Silver League

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Inside

Silver Jubilee has a special significance in the life of any institution as it signifies a coming of age and maturity. We present few companies which have either just crossed the milestone or have crossed it and moving ahead towards touching the golden sphere. ...Page 4

The Indian Express- Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Vadodara The Financial Express- Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune

A Space Marketing Feature

August 31, 2009

THE SILVER JUBILEE HAS A SILVER LINING. IT’S NOT ADULTHOOD BUT PERHAPS AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT MOMENT IN THE LIFECYCLE – IT IS THE COMING OF AGE AND MATURITY. IT IS A TIME TO PAUSE AND REFLECT ON ALL THE GOOD WORK THAT HAS BEEN, AND TO CHART THE FUTURE COURSE THE COMPANY SHOULD TAKE FOR ANOTHER 25 YEARS OF SUCCESS. THE FEEL IS MAGICAL, AND THE FUTURE FULL OF HOPE. IT IS A TIME WHEN THE BUBBLY FEELING SETS IN AND THE APPEARANCE CHANGES FROM DIMPLED SHYNESS TO THAT OF ‘WE MEAN BUSINESS’.

A nation’s future and its ability to compete in the global market depend greatly on how it generates new ideas, innovates and sustains. Today India stands erect to face the global financial crunch with many advantages and strengths. One of the key advantages is of course the fact that India is not exposed to the new and innovative financial instruments that triggered the meltdown. Key strength is the plethora of companies with solid foundations and concrete experience. India has a huge number of companies who have a robust financial record over the years; some since 100 years. Then there are companies who are celebrating their platinum jubilee and those who are celebrating their Golden. And there is the ‘young’ bunch of enthusiastic companies who are on the threshold of entering the dynamic phase of their existence. That of the passage of 25 years. These are the companies that India will have to look at carefully, while of course the people running these organizations have to be increasingly careful with their short terms and long term strategies and approaches. These are the companies which face big challenges, huge expectations in trying times. “These days, it is not very difficult for a company to think of crossing 25 years, but when you look at 50 years…75 years…100 years, then it surely seems a tough task,” said Rajeev Nannapaneni, Director & COO, NATCO Pharma, a Hyderabad based pharmaceutical formulations company founded in 1981.

Strategies of the Sterling Enterprises Technology adoption by companies across sectors and rapid evolution of technology and applications will significantly drive growth of many of the companies. Most of the companies who have crossed 25 years have been expanding service offerings and entering newer geographies to strengthen their business model, reduce dependency on single location and offer end-to-end solution to their clients. “Keltron as a company has restructured itself to be robust enough for the next fifty years. We are in a comfortable position right now and with the pioneering venture like Intelligent Traffic System which involves multiple domains and its integration, we are sure that the next 25 years is well planned in a futuristic approach. We are also into the defense business with a Rs 60 crore deal of 300 mines

A SILVER JUBILEE

with the Indian Navy which is scalable to Rs 80 crores. We are also working with DRDO. We are venturing into a promising future and into those technologies with huge potential. We are entering into Security & Surveillance and we find that it is a promising future for us. We have asked Ernest & Young to provide us with a thorough report on our capabilities in the next years of becoming a Rs 1000 crore company. Right now we are at Rs 165 crores of which Rs 133 crores was till last year. We are sure to touch Rs 200 crores plus this year,” said Captain Om Prakash Dua, Managing Director, KELTRON, which has completed 36 years. The future growth strategy for most companies would be to take the inorganic growth path. Mergers and acquisitions will continue to remain the most preferred strategy among the companies for the near future as this would be the fastest way to increase clientele, enter/expand into new geographies, increase product/service offerings and gain specialisation. While sharing his business mantra at the company’s 36th AGM, Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres Limited said, “Our commitment continues to remain on three key principles in good times and downturns. One: a clear focus on marketing a healthy top and bottom-line by concentrating on profitable growth. Growth at any cost is not the company’s way of doing business. Mere growth is neither healthy, nor sustainable for an enterprise. And to ensure a comfortable bottom-line, the company focuses on price and product leadership, the right product mix and continuous brand investment. Two: nurturing and adding domestic markets. For the company, India is its largest domestic market. But the base needs to be expanded continually to allow for profitable growth and guard against stagnation and complacency. Three years back we added South Africa and the African continent as our second domestic market. This year, we have added Europe through our acquisition of Vredestein. We will continue to expand from this base of three key domestic markets. And the third component of our business model has been an unwavering focus on cost and quality. The company’s continuing attention on increasing efficiencies across the board and re-aligning costs to protect margins has paid dividends over the past year,” According to Ashok Sinha, Chairman, Bharat Petroleum, which has completed 32 years, “Bharat Petroleum realises that, in the long run, success can only come with a total reorientation and change in

IS A TIME TO PAUSE AND

REFLECT ON ALL THE GOOD WORK DONE

- DENIS J. HART

approach with the customer as the focal point. Today, Bharat Petroleum is restructured into a Corporate Centre, Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and Shared Services and Entities. We need to grow because the economy is growing and so is energy demand. We want Bharat Petroleum to get into new businesses and grow. In every sphere of the energy business there is demand, there are growth prospects.’’ For GAIL (India) Limited, India’s flagship Natural Gas company which completed its 25th year on August 16th this year, the aim is to further expand its core business of Natural Gas Transmission & Marketing, to capture larger share of the growing market. The company wishes to move upstream to secure gas supplies for the core transmission business. Additionally, investments in petrochemicals and city gas distribution are being planned to enhance margins and increase sources of revenue. Further, the company is exploring and investing in international opportunities with a strategic rationale of gaining international presence. Brijmohan Lall Munjal, the Chairman, Hero Honda Motors, which completed 26 years, succinctly points out, “We pioneered India’s motorcycle industry, and it’s our responsibility now to take the industry to the next level. We’ll do all it takes to reach there. In the new millennium, we stand committed to innovation, to change, to achieving breakthroughs… to moving forward in the new century, while retaining the values that have been like a beacon in this journey thus far.” Maruti Suzuki India Limited has, over the years strengthened the existing practices and experimented with many new initiatives by way of kaizens (continuous improvements) to delight its customers. These initiatives ranged from product design and quality to network expansion, and included new service programs to meet unsaid needs of customers. The company has retained its competitive edge by offering high quality prod-

ucts. In the field, the products are supported by rapidly expanding networks. The company has diverse networks for new cars, spares, service, pre owned cars Contd. on Page 2...

SILVER JUBILEE

IS WHEN

THE TORCH IS PASSED TO ANOTHER GENERATION-

TAIMUR RAHMAN


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