VOL. XXXXVI NO.2
AUGUST 2020
DRIVING A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE Mr Tiger Tyagarajan Genpact MY LEADERSHIP JOURNEY & KEY LESSONS Mr Anand Kripalu Diageo India THE EFFICIENCY MATRIX Mr Ritish Andre Mumbai Dabbawala ETHICS & MANAGERIAL EXCELLENCE Mr Sanjay Kirloskar Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., YOUR BRAND IS YOUR BEST BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN Mr Suresh Narayanan Nestle MARKETING FOR THE FUTURE Mr CK Ranganathan, CavinKare Mr David Appasamy, Social Beat WOMEN IN POLITICS A panel discussion THRIVING IN THE TIME OF POST COVID-19 Dr Rekha Shetty Farstar Distribution Network Ltd
CONTENTS
Leadership Series Talk Mr Tiger Tyagarajan Genpact
Leadership Series Talk Mr Anand Kripalu Diageo India
Leadership Series Talk Mr Ritish Andre Mumbai Dabbawala
Panel Discussion with Rising Stars of Indian Politics
Leadership Series Talk Mr Suresh Narayanan Nestle
MMA AGM Keynote Address Mr Sanjay Kirloskar
A Feature Dr. Rekha Shetty
Fireside Chat Mr CK Ranganathan, CavinKare Mr David Appasamy, Social Beat Gallery
Credits: Infographic vector created by naulicreative ‐ www.freepik.com
EDITOR Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM EDITORIAL SUPPORT Gp Capt Dr R Venkataraman (Retd) LAYOUT EXECUTIVE D Rajaram
MADRAS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION Management Center, New No.240 Pathari Road ﴾Off Anna Salai﴿, Chennai 600 006 Ph:044‐2829 1133 Email:mma@mmachennai.org | mandate@mmachennai.org www.facebook.com/mmachennai
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
EDITORIAL
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM
Getting up, again!
T
he Tamil month of Aadi is one devoted to worship.
relationship as well as the criticality of it in a collaborative and
For many, this is a period dedicated to devotion and
interdependent World. In this context the key note address
festivities; it is also synonymous with the highly
by Mr Sanjay Kirloskar during the MMA AGM on the theme
discounted shopping mania. However, the pandemic has
“Ethics and Managerial Excellence” is relevant and
seriously affected businesses despite the government doing a
published in this issue. I also strongly recommend you to
good job of containing it. In fact, an incipient revival of the
watch the recorded presentation by Mr Satyanarayan
economy after the lockdown seems to have stalled; merely
Ramamurthy, Partner, KPMG Singapore on the theme
‘unlocking’ is not enough, as demand looks too weak to rise
“Leadership Lessons from Working in a Partnership
without government help. Although markets stand at the
Environment” to know more about collaboration and
threshold of a revival, it is imperative to enable public
partnership in an organizations.
spending so that there is a freer flow of money in the economy. It is the synergy of economics and human values such as confidence or trust that are needed to overcome this crisis. The fact is that today the most crucial trait of mutual trust is absent, we can see this in international relations between Nations and Leaders. Mr Stephen M R Covey in his book on “The Speed of Trust: The one thing that Changes Everything” has emphasised about the importance of trust in our
Even when the economy was booming, we struggled to deal with the problem of women dropping out of the workplace. While inclusion and diversity are at risk in the current crisis, they remain critical for business recovery, resilience and re‐imagination.
AUGUST
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When we ask our members how they are doing, they feel more assured. The MMA Leaders Speak platform delivers real time insights from outstanding thought leaders around the world, helping you gain answers to some of the most important questions and take the right actions. Resilience, for both individuals and organizations, is an essential attribute as we move through this crisis and into the future. Do watch without fail the topclass Events/Masterclass programmes brought to you by MMA and enrich yourself—click to view the schedule.
unique event for women—and everyone who works alongside them. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is an important step forward in India’s transition from deprivation to development. Almost no one can complain with the objective and time bound future plans set out in the document. I can only wish that this had happened when we were Students. The proposed reforms look impressive, but an education policy alone cannot guarantee a revolutionary change in education. In higher education, it is laudable that
With women making their presence felt across every field,
the model has changed. But the issue of unemployment is yet
why not a permanent commission in the Indian armed forces?
to addressed. While it is good that candidates will leave with
It is welcome that women officers can now make a tangible
a certificate or a diploma, it is hoped that they won’t be
difference. It is high time the Women’s Reservation Bill is
branded as failure in a society like ours which places high
steered through the House of Parliament, so that gender
emphasis on success. It is imperative that what we make of it
equality does prevail in every walk of life in India. From the
depends entirely on us. MMA implements a number of digital
freedom movement to the present time, the role of women in
initiatives: the important one being the launch of a 24week
politics and public life has been a seesaw. Even after 70 years
online program, called Masterclass, which will include the
of Independence, women empowerment in politics has been
participation of outstanding industry leaders with a fresh
an exception rather than a rule. In this context, MMA
perspective on “Operational Excellence Towards
organized a virtual seminar on the theme “Women in
Business Excellence”—click to view.
Politics” to deliberate on this and more issues. The outcome of this discussion is published in this issue with an embedded video of the programme. Please read on and watch the video. MMA is also organising an exclusive event for women this
As we celebrate our Independence this month, we pray that the hallowed memories of our martyrs will continue to guide and inspire us. We must learn from our martyrs and vow to protect our freedoms and our rights from aggression.
Independence Day. Even when the economy was booming, we
In a way, I am delighted that the spearhead of Indian Air Force
struggled to deal with the problem of women dropping out of
—the “Game Changer” fighter—has finally arrived! The
the workplace. While inclusion and diversity are at risk in the
delivery of Rafale fighters will enhance the country’s ability
current crisis, they remain critical for business recovery,
to deter external aggression. We wish them Happy Landings
resilience and reimagination. Women’s return will depend
and we wish that they touch the sky with glory—Sky is not the
partly on whether the upheaval has changed the menfolk. After
limit! Proud of you, Air Warriors! Privileged to be an Air
all what they want? A little adjustment and they can manage.
Veteran!
Do login to watch live “Marching Ahead: The Next Normal” at 06.00 pm on Thursday, 13th August 2020, for more insights, more stories and honest conversations. It is a
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AUGUST
2020
As always we would be happy to hear your views, comments and suggestions.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
It is great to have a culture but it is only half the battle, says Mr Tiger Tyagarajan, CEO, Genpact, as he explores the priorities, values and beliefs that underpin successful organizational cultures. The MMA‐KAS talk under ‘Leaders Speak Series by Pond’s Veterans’ on the theme, ‘What is high performance culture and how do you drive it as a leader in these times of rapid change?’ was delivered by Mr Tiger Tyagarajan, CEO, Genpact, USA on 13 June 2020 through webinar. Mr V Balaraman, Past President, MMA and former MD, Pond’s India Ltd delivered the opening remarks. The following includes excerpts from his talk and the subsequent Q&A session.
I
joined Pond’s sales team at
technical tests, the bumble bee cannot
may be to make the life of people very
Mumbai office as a fresher from
fly due to the shape and weight of its
enjoyable every day. That is purpose at
IIM. Within four hours of joining,
body in relation to its total wing span.
a very high level and it can sustain the
I was handed the responsibility of taking
The bumble bee doesn’t know this, so it
company for decades. Then we move on
care of sales in the entire state of
goes ahead and flies anyway. Inspired
to why the employee comes to work each
Madhya Pradesh. In the next two hours,
by this, we created a culture of courage
day. What is the strategy that allows you
I had to interact with my field sales
and not having the fear of fear. If we
to win? What are the reasons that make
personnel over phone. I did not know
were to jump off a hill with a parachute,
you believe that the choices made are
anything about sales, market or the
what we should not do is to look down,
being lived every day? Culture is the
industry that I was in. All that the
but to look up and jump; for, if we look
atmosphere around us. Purpose and
management saw in a young manager
down, the human mind will start fearing
strategy are immersed in culture.
like me was the hunger to learn. That
the jump. What is culture?
was the culture at Pond’s and I owe all my management skills to the seven years I worked there. The company, Genpact, where I now work started with one idea in 1998. We thought we could a do a lot of things from India to serve the world because we have great people in India. It was why the company Genpact was started. Learning is the basis for this entire company, and we created a learning organisation. The Bumble Bee paradox According to aeronautics and aero
Strategy for breakfast? According
to
Peter
It is the way people in an Drucker,
organisation behave, interact and take
‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast!’ It
decisions when no one is watching.
means that no matter how strong your
What the employees of Mumbai Taj
strategy is, it cannot be effectively
Hotel did during 26/11 terror strike is
implemented if all the people in the
legendary: saving the lives of guests
organisation do not share the firm’s
risking their own. When Ratan Tata
values. We tweaked it as, ‘Culture eats
talks about it, he says that the
strategy for breakfast, lunch and
employees’ actions were not because of
dinner!!’ An organisation’s strategy or
training, but because they thought that
broader purpose cannot take off, unless
that is what they do every day. Customer
it aligns with its culture.
always comes first.
Purpose refers to why we exist as a business. For instance, our objective
Culture must: •
Be aspirational, authentic and AUGUST
2020
9
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
•
aligned to company’s strategy
questions. They appreciate cognitive
Diversity
and differentiators;
diversity. They lead with humility and
Diversity fosters innovation. It helps
Be relevant to both clients and
are inclusive. They reward collaboration.
avoid ‘group think.’ Currently, we focus
They encourage dissent and debate.
on gender diversity, trying to move
Curiosity leads to three things:
towards a 50:50 gender ratio in the
employees; •
Work at both a micro and macrolevel;
•
Be memorable;
• Learning agility
organisation.
•
Have universal application.
• Collaboration
programmes like Listening Sessions on
• Diversity
racial discrimination and the Returning
of behaviours that directly connects
We learn when we surround
Moms programme. We provide daycare
with strategy. The FOUR words that
ourselves with people of diverse
for
define Culture in Genpact are:
backgrounds
and
Philippines and the EU. We have
collaborate with them. Learning agility
‘Women in Genpact Network (WINGS)’
and hunger will become prized traits in
to cultivate leadership skills and share
• Incisive
this new world, rather than just
best practices. We get different ideas
• Integrity
‘experience.’ Each year, we recruit
and build better solutions when we have
people from the around the world. We
diversity in the company.
A culture framework outlines a set
• Curiosity • Courage
Why is curiosity important? We all know that the halflife of various skills has been dramatically shrinking over the last few decades in the VUCA environment. One of the biggest dangers that organisations face is the pretension that they have arrived, conquered the
and
cultures,
321
We
children
have
across
various
India,
test for values, curiosity, learning agility and hunger. We then give the recruits
Living the culture
jobs of which they have no clue, and yet,
It is great to have a culture but it is only
we find a tremendous success rate. That
half the battle. The other half is: Can you
is the power of hunger for learning and
live it and execute it every day, so that
curiosity. Of course, we protect them
people can see it? The next part is to
when they fail and allow them to grow.
spread it across the organisation. There
world, and that they are the best.
is only one way for it—relentless Collaboration
communication on a daily, weekly,
companies face the beginning of their
In the corporate life, we play a soccer
monthly, quarterly and annual basis. It
end. Leaders who declare that they have
match, not run a race. Therefore, we
is our culture that helped us grow from
reached their pinnacle do not grow
believe that teams are important, not
two people in 1998 to 95,000 people in
further and stop adding value. Ego is the
individual winners. We reward people
2020, growing at 12% per year in terms
single biggest danger for individuals and
who share ideas and solutions widely.
of headcount. We lose about 20% a year
organisations. The most important
We reward people who wear the
on attrition. We drive a hard
question that people should grapple
‘company hat’ rather than those who
performance culture. One third of the
with is—WHY?
focus on narrow goals. We invest in
company is new every year.
History teaches us that such
Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked WHY. In a culture that fosters curiosity, leaders are comfortable saying, ‘I don’t know.’ They ask 10
AUGUST
2020
tools, processes and policies that enable the ‘team of teams’ behaviour. We tear
Storytelling
down walls, stamp out silos and nip
The other tool to propagate culture is
office politics.
storytelling. We convert everything into
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
stories and make them human with emotions. People remember stories. In my first month at Pond’s, there was a veteran sales supervisor by name Kapil Sawhney. I went to him and told him, “Sir. You know so much. I am your boss, but I want to learn from you.” It surprised him but he put his arms around me and said, “You are like my son. I will teach you.” He was 55 and I was just 25, and he taught me. We communicated that story to so many people. I use this story even now to teach young leaders on how to learn from their senior subordinates. Unlearn We need to create ecosystems that help
ment, Promotions, Rewards, Longterm
allow people to balance these priorities
incentives and Leadership Development
using culture, you end up in a good spot.
Programs—all of them imbibe our
Culture is too important to be left only to
culture.
one team or function. We deliberate on
employees to constantly unlearn and
various issues in our company; nothing is
relearn every day and leverage new
Both values and performance count
personal. If I find in a group of nineteen
technology for learning. In Genpact,
High performers who do not align with
or twenty people lean to a position, I
95,000 people work from home today.
company values hurt the company in the
deliberately take the opposite position so
How do we know the mood of everyone
longterm despite their shortterm
to avoid ‘group think.’ We need to:
who works from home? In the last 90
results. They do not fit the company.
days, we have developed a chatbot
Those who share the values and perform
discussions;
application which has an AI machine
are those who move upward. People
values lie at the heart of our
learning algorithm. The chatbot asks
who share the values but are low in
conversations.
questions and we get a set of 10,000
performance deserve a second chance.
answers every day. By the end of the
It is easy to take a call on those who
week, we cover the entire workforce and
neither perform nor share the values.
I know the mood of the people; I will know even when a group of 100 in Philippines
feel
depressed.
This
technology was not available earlier.
•
•
•
in all our HiretoRetire process. Our
money in the shortterm; but in the long
Hiring screens, Performance manage
term, you will make money. When you
all
levels
of
the
Visibly call out good examples and
flag
the
wrong
behaviours. •
Break down silos; push for ‘boundaryless’ behaviours.
end of this article). In the end, keep the customer in focus. You may lose some
and
organisation.
that helps leaders to balance competing
We embed our culture framework
Cultures
Engage, debate with and learn from
Culture becomes the ‘north star’ priorities as given in the info box (at the
Spend time on talent related
•
Take decisive action when there is a valuesmismatch; integrity is nonnegotiable. AUGUST
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Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
M
MA organised a talk by Mr
many categories starting from talcum
fly. We took a cycle rickshaw from the
Anand Kripalu, MD &
powder—the good old Pond’s—to oral
station to the hotel or from the hotel to
CEO of Diageo India and
care, detergents, chocolates and now
the distributor shop. It did not matter
Member, Diageo Global Executive on
alcohol. My progress has seen me
how senior we were.
18th July 2020 for the benefit of MMA
moving up on the scale of indulgence
members
management
with every move that I make. I'm not
Pond’s goes to HLL
professionals. In the speech, Mr Anand
sure if I will go any higher than where I
During this time, Pond’s was taken over
traced his corporate career spread over
already am!
by Hindustan Lever and I ended up
and
moving to marketing in Mumbai and it
35 years across some of the leading corporate houses and shared the
Connecting the dots
was culturally so different. I struggled
challenges he faced and FIVE inspiring
Steve Jobs said in his 2005 Stanford
initially to adapt but finally I settled in
lessons from his overall experience.
commencement speech that it is hard to
and prospered. I learned the
connect the dots of your career looking
fundamentals of marketing and brand
forward. So many people try and plan
management and also how to influence
their careers meticulously and it is really
multifunctional teams in a large
hard. But it is easy to connect the dots
company that don't report to you.
Excerpts from the talk: Middle‐class & FMCG all the way I started life in a very happy and a very middleclass army home. My father, who is 94 now, was commissioned in 1947 during the Indian independence. That
middleclass
mentality
of your career as you look back to see
After five years, much against my
the things that made, shaped and helped
wishes, I went back to sales and learned
you to become what you are. So that's
how to influence and motivate much
what I'm really going to do.
larger teams that don't report to me
From IIM campus, I joined Ponds
directly, yet you need to influence
India in sales. For most of my seven
indirectly. Thereafter, I came to head
years at Ponds, I worked in the dusty
Market Research, a job completely
markets of India from the south region
outside my comfort zone. I then went on
to north region. Irrespective of my
to become the Head of Marketing for
designation, the first call to the last call
detergents and learned how to manage
was with my frontline salesperson. That
a portfolio of brands rather than just
taught me empathy for people in the
one brand. Finally, I became the Head
front. They are the ones who bring home
of Sales for detergents to lead one of the
the bacon and sweat it out in the
largest teams in the company. I learned
sweltering Indian summer. It also
from my mistakes, particularly the
I spent broadly a third of my career
taught me how to lead and motivate
importance of strong communication
in sales, a third in marketing and the
people who are far more experienced
when one leads big teams.
rest in general management: 22 years
—often old enough to be my father.
—working hard with integrity and conscience, doing more with less, not wasting and trying always for a better deal—have always shaped my thinking and behavior through business and life. That middleclass upbringing is very important to the way I operate. Post my education, I have been working for over three and a half decades now, all in FMCG consumer goods.
in Pond’s/HLL/Unilever, eight in Cadbury and now about six and a half in Diageo. I have been involved with 16
AUGUST
2020
Pond’s, in many ways, reinforced my middleclass values. We travelled by train even though we were entitled to
Mission East Africa My first experience with general management was when I was asked to
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
go as MD for Unilever East Africa covering Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and a few smaller countries around them. That business had not grown for a decade and had lost money every year. The Regional President called me and said, “Anand, this is our last attempt. Either you turn this business around or Unilever will withdraw from East Africa.” That was no pressure, indeed!! I landed in Nairobi and learned that Indians were not liked in East Africa because the locals thought that the Indians had exploited them for over a century and taken over all their
that business—things like focusing on a
businesses. They questioned my
few key brands, driving lower unit price
A lot of advice in Africa used to
posting, “Why do we need an Indian to
packs like the one rupee shampoo of
come from people in Europe. I was
come here and tell us what to do?”
Pond’s and a comprehensive program
able to give examples from India
to lower cost because that was the
that was relevant in terms of cost
nature of the income profile there.
and efficiency. We unveiled our
I am OK. You’re not OK I also soon realized that everyone was a
plan to the larger company and
victim in that business and they happily
Indian gyan and a tearful farewell
created a scorecard to ensure that
externalised every problem. The
A lot of advice in Africa used to come
we measured whatever we wanted
economy was bad, Indian companies
from people in Europe. I was able to
to get done.
were noncompliant and the regional
give examples from India that was
Unilever office was not giving them any
relevant in terms of cost and efficiency.
freedom to operate.
We unveiled our plan to the larger
Essentially, it was all about the ‘I
company and created a scorecard to
am okay; You are not okay’ mindset. I
ensure that we measured whatever we
spent three months using the lessons
wanted to get done.
Importantly, by then, people had started believing in themselves and delivering. That was my legacy. My lasting memory in Africa was, when I left, many of the people who rejected me when I arrived wept at my farewell.
from Pond’s, travelling across the length
The business started turning
and breadth of the country that I was
around and at the end of the year, it was
Candy crush
overseeing, went to people's homes and
delivering doubledigit growth and
I landed in Mumbai from Nairobi to join
talked. I soon covered more ground than
actually
This
Cadbury as the Managing Director for
many of the locals and bit by bit, I
sustained for at least a decade though I
the Indian subcontinent comprising
earned their respect. We put together a
chose to leave Unilever at that time to
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri
very simple ambition and strategy for
return to India to join Cadbury.
Lanka. The company was just coming
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AUGUST
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turned
profitable.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
two parts: Kraft Foods and Mondelez.
Many of the world's great
a clear strategy of focus again. We killed
companies were born during
a third of the brands in my first year. In
slowdowns and recessions.
fact, we killed more brands in that
GE, IBM, General Motors,
business than we gave birth to! We
Disney and even Microsoft
halved the number of SKUs and halved
were companies born during
A spirited new start
the number of innovations. Growth
Diageo is the world's largest premium
started improving.
spirits company with iconic brands; like
tough times.
That’s when I decided to pack my bags and seek new pastures, joining Diageo in due course.
We cut promotional costs and put
Johnnie Walker, for instance. Diageo
out of the worm infestation crisis in
it back into strategic brand investment,
was awarded Britain's most admired
2003 2004. People forget good news
like marketing, which would grow the
company. In July 2013, Diageo took
but bad news is rarely forgotten. The
category. With 65% market share, the
control of United Spirits (USL).
team at that time did a great job of
category would not grow with
I was approached to lead the
resolving the crisis through changes in
promotions but only through relevance
integrated USL and Diageo India
packaging
Amitabh
of the category. As things started
business, which was a 100% owned
Bachchan on board as the brand
improving slowly, but surely, the
subsidiary. Did I want to join the alcohol
ambassador for Cadbury.
naysayers in the business started coming
industry in India? At first, I got cold feet.
on board.
Alcohol is a category that people love to
and
getting
The business was back to delivering close to 10% growth in 2005, which was the historic rate and everyone believed it was great. Cadbury was after all a mature brand in a mature category and had been around for 60 years.
The conundrum: Less is more We focused on just one or two innovations per year that could make a big impact and made sure that those were fully funded. Big innovations that
The Mantra: 20% till 2010
came out of that time were Cadbury
At the time I joined in 2005, the
Dairy Milk Silk, a premium variant of
economy was beginning to open up. I
Cadbury Dairy Milk, and Oreo biscuits.
felt we could grow much faster, but most
It really confirmed the philosophy
others in the company did not. Along
that less is more and more is actually
with a few people who were more open
less. Over eight years, the business grew
minded and who believed that this was
by a CAGR of ~25% in top line and
possible, we put together a plan to grow
~25% in bottom line. Our factories ran
at 20% per annum CAGR for the next
out of capacity. What if I had to do this
five years, against 10% in the past
again? I would have aimed for 30%
decade. So, 20% till 2010 was the
growth. But who was to know?
mantra. People thought we were stupid. We underpinned that ambition with
enjoy in the evening but don't want to be associated with in the day. On the positive side, Diageo was a great company and spirits was a category with very low per capita consumption. It was ripe for growth. Attitudes and barriers to alcohol were also breaking down. So it seemed like one of the most exciting opportunities in the larger consumer goods space. At one level, I did not want to get tainted after 30 years of having worked in multinational companies, but then, at that stage of my career, I also had the opportunity to lead the industry, change its reputation and perhaps create a legacy for people after me. So I took the
Cadbury was taken over by Kraft
plunge and the challenge. It has been a
Foods. They then split the company into
much bigger challenge than what I AUGUST
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expected because we had to deal with a host of legacy issues. While dealing with all that, we also started setting out our plan for the business. We put our mind behind a handful of the 150 brands that we owned. We supported that with sharper positioning in advertising and put an innovation structure in place to bring some excitement to a category where there had been very little excitement at all. We changed the sales organization from push to pull and told them that in a ‘mediadark’ market, the retail store is your television screen. We not only needed to generate demand there, but also build brand equity inside the retail store. We transformed our cost base and halved the number of factories from 94 to under 50. We invested in ethical marketing of alcohol. We killed brands called ‘diet mate’ as we thought it was unethical marketing of alcohol. We invested in road safety and in building corporate citizenship Inclusion and diversity We tried to transform the organization in terms of its structure, its ways of working and culture. We halved the number of whitecollar employees and enhanced the focus on inclusion and
was not even one woman in the
would be impossible to clean this
management committee. That is the
industry and that one cannot be
kind of change we have tried to drive in
compliant in alcohol and that if we tried,
this business.
the business would close. I said, “Let us
diversity. Today in my leadership team,
Today, it's easier for me to attract
comply and see.” We are still living to tell
four out of eight are women—in an
talent and most importantly, we have
the tale. Fortunately, all these happened
alcohol business! Almost a third of our
changed the way business is done in this
as we were transforming the growth and
top 50 are women. When I joined, there
industry. Many people told me that it
profitability of the business.
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AUGUST
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Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
My 5 Lessons from Three Innings
W
hat are the lessons we can draw from these three experiences of mine at leading businesses? One was a turnaround situation in Africa; the second was about accelerating growth of a company that was already doing well and the third was about a transformation of a business where I needed to transform everything about that business. I have learned five very important lessons which I will share with you: 1) Setting the right ambition Ambition is the starting point of anything. It determines effort and resource. If you have an ambition that your son or daughter must pass the IIT entrance exam, you will put in effort, arrange coaching class and do a lot of planning. If you aim lower, then you will do things very differently. When you intend to grow a business by 10%, there are certain things that you do, but if have an ambition to grow at 20 or 25%, you do totally different things. It is one of the most important decisions that a leader must make to set up the ambition for that business. But why is it so difficult? Ambition is the marriage of science and a dream. If you set the ambition too high, you set yourself up for failure. If you set it too low, as I did with Cadbury, then you leave money on the table. That is why, it is so important to set the right goal and vision for your business.
lockdowns or strikes. They'll blame everything but not themselves. Even the most intelligent people do this. Many of the world's great companies were born during slowdowns and recessions. GE, IBM, General Motors, Disney and even Microsoft were companies born during tough times. When I joined Cadbury, I asked my team to map company performance with GDP. The correlation was negative. Analysis showed that two‐thirds of the drivers of growth were internal and just one‐third was external. So the message really is: forget your circle of influence or your circle of concern but focus on your circle of control. What can you do to change your business and never be a victim? Take charge. 4) Be future-ready In a fast‐changing environment like ours, I am reminded of the saying that God has given us two eyes—one to look at today and one to look at tomorrow. Consumers are changing faster than marketers. Consumers want more. Things are changing by the hour, day and month. You need people who are agile. If people don't adapt and change their skills and capabilities, they will fall behind. You have to create an organization that has a culture and a mindset that is not just ready for today but for tomorrow. It is much tougher, but if you don't do that, you will become the dinosaur of your industry.
2) The power of focus
5) Win the right way
Indians love to multitask. I have heard this so often from colleagues and multinational companies. We like to become jack of all trades and often masters of none. To reach international level in any sport, you need mastery and mastery requires focus. How many people can you think of who are at the international level performing across multiple disciplines of sports? That's really hard because you need focus and intensity to succeed. It's very hard to find time to do more than one and master it. It is a simple truth, but easily forgotten.
I was brought up with strong values. Whether it was my upbringing in my family or the way we were nurtured in Pond’s, Unilever and thereafter, I have been trained to do the right things. It is possible even in India. Somebody has to put their neck on the line and say, “I'm going to do it right and I will not compromise. I am happy to fight anyone in a fair fight as long as we all play by the same rules.”
The most important resource in a company is management time. What you make your people do is the most important decision you make. If you get them to do too many things, you squander their resources. So you have to choose your battles in life, doing the few big things that are much more impactful than doing many small things. The latter keeps you busy, but the former transforms your business.
Often people will tell you that the cost of compliance is very high. I have had people telling me that for a small amount, we can fix problems. But then what is the cost of non‐compliance?
3) We make growth happen
How many examples are there of companies that have failed due to poor governance like Enron? Life is not about just building a company; it is about building an institution; and institutions are built on values and conscience, not on numbers. There is no choice today other than to be a good corporate citizen, do the right thing and live in harmony with the environment and the community that we serve.
In business, when things go well, your teams immediately appropriate that and say that it happened because of them. The moment they don't do well, they blame the economy, monsoon,
So to summarize, my Five Lessons are: ﴾1﴿ Set the right ambition; ﴾2﴿ Have the power of focus; ﴾3﴿ We make growth happen; ﴾4﴿ Be future ready; and ﴾5﴿ Win the right way. AUGUST
2020
21
M
umbai Dabbawala as an
transactions a day, collecting lunch
Dabbawala visually scans the unique
organisation
well
boxes from customers’ homes in the
code on the lunchboxes.
known for its exemplary
morning between 9 and 10.30 am,
The Dabbawalas carry their own
performance categorised by very low
delivering them for lunch between 12
lunch. Each of them earns about Rs 20K
defects in its services. Forbes Magazine
and 1 pm, collecting the empty boxes
to 22K per month as their salary,
reported that its defect level was 1 per
between 1.30 and 2.30 pm, and
charging the customers between Rs 600
million
delivering them back home between
and Rs 1200 depending on factors such
4.30 and 6pm.
as the commuting distance and size of
transactions,
is
which
is
exceedingly better than the Six Sigma prescribed 3.45 DPMO (defects per
The team works daily like a well
the lunch box. The Dabbawalas also
million opportunities). This makes
oiled high precision machine, making
provide free food for hungry children,
Mumbai Dabbawala arguably the best
no mistake in the process. The entire
contributing their little bit towards a
performing organisation in the world in
world awed at their high performance
hungerfree Mumbai. During Kerala
terms of quality.
culture. To top it all, 80% of the
floods, each employee chipped in Rs 20;
Each employee of the organisation
employees are illiterate; they do not use
they raised Rs. 1 lakh and donated it for
is commonly known as a Dabbawala
paper, technology or the Internet, nor
the flood victims. No wonder their
(one who carries lunch box). While the
do they consume plastics or any fuel for
tagline is: “It is only by helping each
Dabbawalas did what they did, and in
transport. They use a combination of
other, we can achieve our goal.”
spite of several case studies on them,
bicycle, Mumbai’s local trains and
the key “X” factor on why they perform
handcarts for the entire process,
Accolades all the way
so well remained unknown, including
spanning 60 to 70 kms of Mumbai,
Their achievements in carrying out a
to the Dabbawalas, until Dr Pradeep B
thereby making their entire operation
supposedly simple job of delivering
Deshpande, CEO, Six Sigma and
ecofriendly. As Mumbai’s local trains
lunchboxes, with zero investment are
Advanced Controls Inc. USA (SAC),
through
mindboggling, to say the least.
unravelled the secret, in January 2019.
commute are heavily crowded, it is
Sample these: Their precision rate
Learning about this X Factor and
almost impossible for people to carry
has humbled SixSigma. In their 128
adopting it in our day to day life and
with them in the train their lunch boxes.
year history, there has been no
work can replicate the same level of
Therefore, they take the services of
resignation or a strike, as each employee
efficiency and effectiveness and can
Dabbawalas.
is a stakeholder in the venture. There is
which
most
employees
accelerate the success rate amidst
no retirement agelimit and even 85 Decoding their code
year old people work with them. When
While modern supply chain uses
Prince Charles visited India in
Precision human machines
barcodes and RFIDs, Dabbawalas
November of 2004, he spent 20 minutes
Mr Ritesh Andre, Coordinator of
follow a simple alphanumeric code that
with the Dabbawalas, at their place and
Mumbai Dabbawala, traced their
has evolved over time. Written in oil
time. A British High Commission
growth from a humble beginning in
paint, the code contains details like the
Official said the idea was to show the
1890, when a Parsi banker asked his
place of origin and destination,
Prince something that was unique to
great grandfather, Shri Mahadu Havaji
originating and destination railway
Mumbai. Of the three guests from India
Bachhe, to deliver his lunch box. Today,
stations and the building to which the
invited to London for Prince Charles’
they have 5000 dabbawalas and 2 lakh
boxes are to be delivered. While digital
second marriage, two were Dabbawalas.
customers. They carry out 4 lakh
scanners read the barcodes, the
challenging situations.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
or Path of Service, Gyan Yoga or the Path of Dynamism and Righteousness and Raja Yoga or the Path of Discipline. When he studied the Dabbawalas, he observed that most of them belong to a community called “Varkari” from the vicinity of Pune, whose ancestors served the army of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Their deity is Ragumayi Vittala of Pandharpur. Every year, they undertake a pilgrimage of over 200 Kms by walking to worship Vittala. They say that every customer is “Vittala” himself and hence they cannot afford to commit any errors while serving their deity. This belief is one of the main reasons why their ‘internal They have got ISO certification,
Cracking their X factor
excellence’ is very high.
though the employees do not know what
Mr Raja Atmamayan, VicePresident,
ISO stands for. All that they know are:
Ascent Transformation Ventures, spoke
Elements of internal excellence
Customer is God; Time is Money; Giving
on the theme: How Mumbai Dabba
Internal Excellence is synonymous with
Food is a great service (Annadan is
walas Achieve Exemplary Performance?
terms like Emotional Excellence,
Mahadan) and Error is Horror. They
He explained the painstaking research
Emotional
have a collection in their office of over
done by Dr. Pradeep B. Deshpande, who
Actualization, etc. Some of the
7000 certificates for merit, quality and
was one of the pioneers in bringing Six
characteristics of employees in a high
astonishing records, awarded to them
Sigma to India. Dr Deshpande
Internal Excellence environment are:
by different bodies around the world.
concluded that Six Sigma will fail over a
They regularly feature in the Top 50 influential people that impact Mumbai.
•
More
Self
responsibility
and
ownership
period of time, unless an organisation raises its Internal Excellence.
Intelligence,
•
More voluntariness
•
Higher focus and dedication
•
Seeing bigger picture of things
•
Honest,
Several news channels have carried their
He studied the Dabbawalas; the
story. Their pageantry was part of the
Kumbh Mela festival that is known for
2010 Republic Day parade show in New
the largest gathering in the world,
Delhi. In 2005, Sir Richard Branson,
organised in an orderly and amazing
Chairman of Virgin Airways, blown
manner; the Indian Army; ISRO and
motivating and striving for
away by the feats of Dabbawalas
other organisations, and realised that a
inclusive wellbeing
travelled with them in a Mumbai local
combination of yoga plays a part in
train and delivered lunch boxes to
raising Internal Excellence: Bhakthi
employees of Virgin Airways in
Yoga or the Path of Love, Karma Yoga
Churchgate, Mumbai. 24
AUGUST
2020
sincere,
self
disciplined and devoted •
•
Helping,
caring,
sharing,
Staying positive most of the occasions
These characteristics, in turn lead to: •
Less stress and anxiety
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
•
Less fear and worries
Dabbawalas, on whom the research was
•
Less grudge and anger
carried out, measured 90% and above
•
Emotional balance.
on internal excellence. This is the X
Auditing internal excellence Dr Deshpande scientifically audited Internal Excellence using: •
EQ
Radio
developed
by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and funded by several bodies, including the US Air Force, Google etc. •
“Bio Well” working on the
Dr. Konstantin Korotkov. A
sample
population
of
Enhancing
positivity
of
managers and supervisors •
Offering consistent positive
factor behind the phenomenal per
attitude training programs to all the
formance of ‘Mumbai Dabbawala,’ said
employees
Dr Deshpande. He also recommended
All the participants who had tuned
some of the ways in which individuals
into the webinar left the session with the
and organisations can raise their
same sentiments echoed by the British
internal excellence.
High Commission official who co
Ways to improve internal excellence •
Introducing
meditation
(generally yoga) as a practice
principle of Gas Discharge Visualization, developed by
•
•
Reorienting from a “Fear
ordinated the visit of Prince Charles to India and his meet with the Dabbawalas in 2004 and had then remarked, “"I don’t think any other city anywhere in India or
Driven” organisation culture
even the World has such a system (as the
to a “Trust Driven” culture
Mumbai Dabbawala)."
AUGUST
2020
25
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
I
feel truly privileged to address all
Singh, who was a member of the same
degree in Mechanical Engineering, like
of you as MMA is considered one
body. Without going into those details,
my grandfather, father, uncles and
of AIMA’s best Local Management
all I will say is that my grandfather was
siblings before me, I joined the family
Associations. I had agreed to deliver the
thrilled when Mr. PV Narsimha Rao and
business. Like them, sweeping the
speech in person in Chennai, but things
Dr. Manmohan Singh started the
factory shopfloor was my first job after
being the way they are, I am compelled
process of economic liberalisation. At
getting an American degree, followed by
to address you online. I have decided to
that time, he told us, his grandchildren,
running almost every type of machine
speak on “Ethics”, as I think ‘ethics’
that he wished he were 60 years
the company owned. We were expected
forms a part of Managerial Excellence.
younger. What I would also mention is
to produce more than the norms set by
that after this speech, the then
the Industrial Engineering department
MMA speech and a storm
Government rejected every licence the
of the company. More than anything
MMA has stuck in my mind since March
Kirloskar group had applied for and my
else, I got an education on what it feels
1981, when your Association conferred
grandfather, for a few years at least, was
like, to be on the other side of the table.
its Business Leadership Award upon my
persona nongrata in certain parts of the
Grandfather, Mr. SL Kirloskar. At that
A few years later, again like for all
national capital. This is why I remember
time, he told the members that he was
members of my family, I was given the
MMA, more than anything else.
responsibility to set up a project and
glad that the occasion presented him an
I would say that I am blessed to
soon ran into Indian bureaucracy, as the
have been born in a family like this,
project needed approval from what was
because we too could speak our minds
called the MRTP Commission. That was
to our elders. As I grew up, I also learnt
when I learnt that the Kirloskar Group,
the life my forefathers had lived. Part of
unlike a few others, had never opposed
the family was intensely capitalist, but
any project promoted by other industrial
Educated at MIT in the 1920s and
few people outside Maharashtra know
groups to enter businesses it was in; that
having grown up and started working in
that the company I now run also
my grandfather always held that
preIndependent India, he was a firm
published three magazines from
competition would make one better.
believer in Free Enterprise. During his
the1920s. They were known to be
This attitude actually made us ready to
speech, he proposed a 14point
extremely progressive for their times,
face global competition when India
programme for successfully meeting the
and possibly would be considered that
opened up in 1991 and our exports went
challenges of the 1980s, which included
even today, with articles promoting
up to 28% of our revenues soon after
doing
Planning
education of the girl child and widow re
liberalisation. It helped us to become a
Commission.My grandfather was known
marriage on one hand and writing
true MNC within 10 years. Step by step
for calling a spade a spade, and as you
against blind superstition on the other.
I learnt the family traditions.
could well imagine, all hell then broke
Many people credit these magazines for
loose. There were responses in
modernising Maharashtrian society.
opportunity to express his views on what he saw as problems of grave concern, and on our economy which was degenerating, even after three decades of Independence.
away
with
the
Times change but stick to values My father passed away as I turned 30
newspapers by Dr. DT Lakdawala, then Dy. Chairman of the Planning
US degree and a sweeping task
years of age. One evening, a few years
Commission, as well as Dr. Tarlok
Returning from the US after getting my
earlier, he had asked my brother and me AUGUST
2020
27
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
a question; He mentioned that until
work done by many individuals and
Some more have fled the country and
then, our businesses had grown on the
companies that have contributed to the
are resisting return. While they are
quality and reliability of our products
healthcare effort. Unfortunately, ICU
there, dirty linen about their business
and our allIndia marketing network.
bed and ventilator allocation have also
practices and the enabling environment
But times were changing and now there
raised questions about the ethics of
is being washed in public as foreign
were other expectations which clashed
many hospitals around the country.
courts consider their applications.
with family values. He asked both of us
Even the odd medical research firm has
We live in an interconnected and
whether we should join the bandwagon
been found to be fudging data at a time
globalised world, with information
to grow quickly, or should we be known
the world is desperate for answers to the
available at one’s fingertips. This was
as a group that stopped growing because
pandemic. Quite often, we fail to realise
the case before Covid, and we will still
we did not change our principles with
that behaviour during a crisis can make
be interconnected but possibly less
the times.
or mar the public perception of
globalised after Covid. But with the way
individuals and businesses forever.
technology has moved since Covid, one
Since then, my father’s query has always been at the back of my mind. As
Wherever it happens, a crisis like
can safely assume that information will
the company grew over time, many an
this exposes the faults and frauds of a
just reach faster. One only needs to
opportunity was missed or not grabbed.
business. A jolt to the system rattles
Google an individual or a business to get
And at the end, when things turned
skeletons in the cupboard and dodgy
more knowledge on that individual or
impossible, we gladly moved out from
deals and practices become hard to
business. Forget spreading like wildfire,
large business opportunities when we
cover up. The last couple of decades
now it will go viral. Each and every one
realised that other than good products
have seen multiple booms and busts,
of these scandals have tarnished the
and service, we could not deliver what
and unfortunately, business scandals
reputation of Indian businesses around
was being demanded. After that, the
have become ever more frequent and
the world. Imagine meeting a new
company changed its profile as a
bigger.
customer in a foreign land and hoping
business, and the part that just 10 years
he or she isn’t aware of our business
earlier had contributed to over 75% of
Scams galore
practices back home. Going forward,
our turnover, now contributes around
In the past few years, India has seen a
how much respect will outsiders,
4%. Yes, turnover stagnated, dipped
spate of corporate frauds, mainly
including those of Indian descent, have
with attendant hardships, and then rose
involving poor business practices and
for Indian business practices? To my
again to levels of 10 years ago, but we
bank loans. The unravelling of the
mind, if we desire to grow and be
are a stronger company as a result. As
Indian economy and the resulting
respected around the world, our
the company continues to be No. 1 in its
pressure on banks to collect overdue
businesses desperately need to re
business, I certainly have no regrets.
loans have uncovered a lot more muck.
establish our credentials for ethical
Many icons and superstars of Indian
behaviour and practices.
Crisis—The litmus test of character
business, including those given awards
The Covid crisis has put attention back
by respected institutions have been
on business ethics. Gouging of medical
disgraced, and some have even ended up
supplies and food has tainted the good
getting arrested in India and overseas.
28
AUGUST
2020
Forget what people will think when we go out of the country to do business or to invest; think of what foreigners will
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
need to consider when they want to
huge sums of money cannot be accepted
replaced with a new, more intrusive one.
come into India for business. As we all
without an assurance of enforceability,
This has followed “DieselGate” where
know, we need trillions of dollars to
and more importantly, the trust in the
Volkswagen was caught fudging
build our infrastructure to compete in
other party’s character, business
emission data, and ended up giving
the modern world.
practices and culture. A company’s
German businesses a bad name, a
wealth depends on stakeholders’ trust,
reputation that had been built up by two
Exit China, but why not India?
in the legality of its business, veracity of
generations of Germans after WW2.
As all of us are aware, there is also an
its accounts, reliability of its products,
Just like Indira Gandhi had famously
urge on the part of Japanese and
and fairness of its dealings. Just imagine
remarked about corruption, this too it is
Western firms to move out of China so
the number of people in India who have
a global phenomenon.
that all their eggs are not in one basket.
lost their lives’ savings because of these
We are concerned why people are not
Corporate scandals do not affect the
scandals. Companies that demonstrate
rushing in to invest in India but are
involved parties alone. They tar
high standards of ethics tend to have
going to other countries around us.
everybody, and governments have to
more stable businesses and deliver
With such a reputation, what incentive
respond to the cries for doing something
greater shareholder value over time.
about it. The most famous case of a
do foreigners have to invest here despite Corruption—A global syndrome The point I would also make is that it is Trust, business ethics and rule of
not just Indian Business which is giving
law are essential ingredients of a
its country a bad name. There are frauds
vibrant
Long‐term
around the world; Japanese companies
contracts involving huge sums of
have been caught for giving false
money cannot be accepted without
material quality assurance certificates
an assurance of enforceability, and
and French companies for bribery.
more importantly, the trust in the
Imagine the loss of reputation these
other party’s character, business
companies and countries face, leaving
market.
practices and culture.
our
attractive
market
aside the fact that world over, buyers and
the
opportunities that we can offer? People
strict regulatory response to a business scam is the SarbanesOxley Act in America that followed the Enron scandal. It substantially increased the scrutiny of accounting practices and the responsibility of boards for listed companies.
The
unintended
consequence of this regulation was that companies began to avoid listing on stock exchanges to save compliance efforts and costs.
would be wary of dealing with such
No better substitute for ethics
companies.
In India, the Satyam scandal is the
Wirecard, a German electronics
equivalent of the Enron affair. It
payment multinational, has been caught
involved a company fabricating accounts
fudging revenues for a bluechip status.
and supporting documents. The fallout
The result is that the reputation of
was that the new Companies Act in 2013
German financial sector and regulators
made auditors and independent
Trust, business ethics and rule of
has been tainted. The German
directors liable for the management’s
law are essential ingredients of a vibrant
government is axing the existing
errors and omissions. SEBI too
market. Longterm contracts involving
financial regulator, who would be
amended the listing conditions. Now,
do understand the environment that they will have to operate in, before they invest. When will we improve our environment and our governance?
AUGUST
2020
29
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
auditors have to be changed every few
Myths on ethics
there was a whistleblower who took a
years and internal audits have been
However, one’s stand on ethics should
stand to expose the rot at the top.
made more intense and intrusive.
not depend on where one sits. People with advantage expect integrity from
Practise, rather than preach
others
own
No number of rules and regulations can
“pragmatism”. Many see ethics as trading
stop greed; only each one of us as an
—one rate for buying and another for
individual who understands, and is true
selling. Another popular belief is that
to his or her responsibilities, can. It
one can have only as much ethics as one
requires special strength of character
can afford. Then, there are people who
and conviction to adhere to business
consider ethics as the crutch of the weak
ethics, especially in the policy and
While stricter regulation has largely
and the unimaginative. Many see
regulation sensitive markets. Where
improved corporate governance, it
winning at all costs as the only ethic.
companies jostle for access to land,
has
box‐ticking
They argue that winning cleanses
utilities, licences, permissions and for
approach to ethics. Regulations are
everything and public adulation is the
protection from inspection and taxation,
expensive substitutes for ethics, and as
only measure of ethics. Today, it seems
practicing ethics can get very tough.
While stricter regulation has largely improved corporate governance, it has introduced a boxticking approach to ethics. Regulations are expensive substitutes for ethics, and as the compliance burden grows, the focus
introduced
a
the compliance burden grows, the focus shifts to avoiding getting caught rather than doing the right thing in the first place.
but
justify
their
that quite a few people had been valued
Companies routinely face a choice
for what they seemed to be, not for what
between ingratiating themselves with
they really were.
powerful people or getting pushed to the
And it is not like there was a
periphery of the market. Executives from
shortage of regulations when all our
top to bottom are expected to bring
frauds came to light. To my mind, these
increasing revenues, and the pressure to
shifts to avoiding getting caught rather
company frauds have taken place thanks
win business obstructs the desire to do
than doing the right thing in the first
to an enabling environment, with so
the right thing. Therefore, leaders who
place. Litigation is becoming the way to
called independent directors turning a
are serious about building strong and
prove integrity, by both the government
blind eye, and a fear of taking a stand
longlasting organisations must make
and the companies. Moreover, the fear
against wrongdoers. All company
ethics integral to business strategy. To
of retrospective blame is deterring
directors are meant to act as trustees,
my mind, a welldocumented Code of
business initiative and innovation.
looking out for the best interest of the
Ethics must be adopted by organisations
organisation, not those of the Chairman
to ensure that our colleagues understand
and MD, or for that matter, the
how to behave and what has to be done
promoters of the company. Quite often
in various situations they could
I am reminded of what my late father
encounter in the course of business.
The public sector is a great example of regulation killing entrepreneurship. However, the responsibility of creating and maintaining a reputation for ethics is on management. It is easier to bear the cost of ethics than the cost of regulation. As can be seen, industries suffer when there is overregulation. 30
AUGUST
2020
inlaw would say, “The cemeteries are full of indispensable people.” Because many times people stay quiet so as not to lose perks. Fortunately, in one case,
Justice delayed is justice denied I have always marvelled at the American justice system; especially yesterday,
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
when a majority of Supreme Court
times whether the order would be
Justices nominated by the current
reversed if they made that list. When
President’s
told
one reads newspapers, one comes across
We have seen similar cases of
President Trump, that no one, including
cases of Americans catching Europeans
financial conditions sustained by an
him, was above the law. There, Justice
doing naughty things across the world;
is dispensed quickly.
I am not saying Americans are saints,
political
party,
If you remember the fraud that was Enron, once the case was made in the court, I think sentences were passed within 18 months. Despite being a friend of the then President George W. Bush, Kenneth Lay the Chairman of Enron, was found guilty of conspiracy and fraud. We have seen similar cases of financial conditions sustained by an institutionalized,
systemic
and
creatively planned accounting fraud in India. One wonders how long our system will take to decide the cases before it, because Justice delayed, is Justice denied. And lakhs of crores have been lost by individual citizens and the banks. When Justice is delayed, a fraud enabling environment is created, as individuals realise that there is no one
institutionalized,
systemic
and
creatively planned accounting fraud in India. One wonders how long
either.
our system will take to decide the cases before it, because Justice
Covid: The boon and bane to nature
delayed, is Justice denied.
The Covid crisis has also highlighted environmental issues. Lockdowns have brought great relief to Mother Nature by shutting down human activities. Air
technologies and making consumption
and water quality have improved all
less resource intensive.
over the planet, especially in the big
The Covid crisis has put a spotlight
cities. Carbon emission dropped as coal
on
based electricity production reduced,
businesses. Plastic has made a roaring
planes were grounded, and vehicles
come back during the pandemic, as
were parked. Water quality improved as
contamination aversion has taken
fishing and shipping became minimal.
priority
Animals and birds returned as humans
sensitivities. The crash in oil prices has
were locked in. Clean air improved
also made plastics a lot cheaper. Plastic
human health and reduced routine
consumption has once again become
sickness.
rampant in singleuse applications. The
However,
it
seems
the
environmental
demand
over
for
practices
of
environmental
disposable
masks,
environment’s brief recovery was
protective suits, packaging etc., is
celebrated only by those who could
booming. Businesses have settled for the
Corrupt nations vs. Corrupt
afford lockdowns. Lockdowns were not
cheapest and easiest material in the rush
companies
all good for Mother Nature. In Brazil,
to meet this demand.
Every year, I never fail to be amused by
deforestation of the Amazon area was
While the environment has been
a list made by a German NGO called
accelerated while the world focused on
cleaned up by lockdowns and travel
Transparency International of the most
the pandemic. In Africa, poachers had a
bans, air and water quality is de
corrupt countries in the world; amused,
free run as governments deployed their
teriorating again as economic activity
because while they do tell us which
resources on enforcing lockdowns.
resumes. Businesses must be conscious
countries are corrupt, they never make
Nevertheless, the deep cleansing of the
of
a list of countries whose companies
environment
environment in order to avoid health
corrupt others. I have wondered many
strengthened the case for using clean
or nowhere to go to.
during
lockdown
their
responsibility
to
calamities in the future. AUGUST
2020
31
the
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
As the pandemic continues, one seriously needs to consider how the world will be, once it is over. What will be the new normal?
As the pandemic continues, one seriously needs to consider how the world will be, once it is over. What will be the new normal? Will we be going back to office every single day of work? On a humorous note, how many spouses will believe we are going to be actually working? How will work from home impact people in the transport, restaurant and real estate sectors? How much of the planned infrastructure will really be required? Will people again fill up malls, stadia and theatres, or will they develop a taste for online shopping, sports
and
pandemic, there would be a shift to
in the morning to birdsong rather than
minimalism as a lifestyle and the
the sound of traffic.
competition to claim status through
I believe every generation should leave the world a better place for our next
What will be the New Normal?
virtual
have returned; it is beautiful to wake up
streaming
entertainment? Will people still travel long distances and across borders for work? There is a lot that is up in the air and we cannot know where everything will settle when this pandemic eventually subsides or is subdued.
generation and we should make all out efforts to support clean technologies once business starts moving again. Now that we have the wherewithal, we must make the right selections to ensure that nature too can recover, rather than trying for easy but shortterm monetary gains. Here too, there is an opportunity for a principled or ethical choice to be made.
pomp and possessions will become less severe. My spectacular role model As managers, each one of us is a role model, not only to our subordinates, but to society at large. People almost worship successful managers and want to imitate them. They tell their children that these are ideals to be emulated. There are so many examples around us of how people have grown large
In my case, this lockdown has led to
businesses while following their
introspection on the life that I have lived
consciences. Companies like Infosys and
and what to do about the future. It has
Wipro almost immediately come to
shown me what I need to survive and
mind. I have no hesitation in saying that
given me an idea of what real happiness
the role model for me has been Mr.
could mean. Actually, the only thing I
Azim Premji, who grew an edible oil
really miss is being close to my son, who
business into one of India’s largest and
has decided to continue running all our
most admired tech companies. To me,
overseas businesses from London where
what he is doing now is even more
he and his team are based. I must accept
spectacular, to ensure that the next
that my child has grown to become a
generation of our fellow citizens has a
leader in his own right. It has brought
far better future.
home the fact, that my own happiness and health is dependent on that of the
Finally, I agree with the saying that a true measure of one’s worth must
Leave the world a better place
community, and that to become rich in
This brings to my mind the kind of
the face of disease and hunger is of no
world we want to leave for our children.
use; my father would often say, one
So many of my friends have remarked
cannot have a skyscraper in a slum. We
that the skies looked blue again, like
must think in terms of the social whole
they did when we were young and a few
—of what is best for the community, of
So, take care and stay safe. I hope
circulated pictures on WhatsApp of
the common or public good. Each of us
that whenever the country opens up for
clean streams and the Himalayas from
should stop doing what is best only for
travel again, I shall have the privilege of
tens of miles away. Birds also seem to
ourselves. I hope at the end of this
meeting you in Chennai.
32
AUGUST
2020
include all the benefits that others have received from his or her success. Like respect, success, wealth and power are to be earned, and not to be demanded.
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
We now have evidence that over the last three decades the real sources of shareholder value have shifted outside the balance sheet. Today, leading businesses across the globe transact and influence value primarily through brands. This is evident from what we see in the context of COVID scenario, in which brand‐led businesses are speaking the language of revival and regaining lost glory while businesses that have banked only on their supply‐side assets are fighting for survival. At a time when all our assets are tested, will brand be the one to bring us safely to the harbour? In order to shed light on this critical theme, MMA and EQUITOR Value Advisory partnered to create a new series on ‘Brand Value Management’ and to bring the best thought‐leadership in this domain, so we might all navigate out of this crisis safely and create inordinate value. The inaugural session was held through webinar on 23 May 2020 on the theme, ‘Your brand is your best business continuity plan in a crisis.’ Mr A Venkataramani, Managing Director, IP Rings Ltd, as President of MMA, delivered the welcome address and opening remarks. Mr Ramesh Jude Thomas, President and CKO, EQUITOR Value Advisory, delivered a talk on the theme ‘Brand Value Management.’ The Chief Guest of the session, Mr Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD, Nestlé India Ltd., delivered the inaugural address. Ms Nappina Sampath, EQUITOR Value Advisory, moderated the Q & A session. Group Captain R Vijayakumar (Retd) VSM, Executive Director of MMA, delivered the vote of thanks. Excerpts from Mr Suresh Narayanan’s address.
I
do not know if it is a privilege or
China and found its way into different
heart, and it is an organization that I
misfortune for me to face
parts of the world. Lo and behold, we
have tried to serve to the best of my
numerous crises. Whether it was
find ourselves doing all the lockdown
capabilities. It is a very old company set
the Lehman meltdown in 2008 while I
procedures and living a life that is very
up in 1866 by a German immigrant to
was in Singapore, the five years of the
different from what we had dreamt of
Switzerland by the name of Heinrich
Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya and Sudan
and thought in January or February of
Nestlé, but he adapted himself to the
where I worked, or the five years of
this year. So you can see how life can be
context of the Frenchspeaking part of
pretty rigorous work in India at the start
upended by a crisis. But in every crisis,
Switzerland that he came to; Heinrich
of the Maggi crisis that we had to face as
there is also an opportunity as the
became Henri. He was a serial
a company. One thing can be said in
Chinese word for crisis indicates.
entrepreneur who failed in numerous ventures. He had a gaslighting business
common: A crisis doesn't come with a
I want to share five core messages
calling card. As a crisis creeps in, it falls
and probably five principles that I have
on you and grows on you. But the fact is
learnt in my years of being in the
that the crisis then blows up and creates
consumer goods sector and in
consequences.
responsible positions at the world's
In those days of 19th century,
largest consumer goods company,
Switzerland was surprisingly a poor
Nestlé.
country. They had high infant mortality.
Crisis and opportunity: 2 Sides of a coin
and a paraffin wax business. He tried to make some chemicals. He was a trained pharmacist.
Nestlé being a kindhearted man told
The pandemic that we face is not a crisis
A company with a noble birth
that we invited. It came. It started in
himself that he must put his knowledge
Nestlé is the example closest to my
to use and save the life of his AUGUST
2020
35
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
neighbour's child. He put up a
The portfolio of the company is
global markets because of the American
combination of wheat flour, milk,
such that my successors down the ages
troops who were travelling all across the
vitamins, minerals, sugar and a bit of
can continue to launch brands of Nestlé.
world during the World War II. As a
water, mixed it and gave it to the child
The challenge for Nestlé is not what to
result of the American soldiers’ habit of
who survived.
launch but when to launch, which is a
drinking Nescafe, the world got to drink
different challenge from many other
Nescafe. So Nescafe also began in a
organisations.
crisis.
Have a break: KitKat
Milo: Nestlé’s high
Many of the brands that we have had
Milo again is a brand that was founded
also began with a social purpose. KitKat
in Australia. It came out of a crisis.
was a brand that was introduced to
Australia was having serious issues in
factory workers in the UK in the 19th
terms of children not getting adequate
Century, to provide them with a quick
nutrition. The government requested
energy product between their breaks.
Nestlé as a company to do something
They needed a chocolate or some form
about it. Thus, almost 80 years ago,
of energy. So a twofinger and a three
Milo, our energy drink, was born.
His mother asked him to give it to the neighbourhood children who also starved. He gave it to those children. They all survived. The head of the village told him, “Look Henri, you will not be able to survive if you don't make this into a business.” So reluctantly, Henri Nestlé started the business and called it ‘farine lactée’, which is French for wheat flour with milk. He put the name Nestlé to it, to have his personal guarantee to the food quality and safety
finger KitKat were designed, fitting into
Thus, every crisis has given rise to
the back pocket of the overalls of a
an opportunity, enabling people to see
factory worker. The tagline is still being
Henri Nestlé’s quest began with a
virtue in that opportunity and create
used: Have a break; Have a KitKat. It
social cause of saving the life of a child.
brands; such brands last.
began with a factory break. But now, we
The product that he produced still
have so many other breaks in life.
of the product. This set off a journey 154 years ago.
exists. Some of you might have given it
KitKat is a 90yearold brand; Nescafe is 80 plus. Milo is 80 plus. In
to your children and it is called Cerelac.
The coffee crisis & Nescafe
India, we are 108 years old. Longevity
It was the first product that the
Our brand Nescafe was created as a
comes when you have strong genes, firm
company put up 154 years ago.
result of a crisis. In Brazil, there was
foundations and principles of nurturing
Since then, the company has grown
excess coffee crop and the Brazilian
that you do not ever violate in all the
through a lot of its own organic brands
government did not know what to do
history that you go through.
and through acquisitions. Today, we tip
with this coffee. They requested Nestlé
the scales at over $90 Bn in sales. We
to do something about it, because they
are the largest consumer goods
were a food company. Nestlé put its
company in the world represented in
scientists to work and in a couple of
about 200 countries. It employs
months, they were able to crack the first
300,000 people, and what is more, we
prototype of what became instant
nurture 2000 global and regional
coffee. That instant coffee was Nescafe.
brands. 36
Nescafe went on to dominate the
AUGUST
2020
5 Key principles: The 5Cs I look at the FIVE Principles that helped shape the company, and I call them the 5Cs. Connect Connect across the value chain. Why were we able to bring Maggi from the
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
ICU? It was a brand that was dead for four to five months (following the allegations of excess lead in Maggi samples) and then it came back. Within two months, it became the market leader once again and we haven't looked back. Today, in the pandemic, it is the most soughtafter brand because it is a quick form of having a snack or assuaging hunger. The reason why it happened is because of the ecosystem that the brand has. Maggi is a brand that is upwards of Rs.2000 crores in terms of value. Maggi depends on about 400,000 wheat farmers, whose produce is necessary for making Maggi. We have a couple of thousand spice farmers and another couple of thousand suppliers. We have about 1800 distributors. We have four and a half million outlets. Maggi, in fact, started the food retailing revolution in this country. It was not Domino’s, KFC or McDonald's. In the early 80s when Maggi came, it was being made in small outlets outside cinema theatres, bus stations and railway stations and inside colleges. They all gave source of living for people. The ecosystem was much larger. Today,
brand trust and brand love are essentials.
Meghalaya. Everywhere, you can find
in the pandemic, we reach out to that
Maggi has always had happy moments
Maggi and tea, if not anything else. It is
ecosystem.
with people. You all have fond memories
something ubiquitous.
The reason why we were able to resurrect this brand from a difficult
of the brand—whether in school or college or cafeteria or on holidays.
It has come about because of the core principle of connecting across the
situation was because it stood for happy
It is a brand that is available from
value chain with respect, trust and
moments in the lives of our people. So,
Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to
transparency. During the Maggi crisis, AUGUST
2020
37
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
to them. We help them get permission to start manufacturing. We support them with advance payments and orders. We are privileged to own a brand that is strong. So compliance is a very important part of the brand. If you are ethical, honest and moral compass is true north, then you have nothing to fear. But when you deal in duplicity, deception and dissonance, your business model will start to shake. If a model is completely based on a fictitious valuation, you will not be able to stand on your feet. If your brand is based on connections, compliance and ensuring
one of the pledges that I took, and I
they do? They convert science into
always thank the Lord for having given
nutrition; they use technology to
me the strength to be able not to forsake
leverage nutrition. At this time during
it, was that no job should be cut. Not a
the pandemic, one of the things that I
single employee lost the job during the
am very proud of is that we are reaching
Create
Maggi crisis. That was the only pledge I
out to the government to help educate
We have to create properties around our
had.
food processing industries on safety,
brands and also nurture them. We have
social distancing, hygiene practices and
a property, for example, called ‘Ask
good manufacturing practices.
Nestlé.’ This is one of the biggest
This is not just livelihood. For a person to lose a job is like losing his/her
that it genuinely gives value somewhere to someone, you have every reason to stand and come out of a crisis.
selfrespect. I have no business, as a
Our team members take positions
platforms in the country and probably
business entity, to sacrifice the very
at various places to educate. We have a
the only true nutrition site where you
foundations that make my business. So
network of almost 5,000 to 10,000
get information on nutrition.
‘Connect’ is extremely important.
suppliers. Many of them are MSMEs.
Just like fake news, we have fake
One of the principles that I have put Comply
news in nutrition as well. This site is
forward to my team is that we should
today being leveraged for information
Nestlé has global expertise. In the last
not allow even a single MSME to go
by mothers on good nutrition for
20 years, we have spent more than $35
bellyup. I am truly grateful that they
children, on growing habits or
billion in R&D. Every year, we spend
live by it.
uncommon nutrition practices and
about $1.5 billion in R&D across our 31 R&D Centres. We have 4,000 employees who work in the R&D Centres. What do 38
AUGUST
2020
This is the time we have to stand by
recipes. Mothers now seek different
MSMEs because they have stood by us
recipes because they have to keep the
all these years; therefore, we reach out
kids engaged at home and also give
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
them nutritious food.
valued, you will find greater value add because of ethical, honest, sincere,
My only advice to you as a senior
1.2 million contacts in a matter of days.
transparent
leader is to first manage yourself.
This took us last year almost seven to
behaviours.
duplicity,
We start managing others by being
eight months. We have www.maggi.in
deception and dissonance, you will lose
confused and incoherent. It doesn't
which is reaching out to consumers who
a lot more. Don't worry about a few
help.
are now cooking at home and who need
thousand that you lose today. You will
different ideas. This is like a helpline,
make many millions tomorrow if you
providing them with hundreds of recipes
are consistent.
We have managed to get more than
—not all related to Maggi—but as a service to a cause.
and But
trustworthy with
Be competitive You are in business to be competitive.
I am very proud, that as a result of
You are in business because an essential
all of this, my core suppliers survive.
dimension differentiates you from
They thrive. I work with 100,000
others. A crisis is the time when you
farmers in Punjab and Haryana. Since
have to ask the question, “Am I
the crisis, every single day, every drop
differentiated or am I just like
of milk has been collected by Nestlé and
everybody else?” If you are like
processed; they are promptly paid.
everybody else, you will divide the cake
Values,
trustworthiness
and
into ten pieces amongst ten people.
your teams. I keep telling my team that my only role is to do two things: (1) Tell them the purpose, and (2) Empower them and get out of the way. If I can do that successfully, I think we will have a successful organization going forward. So
Connection,
Compliance,
Creation, Consistency and Being Competitive—These are the 5Cs, or the 5 essential principles, a robust set of grand principles which can help to bail you out during a crisis.
principles are the true tests in a crisis.
If you are differentiated, you will
When everything is good, the birds fly;
divide the cake into ten pieces, but you
the parrots look green; the world looks
Compassion
will get six pieces and the four pieces
awesome. When the chips are down, true
My only advice to you as a senior leader
will be divided amongst the other
men and women stand up. It is the time
is to first manage yourself. We start
players. What is the game that you want
when your purpose and values speak.
managing others by being confused and
to play—a competitive one or a fairly
incoherent. It doesn't help. A leader has
average game? It is time to ask those
to be crystal clear. Ask Group Captain
questions. Today, we create content as
Vijayakumar of MMA, an exAir force
we are a digital company. We are no
man, as to what a crisis is and what
longer a company based on press and
leadership means when you are in a war.
television. We are a company of
COVID19 is a war that we are fighting.
Consistency You need to be consistent. You can't suddenly become from a zero to hero, or you should not decimate yourself from a hero to zero through behaviours that are seen to be completely and totally opportunistic. This is not the time for opportunistic brands. This is the time for compassionate brands. You will make your money and profits. The value chain will carry on. When your brand is
millennials. When I retire, the average age will fall by five years, because there are much younger people in the company. They come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things. This is the time for you to empower
The 6th C that I would add to 5Cs is compassion. Be compassionate. This is the time to give, not take. The more you give, the more you will get. That is what all our religions have told us. And that is what I hope all of you also follow. AUGUST
2020
39
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Madras Management Association (MMA) in collaboration with KonradAdenauer Stiftung (KAS) presented a panel discussion on the theme, “Women in Politics” through webinar on 18 June 2020. ORF and NGPL were the event partners. The distinguished speakers on the panel were: • Ms Kavitha D Chitturi, Joint Managing Director, The KCP Limited • Mr Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative to India of KAS • Ms Kushbhu Sundar, Spokesperson, Indian National Congress • Ms Nupur Sharma, National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party • Ms Rehana Ameer, Elected Member of Common Council, City of London Corporation • Ms Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, Actor, FilmMaker and Activist
AUGUST
2020
41
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
G
roup Captain R Vijayakumar, Executive Director, MMA introduced all the speakers.
Ms Kavitha Chitturi delivered the welcome address. Mr Peter Rimmele of KAS delivered the introductory remarks, in which he spoke about the rise of women in politics in Germany and Europe and the challenges they face. He emphasised that the society has a strong responsibility to support women in politics. Ms
Lakshmy
Ramakrishnan,
moderated the panel discussion. She eloquently summed up women power: “When women lead, the virus loses,” drawing reference to a recent article that detailed out how women leaders from Germany to Kerala have delivered efficient, effective and empathetic responses to the pandemic. “The reasons for their stellar show are easy to comprehend,” she said. “Women are natural care givers, open to expert opinions and team players.” Ms Kushbu Sundar of Congress said that a series of cases filed by people in 2005, to vilify her for an opinion she expressed, provoked her to join politics. She said she singlehandedly fought the cases. After the Supreme Court ruled in her favour, she joined the DMK party. She wondered if a person like her with a successful record in film industry and having a solid platform could be rattled by political parties, then what will be the plight of lesser mortals. She decided to 42
AUGUST
2020
raise her voice for women by joining politics. She praised the role of late DMK leader Mr Karunanidhi in mentoring her. She did not regret leaving DMK later on, to join the Congress party. She said that women politicians have to be
Women are natural care givers, open to expert opinions and team players. — Ms Lakshmy Ramakrishnan
courageous and need the support system from their families. Education, according to her, is not a bar. “Do not
ledged that the late BJP leader Sushma
give more than two terms to any
Swaraj inspired her for her people skills
politician,” she suggested and batted for
and memory. “To be in politics, one has
more youngsters in politics and 50%
to have a good education and make
reservation for women in parliament, to
oneself known,” Nupur said. She
promote gender equality.
pleaded for domain experts in
Ms Nupur Sharma of BJP said she was 23 when she joined politics. “It was my calling,” she said. Finding it tough to
bureaucracy and for restructuring the UPSC system. “Talk less, do more,” was her counsel to aspiring politicians.
balance her lucrative profession and her
Ms Rehana Ameer of London
role in BJP legal cell, she gave up her
Corporation said that though she hails
Supreme Court practice and became a
from a traditional background, her
fulltime politician. Nupur acknow
parents gave her good education and
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
plenty of freedom. “Instead of becoming
London recognises individual talents
along.” Summing up, the moderator Ms
somebody, I wanted to do something
and competencies.
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan brought out the
and give back to the society. I wanted to
She suggested that men in power
commonality in all the three panellists
break the stereotype while retaining my
should have adequate data before
—of finding their calling in politics, to
individuality and conviction. That’s how
framing policies concerning women.
be the change agent, the urge to give
I took my plunge into politics in 2016,” she said and added, “Democracy is a way of correcting historic wrongs.” She acknowledged that the ecosystem in
She advised young women, “Be who you are; be accountable to the environment. Take things as they come
back to the society, never to give up and to promote diversity. She concluded that the right time for women to enter politics is—NOW.
AUGUST
2020
43
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
DR REKHA SHETTY
Abraham
Maslow
described
self
actualisation as the process of becoming the person God created you to be.
W
greatest journey is the path your take through the empire of your own mind. So, the body was given to you, a
hat the caterpillar calls
In the din and clamour of your old
boat to sail across the sea of life. It’s the
death, the Master calls a
life, did you ever have time to become
only body you will ever have. Start
butterfly. What the seed
intimate with yourself, let alone with
taking care of it to make it completely
experiences as annihilation, the Master
others? This intimacy and silence will
ship shape. Begin the day by becoming
calls a mighty banyan tree, bringing
help you to be that ideal you God
reacquainted with every muscle, with
forth a million seeds and trees, into the
created you to be. Selfknowledge in the
every breath. Fill your mind with
future.
first and most important gift of the
elevated thoughts. With kindness and
Does the raindrop know that it has
lockdown. Thoreau needed to go away
love.
the potential to become a rainbow! Do
to Walden Pond and live there for
Now let’s move on to business. You
you know what your true potential is?
months on this inward journey. You can
need to reengineer your business to suit
This is the time and place to find out
just be still and listen to your inner self,
the new reality. Many futurists have
who your actualized Self can be?
which you have ignored for so long. The
seen the far reaching changes that the
44
AUGUST
2020
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
virtual and digital world will bring.
has started. People have started working
Alvin Toffler in ‘Future Shock’ and
from homes. The virus has hastened this
‘Third Wave,’ in the 70s spoke about the
shift by decades. Many companies are
Electronic cottage. The lock downs have
finding that turning a room in their
no more than hastened the new far
homes into a digital hub is more
reaching changes that were put into
effective than commuting to a distant
motion by the worldwide web. The
work place. In large cities, people spend
spread of the Corona Virus has
an average of 1 ½ hours, from dwellings
accelerated the process. What Linda
22.5kms away, to reach their place of
Goodman calls the thunderbolt path of
work. Once the cost of communications
Accelerated Karma. The spread of the
is far less expensive than gas, the
virus itself is a manifestation of the
financial mathematics will make
speed of globalization. What touches a
telecommuting
single person, touches the global stock
Patients using telemedicine will wonder
markets. When New York, sneezes the
why they ever exposed themselves to all
world markets catch a cold. When a
that mass infection in hospitals.
more
profitable.
butterfly flutters its turquoise wings in
If there are offices in the future,
the rain forests of the Amazon, there is
they are likely to be smaller hubs in
a hurricane in Osaka. Thoughts travel
communities. Zoom has given us a new
faster than the imagination can
way of being together. Outsourcing
conceive. Revolutions sparked on
taught DELL that computers can be
Facebook can spread like the virus itself.
produced by people in the lowcost
In the past, they have overturned
countries. All they needed to do was
dictators in the blink of an eye. Today
assemble and brand them... they often
they can work even faster. So why can’t
outsourced even that. Uber and Ola
we use this time and space to spread
stepped into the business of taxis and
elevating ideas about service about self.
made them almost obsolete. Coffee Day
About love and caring. Something this
almost replaced other brands of coffee.
sad world needs.
But what a price they paid! My dad used
Coming back to the electronic
to tell me the story of Subbanna Shetty
cottage, in the 70s, Future Shock and
whose horse drawn victorias were
The Third Wave foresaw the return of
replaced by automobiles in the roaring
industry to homes. The industrial
20s. This process of change through
revolution dragged people, unwilling
changing technologies has always been
victims from their homes, to be
happening. Let’s ride the tidal wave. In
sacrificed on the altar of technology.
the world of the Internet, what matters
Today, the process to reverse this trend
is the brilliance of the mind. Neither age
or gender or race or height matter. The business world has reacted swiftly. Ford factories are making ventilators. Apparel factories in Sri Lanka
are
swiftly
moving
to
manufacturing PPEs. Cyprus has lured tourists by making it super safe and promising to pay for food, hotel stay, and hospitalization, if anyone got the disease. Women are spending more on eye makeup, with the use of masks. We have all heard how the sale of cosmetics goes up during an economic down turn. It was called the lipstick Index. Now we have the Eyeliner Index. Right now it has played hell on social
relationships.
It’s
made
everything high tech and low touch. We are treating everyone as though they could be infected. Like some countries treated every one like a terrorist after 9/11. But life goes on. Suspicion will be replaced by faith. A pizza parlour started using ovens to bake face shields. A fine dining restaurant kept everyone on its pay roll. But they had new jobs. They retrained to pack, deliver and administer the new process. Five star hotels deliver 5 star meals with a butler at home. Same payroll, new jobs. You will need to re engineer your company. Reinvent yourself. Digital education has made 100% literacy a real possibility. Teachers have had to learn new skills like the kids and the parents!
AUGUST
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Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Farmers are bringing their fruits
nomadic warriors of Central Asia going
The environment is finally getting a
and vegetables direct to the market and
on to 1820. The Spanish Flu from 1918
chance to heal itself. They say you can see
cutting out the middlemen. A fitness
to 1920 had a similar impact.
the Himalayas from Delhi. The Ganga is
company, total body fitness.com, is
Sure, disasters only make mankind
finally becoming pure. The earth is
digitally helping people to recreate their
stronger and our systems better. They
becoming green. Just think, trees have
bodies. Indian healthcare systems are
will never be the same. They will be
been on earth a 100 million years. Man
getting an opportunity to improve their
better. Sports have recovered and most
has crawled out of the jungles just 5
systems on the run. Government
sports are being played for TV cameras,
million years ago. Look at the arrogance
servants are giving the Pandemic a run
to empty stadiums. Lovers are meeting
that tells him that his needs come before
for its money, and recreating themselves
in restaurants protected by transparent
the needs of all other creatures. Covid19
in the process. Companies are being
cones. During the Spanish flu, women
allows us to stop that journey outward
forced to innovate and coming up with
wore such cones over their faces, so faces
and come back to the most important
great improvements. Covid19 is an
instead
were
journey. The journey inwards. Into
opportunity, says Simon Sinek. Mankind
highlighted. “It is not the strongest of the
ourselves, our homes, our families, and
has faced tough situations before. The
species that survives, not the most
our communities. Nothing but good can
Bubonic plague killed onethird of
intelligent that survives. It is the one that
came from this.
Europe’s population. Starting from the
is the most adaptable to change,” says
13th Century, when it started among the
Dr. Rekha Shetty is the Managing Director of
Charles Darwin. So let us adapt.
Farstar Distribution Network Ltd
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46
AUGUST
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of
being
hidden,
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
MMAKAS in association with Social Beat presented a live fireside chat on the theme “Marketing for the Future" on 1 May 2020.
“It is_not the strongest of_the species that_survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one more responsive to change.” –Charles Darwin.
Highlights of views expressed by
estimate, about 4 crore people may lose
Mr C K Ranganathan during the
jobs temporarily. In this scenario, rather
conversation:
than waiting for the sun shine, it is
Covid19: It is likely to stay on forever,
better to be proactive, look for new
like other prevalent diseases. Vaccine is
opportunities and at the same time, be
a longterm solution to keep it at bay. If
flexible enough to rebuild your business.
the world comes across a powerful,
The quote by Charles Darwin on the
ovid19 has paralysed the
miracle sort of medicine, then recovery
need to adapt and that of Andy Grove
nation and many countries too.
can be very fast and it can eliminate
that ‘Bad companies are destroyed by
With the prevailing fear on an
fatalities. Then, Corona will be treated
crisis; good companies survive them and
uncertain future, consumer priorities
like any other flu and people will get
great companies are improved by them,”
have changed drastically. The focus now
used to it. Let us keep our hopes alive on
are worth recalling now.
is on safety, hygiene and good health for
such a medicine. For practical purposes,
survival. The new normal is likely to see
let’s consider a vaccine as 12 to 18
far lower levels of economic activity
months away and learn how to go about
across the spectrum of goods and
in this scenario.
C
services with both companies and consumers resorting to cost saving measures.
Media landscape vs. marketers: Online is most welcome now, but offline is also picking up. TRP ratings of many programmes in TV are going up as
Business sustainability: It depends
people are locked indoors. News
on the business that one is in. For
channels are most sought after because
instance, airline business and hotel
of the people’s mindset and fear.
What will be the marketing like in the
industry are going to be badly hit. For
Consumers are anxious and hungry for
future? Mr David Appasamy, HeadBrand
these businesses to sustain, the current
some good news. Print media is in for a
& Strategy, Social Beat, had a conversation
model needs transformation in the
danger now due to people moving
with Mr C K Ranganathan, Chairman and
shortterm. Options have to be looked
towards reading of digital / online /
Managing Director, CavinKare Pvt Ltd.,
at. Many airlines are converting their
mobile content.
known for his visionary entrepreneurial
passenger flights into cargo flights.
leadership and skills. The conversation
Hotels are offering their rooms for
threw up interesting insights and
quarantining Covid infected people.
perspectives that may help marketers prepare for the coming years.
ECommerce: Once lockdowns are over, ecommerce companies like Amazon and Flipkart will deliver quite
Customer spending will come down
a lot of nonessential goods. E
and there will be job losses. In my
commerce will double in growth and it AUGUST
2020
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Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
is here to stay, as mask and social
attend marriages, why would we like to
to be a standby arrangement to have
distancing will become the norm and
buy dresses? Focus will be on needs and
continuity of production.
rule. Small kirana stores where people
not wants. Hygiene and cleanliness
Saloons and spas: Schools, colleges,
can buy quickly will prosper; new ones
products and immunity boosters will do
theatres, malls, saloons and spas will be
will come up and overall, their capacity
very well. Prior to Covid19, hand
definitely affected. If saloons are able to
will go up by 20% in a year’s time.
sanitizer was a Rs.810 crore market. My
demonstrate hygienic practices, it may
Consumer
and
guesstimate is that it will now become a
restore customer confidence. In our
priorities: Fear now drives consumers
Rs.40,000 crore market. Once mobile
group, we are trying it out, with protocols
to save and be frugal, even if they have
stores open up, smart phones will be in
similar to that of hospitals to have a fool
money on hand. Only when they see the
great demand from first time users.
proof arrangement. Saloons which
light, they will open up the purse.
For factory operations: We need to
implement such measures will get a
Discretionary and life style items will
look at backup options. If one factory
phenomenal
take a back seat. For example, if we don’t
gets closed due to Covid spread, there has
competitors.
50
AUGUST
sentiments
2020
advantage
over
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
Agility and adaptability: We had a
to be in place, more small restaurants
line of products prior to Covid. We have
will come up. The rates will go up.
This is the Third World War. The
put many of them in hibernation and are
Real estate: Because of social
difference is that all the countries are
now introducing topical products to suit
distancing, factories and offices that
lined up on one side against an
the present customer needs. For
function in the physical mode will need
instance, beauty products will not sell
more space. So real estate demand may
now. We have an agile team and
even go up. Some will vacate and some
amazing team members who can quickly
will occupy those spaces.
turnaround our facilities to meet the needs of the current situation. Till 4 March, we did not have any
from the erstwhile specialisation. Many fulltime jobs can go to gig economy. Parttimers
range. On 5 March, we decided to do it
opportunities.
will
find
through testing.
Sensing opportunity in a crisis: I
Multitasking: It will be the new norm
idea to launch hand sanitiser in our
unseen enemy who is only revealed
lot
of
am reminded of a story. A shoe salesman was sent to Africa. He went there, saw that nobody wore shoes and told his office that there was absolutely no scope for sales. Another salesman went there and said, “Wow! This is a
and within 15 days, we rolled out our first batch of sanitisers. Within a
Highlights of views expressed by
virgin market. No one wears shoes and
month’s time, we have introduced
Mr David Appasamy:
so, we can sell a lot.” It depends on how
gadget sanitisers and surface sanitisers.
On the Covid crisis: Bill Gates has
you look at the situation.
Shortly, we are going to launch four
said, “This is the Third World War. The
Brands: Brands must continue to
more products. We feel we can come up
difference is that all the countries are
communicate in these times, not like
with one more CavinKare, with a range
lined up on one side against an unseen
they normally do. They must show
of hygienerelated products. It is once
enemy who is only revealed through
empathy and be helpful. If they do so,
in a lifetime opportunity.
testing.”
they will stick in the consumers’ minds.
WFH has become the new norm. In
Digital adoption is the only way to
WFH: Emotional connect is important.
CavinKare, we have decided to wind up
survive. We may see a change in habits
Use tools to build relationship with
our Corporate Office and all staff will
of our people like in Japan and Far East
employees. Have a bit of fun. WFH is an
continue to work from home even post
where wearing a mask when someone
intense experience. Have breaks. It is
lockdowns. Pandemic has given us such
has a cold has been in practice even
the people who make the emotional
advantages.
before Covid19. The ability to adapt and
connect and digital is only a medium.
We are working on how to do online
cater to the changing needs will become
recruitment, train employees on the job
the key factor for survival. “If life gives
through online, conduct all meetings
you lemons, make lemonade.”
Consumers: The consumers are emotionally
fragile.
They
need
reassurance. Marketers must address
and monitor progress in virtual mode
There is a massive growth in the use
their concerns in a positive way.
with WhatsApp videos, etc. Our travel
of all digital platforms. It will go up and
Empathise with them. Be part of them.
costs have come down. Google Glass and
surge in the near term. Print media may
Connect with them emotionally. If
Microsoft Hololens have a great scope.
see a decline but it will not go away. Like
budget permits, help the society and
Restaurants: As social distancing has
radio, it will stay.
build goodwill for the brand. AUGUST
2020
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