useful in my FMCG experience. For a couple of years I was outside the Godrej group, I was clearly bitten by the bug to look at things outside the Godrej group.
What did you do in the phase between quitting Godrej Soaps and joining Godrej & Boyce? I was offered a job in Sterling Holiday Resorts. But it was a big disappointment. Thereafter I moved to Torrent Laboratories. They were setting up their cosmetic business. They wanted somebody to head sales and marketing, so I decided to move to Ahmedabad, which was not very unknown to me. But all the while I was in touch with CK Rao (from Godrej Soaps), my philosopher and guide. One day he
told me there was an opportunity in the Appliances business and asked me if I was interested. I was obviously interested. Vinod Soni used to head the SBU at that time. I met Vinod, Vijay Crishna and VJ Rao and finally they offered me the job. How was your stint in Appliances? Appliances was in a stage of infancy. It was not doing well. We had just set up a world class plant at Shirwal at a very high initial cost. After around 18 months or so, the SBU structure was disbanded. Competition had become very aggressive in the late 90s and early 2000. And we were finding it extremely difficult to protect our brand. When the ship was rocking and not doing well, people decided to
leave. A lot of exits happened between 1999 and 2001. But I decided to stay back. I have always believed that it is important to stick around when your business is seeing tough times. And to add to that, I was getting an opportunity to work with the Managing Director. We built the marketing team over there, we added more resources, we went after a lot of new initiatives; we started the work on the Pentacool range. We launched the Pentacool range in 2001, which after the Puff launch was the next milestone. It was well received. We thought we had hit upon a good sub brand. The product was looking nice. It was refreshingly different from what was available from competition and we did a fair amount of aggressive stuff with Pentacool to bring us back from the brink of disaster. We had lost our market share. We were down by 35 36% share in refrigerators to something like maybe 16 - 17% and then we took it back to about 24% and then again it slid back. The point is Appliances are a completely different ball game. It has a different set of challenges to offer. At the same time there are unique opportunities to go after. After Pentacool nothing had happened for five years. And it’s only in the year 2005, with Boston Consulting Group coming in that New Product Development (NPD) was brought back into focus. And I was fortunate to lead the NPD and I was associated with the product development of the Eon range. I got to handpick a team of industrial designers - a team of young and bubbly NID experts, NID graduates who delivered very innovative product and component designs. It was a great success and one of the best looking refrigerators in terms of design. Around May 2006, I moved out of Appliances. You are now the Divisional Head for the Retailing Division. What is your vision for Lifespace? Well there are a few things. One thing I think Lifespace can be the growth engine for our furniture business. Lifespace can clearly drive our furniture business and the reason for 19
me saying this is that in any Lifespace store 70% or more is furniture. In appliances, we all know the retail model is completely multi brand. You cannot sell a single brand in appliances. Because consumers want a choice. Some die hard loyalists may end up buying a Godrej brand from a Godrej retail store but such cases are few and far between. The security business and lock business with regards to Lifespace is very small. The origins of all these 4 categories under one roof have something to do with what we did in the 60s and the 70s by setting up showrooms - the objective of which was strictly to showcase. There was never a sales objective. Then came a stage when we started doing up the stores and making them presentable. Then came a stage when we found a division and we had a business objective and we wanted to sell. Then we realised the difficulties. Fortunately, furniture came along and that provided the impetus to sales. The revenue started growing.
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Lifespace can present a new face of Godrej to the consumers of today’s India and the future.
My vision for Lifespace as a brand is that it is a sub brand, which if endorsed by the Godrej brand, till such time that the mother brand becomes very strong and powerful, it can continue to do the job of dusting off the stuff that the Godrej brand is associated with. It can present a new face of Godrej to the consumers of today’s India and the future. As compared to competition, are we able to hold our position through Lifespace? We are actually middle of the market in terms of our product offering. We are largely the mid end range in furniture. We are less top end. We have tremendous amount of potential to be top end. And Lifespace particularly has that potential to offer because Lifespace will not suffer from the baggage of the past. It is a subbrand presented in a refreshingly different manner. And it will allow us to go up the value chain and be able to get a greater value extraction and value creation for our consumers.
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So I think today we are able to compete effectively with some of 20
them, if not all of them. But we certainly have the mettle and the capability to really do well compared to all the current players that are there in the market including some of the local players. Essentially, their model barring Style Spa is all source and sell. We have the good fortune of being manufacturer-retailer. In a large section of our products we manufacture quite a few of them. Surely, a certain percentage of our business comes from sourced furniture but we have a fantastic opportunity. The other thing that we can do and that we need to do very urgently is to look at getting into complementary products such as furnishings and accessories. Because that is one category that can allow you fantastic margins which you can use to cross subsidise your current furniture business. Currently in the furniture business, in spite of putting ones sourcing in place and other initiatives and innovations related to supply chain, design and products, to remain cost effective is very tough. Let’s say 20% of your business can come from furnishings over a period of time. So what you are saying is that Lifespace can really become a driving force of the furniture business rather than the other way around? Of course. We should be leveraging the Lifespace retail brand and my vision is to take the Lifespace retail brand as the new face of Godrej and use this retail brand as a retail business model for the home furniture business. We have heard you are a believer in the importance of consumer insight. Would you tell us why you think it is so critical? It helps you zero in on that single minded value proposition you are making to your consumers with respect to your brand offering or your product offering. This is where consumer insights help. Consumers buy goods emotionally. Insights help you to get that emotion because insights are all about consumer’s daily life. When a consumer is buying a piece of furniture he is actually not buying
What are your concerns in the retailing business? What are the issues that keep you awake? Profitability is my greatest concern. Currently our business model is such that we transact goods at a certain price on which businesses make a certain margin. And my margin is the difference in end selling price and the price at which I get the goods. Considering the recurring cost of high rentals, manpower cost (fixed salary plus incentives etc.), running costs of the stores (power etc.), travel, communication, advertising and sales promotion expenses, renovation costs, capital cost for new stores, my expenses are in the vicinity of about 20-22% whereas my margin is 15%. Net operating surplus, on the other hand, may be between 8-10% on expense. So to be fair in the immediate short term as I see it, I think the challenge is to grow the topline and that can happen only when you are able to present a very compelling value proposition to the future consumers who would come to Godrej Lifespace stores. Unfortunately there wasn’t any strong value proposition which is
compelling enough for a person like you and me to visit a Lifespace store. Secondly, the awareness about Godrej life space is pitiable. It is close to zero. Isn’t that a classical dilemma that the promotion comes first or should….? No. I am very clear in my mind. There is no chicken and egg story here. To convert that vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle we have to we have to make large investments in promoting the brand. And I have to drive footfalls into my stores. Unless I get traffic to my stores, I can’t convert them. Unless I convert them, I can’t hope to drive topline. And of course I must have an imaginative portfolio on display which will help me promote large products, top end products. That’s what my competition is doing. But I have to drive traffic. That’s the biggest challenge. Tell us about important innovations that will help us increase performance? Something new and powerful that we have done. One is that we are now looking at co-located interior designers to add value to what we sell. S/he will be able to ask a few questions to the end consumer as to what kind of mood is one trying to create in their home. And then based on his/her expert understanding of the business of interior design and decoration, she is able to guide the consumer as to what the ideal solution to his/her home is.
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I think the challenge is to grow the topline and that can happen only when you are able to present a very compelling value proposition to the future consumers who would come to Godrej Lifespace stores.
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furniture. He is trying to meet a certain aspirational mood he wants to create in his home. For instance, when he is buying furniture, whether he is buying side lamps or candle lights for his room, he is wanting to create a certain atmosphere, a certain mood in his bedroom. Furniture only helps. Furniture is a means to the end and if you didn’t have consumer understanding and you can’t figure out what the consumers are doing when they are buying goods, you would never be able to hit upon a sweet spot as they say in advertising or in marketing, which is like bull’s eye. If you can’t get the consumer to say, “wow this is what I was looking for”, you have failed in your job as a marketer.
The other innovation is leveraging IT. We have got a touch screen kiosk in our stores which has loads of new and innovative software. One of them is a virtual room planner which means that you can actually go on the software on the screen and pick and choose pieces of furniture for your bedroom and see how the bedroom looks and then decide which one to buy. Two, in the category of 21
appliances we are offering something by way of a software called a product selector software means that if I have to buy a refrigerator and I am completely uninitiated, we have a software to help the consumer decide s/he should buy. It is just a set of half a dozen questions that the computer throws at the consumer and the consumer answers them and the computer throws up a solution saying that this particular product would suit your needs perfectly.
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In today’s day and age given the shortage of people, it is imperative that you at all times show them the big picture.
Lastly, we are the only division in Godrej & Boyce today having a working, thriving, good looking ecommerce site on the net, where the consumers in the confines of their home buy all that they want to buy without touching and feeling the product. We are doing a lot of the new age stuff to promote our website for people not just out of India, but for people within India to use this site and buy more and more of our consumer durable furniture. Where do you see Retailing Division ten years from now? I clearly think that we should be hitting at least about 250-300 crore by 2010. This is keeping the current format of Lifespace in mind. Not in the format that I was talking about when we were discussing my vision for Lifespace. And if we were to do business according to your vision…? If we were to leverage Lifespace by Godrej as the retail brand and the retail business model going forward for the home furniture business, I personally think that we should be looking at nothing less 800-1000 crore from the current bunch of stores. What do you do to retain talent? Of utmost importance I think is communication. In today’s day and age given the shortage of people, it is imperative that you at all times show them the big picture. I believe in interacting with my employees constantly and when I interact I am able to come down to the level of the lowest common denominator, communicate to them in a language that they understand, address the day
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to day concerns and provide just that single assurance that there is somebody at the highest level is coming down to their respective market, spending time with them and using that opportunity of leaving behind some key messages and inputs which can be in the area of training them, developing them and motivating them and showing them. What is your one key message to the retailing team? I have over the years painstakingly come to one conclusion that all our businesses, be it the B2C businesses or the large B2B businesses, consumer centricity should be our mantra. Try and get as close to the consumer. Sleep, live and breathe the consumer only then we will be able to get to the top of the pyramid. You attended a top management programme conducted by University of Michigan in Bangalore – what were your key learnings from the programme? I think it just widened my perspectives on how to run a business enterprise. I learnt the art of evaluating new projects and it prepared me for handling large businesses. I got a lot of learnings from there which can help me in future mergers and acquisitions, which I think is a fantastic strategy for business. I also understood the importance of human capital and how one can leverage IT for business growth. It was a wonderful 12 day programme it made me a well rounded management professional, it has prepared me for future assignments and for further leadership roles within the organization. What kind of leader do you think your colleagues and subordinates perceive you to be? What is your managerial style? A combination of democratic and very hard nosed - highly demanding and a hard task master; one who strives to get to the nth level of detail because God is in detail and God is in Godrej. Indrapal Singh & Megha Moorthy
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Being HIV positive is considered more a social stigma than a
Aiding positive people
disease. Saraswathi Char, on behalf of the factory dispensary, throws some light on the roadblocks, the challenges and sensitivity needed while dealing with HIV affected patients and their families.
A proactive approach: We at Factory Dispensary of Godrej & Boyce believe in being proactive. Our initiative towards HIV/AIDS began in the year 1993. Follow up of these cases have been thorough and we have maintained statistics to study the progress of this disease. The spread of this deadly disease has been worrisome. Not only is our company worried, the entire nation and in fact the whole world is concerned. Focus on prevention: So to study and collect statistics has not been the only focus of our medical staff. Where prevention is the only answer as treatment options are limited to containing the disease; Dispensary has proactively conducted various programs on the awareness and prevention front. Last year we had organized a street play and conducted free test to screen people for HIV/ AIDs. We also had poster exhibition. Our continuous endeavor has been in the area of prevention. Rehab - an equal priority: However, we realised that taking initiative in the prevention field alone is not sufficient. We realised that we need to actively get involved in the rehabilitation of those who are positive. We have worked closely with other agencies to get Anti Retroviral
Treatment free of cost to those who are infected. We have actively been involved in counseling the families on how to protect those who are negative and take care of positive persons well. We have a tie up with JJ hospital which is giving free treatment for our employees. JJ Hospital along with NACO is a recognized antiretroviral treatment centre and issues these medicines which cost about Rs. 3500 per month per person free. They have approximately 7000 people who are on these medicines. They also treat other opportunistic illnesses. We have about 15 people on this program through JJ hospital. This number includes employees and their families. ESIS too gives these medicines free for those who are under their care. So, some of our contract work forces are treated by them. Bringing positive people back in the mainstream: Our focus has been trying to get these positive people who are well enough to work back in to the mainstream. We have about 6 people currently working with us. Anonymity is strictly maintained. We have educated firstaiders to take universal precautions in all cases of injury. This not only protects people but also eliminates the discrimination against positive people. 23
But the tougher challenge is to remain objective towards the positive person. Not being judgemental about the positive person requires a lot of sensitivity and broadmindedness. However they get the disease, they still need to be looked after and supported. To do that we need to keep our personal prejudice aside. Simply sitting back and saying that these people have been unfaithful to their partners and therefore deserve what they get is a convenient and escapist stance. The important part is to realise that this is not our purpose. We need to rise above this pettiness and be fully present to help. What is most important is to keep in mind that we are all human beings and even the most self-proclaimed, morally upright people could commit mistakes. And hence no one has the right to judge anyone else. It is easier to say but very difficult at times to practice. Trouble gets exaggerated when the families are involved and women generally are self sacrificing and want the best treatment for the man before they get treated themselves. We have found that we are battling our own anger at our helplessness. In this depressing situation where we the helpers are feeling the depression, how much worse is it at the family where the inevitable is awaited? Hence they need all our understanding, love, acceptance and support. There is hope: Not all is lost. Today, with the advancement in medicine, persons who are positive are able to lead a near normal life. The life span also has increased. With support and understanding and a little bit of TLC (tender loving care) we can make a huge difference to positive people. So let us all do it. 24
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The tougher challenge is to remain objective towards the positive person.
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The challenges - remaining objective and overcoming prejudices: In our effort to support families which have HIV positive people in them, we have learnt a lot. Some of the challenges have been personal. Maintaining a positive nonjudgmental regard to a positive person at times is challenging. We realised that was easy to be empathic with the family because we saw them as innocent victims.
FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT
The
Yearning
An HIV positive patient shares his own heart rending tale of indestructible faith and unflagging spirit.
to live
M
y name is Raj and I am 31 years old. I was born in Uttar Pradesh. My family comprised of my parents, my brother and my three lovely sisters. We were poor, to say the least. In the hope of giving us a better life, my father decided to try his luck in the quintessential city of dreams – Mumbai. And the city of dreams it proved to be, because once we moved to Mumbai our financial condition improved considerably. Since then I can’t recollect a time when the family was in a financial crisis. My father really wanted his two sons to be educated and do him proud. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I diligently studied through high school and even managed to get a first class in my tenth standard exams. Because of my roots in Uttar Pradesh, my parents got me married rather early. But I was happy because my wife was a city-bred Mumbai girl. After I got married, I’m not sure what happened, but I gradually began to lose focus and lost interest in academics. I took up a job and by the grace of God, very soon, we were blessed with a beautiful little girl. It was probably the happiest phase in our lives.
As time passed, my health started deteriorating – I used to perpetually feel tired and I was always feeling feverish. Despite repeated treatment, there was no real improvement to the situation. Then my family doctor recommended an HIV test, but I didn’t take the test. I was wondering why he asked me to take the test; because in my world this disease would only affect those who did immoral things and I had never ever got involved with anyone other than my wife. But my condition was worsening with time and I had to take tests for suspected tuberculosis. That’s when I was compelled to do an HIV test. The next day I went, free of any kind of worry, to collect my HIV report. But when I reached there, I realised there was a strange silence around me and the hospital staff were all looking at me with an ash-stricken expression. But I couldn’t figure out why, until I stepped out of the hospital and checked my report. That’s when my world came crashing down. I was HIV positive. I began crying. Suddenly it seemed as though, in a moment, my life had taken a nosedive and nothing of it was left anymore. I took the report and went to my family doctor. On seeing the report, he looked completely shaken – before he could 25
My wife couldn’t understand why I was suddenly so restless and why I was plunging into a quiet inconsolable state of despair. The next day, my doctor sent me to a counselor, who gave me an in-depth understanding of the disease and introduced me to several HIV positive people, who have been leading nearnormal lives for years together. But I still wasn’t convinced. I had seen the perils of being HIV positive and having to live in society. I had also seen the frightful and depressing death that HIV positive patients die. My counselor was empathetic. And to increase my faith, he took me along for an AIDS awareness programme, where I had the opportunity to meet several AIDS affected people like me. This was a huge learning experience and I felt a new-found energy to battle the disease and felt a sudden desire to live. Then I was asked to get my wife and daughter tested. Thankfully, both their reports were HIV negative. In the meanwhile, my health was deteriorating. My CD4 count had dropped to two. I had lost a lot of weight. I was just 30 kilos. Around this time, I lost my job and I could see society’s perception of me changing. I was getting the feeling that if not because of the disease, I would certainly die of poverty or social stigma. I wanted to live. But I was helpless. I was gradually losing the strength to stand up and fight back against the disease and the victimisation of society. In this horrific period in my life, my wife stood by me as a pillar of strength. Despite being 26
diagnosed HIV negative, she continued living with me and taking care of me. And along with me, she began reading and getting more and more information on the disease and its effects. This is when we heard about Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). Once I started with ART regularly and began regularising my food intake, my health began improving considerably. I began feeling stronger put on weight and in a few months I could walk around comfortably once again. I knew I had to battle the illness and live for my family. I had to read, attend awareness camps – do everything it took to stay aware about how to lead a normal life being HIV positive. I couldn’t afford to remain ignorant anymore. And that’s exactly what I began doing – and I realised in the process that it is largely ignorance that kills most HIV positive patients. To do my bit to dispel this ignorance about the disease, I motivated my wife to become a good counsellor. Even today my wife continues to work as a counsellor and helps AIDS patients lead better, more informed lives. Through this entire period, I was still jobless, because of which my financial condition was rather bad. I thought of getting back my job, so I went up to my employers and told them everything about my disease. I was reappointed in the organization with love and grace. Now I am leading a healthy life. And along with my job, I am ensuring that I fulfill every responsibility towards my family and society. Contrary to my initial apprehensions I am finally leading a dignified life in society with the love and support of my family. In conclusion: It is vital that people in society acquire right information about HIV and more important respond to affected people in an unbiased manner, helping them lead normal, happy life (This is a true piece written for CHANGE magazine, by a HIV positive patient on the condition of complete anonymity) Translated by Megha Moorthy
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I began crying. Suddenly it seemed as though, in a moment, my life had taken a nosedive and nothing of it was left anymore
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say anything I began sobbing uncontrollably. My doctor held me close to him for a while and assured me that I would be okay. Once I could hold myself together, I went home and lay on my bed. I remember that night vividly. The tears just wouldn’t stop…I had a million things running through my head. I was thinking about how people who used to look at me with love and respect would now look down upon me. I was certain that I was doomed to live a life of constant humiliation now. I even contemplated suicide.
HOME BASE
Historic Moments
Snapshots from the Diwali - Dussera function The Godrej spirit sparkled through "The Festival of Lights", as Pirojshanagar continued its tradition of felicitating the Godrej family at the Dussera - Diwali function. The theme chosen this year was "Godrej: Traditional, yet Modern", as the company has continued to maintain its traditions while confidently marching ahead in its quest to remain contemporary and at a leadership position in this fast changing business environment. Allen Antao, Chairman of the Dussera - Diwali Celebration Committee this year, reiterated that Godrej, while moving in tune with the modern times, continued to retain its tradition of self sufficiency and nation building, the very motive with which the founders started this Company. Today our country banks on companies like Godrej to establish its rightful place as an economic power. He felicitated the workmen from PES division, Chandrakant Wadkar and Ashok Dalvi who were recently honoured with a National award in recognition of their high level of skills, for continuing Godrej's tradition of craftsmanship.
Rambali Yadav, President of Godrej & Boyce Shramik Sangh (GBSS), spoke about the journey of Godrej from one century to another and the successful partnership of GBSS in tackling each change that the organisation faced in this journey. He noted that while the economy was developing post liberalisation, workmen were still
grappling with issues such as rising prices, especially with regard to the expenses on medical treatment and education for children. He requested the management to look into these concern areas and work further towards the well-being and prosperity of employees. He assured that GBSS remains committed to support all initiatives of the company at all times in future as well. Anil Verma, EVP & Head - Personnel & Administration, mentioned in his address that in a nation of unity and diversity, if one considers an organization, we're all equal and the term `workman' applies to all of us i.e. `any person who works'. Consider the customer's perspective, and it is the product which is important and not which department produced it. He urged all to reflect on `Work as our religion'. And if work is worship, then the factory is like our temple. He said "What we do in a place of worship can therefore be applied to our workplace. For instance, just like the `muhurat' for 27
orders of Nuclear Power Corporation of India. He also praised all the Industrial Product Divisions for their achievements, new projects and successes. PED has delivered heavy equipment to different parts of the world. Further, all businesses should be gunning for profits. He made special mention of the success of EON refrigerator in the last year and hoped that it's market share would keep increasing. He pointed out that we must pay a lot of attention to product design and simplification of processes. Locks Division was congratulated for their steady progress for 3 continuous years towards CII Exim Bank Business Excellence certification. JNG requested all divisions to implement the CII the puja, timing for work is critical, the discipline to start in time needs to be followed. Also, cleanliness should not be seen as someone else's job, just like in a temple everyone takes responsibility to ensure the hygiene, without having to be asked. Then again, in case of material shortages, rather than sitting idle, we can pool resources to ensure a better process. With regard to Japan, he observed that the employees kept the workplaces very clean and contributed nearly 120 suggestions per year per person, while in India, though we maintain cleanliness in our homes, we do not always practice the same at the workplace. He congratulated the team on the recent award conferred by the Govt. of India for our Safety record, which is quite ahead of many industries and said that we need to go to the zero accident stage next. He mentioned three prime reasons for accident occurrence - overconfidence, taking shortcuts and indifference towards safety, the latter being quite prevalent. He ended saying "I'm sharing this message because I trust that if we decide to, we can achieve anything - we have the power to change so let us change. And what better time than the new year". 28
Mr. JN Godrej, Managing Director, wished all the staff and their family a very Happy Diwali. He unveiled the new Safety policy for Godrej & Boyce. With this, he emphasised that there should no compromise on safety. He requested everyone to read the safety policy carefully and implement it in full spirit. Even if any unsafe act is observed, he urged all to take suitable action on it. He also specified that Zero accident should not mean that accidents are not reported. He mentioned "In the last 15 years, the economy as well as our country is developing. But history indicates that development can lead to complacency, which we must note". He praised all divisions, especially PES, for completing the extremely difficult, high precision
Business Excellence Model and take it forward. He stressed on the development of Pirojshanagar and conveyed his wish of developing the plants, making an IT park etc., while protecting, preserving the green environment, developing the Mangroves area and setting up of a Mangrove Park. The programme was interspersed with engaging performances by students and employees, living up to its reputation of being the most memorable annual event in the organisation. Nalini Kala Corporate HR (With inputs from Saswata Nath, Process Equipment Division)
PES Division
PES Division emerges as winner of the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar, 2006 We are happy to announce that the Precision Engineering Systems Division of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., has been awarded the prestigious Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar 2006 Award. At a grand function organised on October 7, 2007 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, the Honourble Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Oscar Fernandes, congratulated the PES Division team, and presented them with a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 10,000. Instituted way back in 1965, by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar Award aims at recognising the outstanding contributions from employees in bringing about significant improvements in the overall efficiency of Industrial Establishments, in terms of:
• • • • • •
saving natural resources & materials import substitution elimination of waste increased productivity improvement in Quality safe working conditions
Ashwin B Dalvi (Maintenance Fitter) and Chandrakant N Wadkar (Electrician) brought about significant
improvement on the Skoda machine at PES Division, by substituting imported spares with indigenous ones, thereby saving cost by Rs. 28 Lacs. Having thus qualified for the Award under the ‘Import Substitution’ category, the PES Division applied for participation, and eventually won the Award under Class ‘C’. Deepak D Chogle, Vijay Panchal and Chandrakant N. Wadkar received the certificate and cash Prize, on behalf of PES Division.
The award was categorised into Class ‘A’, Class ‘B’ and Class ‘C’, based on the type of improvements suggested and the value of savings earned through implementation of the same. Of the 28 Companies that received the Award, 24 were Public Sector Units, and 4 were Private Companies – and it is a matter of pride that Godrej & Boyce is one among the 4. A tribute: Deepak D Chogle has played a pivotal role in enabling the PES team achieve the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar Award 2006. He has vast and in-depth knowledge in his chosen field of IMS. His persistence in completing the assignments at hand, his penchant for perfection, his systematic approach, his dedication, and his knack of keeping the team motivated, are few of the factors that set him apart as unique. ‘Retirement’ for Mr. Chogle, was just a word that he came across when he turned 58 – but he never took it in the real sense of the term, and still continues to extend his full-time services to the PES team. The PES team, thus, stands to benefit substantially from the guidance and leadership of Mr. Chogle, and acknowledges his significant contribution to the Division. Team PES 29 29
Strengthening ties with Nuclear Power Corporation NPCIL. Mr. J N Godrej greeted Dr. S K Jain with flowers. Various PES team members greeted other dignitaries from NPCIL. Pramod Mahimkar presented details of the projects PES Division had successfully executed for NPCIL in the past 4 years.
November 6, 2007 was a special day for Precision Engineering Systems Division. The shop floor was buzzing with activity, as PES team members were busy completing the final performance tests to get the eighth and the last of the Fuelling Machine Bridge and Carriage ready for dispatch.
conditions. Use of natural uranium requires that the Reactor Core is opened daily in ‘Power On’ mode, to remove spent fuel and put in new fuel. Since the operation is done remotely from control cabin, while the Reactor is running, very high alignment accuracy and reliability is built in the assembly.
The importance of the event was underscored when the Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation, Dr SK Jain, accepted the invitation to personally hand over the shipping release of the equipment to Mr. JN Godrej.
Dr. Jain congratulated PES, stating that this technology is unique, and India is the only second country other than Canada, which has manufactured such equipment. He added that equipment supplied by Team PES were comparable to the best in the world.
Over the last 2 years, PES has manufactured and dispatched 7 Fuelling Machine Bridge & Carriages required for four 220 MW Nuclear Power Plants – i.e., for RAPP – 5 & 6 and KAIGA – 3 & 4. Dr S K Jain was generous in his appreciation of this feat, unprecedented in the history of Indian Nuclear Power programme, and complimented Mr. Godrej for the performance of Team PES in successfully delivering the most complex of the equipment in the Nuclear Power Reactors. Explaining the nuances of the design of Fuelling Machine Bridge and Carriage for the PHWR type Indian-designed Reactor, Dr Jain said this design is based on natural uranium as fuel, instead of enriched uranium. This was done to suit specific Indian 30
During his short visit to Plant 19, Dr S K Jain witnessed cycle tests of the system. Thereafter, he walked through the Corporate Showroom with Mr. J N Godrej. A small function was organised in Plant 11 (ground floor) Conference Hall, to welcome the distinguished guests from
Kaustubh Shukla made a presentation on the journey of PES, to establish itself amongst the best suppliers of equipment for Nuclear Power Plants. He eloquently narrated the transformation of Machine Tool Division into Precision Engineering Systems – a new Division of Godrej & Boyce, capable of making worldclass Equipment for Nuclear Power. He also took the opportunity to highlight to the august gathering the difficulty faced by Indian industry in Nuclear business. Dr. S K Jain addressed the gathering on this occasion. He emphasized the need for Nuclear Power in India for economic growth and its suitability for India due to low carbon emissions. Praising PES, Dr Jain congratulated the team on achieving capability of manufacturing such world-class Nuclear Equipments and encouraged us to look forward to the growing opportunity offered by the renewed focus on Nuclear Power. In his address, Mr. J N Godrej congratulated PES and acknowledged the achievements and expertise acquired despite several tough challenges. He reiterated his faith in the team and wished that the competence achieved is leveraged to grow the business in a sustainable manner. RL Machado who conducted the proceedings of the function proposed a vote of thanks to draw the visit to a close. Jayaprakash Ingle
Interio Division
Godrej-IIID spearheads innovations in futuristic workstations Godrej Interio along with the Institute of Indian Institute of Interior Designers (IIID) have together instituted an IIIDGodrej Innovations Award 2007 for creating Futuristic Workstations. Historically, most awards instituted earlier in the furnishing industry were for ‘built and executed’ products/ projects. This is the first time in the history of Indian Interior Design turf that an award has been instituted for indigenous and innovative design ideas for the future. The objective of the award was to provide an ideal platform to Indian Architects, Interior Designers and Product Designers to actively participate in designing exciting futuristic furniture products, which are innovative and meet international standards. Over 50 architects, interior designers, students and furniture designers participated in the event from across the country. The criteria for judging constituted of concept behind the design, the drawings highlighting the design features, manufacturing feasibility, etc. Based on their designs, the finalists were chosen and prototypes of the final designs were evaluated on October 12, 2007 at the Godrej Campus. The Jury comprised of eminent Swedish products and interior designers — Olle Anderson, noted designer and educator — Kumar Vyas, practicing architect and interior designer — Ratan Batliboi, GM-Design, Godrej Interio — E Venkat and Former HOD of IDC, Industrial Design Centre at IIT — Ravi Hazra. Anil S Mathur, COO, Godrej Interio Division, felt that “The idea was to involve the interior design fraternity and product designers to develop products which suit the evolving and elated customer needs which could be developed and manufactured in a mass manufacturing set-up. We believe in bringing all the stake-holders like the architects, interior designers, product designers and manufacturers on a common platform to satisfy the functional and emotional needs of our consumers.”
Mr. Nitin Killlawala, President-IIID said, “Since Godrej Interio is already an established brand, this venture intends to bring the advantages of innovation to limelight and meet international standards and make the same available directly to the common man. The intention is to take innovative design ideas and contemporary applicability within the easy reach of the end user.” The winners were announced on October 27, 2007 at Sun-n-Sand, Mumbai. The award ceremony was graced by over 300 eminent architects from India and luminaries including Navroze Godrej, the scion of the Godrej family. It was also attended by Manoj Ganjawalla, Vice President Marketing-Godrej Interio, Anil Lingayat, Vice President – Manufacturing, Nitin Killlawala, President IIID and several others from the Godrej team. Planet 3 Studios was unanimously announced the winner by the jury for their unique concept of Workstation in a Suitcase. Closely following them was the futuristic design presented by Void Labs, which was based on very thought provoking design for the year
2020 transcending ages. The award not only carries substantial cash prizes amongst design competitions but also offers a royalty for 30 months for the design won by Planet 3 Studios. Congratulating and felicitating the winner, Mr. Navroze Godrej, son of Mr Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd, said, “Godrej has a tradition of not only encouraging creativity and nurturing talent but has always been on the forefront to promote innovation in businesses. This award has for the first time provided an ideal platform to Indian Architects, Interior Designers and Product Designers to actively participate in designing exciting futuristic furniture products which are innovative and meet international standards.” Shraddha Shah Interio Division
Convention at Lucknow on “Godrej Role in building world class sustainable infrastructure” which is a pre- requisite for the prosperity of the state. We projected ourselves as an expert in making vibrant, efficient, productive offices.
Lucknow Management Association had organised a Convention at Lucknow on November, 16, 2007 on “Making of a Modern & Prosperous State - Strategy & Road map”. The Lucknow branch participated in the convention and give our thoughts
In the evening our Former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam attended the convention gave a motivational talk to sensitise the state machinery regarding the bad state of affairs in UP. Manoj Sadavate presented him a book “Abundant living, Restless Striving”A memoir by Late Mr. SP Godrej as recounted to B. K. Karanjia. 31
Interio gets festive Christmas was celebrated in the Interio division with solemnity, grandeur, gaiety and joy. Mr Anil Mathur, our COO lit the Christmas candle and Mr Navroze J Godrej and Anil Mathur jointly cut the Christmas cake to set off the Christmas celebrations and cheer as well as goodwill at Interio amidst all Interioites who were filled with the spirit and joy of Christmas which is but the manifestation of God’s love for all of us! This was followed with the Christmas tree decoration by our Vice Presidents, Manoj Ganjawalla and Anil Lingayat along with their team members - fun n frolic, games n sharing and cheer as well as music all the way. The function concluded with an address by our COO, Mr Mathur on this very special occasion of Christmas, a message for the new year and the customary thank you-s. Doreen Rosario & Interio HR
Retail Division
Third Lifespace store in Ahmedabad What’s new: Godrej Lifespace’s unique retailing concept in Home & Office improvement continues to witness excellent response from Ahmedabad. Based on this response and feedback received from customers and the clear trend seen in convenience shopping, Godrej Lifespace launched its third store in Ahmedabad on October 26, 2007, at
Baleshwar Square. What’s special: The new Godrej Lifespace store is brightly coloured, lively and youthful, where every corner of the store expresses a mood that
projects a living, breathing space. A great ambience, coupled with friendly, experienced staff, ultimately helps provide customers a unique opportunity to experience a lifestyle - the way they want it. Spanning over 4000 sq. ft., the products have been displayed aesthetically for customers to visualise how the furniture, appliances and other products can look in their own homes and offices.
Personnel and Administrative Department
Donating for a cause Every year we take the initative to assist Cancer Patients Aid Association in their endeavour to collect donations on the event of The National Cancer Rose Day in the month of September. Rose Day Coupon books of Rs. 10 each were distributed across all locations at Vikhroli by the Administration department. Our employees supported this cause and generously donated by purchasing the coupons. 32
An amount of Rs. 26,670/- collected in cash was handed over to Cancer Patients Aid Association which will be used for Cancer Patients. We convey our sincere thanks to all our employees who donated for this noble humanitarian cause in bringing smiles to cancer Patients and expect the same in future. Nariman Bacha Administration
Security Equipment Division
SED does an awareness campaign for Home safety products With the aim of increasing awareness on Home Security and promoting its product, Godrej Security Equipment Division have embarked on road-shows across the country to target home owners and potential h o m e owners for their home security. Godrej SED has also taken an initiative by creating the Shop In Shop experience for the same. This initiative has is conducted along with our Godrej Lifespace stores.
The main purpose of these road-shows was to target spaces with high audience interactions so as to provide them with a touch and feel experience. After an extensive research, 12 cities, 22 malls and 44 mall days were selected across the country for this purpose. These road-shows are divided into 6 different phases. The first phase comprised of 2 day activity in the malls in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kochi. The second phase followed, by running similar activities in 4 different cities. The road shows are scheduled from October 13 to December 4 to capture the festive season.
SED focuses on Comprehensive Security Solution The increasing threat in commercial, industrial, institutional and government environment has forced every individual to look beyond the watch-guard for his security and thus have given a new dimension to the Security Industry. Godrej Security Equipment Division has identified this opportunity and offers comprehensive solutions to counter such security threats. Godrej SED, under the brand name "Godrej Secure" with the technical Expertise now offers Comprehensive security solutions which can be customised to suit the requirements of the customers. To spread awareness on the same, Godrej SED recently showcased its state of the art Comprehensive Security Solutions at Press meets and Customer meets in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Godrej Secure offers Security consultancy, performs security audits, offers Comprehensive Security
solutions and after installation, takes on Annual Maintenance Contracts to maintain the systems. A press conference held on September 27 in Delhi followed by a customer meet addressed by Dara Byramjee, Vice President, SED and Neville Bachana, Sr. GM, Sales and Marketing. Our guest, India's popular TV anchor and actor, Hussain Kuwajerwala made this event memorable by sharing his personal experiences on security issues faced today. Godrej showcased a powerful range of Physical, Premises and Electronic security solutions. A further insight on the solutions was given by live demonstration of the Laser fencing and the remote substance detector which left the audience comprising of 75 press members in the afternoon and 300 customers in the evening, impressed with the hi-tech Equipments
The brightly lit up stalls that were in sync with the festive spirit, showcased our Home security equipments, i.e. Home safes, Video Door phones and Godrej Entranza doors. The customers were requested to fill in an enquiry slip and take part in fun activities and a choice to interact with any product of their choice. Through these road-shows, customers were able to avail the benefit of on-the-spot booking. The responses received from these road-shows have been tremendous. Team SED
provided under the brand name Godrej Secure. This event captured media's attention and the news was reported in all the big dailies which highlighted our key message "Comprehensive Security Solution" and the expansion plans. A similar event was conducted in Hyderabad and Mumbai on October 10 and October 24 respectively, where our guest for the event, young pop sensation of India, Karunya shared his concerns and experiences on Security and emphasised on the need for one stop shop for all the security concerns. The event was kick-started with a racy and a gripping film followed by the innovative and enchanting laser show which left the audience spell-bound. The Mumbai customer meet was attended by Mr. Navroze Godrej, where he talked about security being one business that constantly needs to rediscover itself and keep pace with technology as well as about the hi-tech solutions offered by us to achieve the same. We observed a strength of around 45 Press members and 275 Customers in both the events. Economic Times, DNA Money, Punjab Kesri, Loksakta, Mid-day, Hindustan Times, Andhra Prabha, The Hindu, Dainik Bhaskar, Navbharat carried the news along with the news channels like Aaj Tak, Zee News, CNBC, Aaj Tak Delhi, Zee Buiness and Doordarshan. Saranjit Sangar Marketing 33
Appliance Division
Godrej Appliance Heralds a New EON in Washing Machines Nectar, Kiwi Green, Icy Blue, thus living up to the Eon promise of Stylish Outside, Smart Inside.
Mr J. N Godrej interacting with dealers
The months of August and September saw frenzied activity in Appliance Division. We launched a whole new range of technologically advanced washing machines under the Eon brand name- Godrej Eon washing machines with DAC Technology. The new technology is in line with Godrej Appliances’ philosophy of offering innovative technology which is relevant to Indian conditions. Research revealed that erratic water and power supply continue to be the biggest deterrents in acquiring a washing machine especially a fully automatic washing machine. And this has been seen across smaller towns and key metros. DAC (Dynamic AquaPower Control) Technology enables the machine to adjust to water and power cuts automatically. Unlike other washing machines, it allows one to set the machine for operation even if there is no water/ power to begin with. Ordinarily, if there is a water failure during the wash, there is a chance of the water inlet valve heating up and burning out over time. But DAC puts the Godrej Eon Washing machine into sleep mode when there is a water cut. It will periodically check for water and resume washing once it detects water availability. If there is a power cut during the wash, memory back up enables the machine to start the wash from exactly where it stopped. It also switches off automatically once the washing is done. Alongwith the technological innovation, these Eon washing machines have another first to their credit- they are the first washing machines to come in four fresh colors- Melon Red, Yellow 34
integrated with cool shower shelves – a huge technical challenge that was overcome with considerable efforts from the R&D team. Along with this, new colours were introduced in Eon Refrigerators – already known for their path breaking colours. A new range of ten Microwave Ovens was showcased.
These revolutionary washing machines were launched for the trade partners across the country- in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata amidst great fanfare – with dance performances by ace choreographer Toby’s troupe to enthuse the audience and interesting audio-visuals to bring alive the proposition. The launch at J.W.Marriott in Mumbai was graced by our CMD, Mr. Jamshyd Godrej who acknowledged the support given by the trade to Godrej over the years and assured them of our commitment to Navroze Godrej and Mr P.D. Lam unveling Eon Washing Machines innovation Mr. Navroze Godrej emphasized the importance of the relationship that we have with our dealers and our customers. He highlighted the efforts that we put into creating new products- right from tapping the best consultants to doing detailed consumer research. Mr. P.D. Lam, Executive Director and President, Godrej & Boyce, Celebrating Eon Washing Machines appreciated the relevance of the technologies launched by Godrej Appliance in the lives of our consumers. He voiced his belief in giving consumers only those products which truly make her life better instead of fuzzy technologies which confuse the consumers.
The press conferences conducted along with the dealer launches also generated a buzz in the media with New range of Washing Machines key publications and electronic Their sleek metallic looks along with channels like Zee Business and mirror and silver finishes caught the CNBC Awaaz covering the new fancy of the dealers. technology. With enthused trade partners and a Along with Godrej Eon washing highly motivated sales team, this new machines with DAC Technology, a range of Washing Machines, Microwave new festive range of microwave Ovens and Refrigerators are set to be ovens and Frost Free Refrigerators a resounding success in the market was also unveiled for the trade. Eon Refrigerators were upgraded with the place. introduction of toughened glass
Team Appliances
Locks Division
Godrej Locks exhibits excellence teams participated in the exhibition . We received an overwhelming response in all categories while greater interest was shown in EVVA, hotel locking solutions e.g. SALTO . Security Equipment division co-participated to complement the range of locks for the customers. GLASS TECH 2007 was the other exhibition that Locks division participated in from November 15 to 18 at NSE ground in Mumbai. This exhibition focused much on the glass and architectural hardware range of products. Targeted Customers were Architects, Interior Designers, Builders, Glass fabricators, and other people dealing in Glass.
Godrej Locks has been participating in various exhibitions to display the range of locking systems of various technological levels. Although, we are a market leader in the organised sector, such exhibitions help us display the latest technological developments in the locking system which adds to our strength . ACE Tech 2007 was held at NSE Grounds, from November 1 to 4. The exhibition attracted people from Architectural, Construction and Engineering Industry. The products that were displayed included EVVA, Ultra EXS, SALTO, Hotel Locks, Door Controls, architectural and glass hardware. Our HO marketing and Mumbai branch sales
explained to the customers with the help of a Standee. HOTELEX 2007: We also participated in Hotelex 2007 held in MMRDA, BKC, Mumbai from December 6 to 8, 2007. The basic objective behind participation in this exhibition was to address the locking needs of the Hotel industry.
Live demos of shop fronts, shower cubicle and glass fascade were made to display the utility of Godrej Glass & architectural hardware. Different types of railings were also a part of the display. We introduced the European architectural hardware range under the brand name “Speziell”. The complete range of Speziell door controls and glass hardware were demonstrated on working models.
SALTO and IC Hotel Locks were the prime attraction at the exhibition.
Godrej Door Automatics too was launched in the exhibition and it was the main attraction and received maximum response. SALTO Glass door electronic lock used for Access Control is unique in its segment in India and gained attention in the exhibition. The prospective customers were also made aware of the SALTO Virtual Network through a live demo of it. We explained to the customers about the highest technological level in mechanical locking systems available in India, Godrej EVVA.
IC Card Hotel locks were targeted to the budget hotels with the limited functions.
The five levels in the technology ladder viz., lever/wafer tumbler/ pin cylinder ,ultra, ultra EXS, EVVA, electro mechanical and electronic security were
The superior features of SALTO were explained on a five panel stand. Salto Virtual Network, Maglock integration in Salto systems, Single Control Unit operating 2 maglocks, 2 wall readers controlling single maglock (entry & exit). Live demo of Salto Hotel software with other functions were also done.
Door Automatic was installed and Godrej Service strength was also highlighted by displaying the Salto & IC card installations in India. The customers’ confidence was won by the fact we provide the service across India in 122 cities through 178 service centres and also with AMCs. All the three exhibitions received excellent response and good enquiries were generated. Nyamathullah Locks Division 35
Tooling Division
Godrej Tooling Division adjudged runner up at the National Safety Awards We are pleased to announce that the Tooling Division of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., have been presented the Runner–Up Award in the prestigious National Safety Awards (NSA–2006). The Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Oscar Fernandes, congratulated the Godrej Tooling Division Team, and presented them with a shield and certificate of the National Safety Awards (NSA) 2006, at a function organised on October 7, 2007, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The National S a f e t y Awards was instituted way back in the year 1965, by Anand Patil, Tooling Division, the Ministry Ramesh Bagi, Corporate of Labour & safety and Vijay Kumar Employment, Saboo, Tooling Division Government of India. The aim was to recognise the outstanding contributions made by employees working in factories, towards improved working conditions such as Safety, Health & Environment,
Vijay Kumar Saboo, General Manager , Manufacturing, Tooling division receiving the award and shield from the Honourable Union Minister, Oscar Fernandes
as also improvement in the overall efficiency of Industrial Establishments in terms of increased productivity, quality, etc. The criteria for being eligible to receive this Award, is: • to have achieved the Lowest Average Frequency Rate (of accidents) in the last three consecutive (calendar) years – viz., 2003, 2004, 2005; and • an Accident Free year, based on manhours worked in the contest year. Having qualified for the first criteria,
Godrej Tooling Division duly applied for participation in 2006, giving relevant Safety Statistics to the Central Labour Institute (CLI), at Sion, Mumbai. Vijay Kumar Saboo, General Manager, Manufacturing, and Anand Patil, Associate Manager, Safety along with Ramesh Bagi, Corporate Safety Department received the shield and certificate on behalf of Tooling Division. M/s. Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., were declared the Winner of the National Safety Awards. Other Awardees were the likes of Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Hero Honda Motors Ltd., Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., etc. Safety of employees has always been of prime concern and topmost priority to one and all in our organisation. Every employee of Godrej values Safety greatly and takes utmost care in ensuring that Safety norms are adhered to at all times. We are quite confident that the Tooling team, with its focused approach, will emerge the winner of the next National Safety Awards.
Electric & Electronic Service Division
Handling Piped Natural Gas safely Arvind M Deshpande, OHS-Head, E&E Division organised a training programme and presentation for E&E staff as well as the Main Canteen (Plant 03) staff. The programme was conducted on September 1, 2007 in E&E division as well as Main Canteen, Plant 3.
These divisions use PNG (Piped Natural Gas) and for safe handling, awareness is a must. Mr. Makwana, Consultant & Trainer for PNG safe handling, conducted a presentation for the E&E work force & staff in the morning and for canteen work force in the afternoon. 32 persons including all OHS - Heads attended at E&E & 42 persons from canteen attended at Manager’s Dining
Hall, Plant 3 canteen. Mr. Makwana answered all the queries of the participants. The presentation included fire fighting measures, leak detection, & properties of PNG. The training programme was well appreciated by the participants.
Health Awareness at E&E
Handbooks on AIDS were circulated to all those visited it. Informative posters on balance diets Mr. Homi N Daruwalla were very well inaugurated the exhibition. received. All posters were provided by Factory Medical Center. The exhibition was on for four days and was open to all. Apart from E&E, people from other plants also visited the exhibition.
at 4.30 pm by Homi N Daruwalla, VicePresident & Business Head, E&E Division. Posters on awareness on Cancer, Diabetics, Typhoid, AIDS, Malaria, and Chicken guinea were displayed in English, Hindi, and Marathi showing causes & remedial measures. E&E Services organised a Health Awareness Exhibition in their division. This was inaugurated on September 26 36
Small posters and write ups on symptoms & remedies on various diseases were displayed in Marathi.
Prima Division
Prima participates in IPEX Event: In the month of October, Prima division participated in IPEX, an exhibition related to printing and graphic arts industry, held in Greater Noida, UP, under the ‘Digital Printing’ category. IPEX is a UK-based event management company and this was the first time that the exhibition was held in India especially to cater to the rapidly growing South Asia printing and graphic industry. Who was there: Manufacturers and suppliers of products and services representing all aspects of the graphic art industry including prepress equipment/software, post press systems, wide format printing, digital printing, finishing devices, converting & packaging and consumable suppliers participated in this mega exhibition. T Sumitani, General Manager (Overseas sales division) from Konica Minolta Japan, along with his team were present during the 4 day exhibition. Sorab Parekh, General Manager (Marketing) and the senior management team from HO – Mumbai were also present during the show. The whole show was managed by the enthusiastic sales executives from our various branches. What we did: Godrej in association with Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. of Japan introduced
Overview of Godrej stall.
Jubilant Godrej team members.
the globally acclaimed state of the art production print engines that give high quality monochrome and colour output suitable for large corporations and print-for-pay services. Konica Minolta is leading the industry towards offering integrated, networked, hardware & software solutions that are compact, reliable and cost effective. Our stall was strategically located ensuring maximum visibility and footfalls. We received an excellent
response with over 2000 visitors during the four days of the exhibition. The print quality of Konica Minolta machines was highly appreciated by both digital and offset printers. The rationale: As digital printing technology improves, its cost advantage extends to increase in the longer ‘short’ runs. Many are willing to pay a slight premium for the improved workflow efficiency, faster turnaround, elimination of warehousing and customisation in a production run that digital printing provides. Flexibility in handling different paper stocks enable digital presses to produce some of the most elegant and demanding applications in the graphic arts. To tap this rapidly expanding market, Godrej has introduced Konica Minolta’s superior digital printing technology which enables you to respond to short run jobs, tight turn around times and customisation for printing high quality brochures, catalogues, calendars, greeting cards, direct mailers, transactional documents or anything innovative. Last word: Prima division believes that this was an excellent platform to interact with professionals from the printing industry and to showcase new products & capabilities as a solution provider in the ‘Digital printing’ domain. Team PRIMA
Commercial Division
Getting inducted formally at Bangalore branch Innovation: A formal induction process organised for new joinees at the Bangalore branch. This structured induction programme is called Know your Branch. Process: The new joinee is introduced to the BCM, who gives him/her an overview of the company’s culture and processes, the various businesses handled by the branch and the branch turnover. The new joinee is then introduced to all the office staff by the Administrative in-charge. A photograph of the joinee along with the background
details are posted on the notice board to enable the office to get further acquainted with the joinee.
confirming the above activities is filled up to ensure completion of the process of induction.
Every second and fourth Saturday of the month, a structured one day programme is conducted. The programme includes the introduction and highlights of each business, a guided tour to our showrooms and warehouse followed by lunch. After lunch, there is a classroom session where the new joinees are introduced to procedures of accounting, HRIS, policies, speedflow access, Baan, MIS etc. A checklist
What’s more: A follow up session for Baan and order processing is conducted after 15 days where more details are given based on individual requirements. By the end of the induction process, the new joinee feels comfortable in his new environment. The objective of the programme is to make the new joinees feel at home. R Solomon Branch Commercial Manager 37
Diwali celebrations at Jaipur To celebrate the festive occasion of Diwali and to generate a feeling of togetherness in the Jaipur Team, a Diwali Milan was organised for the employees and their family members on November 4, 2007. The whole event was finalised and decided in a span of two days wherein all employees took various responsibilities like arranging for the venue, organising games and gifts etc. An organising committee comprising Shailesh Jain, Ranjan, Alok
Tripathi, Sarita Rajesh and Sukesh Arora was formed. As such an event was being organized for the first in Jaipur there was a lot of excitement amongst the members and a bit of apprehension regarding the same. Nevertheless with due support from every Division, the event itinerary was finalised. Finally, on November 4, amidst all the excitement, there were arrangements made for tambola, musical chair, singing and dancing competitions for kids etc.
There were several other innovative games for adults like a test of how much they knew about their partners, making ponytails etc. Over and above the fun and frolic, the younger lot from each division was given a momento recognising their efforts and dedication This was followed by dinner and fireworks. Energy levels soared high when the winners of the Lucky Draw were announced. And to preserve memories of this evening, group photos were also clicked. Alok Tripathi, Shailesh Jain, Ranjan and Sarita Rajesh Jaipur Branch
Delhi fairs very well The evening of November 4, 2007 was brought alive for the scores of our employees and families, as we enjoyed the Diwali mela. An initiative by the Godrej Pariwar of Delhi and NCR, saw the families of G&B, GIL, Godrej Charitable Trust and temporary employees, come together to celebrate the occasion of Diwali, with its grand Diwali mela. The mela saw more than 500 people, from all age-groups, having a blast. Flowers and festive lights welcomed everyone to the Godrej Diwali mela, organised for the first time by the company. The event was organised as a ‘Mela’, so as to encourage interaction among people. The various activities and games spread over the different areas of the venue had people from different groups come together and enjoy themselves. The entire atmosphere, from the décor, food to the games, had everyone reminiscing about the Diwali melas they used to attend in their childhood. Various games had been organised to entertain the guests. But, it wasn’t games alone that had the guests happy. 38
couple, singles and children from the group. There was also a Mega Lucky Draw, where the winners accepted their gifts amongst loud cheers. The highlight of the event was of course, the bursting of the fire crackers, keeping in mind the festive spirit of Diwali. The food counters were busy throughout the event, keeping everyone’s energy levels high. Twelve retired employees of Godrej, residing in Delhi, were felicitated with mementos. The function took on an emotional colour with the touching speeches given by the retired gentlemen. It surely made every Godrej employee feel proud to be part of the Godrej pariwar. Later in the evening, the dance floor came alive as almost the entire crowd, children and adults alike, began grooving to the music. There were several prizes for the best dancer, the best dressed
The event was a success thanks to proper planning and efficient execution by the organisers. The employees and their families thanked the organisers for conducting such an event and expressed their delight at attending it and hoped for more such events in the future. The mela would definitely go down the history books of Godrej Delhi, as it’s first of it kind. Delhi & NCR Branch Team
Godrej Archives
Re-interpreting Indian business history Undoubtedly, business is futuristic and some may also believe that dwelling into the past is certainly not the business of Business. But can a business afford to ignore its history? History not only has an enduring influence in shaping the character of the corporation but it also plays an important role in deciding the contemporary approach of any corporation. Managers unconsciously refer to the past by regularly viewing and reviewing policies and strategies designed years ago to facilitate their decision making.
tenure, in 1982, he started the IIM-A Seminar series in Business History, as a part of the efforts to promote historical enquiries in Indian business. His book,
Mrs Pheroza Godrej presenting a token of appreciation to Dr. Dwijendra Tripathi
Recognising the importance of Business history, Godrej Archives started a lecture series from September 2006. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Prof. Douglas Haynes, on “Soap Wars: Indian Capitalism and advertisements in a highly competitive Business Environment (1915-1950)”. Encouraged by the response, Godrej Archives jointly with Tata Central Archives organised a lecture on October 9, 2007 at the Goethe Hall in Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai. The lecture was delivered by renowned business historian and retired professor from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A), Dr. Dwijendra Tripathi. After completing his PhD on “Comparative Economic History - India & U.S.” from the University of Wisconsin in 1963, Dr. Tripathi joined IIM (Ahmedabad) as an Assistant Professor. His appointment as a member of the faculty at the newlyestablished Indian Institute Management (Ahmedabad) marked the beginning of the Business History in India. In 1965, he completed a Diploma in International Teachers’ Programme with specialisation in Business Administration History from Harvard University. When he joined IIM-A, there was little awareness about business history in the country even among the historians, leave alone business people. During his
Seen in the audience First Row From L to R Mrs Pheroza Godrej Mrs. Saryu Doshi and Mr. J N Godrej
The Oxford History of Indian Business, was awarded the best book prize for the year 2004 by the Delhi Management Association. It was indeed an honour to have him, a pioneer of Business history as a speaker. The event began with Indrapal Singh welcoming the audience that comprised Jamshyd and Pheroza Godrej, Kerse Naoroji, Navroze Godrej, Vikram Doctor from the Economic Times, Dr. KA Palia, Anil Verma and an ensemble of present and former employees of the company, historians, journalists, students and teachers. It was a moving experience to watch Mr. I P Singh, a former student of Dr. Tripathi at IIM (A), years back in 1964, introduce the speaker. Pheroza Godrej presented Dr. Tripathi with a floral bouquet and a set of books on Godrej, as a token of appreciation. Through the lecture titled “Indian Business History: Fallacies of Interpretation”, Dr. Tripathi sought to
debunk some of the myths surrounding business activities in India around the 19th Century. i) That peddling, and not large scale business establishments was the distinctive feature of the Indian business on the eve of the European commercial penetration in India. ii) That India’s religious and cultural values and traditional social organization were responsible for arresting business developments in the pre-modern times. iii) The development of Indian business has been the handiwork of a group of ‘business communities’ rather than that of a business class. iv) The slow progress of business during the British regime was entirely due to colonial exploitation. Lastly, Dr. Tripathi reiterated the importance of records and, therefore, Archives for an in-depth and thorough study of Business History. He further says, “To realise its full potential, however, Business History needs business records… The historian needs primary documentary material to build up his or her account….” Commending the efforts of the house of Tatas and the Godrej group, Dr. Tripathi said, “The Godrej Archives and the Tata Central Archives, the cosponsors of this lecture, have set an example… Even a casual knowledge of the kind of material about their parent organizations these repositories preserve, is sufficient to suggest how great a service they are rendering to the cause of business history and therefore to business itself. For there can be no better ambassador of social goodwill for business than an authentic history.” Deepthi Sasidharan from the Tata Central Archives proposed the vote of thanks. Sanghamitra Sen Godrej Archives 39
OUR ACHIEVERS
Gaurav Pooniwala Abhishek Iyer Son of: Trivesh Pooniwala, Process Equipment Division Student of: Standard 9, Udayachal High School
Son of: Usha Iyer, Udayachal Pre-primary school
Achievement: Has been selected for a scholarship under National Talent Search Scheme (N.T.S) by National Council of Education Research and Training Delhi (N.C.E.R.T).He was selected among the first 500 students of Maharastra to represent the state for the National Level Exam. Congratulations.
Ex-student of: Udayachal High School Achievement: Cleared the IIT JEE 2007 and joined IIT, Kharagpur. His all India rank was 3635.
Rohan Deshmukh
Sandeep Supal
Son of: DN Deshmukh, Interio Division Ex-student of: Udayachal High School Achievement: Cleared the IIT JEE 2007 and joined IIT, Mumbai with a specialisation in Metallurgy and Material Science. His all India rank was 1869.
Son of: Purushottam Supal Ex-student of: Udayachal High School Achievement: Cleared the IIT JEE 2007 and joined IIT, Guwahati with a specialisation in Design. His all India rank was 4300.
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Vrusha and Avinash Bhatt
Naazneen Patel Children of: Ashish Bhatt Achievement: They participated in a Navratri function which was reported in the Khaleej Times, a leading newspaper in UAE.
Shravan Sunderraman
Daughter of: Mohammed Iqbal Patel, Mumbai Branch Ex-student of : Udayachal school Achievements: Naazneen participated in the “Miss Maharashtra” Contest in the year 2000 and finished as 4th Runner up. She also participated in “Femina Miss India Contest” in the year 2002, and was selected for the qualifying round. She has done TV Commercials for Cornetto Ice Cream, Godrej Air Conditioners, Rajuri Cements etc. Naazneen has also worked in TV serials and films like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Officer and Taal. Her forthcoming film is ‘Good Luck’.
Son of: G. Sunderraman, Vice President, Corporate Development Achievements: Has been selected for scholarship under National Talent Search Scheme (N.T.S) by National Council of Education Research and Training Delhi (N.C.E.R.T).He was selected among the first 500 students of Maharastra to represent the State for the National Level Exam.
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KNOW YOUR MANGROVES
Blind-your-eye Mangrove, river poison tree Pic: Dr. Maya Mahajan
Milky mangrove (Excoecaria agallocha) This is a moderately tall mangrove associate tree growing upto 10 mts. Leaves are oval shaped and often finely serrated on the margins. Male and female flowers appear on separate trees. Female flowers produce berry-like fruits from March to October. The fruit is a pink when ripe, with threehooked capsules which liberates seeds by bursting open violently. The seeds are buoyant due to an air space within the seed coat and float with the tides and currents until a suitable soil is encountered. It has adapted itself to the saline environment by a salt excretory mechanism known as gall formation and its vast network of perforated snake like roots grip loose and eroding soils. These roots when exposed to air at low tide permit the uptake of oxygen. The major feature of this mangrove is the milky sap which exudes from the plant when branches or leaves are broken. The sap is poisonous and can cause severe skin irritation and temporary blindness if contact is made with the eyes. However it has medicinal properties as well. The milky sap is used as fish poison. This tree is also
used for honey collection. The wood is used to make cheap planks, matchboxes, charcoal and pulp for paper. A temple of ancient village called Tillai of Tamil Nadu had a pond surrounded by a Milky Mangrove on its rim. The pond was known to cure skin diseases such as leprosy when one took bath in this pond regularly and this natural cure was believed to be originated from the leaf matter of Milky mangroves. Today, one can see sculptures of this species on the walls of the temple. Today’s modern scientific discoveries have proved this belief to be true to some extent. The juice of leaves is believed to offer symptomatic cure for joint pains along with leprosy. It is used to cure sores and stings from marine creatures. European scientists have extracted chemicals from this plant, which has potential to reduce deadly diseases such as HIV and AIDS at an early stage.
– Dr. Maya Mahajan
Please visit www.mangroves.godrej.com to know more about mangroves & activities of the mangrove section