Cover Story
- "One of our chief learnings from the slowdown was to never compromise on customer experience. Customers should continue to get your best service and merchandise," writes Managing Director Govind Shrikhande.
- "The crisis that set India Cements back by a few years taught one thing - never expand in a fractured market using debt," says Vice Chairman and MD N Srinivasan.
- Whirpool Asia Pacific President Arvind Uppal tells Shamni Pande: "I realised that morale was the first thing that needed to be addressed. Get everyone on the same page and boost morale to create a winning team."
- Nitin Paranjpe, CEO & MD of HUL, says to succeed, businesses have to recognise that both change and volatility are the new normal and find ways to address it.
- In spite of the uncertain regulatory environment and the sector reeling under pressure from a series of policy flip flops, Idea has performed consistently and set high standards of compliance and reporting, says Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular.
- Jagran Prakashan has stuck to the basics, focusing on providing consumer differentiation in terms of content, offerings and innovation during the difficult phase.
- As worldwide economic recession affected Aditya Birla Nuvo's (ABNL) profitability, it took a number of proactive cost rationalisation initiatives across its businesses.
- Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Ltd, says the transformation is the result of a strategic roadmap prepared four years ago.
- We challenged orthodoxy, took big risks, made shows like KBC with a big host, big prize money and great production values along with a few other soaps, says Peter Mukerjea, a former CEO of Star India.
- The company added 100,000 new customers last year and the average time taken to provide new connections has come down to 18 days from 28. It is now ready to add generating capacity, invest in improving distribution efficiency and increase the overall quality of its services.
- Diversifying into unknown areas without required management bandwidth and eyeing disproportionate growth using debt is not sustainable. That was the lesson of a lifetime for me.
- We addressed myriad challenges such as cost reduction, increasing efficiency and improving margins, changing the way we did business, says Sunil Pahilajani, MD & CEO of Greaves Cotton.
- The most difficult and yet the most important move was to change the mindset and the culture of the company, says the director and former Chairperson of Thermax.
- The packaging of our entire portfolio was refurbished to put it in sync with the needs and aspirations of the 21st century consumer and we pushed into new markets and product categories, says Sunil Duggal, CEO of Dabur India.
- Fourteen business leaders narrate their stories to Business Today on how they steered their companies through tough times and emerge stronger. FULL COVERAGE
Understand how business decisions are made
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Facial recognition technology will be password to the future
By making face recognition an optional security feature, Android Ice Cream Sandwich has followed the growing trend of using human attributes as passwords to allow access to private information.
Why private equity firms love Genpact
N.V. 'Tiger' Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact says PE firms like Bain Cap love companies with strong cash flows and revenue growth, as well as a business model that focuses on understanding clients' requirements and delivering accordingly - all of which his company has.Rapid growth poses new challenges for MCX
The commodities exchange has achieved much in a short span. But its dependence on precious metals has also risen: gold and silver accounted for 49 per cent of the MCX's turnover in 2007 which rose to 63.7 per cent by 2011.Why India is crucial for Toyota
India contributed less than one per cent of Toyota's revenues last year, but it is crucial to the carmaker's plans for the Asia-Pacific region.Cash transfer programme: Old diet, new recipe
Perhaps a mix of both cash transfers and the traditional PDS would be the best solution. As Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have shown, PDS is not beyond repair and can function efficiently if there is the will to make it work.Late night flowers, gift delivery business gaining popularity in India
Deliveries at the stroke of the midnight hour are a still more recent phenomenon, barely a decade old. But they are rapidly growing in popularity. There are both trials - and the rewards - of taking gifts to people's doorsteps late at night.As MCX-SX pads up for action, Jignesh Shah faces a big test
The man who controls more than a quarter of all assets traded in India eyes even greater dominance.Poor monsson may not hit economy, but will stoke food inflation
The monsoon in June was 29 per cent below its 50-year average for the month. The full impact of inadequate rainfall will only be visible over the next few months but analysts are already pointing out that the monsoon's importance has diminished.Business Today-C fore Business Confidence Survey abounds in pessimism
Stagflation concerns mount as businesses struggle with rising input costs and slowing growth.
Review: Sony Vaio SVE14A and Adobe CS 6
A flashy full-sized laptop and advanced software to add more life to pictures.Delhi Airport Express: Reliance Infrastructure eyeing exit route?
It was an urban infrastructure showpiece for the country until recently, but the sudden suspension of services has turned the Delhi Airport Metro Express into an expensive eyesore.More reforms needed to boost growth in mutual fund industry
The mutual fund industry has witnessed several reforms in the last two decades. These have helped it expand. But lately, reforms have focused more on investor protection than on taking a balanced view of the institution.Grey areas remain in newly introduced service tax regime
Days before stepping down as finance minister to become the UPA's Presidential candidate, Pranab Mukherjee paved the way for introduction of a new service tax regime in India, which is expected to swell the government coffers by Rs 27,000 crore. The prime minister is an astute and experienced politician who undoubtedly recognises the challenges facing the economy. He appears emboldened with his new duties as finance minister, willing to tackle some of the tough issues. The next couple of months will be crucial for him.India's growth should not be judged on a quarterly basis: Moily
In a candid chat, the corporate affairs minister says he is confident that some important reforms, such as the much-awaited new Companies Bill, will soon see the light of the day.Big challenges still lies ahead in eradicating poverty
While poverty levels are falling, developing regions lag far behind on most human development indicators, says the United Nation's The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2012.On Record/Time labels Manmohan Singh an 'underachiever'
The common man of the country has been saying this for a long time that he (the PM) has practically no achievement to his credit...The legacy of Manmohan Singh is [making] India suffer and insecure, Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson, to wire agencies.Roundup: Events of the fortnight
In a tough year, TCS reported results in line with estimates, with profit after tax rising 14.6 per cent from the last quarter to Rs 3,318 crore, and reaffirming its position as India's top IT company. Scientists have broken fresh ground in their quest to unearth the basic building blocks of the universe with the discovery of the Higgs boson - known as the 'God particle'.
Book review: Accountability Angst Awareness Action
The book analyses accountability in public life and suggests ways of increasing it.
Rajeev Mittal, MD, Avaya India, shares his leadership style
Rajeev Mittal, MD, Avaya India shares his leadership style.
Hiring sentiment, especially at the middle level, remains upbeat
According to the latest BT-TeamLease Employment Outlook survey even companies that are stuck or facing a slowdown are not cutting back on hiring key talent in the middle to senior positions. People who made news last fortnight
Starring: Palaniappan Chidambaram, Franck Fortet and Tarja Visan, Pia Singh and Syed Safawi Readers' views on Business Today articles
The cover story (Deal Chahta Hai, July 22) on the rise of boutique investment banks was an excellent one. The main advantage of dealing with these banks is the access they provide clients to experienced financial professionals.
