Do you want to head one of the largest companies in India? Think again, because it is pretty lonely at the top. Or ask M S Banga, chairman of the largest fast moving consumer goods company in India, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL).
"It is very lonely at the top. To overcome the loneliness, you have to remain connected with the company and the consumer, and avoid the shackles of experience. You need to build bridges to keep in touch with people around you," admitted Banga to students at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, where he studied 23 years ago.
Confluence 2000, the academic fair is currently under way at the institute.
Now at the helm of HLL, the only company he has ever worked in, and in a position to recruit students also from his alma mater among others, Banga is explicit about what he looks for in managers.
"We look for managers with creativity, energy and commitment. We need people who look forward to going to work when they get up in the morning," he said in a candid speech about his work and dreams.
"My dream is to transform HLL into a youthful company in mind, body and spirit. However, youthfulness is not just about age. I have seen enough young men, who at 25 look like 60-year olds, and vice versa," Banga said.
Going down memory lane, he remembered how "the astute marketeer" Karsanbhai Patel gave him and his company sleepless nights from time to time, and regrets not going for the opponent's jugular when he could have done it.
However, he also gave the students a lesson on how to look at growth. He said that HLL accounted for only 4.9 per cent hair washes in the country despite being the leader in the hair care market with a 70 per cent share. He also asked them not to look at fat pay packages in isolation, as the forever increasing pay scales bring with them additional responsibility and makes one more accountable.
Playing corporate games: the IIMA way
V Phani Kumar in Ahmedabad
Confluence 2000, the academic fair currently under way at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), India's premier management school, is offering a whole set of new games this year. Players from national and international business schools are here to participate in these innovative games.
The games can broadly be classified under four categories - finance, IT and operations, marketing and strategy, and includes games on dotcom, derivatives, supply-chain management, online bond trading Ad venture and corporate takeovers.
Devised by the students themselves with assistance from corporate chieftains, the games have been designed to simulate real-life conditions and put the students' understanding of contemporary financial tools and practices to test.
For instance, the corporate takeover game has been designed in keeping with the mergers and acquisitions wave sweeping the financial world. In this game, the company to be acquired can range from a fast moving consumer goods giant to a newly launched dotcom or a diversified conglomerate. The players bidding for them will have to justify their bid and revise them subsequently, following various developments. These developments, though fictitious, are similar to those happening in the corporate sector in real life. Experts from the industry will review these bids and justifications, before awarding the "bride" to "the most eligible suitor".
Similarly, in the dotcom game, players are given a brief and a venture funding of Rs 5 crore. The teams will have to business plans with details of how, when and on what they plan to spend the venture capital. The final business plans in this game were reviewed by Anil Ahuja, the venture capitalist CEO of Indocean Chase Capital.
Anand Sridharan, a member of the team from IIMA which won this game said: "In the final, we were grilled to the limit, and literally torn apart. All the assumptions we made were thoroughly examined and countered, just like in a real life scenario. It really is an educative experience."
The derivatives trading game is about trading in options through a market maker, while the online bond trading game will require competitors to react to changing interest rates, liquidity conditions etc. in managing their portfolio of bonds.
Segment is a game in which players' long term marketing strategies will be reviewed, while Ad venture will involve participants in designing advertisements for a new product launch.
