 "Rajiv Memani, Cyril Shroff, R C Bhargava, Noshir Kaka, Sanjay Nayar")
When the chairman of India's largest car maker chairs a distinguished jury comprising the heads of a private equity giant, two marquee management and strategic consultancy organisations and one of India's top legal eagles to decide the winners of the Business Standard awards for corporate excellence for 2015, outstanding achievements can hardly go unnoticed.
While scale, sustainability and visionary leadership were some of the buzzwords that figured prominently during the two-hour-long discussions in Mumbai in mid-December last year, R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki and head of the jury, put things in perspective. "While an objective assessment of past performance backed by rigorous assessment of data was important, my distinguished colleagues in the jury also looked carefully at the winners' ability to deliver in future," Bhargava said.
"We looked carefully at success that can endure," said McKinsey India MD and McKinsey Inc director Noshir Kaka, a jury member, summing up the mood.
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The other members of the jury were KKR India CEO Sanjay Nayar, EY India CEO and Country Managing Partner Rajiv Memani and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Managing Partner Cyril Shroff.
The task of selecting the winners - in a year when the slowdown was the main theme - was a tough one. All of them agreed that while financial ratios were important for making the first cut, equal importance had to be given to individuals who focused on innovation and built real institutions at a time when the challenges in the external environment were severe.
"We chose companies that stood out at a time of economic turbulence through constant innovation to create customer delight and shareholder wealth," said Nayar.
The jury members had pored over the 350-page information docket, containing details of the candidates shortlisted by the Business Standard Research Bureau on the basis of top line and bottom line growth and other financial criteria, including returns on net worth and capital employed.
The stage was set for the jury meeting when Bhargava began the process by asking members to shortlist two candidates from each category - each of whom were then subjected to intense scrutiny. The agenda was a formidable one: selecting the Lifetime Achievement award winner, CEO of the Year and Company of the Year, and achievers in other categories - Star Public-Sector Undertaking, Star Multinational Company and Star Small and Medium Enterprise. Two new categories were added this year in tune with the changing corporate and social landscape - Best Start-Up and Best Public Institution.
In 2000, Siddhartha Lal was all of 26 when he took over as the CEO of motorcycle maker Royal Enfield. Four years later, as chief operating officer of Eicher Motors, Lal took a momentous decision - he decided to divest 13 of the 15 businesses that Eicher was in and put all money and focus on Royal Enfield and trucks, two businesses where he believed the group had a genuine shot at leadership. The bet has paid off big time, with Eicher becoming one of the most profitable automakers in the world.
Vivek Chaand Sehgal, then 18, started his business career as a silver merchant in the early 1970s, launched Motherson along with his mother in 1977 to manufacture power cables and then graduated to auto component manufacturing six years later. A little over two decades after it listed - in 1993 - the company's revenue has grown from Rs 10 crore to Rs 34,600 crore in FY15. Profits have been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 35 per cent, resulting in super shareholder returns. Motherson has 42,000 employees in India and another 30,000 in other parts of the world, and manufactures spare parts that are used by most global automakers.
And that was the main reason why Sehgal was unanimously chosen the CEO of the Year and Eicher Motors, headed by Lal, as the Company of the Year. Several names came up for discussion for these two coveted awards, but what tilted the scales in favour of the duo was the confidence of the jury members that their business models were sustainable.
For the Lifetime Achievement award, the jury discussed several outstanding individuals who have left a deep and lasting impact on India's corporate history, but took little time in choosing Bajaj Group Chairman Rahul Bajaj as the winner. "He built a company that is outstanding in all respects - be it financial metrics or brand image. Who can forget Hamara Bajaj? We are indeed privileged to bestow this honour on him," Bhargava said.
An MBA from Harvard Business School, Bajaj built Bajaj Auto from scratch during the licence-permit raj days and steered the company during the days of economic liberalisation. Despite his publicly expressed reservations about Bajaj Auto exiting the scooters market, he allowed his son, Rajiv, to choose the path of making Bajaj Auto a motorcycle manufacturing company.
That the Jury spent the maximum time on choosing the Best Start-Up award is evident from the fact that as many as 16 names came up for discussion. While everyone was impressed with what each of them has achieved so far, the jury members finally zeroed in on innovation as a key metric and selected Ola Cabs for the award. Led by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and co-founder Ankit Bhati, Ola started in 2011 and has so far raised $1.3 billion from marquee investors. The app-based taxi aggregator has taken on global giant Uber and claims its users can book over 350,000 vehicles, including taxis and auto-rickshaws in 102 cities.
From start to finish, Abbott India's name was on top of everyone's list as the Star MNC. With key business segments showing high double-digit growth, Abbott has emerged as one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in India, with 2014-15 revenue growing 25.7 per cent and net profit rising 44 per cent compared to the annualised figures of the previous year. While it has best-sellers such as Brufen and Digene, three of its products feature in the top 10 domestic products by sales in the 12 months ended October. Abbott also has a portfolio of over 400 branded generics in India and launched 24 new products in 2014-15.
For the Star SME, the jury discussed a long list of companies with sales of less than Rs 1,000 crore, but Cera Sanitaryware, led by Chairman and Managing Director Vikram Somany, emerged the winner. "Cera has maintained discipline in financial metrics and gained market share from big multinationals and strong domestic incumbents by creating an enduring brand," EY's Memani said. Cera's revenue CAGR during the past three years has been over 37 per cent, well above the industry average of 12-14 per cent. The investment in brand-building and customer satisfaction is paying off big time, the jury felt.
The Star PSU award was the easiest to decide, as the number of candidates able to meet the criteria was the smallest, leading to some discussions in the jury about the future of government-owned companies. The final choice was Container Corporation of India (Concor), which, the jury said, has played a stellar role in the development of container cargo transportation in the country.
Since the Public Institution award category was new, the jury spent some time on defining the metrics and decided that the honour should go to an independent institution that has been involved in advocacy in an area of public concern and has made a significant impact. After much deliberation, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) led by Sunita Narain was declared the winner for its relentless efforts to improve the country's environmental standards.
