It’s time to unveil the Hero @ Honda!

The Ex- Gillette and HUL Veteran, Anil Dua has been an important pillar in the Hero Honda growth story. Dua takes Pawan Chabra through many personal and professional chapters of his life

Anil Dua
Senior Vice President-Sales, Marketing and Customer Care, Hero Honda

When Anil Dua, Senior Vice President – Sales, Marketing and Customer Care, Hero Honda decided to move from the FMCG industry to the automotive industry, he had already realised the fact that while it will be a shift from the industry that he works in, the business and marketing principles will still be the same. He candidly accepts in a chat with us in Hero Honda’s Gurgaon plant in the state of Haryana, “I have been able to adapt to the FMCG environment and apply it to the automotive industry.” For the records, Dua moved to Hero Honda in 2006 after spending a valuable span of 16 years with Hindustan Unilever. It is to be mentioned here that Anil Dua entered the Hero Honda family at a time when its arch rival, Bajaj Auto was very close to overtaking it as the largest player in the Indian two-wheeler industry. Dua recollects, “As we decided to focus on the top-lines rather than bottom-lines, the strategy paid off in no time.”

While the formula to success was to chase revenues and the assumption was that profits will follow suit, the company has been able to get its cards right and Dua has played a vital role in this whole exercise. He says, “My leadership style is in a way inspired from Bhagavad-Gita as it teaches to focus on the means by which the ends will take care of themselves.” Clearly, Hero Honda has also followed a similar path over the past few years. Dua ensured that despite the fact that Hero Honda launched close to 15-16 models in a total in its 20 years of existence, since 2006, it has been able to launch 9-10 new models or variants every year for the past four years now. But the success story goes beyond the aggressive launches that have been made by the company. Be it the network expansion plan under which the company has taken its touch points figure from the year 2000 mark in 2006 to more than 4500 recently or the aggressive advertising that the company has been doing for the past few years, it has surely been hitting the sweet spot of the Indian consumer. “We were already standing on a firm wicket and with a brand that has been nurtured with utmost care for many years, what we have done is we have touched new heights standing on that firm wicket in the last four years,” says Dua.

Dua as a person has always been on his toes to ensure that the company and his brand are on the top of the mind of the Indian consumer. When asked on how he maintains a healthy work-life balance, Dua answers in a flash, “The biggest personal accomplishment has been that me along with other members of the management have been able to convince the company to move to a five days a week format rather than the earlier six days a week and we have been working 5 days a week since April 13, 2009.” In fact, Dua ensures that he does not take his work home even if it demands spending a few more hours in office to ensure that he spends quality time with his family on weekends. “I do not carry a laptop to home and carry it back. Although, BlackBerry makes up for it but I ensure that I give time to my wife and my two boys,” shares Dua. On a usual weekend, apart from spending time on common hobbies like crosswords, cricket, tennis and movies with his family, Dua likes meeting friends and visiting his parents often. Hero Honda, as a company, on the other end also provides a couple of opportunities where families can be involved within the work frame. Be it the family day that the company hosts once a year or the hockey and cricket matches that the company participates in, it surely is a support to its employees to ensure that they devote time to their families as well. “The Hero Honda family day is a great platform where all the families get together and quickly get to know each other. It kind of gives a moral support that everyone is sailing in the same boat and are equally busy,” adds Dua.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

The man who made India love Ronald

For the first time in a long time, Vikram Bakshi shares his personal experiences on how McDonald’s rejected him... and then accepted him. By Angshuman Paul

Vikram Bakshi
JV Partner, McDonald’s India (North & East)

Jack Trout in his book The Battle for Your Mind talked about how companies can target customers in a crowded market by focusing on ‘positioning’ rather than simply selling their products. That was the year 1981. It was also the year when a young entrepreneur from India was planning to target Indian consumers with various imported products. In his frequent visits to the West, he had noticed how Western goods attracted the Indian masses, simply because they were, well, Western. Interestingly, during this man’s various sojourns to Europe, his one stop solution for food was McDonald’s. And every time he entered a McDonald’s outlet, his only thought was about replicating the concept in India. Over time, the idea gained structure in his mind. Vikram Bakshi tells us today how he wrote at least ten times to McDonald’s head offices in the USA proposing a business venture; and how he never managed to receive a positive response.

Vikram Bakshi apparently was too headstrong to give up. And finally the day arrived, much after liberalisation had set into the country’s economy. The era was 1990s and the Narsimha Rao-led Congress government had opened its gates for foreign players to enter India. Recalls Vikram, “Things had started changing dramatically in the Indian corporate world, and I was continuing with my overseas export business.” This was the time when Big Mac was all set to foray into the Indian soil. And Vikram got to know about it from the most unexpected source, his neighbour, who turned out to be noted hotelier Madhusudhan Thakkar (he has many restaurants in 5 star hotels to his credit) who was keen on taking the franchisee of McDonald’s. Eventually, Madhusudhan backed out, and Vikram decided to move ahead. Vikram found some more help from unexpected quarters. Pramod Bhasin, the President and CEO of Genpact, helped Vikram draft the initial offer letter and even Vikram’s resume. The underlying challenge was to convince the brass at McDonald’s that Vikram had the wherewithal to take up the national franchise. And one day, Jim Gemher – VP for franchisee operations at McDonald’s set up a meeting with him. In the ensuing three-hour conversation, Jim extracted every possible piece of information from Vikram. “The very next day, I was called for another meeting,” says Vikram, “but there were other bidders here including big players like Ansals, Modis, Mahindras and several others too. All my confidence died down and I thought I would lose the contract. Even then, I just repeated whatever I had said to Jim the previous evening.”

Despite all the biggies bidding, Jim chose Vikram (he revealed later that Vikram had been chosen right after the first meeting itself). Today, Vikram Bakshi is the MD and JV Partner of McDonald’s for the northern and eastern regions in India, and has made McDonald’s a brand that has been able to consistently provide Indians with classic as well as contemporary value-for-money quick service products. It is also the only QSR in the country that sources 90% of the products from within the country. Interestingly, Vikram has not just roped in the best of the Indian suppliers, but he has also introduced them to its global buyers. As a result, not a single supplier has left Big Mac since the very beginning of its journey in India. And it’s the sturdy supply chain that has helped Vikram, therefore McDonald’s, to reduce the raw material cost and eventually become an affordable brand.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management