Prestigious posts

Adi Godrej has been unanimously elected the new chairman of the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB), one of India’s premier management institutions. He takes over as ISB’s second chair­man following the resignation of management consultant Rajat Gupta. "Adi God­rej has been close­ly associated with the ISB since its inception. Over the years he has provided valuable guidance towards making ISB one of the largest management institutions of quality in the world. As the chairman of the Godrej Group, he has a strong reputation as a business leader and is committed to an inclusive India. We welcome him as our new chairman,” ISB dean Ajit Rangnekar announced on April 2, 2011 at the institution’s Graduation Day, as the class of 2011 comprising 569 graduates bid farewell to their B-school in the presence of an august gathering.

"The ISB is in its 10th year and we have every reason to feel proud as it has truly taken flight. The ISB has never been stronger. I have always been proud to have been a part of this great institution of learning. I am honored to take on the role of chairman,” Godrej responded. He was categorical that the image of the ISB would not suffer following the resignation of Gupta, one of ISB’s founders who had been its chairman since 2001. Gupta, an Indian American based in the US, is battling charges of insider trading filed against him by the US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission. "Of course I feel a little concerned that I am taking over at a time when Gupta, who because of some problems he is facing, had to resign,” Godrej is quoted in the Sunday Times of India, April 3, 2011. Top business leaders are Godrej’s colleagues on the over 30-member executive board. Rahul Bajaj, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Keki Dadiseth, Sunil Mittal, Chanda Kochar, Deepak Parekh, Lakshmi Mittal are some of the names mentioned on the ISB website. On the governing council are representatives from the Kellogg School of Management, London Business School, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group, etc.

"Godrej taking over is a good sign for the institution,” one of the graduating students, who however did not wish to be named, is quoted in Mint, April 4. "It puts to rest the negative perceptions of the institution in the media.” "The ISB board continues to take strong positions on ISB progress. I don’t think the image is affected in any way. I don’t think one should dramatize beyond facts,” stated Rangnekar.

The Indian School of Business and (inset) its new chairman Adi Godrej on Graduation Day 2011

ISB is setting up a second campus at Mohali in Punjab, spread over 70 acres in the Knowledge City. It has signed MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with The Wharton School, the Fletcher School, Tufts University, the MIT Sloan School of Management, reports the website, for its new institutes in healthcare management, public policy, manufacturing excellence and innovation and physical infrastructure management in Mohali.

The Godrej Group chairman is also the president designate for the year 2011-12 for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), as per their website. B. Muthuraman, Tata Steel’s vice chairman, has taken over as the new CII president with S. (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, CEO (chief executive officer) and MD (managing director) of Infosys Technologies as the vice president.

"I expect that my successor will be someone from the family. Though the heads of the Group companies are all professionals, when it comes to leading the (Godrej) Group, it will be done by a family member,” Adi Godrej stated at a CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) event in New Delhi on April 9, 2011. "Yes, of course, certainly there could be a woman chairman… my two daughters (Tanya Dubash and Nisaba Godrej) are a part of the business,” the Group chairman stated. In the Godrej family, women have been given equal ownership, whether married or not and women family entrepreneurs are welcome, he added.

Godrej’s remarks assume greater significance at a time when the Tata Group is finding it tough to select a successor to Group chairman Ratan Tata who is slated to retire at the end of next year. Declining to comment on the time of his own retirement, Adi Godrej hinted that the process (of designating a successor) is in place, but he would not like to place this in the public domain at this juncture. If a family member is to be chosen, external assessment is very important, he believes. The successor should be someone who is "qualified, passionate and competitive,” he declared. There should be a retirement policy in every company and age, health and competence should be among the deciding factors, he said.

Tanya Dubash and Nisa Godrej: equal opportunities for women leaders

Among the strengths of the Godrej Group is the diversity of products in their portfolio. In what was a first-of-its-kind accomplishment in the country, Godrej Precision Systems designed an advanced, indigenously conceived mechanical structure called Pylon, which measures the radar cross section signature, under different conditions, of combat aircraft under development. Manufactured with great accuracy and special contours, Pylons are used in "quiet zones” created in laboratories, working towards aircraft having as small a radar signature as possible, with the aim of making them more difficult to detect and intercept. The task was undertaken with the continuing support of defense scientists who greatly appreciated the dedication of the Godrej team, notes Change, the house magazine of the Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited in its issue of September-October 2010.

The magazine also proudly notes that Godrej Security Solutions (GSS) introduced India’s first Wireless City Surveillance System, with the installation of CCTV (closed circuit television) based on the wireless system for traffic surveillance and crime detection on city streets. Dara Byramjee, vice president and business head, GSS said at the inauguration last year: "Our initiative of successfully executing India’s first City Surveillance System in Hubli-Dharwad (in Karnataka) is a milestone towards our vision of being ‘the first choice for total security solutions.’”

Among Godrej’s new introductions is Out of the Box, a foldable ready-to-use work station. A desk with many pull-out shelves — for laptop, desktop, CPU, drawers, in-built switchboard, lighting, etc — two people can sit and work on it at a time. Out of the Box can be installed in a few minutes, or closed and moved out of the way quickly if required. Launched in February, it is available at all Godrej Interio stores for around Rs 90,000, as per company sources.