Disciples of growth

When he was still a teenager, Anand Piramal wanted to launch a platform from where young Indians could contribute to the nation's growth. At 19, he had started his NGO, Dia. "He travelled all around the country and stayed in villages," says his mother Swati Piramal, who, along with her husband Ajay, runs the Rs 2,900-crore Piramal Healthcare group. In 2008, Anand stayed back in Rajasthan for a while, launching the group's e-Swasthya pilot project to provide villagers access to modern medicine by taking the best doctors and medicines to rural India using mobile telephony.

Radhika Piramal, 31, MBA, Harvard Work experience:Worked with Bain and Company as a marking management consultant from 2006 and did a short stint in brand strategy at Future Brands. In family business: From 2001-2004; then again from 2009 onwards. Now: Executive Director (Sales and Marketing). Lesson from parents: From my dad, I learnt to be authentic, stand up for myself, and look for insight in numbers to find the right direction for the business. My mother taught me to be detailoriented and disciplined. Fast forward 2020: I hope to head the company with sustainable growth in the luggage market—in India and internationally. Best friend/guide in India Inc.: My parents have a rich work experience which guides me.

"We want to find a viable business model to meet this need," he had told BT then. Now Anand is pursuing a degree at Harvard Business School to prepare for a more important role in the company.

His elder sister Nandini, a Stanford graduate, is totally involved with the day-to-day running of the group. In April 2009, she joined the board as Executive Director. She is also involved with a rural drinking water project, "Sarvajal", in Rajasthan with her husband Peter D'Young, as part of the company's activities.

Nandini, of course, is no stranger to the family business, having been associated with the group as general manager for strategic planning since 2006, looking after operations in Canada. She, in fact, played a key role in implementation of operational excellence projects at the company's overseas locations in the UK and Canada.

The Huddersfield Plant in the UK was one of the three (the other two being in Scotland and Canada) that came into the Piramal fold when it acquired Avecia Pharmaceuticals in 2005. Nandini looked after the operations since 2006. The Huddersfield plant clocked revenues of around £19 million in 2008-09, just before the decision to shut it was announced, as part of Piramal Healthcare's global consolidation. The group then decided to bring Nandini home and inducted her as a board member and an ED.

Nandini Piramal, 28, MBA, Stanford Work experience:Worked briefly as business associate with McKinsey & Co in the US. In family business: Since June 2006, as GM, strategic Planning, and looked after group's operations in the UK and Canada. Now: Executive Director on the board of the group. Lesson from parents: Read as much as possible. Use whatever time is available to do things that matter.

Radhika Piramal, Anand and Nandini's first cousin, started off at luggage maker VIP Industries, owned by father Dilip Piramal. Radhika enjoyed her work but wanted an external experience "to understand how company laws are shaped and to get an experience at a processoriented business".

So, she followed her cousin, Nandini, to do her MBA at Harvard, following which she joined Bain and Company in New York as a management marketing consultant.

Then came a short stint at Future Brands as a brand consultant, and it was time to return to her second innings at VIP Industries. This time it's for good. Radhika says: "My work experience has given me formidable training and has prepared me for leadership." In July 2009, Radhika took over as Executive Director (Sales and Marketing) and has been in charge mainly for strategising and execution in the domestic luggage market.

Anand Piramal, 24 MA Economics, University of Pennsylvania, now doing MBA at Harvard. Work experience: Started his NGO Dia as a teenager. Now: A promoter of the group with 1.84 per cent of the shares.

The company's growth and her father's trust have kept her motivated, Radhika says. In the next few years, she hopes to take VIP Industries to greater heights.

"My goal is to ensure that VIP, which is the current market leader in value, will build on quality, capability and innovation in product design," she says. In achieving this, her attention to detail and ability to see the big picture helps.