The Titan called Tata

They are ubiquitous – with their presence felt from a pin to a five star hotel. They have to their credit some of the biggest overseas acquisitions by an Indian company. A venture started by the legendary tycoon Jamsetji Tata in the mid 19th century, after overcoming several decades of ups and downs, the group today, comprises of 96 operating companies in seven business sectors, ranging from information systems to consumer products. No prizes for guessing this conglomerate called the Tata Group, which has not only become a titan of the India Inc, but has also has its impressions in more than 54 countries.

No wonder then, that the group had, for the year 2005-2006 earned an exorbitant revenue of $21.9 billion, which is about about 2.8% of the country's GDP. So, what exactly acted as the energy factor that made Tata's so powerful? Well, the answer will be enormous but it can be broadly coined the group’s values, which are integrity, excellence, unity and fast moving strategies. When it comes to excellence, the group has played diverse value-added roles like back end operations, manufacturing to distribution and after-sales services.

There's more! It's the unity that combines 202,712 people in a mission to become one of the country's most powerful business house. Tata's ensure to create an environment where each of the employee is encouraged to think creative and work as a group. “None of my employees are forced to work overtime, it's their passion that makes them work late. We believe in working as a team,” comments Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of Titan Industries Ltd. And who can now forget the noise generated by India’s largest ever overseas acquisition–the takeover of Corus by Tata Steel in a $ 8 billion deal. In the coming years, the decibel level will only grow as Tata expands and grows even bigger!

The Fier(o) Victor

With over thirty companies under its flagship, the TVS Group is one corporate leviathan that has earned the reverence of one and all. A vision of T.V. Sundaram, in 1911 is now a money minting juggernaut that recently posted a turnover exceeding $ 2.2 billion. The company that started off as a small transport business now has over 40,000 employees worldwide and has diversified into twowheelers, automotive components, automotive spares, computer peripherals and financial services. More noteworthy is the two wheeler business i.e. TVS Motors which has over the years raked in the maximum revenues and has become the face of the TVS Group worldwide. The company has risen up meteorically to become the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India and figures in the top ten globally.

That being said, TVS’ ride to the top has not been as rosy as it seems. The gamboling company of today was once writhing in disarray, totally lost after it severed its ties with Suzuki Motor Corporation in 2001 following a string of failures. The pathetic state of affairs in TVS prompted Sulajja Firodia Motwani of Kinetic, to remark, "The new TVS will be weaker both in motorbikes and scooters," and she had everyone subscribing to her views but one. Venu Srinivasan, Managing Director, TVS, saw this pothole as an opportunity for the ailing company to switch gears.

The TVS Group reformed its strategies under the leadership of Venu Srinivasan focusing primarily on total productivity maintenance (TPM) and total quality management (TQM). According to Srinivasan, "It is a company-wide effort at continuous quality improvement of all processes, products and services through total employee involvement that results in increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, and improved business results."

The company has more than a few aces up its sleeves to dish out in the near future. Radical or innovative two of the more attractive programmes being the entry into the `pre-owned car’ market under Sundaram Motors and the launch of MyTVS, a multi-brand car service-cum-sales centre in Hyderabad. The company’s further plans are to extend MyTVS to 450 centres across the country with an investment of Rs. 225 crore. Most of us would be flummoxed to know that an organization so steely about ethics could ever be so radical in its innovative strategies. But, it is about doing new and better things. TVS’ belief has been to bite the bullet and that too with panache; like its latest heart throb for TVS too ‘it’s now or never’. Have we heard that before?

United Brewery's holdings… Unlimited

Be it riding on the jumbo jets or making its mark on the devilish blood-red beer bottle, the stunning, gorgeous 'Kingfisher' bird has done it all. From making six something in height, darker than the dark itself, west-Indian players humming “ula-lalala- lala-lele-oo…” and running across the beach around the beautiful chicks, to making it a punchline and forming one of the most recalled brands, every strategy of the massive organization seems to have earned big bucks for the flamboyant Mallya family.

A legacy that was taken up by the Vitthal Mallaa, later shouldered by the Mallya Junior – Vijay, it's ready for a new sojourn with the third generation son Siddharth. The flagship that takes care of a number of companies with businesses in pharma, Aviation, fertilizers, international trading, infrastructure, media et al, has proved itself time and again as one of the most appreciated brand.

Innovation is the backbone of any enterprise, and it seems to be the forte for the United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL). “The mantra for success at the UB Group is to follow the Chairman, Dr. Vijay Mallya's footsteps: always be several steps ahead of the competition, anticipate and provide for consumer needs, and always strive to be the market leader in each of the segment that the group operates in,” says Ram Manesar, Sr. GM – Corporate Communications. The colossal loss in the aviation regulator too could not desist Kingfisher Airlines from moving ahead. Instead, the airlines introduced the concept of roving agents and web check-ins for the first time to attain a bigger market share which is around 8-9% currently.

Standing as the 3rd largest spirits marketer in the world with a total sales of 60 million cases, UBHL today offers 140 brands in that division and has become a bone of contention for other players. Bagpiper Whisky, McDowell's No.1 Whisky, Director's Special Whisky, McDowell's No.1 Brandy et al, the devilish blood-red Kingfisher can, all of them are simply acclaiming the world wide accolade. Sales of the premium segment of beer have shot up by 22% and that of strong by 48% over last year's figures. The net profit of UBHL for Q3, 2006 is Rs. 24 million. There is little doubt that Mallya will leave a legacy that will be enduring. After all, who had heard of the brand Kingfisher even two decades ago?

Making India proud!

A glance at the India Inc. and one would be amazed to unearth that majority of big business powerhouses are carrying on the legacy of their generation old businesses. But there are some companies that have created their own niche solely on the basis of entrepreneurial capabilities. Leading this brigade of entrepreneurs is the Videocon Group, piloted by the legendary Venugopal Dhoot. Son of a wealthy farmer, Dhoot saw an opportunity in Colour TV (CTV) manufacturing and became one of the first contenders, when government decided to grant the licenses to manufacture CTV’s in 1984. Gradually, Videocon diversified and expanded its product portfolio with segments like Home Entertainment, Electric Motors, Air Conditioners and Refrigerators. While it has a technical collaboration with Toshiba Corp, Samsung Electronics, Matsushita Electric and Techneglas, the companies like Hyundai Electronics, Akai, Sansui Electric Co. and Electrolux AB are the Original Design Manufacturers (ODM's) for Videocon in India. Consequently, the company enjoys a pre-eminent position in terms of sales and customer satisfaction.

Also, to establish its ascendancy in manufacturing, the company also acquired Phillips Color TV plant in the year 2000, initiated a takeover of three plants of Electrolux in India and acquired the CPT unit of Thomson in the year 2005. As a result, it has emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of CPT in the world. Apart from this, Videocon is in the process to acquire South Korea's Daewoo Electronics in a deal worth $700 million, the second largest acquisition ever by an Indian company. Though the consumer durables segment seems to be the face of Videocon in India but the group has active and widespread presence in the Color Picture Tube (CPT), CRT glass and oil & gas sectors.

Videocon's voyage into the oil and gas sector began in 1994 when Government of India awarded the contract to a consortium comprising of Videocon International Limited (lead partner) and Command Petroleum Holdings (Australia) and these two companies formed a production sharing contract with ONGC to explore and extract oil and gas from RAVVA Oil and Gas Field, spread over 330 square kilometres in the Bay of Bengal. The field dispatches 1000 million cubic metres of gas and 18 million barrels of gas annually. The major advantage for Videocon is that its oil fields have one of the lowest operating costs in the world.