TOP 50 CXOs

Education that works for them

We can say 99% of the retail leaders are well armed with management degrees or diplomas from the premium institutes to tackle business intricacies, and interestingly, 30% of them are engineers and rest from other streams like economics, commerce, laws, etc, and 23% of them obtained their degrees from abroad.

Pricking areas 

It is revealed from the analysis that most of the retail leaders are feeling the pinch of employees' low execution capability. Their concern is more for developing skilled manpower, training and motivation. The next hitch is infrastructure, in terms of location, retail space, logistics, inventory, vendor management. Those who are in F&G sector, for them the harrowing challenge is retaining freshness of the produce or products.

Startegising, especially growth-related, such as growing without compromising on quality, and implementing changes pose a tough challenge for the retail leaders. Other challenges range from the vast segment of traditional retailers to tax system, legalities and fluctuating foreign exchange.

For Specialty retailers, including luxury retailers, it is maintaining a specialised concept yet making it profitable.

Leadership mantras

Each of them has his/her own strategies to lead the team. While doing the survey, we have come across lots of common areas that these leaders are emphasising on. The highest number of retail leaders is talking about motivation, team building, leading by example or leading from the front.

The prominent areas that the leaders work on

Team Building (44%)

- Motivation

- Leading from the front, leading by example, aligning to the goal with clear vision

Scope for growth (21%)

- Support system to utilise employees' potential

- Creating win-win business environment

- Rewarding

Customer is the king (19%)

- Emotionally associating with customers

- Visiting stores, interacting with customers

- Meeting local customers' demand

Developing passion (16%)

- Passion for conviction

- Passion for the purpose

- Passion for perfection

- Passion for excellence

- Passion for consistency

- Passion for persistence

Open door approach (14%)

- Easy accessibility

- Empathy towards employees

- Connecting with employees

Innovation (9%)

- Doing things differently

- Unique approach

Empowerment (9%)

- Providing desired authority

- Inculcate a sense of ownership

TOP 50 CXOs

Ajit Joshi

Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Infiniti Retail Ltd

Zipping through success

Croma, which was incepted under his leadership, crossed a turnover of  `1,549 crore in the fourth full year of operation and today has 72 outlets across 14 cities in India.
 

A Post Graduate in Management from the Melbourne Business School, Ajit Joshi also pursued a certification course in Food & Beverages from Cornell University and a course in Hotel Management from Les Roches-Bluches, Switzerland and The Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai. He joined Croma – a chain of multi branded electronics retail stores in India run by Infiniti Retail Ltd, a Tata Enterprise – in 2006, six months before the first Croma store was launched in Mumbai. In his entire career spanning 20 years, joining Croma was what he calls the ‘turning point’ in his life. “The opportunity to lead the formation of a new company from the Tata Group was certainly the turning point in my career,” Joshi says.

Ambition gets the perfect execution

Croma sells over 2500 products in categories like Home Appliances, Televisions, Home Theatre Systems, Computers and Peripherals, Digital Cameras, MP3 players and Mobile Phones. In a price driven market, Croma came in with a differentiated proposition expressed in the brand’s tagline: “We help you buy”. Joshi says, “I find it really special that we had the ambition to create a market leading, world class retail outfit and the team with capability and passion to actually get there. It’s immensely satisfying to know that consumers have very high expectations of us and that we are able to meet them consistently.”

The growth chart

Getting a new company off ground has numerous challenges as one cannot rely on how things were done before. Joshi says, “We have had our fair share of growth related challenges, but growing consumer acceptance and preference for our format have helped us overcome these and achieve the position of leadership that we currently enjoy.” Today, Croma has over 72 stores in two formats: the megastores that are between 8,000 to 15,000 sq ft and Croma Zip stores that are between 1,000 to 2,500 square feet.

Growth continues

Croma is fully committed to consolidating its position of leadership in the near future with initiatives like the launch of its e-commerce site. “We achieved a turnover of  `1,549 crore in 2010-11 with a growth of 51 per cent, and we are continuing to grow at over 30 per cent this year,” Joshi concludes.

TOP 50 CXOs

Govind Shrikhande

Customer Care Associate & MD, Shoppers Stop Ltd

Growing with multiple interests

Today, under Govind Shrikhande’s aegis, Shoppers Stop runs numerous retail formats, including department store, Shoppers Stop; mixed retail format, Hypercity; and  specialty retail, Homestop, Crossword, MAC, Estee Lauder and Clinique. In airport retail too, Shoppers Stop has made considerable invasion. At present, the company has 155 stores, covering more than 42 lakh sq ft area.
 

A qualified textile technologist from VJTI, Mumbai and an MBA from Symbiosis, Pune, Govind  Govind Shrikhande joined Shoppers Stop in 1991.

During his stint at Arvind Mills, Shrikhande was a witness and active participant of creating the Denim Revolution and subsequently the launch of Arrow in India. Joining Shoppers Stop was definitely another turning point for him.

Experiencing the grwth

The association is a bit long. When he joined the company, it had 6 stores covering 2.5 lakh sq feet space and a turnover of  `200 crore. Today, it has multiple formats with more than 42 lakh sq ft space and turnover in excess of  `2,500 crore. Shrikhande was enomoured by the way the company runs. In his words, “It is the most professional retail company in India, always seeking global benchmark in all practices – right from consumers to partners to associates to IT to advertising, etc.”

Zeal to move forward

The path to success is not smooth always and hurdles like unorganised infrastructure, lack of quality retail spaces at reasonable prices, multiple taxation, unsupportive government policies, such as service tax on lease rentals, excise duty on apparel, etc always tend to break the growth momentum. However, for today’s stature of Shoppers Stop, Shrikhande gives credit to the robust team that works under him, which is focused, passionate about the work, disciplined and innovative.

The future plan

In future, retail holds the biggest job opportunities. “We will continue to strengthen our presence across India, in multiple cities and through multiple formats. We had a sales turnover of  `2,498 crore in March 2011, and we are targetin g to grow by at least 20 per cent every year,” Shrikhande says.

TOP 50 CXOs

Thomas Varghese

Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd

Adoptive to the changing demands

Under Thomas Varghese’s leadership, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd ventured into food and grocery retail sector in 2007, with the acquisition of a south-based supermarket chain. Subsequently, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd expanded its presence across the country under the brand “More” with two formats – supermarket and hypermarket.
 

An engineering graduate from IIT Delhi and an AMP Harvard alumnus, Thomas Varghese joined Aditya Birla Group in 1999 as the Chief Marketing Officer of Grasim’s Pulp and Fibre Business. In mid 2007, he became the Business Head of the Pulp Operations in AV Birla Group, looking after five units – Grasim Industries Limited; Kumarapatnam (Pulp & Fibre Units); AV Cell, Canada; AV Nackawic, Canada and Birla Lao Pulp & Plantations Co Ltd, Lao PDR.

His shift from a marketing & strategy role to the role of a chief manufacturing officer was what he calls the “turning point” in his career. “I learnt an enormous amount on dealing with larger workforce and challenges of cultural transformations,” Varghese says.

 Today, Adiya Birla Retail enjoys a total retail presence of 2.2 million sq ft in the country and employs more than 10,000 employees at both the front-end and the backend.

The core value embedded

Varghese says, “At the core of this company are the values that we derive from our parent group. We are passionate about customer satisfaction and want to be known as a retail brand, which is the preferred retailer.”

Growth so far

Aditya Birla Retail Ltd has grown at a rapid pace despite the obstacles that it has met on its way.  “Along the journey, we saw the financial meltdown and had to realign the business in context of the changed scenario. We focused on leaner operations, smart and innovative solutions and calibrated growth. Even during those times we always remained cautiously optimistic. This, in return, has helped us to grow in size and made ‘More’ one of the prominent retail brands in this country,” Varghese says. Today, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd is one of the top two supermarket and hypermarket players in the retail space. The brand has grown five-fold in last four years and plans to grow another six-fold in the next four years. 

What lies ahead?

“Now that we have consolidated and realigned the business; we are on the journey of creating a sustainable retail enterprise, which is hungry for growth while at the same time is flexible enough to change course depending on the situations,” Varghese sums up.

TOP 50 CXOs

Dr Ramesh Tainwala
President, Samsonite Asia Pacific & Middle East

The pleasure of doing business

After a shaky start, under the guidance of Dr Ramesh Tainwala, Samsonite Asia Pacific became the leading contributor to the global revenue generated. Today, for Samsonite, the Asia Pacific market is the single largest market.
 

A post graduate in Management Studies from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Pilani), Dr Ramesh Tainwala gained extensive entrepreneurial experience in the plastic processing and consumer goods industries before joining Samsonite.  Samsonite’s operations in India started in 1998. Today, Samsonite, Asia Pacific market contributes 40 per cent of the global turnover. Instigated by his business acumen and experience that he gained at Samsonite and a strong desire to widen the business exposure, in 2011, Dr Taiwala acquired 48.5 per cent stake in Planet Retail, the fashion and lifestyle brand, which has licensing agreements with Guess, Accessorize and Nautica. Talking about this venture, 52-year-old Dr Tainwala comments that he is happy that the fundamental processes are in place and the business is growing satisfactorily with the addition of new stores.

From boardroom to field

“You need a team of people who share your views and who are equally passionate about your work. This makes you to realise your dream,” comments Dr Tainwala. Today, the success he has achieved has been the result of his bold decision to take the boardroom to field. Dr Tainwala explains how the connectivity with the local consumers is important to grow. “Being an international company, it is a natural tendency to think global, but we often forget that consumers are intrinsically local. Since the decisions are taken away from the country, at HQs located outside India, they mostly lack the flavour of India,” he says.

The turning point

In 2004, Dr Tainwala shifted base to Shanghai. Despite the language barrier, “common sense of business is the same everywhere” worked perfectly in his case. “I was rather pushed to take the challenge. That was the turning point in my career. The market, which was contributing 5 per cent revenue share in average, had grown 20 times now,” says Dr Tainwala.

Growth so satisfying!

Today, India is the third largest market for $ 1.6 billion Samsonite. Commenting on the growth of the company in India, Dr Tainwala says it grew 50 per cent last year and is projected to grow by 30-35 per cent this year. “I’m going through a honeymoon phase, doubling up business every two-and-a-half years. It’s an exponential growth driven by that kind of passion,” he says.

TOP 50 CXOs

Niren Chaudhary

President, Yum! Restaurants India

Charting a yummy growth

Niren Chaudhary has been working for Yum! brands for more than a decade. He was instrumental in the forming of Yum! Restaurants India, a subsidiary of Yum! Restaurants, which owns the brands Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell worldwide.
 

Niren Chaudhary is an alumnus of St Stephens College, University of Delhi, and an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS). Under his leadership, each of the brands has seen tremendous growth. KFC is the fastest growing QSR (quick service restaurant) chain in India and has been voted as one of Top 5 “Most Trusted Food Service Brands 2010” and “Most Admired Food Service Retailer 2010”. Pizza Hut has been voted “Most Trusted Food Service Brand in India” for the seventh year and is the only restaurant company to be placed in Top 20 Service Brands list (The Economic Times’ annual survey). Chaudhary also played a key role in bringing the Mexican-inspired QSR brand, Taco Bell, to India.

Yum! Restaurants India today employs more than 15,000 employees and franchise associates across its system in India and is the largest and fastest growing restaurant company in the country (over 430 units as of Q4 ‘11.)

The points to admire

What are the reasons that propel the brand’s popularity? “The first reason is innovation – across everything and not just the product, which leaves a lasting impression on the consumer. The second reason is that despite the growth and the size of business, we are able to maintain a small company mindset. I think this begins right at the top, with a responsibility of staying in touch with the end user and the employees,” cites Chaudhary.

The success saga

Like every other business, Yum! Restaurants India, too, was faced by challenges like building a business that has a purpose beyond business and dramatically accelerating the growth of the business without compromising on the quality of execution. However, Chaudhary says he loves challenges and that is what helped him overcome them. “Challenges are great opportunities to learn, to contribute and to make a difference. I seek them out,” he says. Since its inception, Yum! Restaurants India has grown three times in terms of restaurants, employees and business. “There have been both times of intense anxiety and overwhelming joy in this journey, just like seeing your child grow into a strong person,” he adds.

Future plans

Yum! India has been recently declared a separate business unit of Yum! We plan to have 1,000 stores by 2015, providing employment to over 50,000 people. We also expect to be a $ 1 billion business by 2015.

TOP 50 CXOs

K Venkataraman

Managing Director, Mahindra Retail

Caring for mother and child

In the four years since its inception, K Venkataraman has built a team that has delivered a record growth of over 60 Mom & Me stores, even while defining the “mother & child” market and giving the Indian consumer a home grown brand with truly global service standards.
 

A Physics graduate from Loyola College, Chennai. K Venkataraman worked with Nestle for two years before going on to get an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad. He worked with brands like Rasna, Mudra and Lintas before joining the retail industry in the UAE. Venkataraman joined Mahindra Group in 2007 with the mandate to start the Retail arm of the group. It was under him that Mahindra Retail came into being in the end of 2007. Today, Mahindra retail runs the specialty retail chain for mother and child under the name of "Mom & Me", and toy stores under the name of "Beanstalk". While Mom & Me has 62 stores in 25 cities across India, Beanstalk is being piloted in Bangalore. “My decision to go abroad to develop my interest and experience in retail opened up a world of opportunities for me,” Venkataraman says.

Pioneering the Maternity and Child Care market

The Mom & Me stores were conceptualised to address the multiple lacunae in the market for maternity and baby products and services. “The absence of a single retail outlet addressing mother and child products and non-medical advisory needs is the most critical need gap that Mom & Me seeks to address with a one-stop store for moms and kids across the country,” Venkataraman says. The concept of Mom & Me stores – in terms of the product range, the services offered and the format in terms of its size – is unique. “There are the five ‘S’ about Mom & Me that I really admire. These are Shop Concept, Shopping Experience, Selection, Staff and Services,” he adds.

Leading by example

“I have always been a ‘hands-on’ person, and I lead by example. I was instrumental in every aspect, right from crafting the concept and christening Mom & Me, to ensuring brand experiences that provided every customer a fulfilling retail experience,” Venkataraman says.

A winner all the way

Despite facing tough challenges like the newness of the mother and child concept, Mahindra Retail has grown by over 150 per cent due to its expansion. “We hope to achieve a growth in excess of 35 per cent year-on-year and cross the 300 store mark in the next couple of years. We also hope to launch new specialty retail formats in the near future,” Venkataraman concludes.

TOP 50 CXOs

Rakesh Pandey

President, Retail and Business Development Raymond Limited

The complete brand man

There are two things that Rakesh Pandey admires most about Raymond – firstly, the pioneering spirit the company has. Raymond pioneered some of today’s successful retail concepts, including textile franchising, more than 50 years ago. Secondly, he admires the Raymond’s obsession with quality of products.
 

Rakesh Pandey pursued Chemical Engineering from IIT, after which he relocated to the UK for work. “My stint in the UK exposed me to a diverse set of cultures at a young age of 25 years,” Pandey says. Post his return to India, he worked with companies like Unilever, Marico and Kaya Skin Clinic. At Kaya Skin Clinic, he worked at creating the business model of the brand, where he came close to consumers and learnt to analyse their preferences and needs effectively. Pandey joined Raymond Limited in February, 2010.

Challenging the status quo

Rakesh Pandey believes in challenging the status quo. “Wherever I have worked, I relish the opportunity to challenge the status quo with the idea of building new value to the customer,” he says. He is also passionate about being consumer centric and likes to view things from a consumer’s perspective while doing business. A true leader, Pandey believes in team effort and motivates his team to work together in all circumstances. “I believe in building strong alignment and ownership in our teams,” he says.

Brand Values

The Raymond Shop (TRS) is a premium retail store offering complete wardrobe solutions for men by retailing fabrics, apparels and tailoring services through top-of-the-line brands like Raymond, Park Avenue, Parx, and ColorPlus. “The Raymond Shop’s prime five values tightly woven into a cohesive whole are Trust, Excellence, Quality, Leadership and Service. It is with these values that the retail footprint of TRS today covers over 300 towns across various town classes and over 14 cities internationally,” Pandey says.

Diverse Avenues

The Raymond Shop has, over the years, forayed into textile, clothing and apparel gradually. There were challenges a bit too many, but the brand has managed to overcome all of it to emerge as the largest exclusive branded apparel and textile retailer in the country with over 1.2 million sq ft of retail space. “Raymond has always pioneered the growth of retail sector in the country. In order to keep its reputation intact, we are geared to open up 100 stores in tier III, IV and V towns in the days to come,” Pandey concludes.

TOP 50 CXOs

Sundeep Malhotra
Founder & CEO, HomeShop18

Frontrunner in virtual shopping

Sundeep Malhotra joined Network18 in 2006, with the aim of turning into reality the concept of virtual retail and home shopping, which were, till then, mere ideas.

Sundeep Malhotra graduated from Delhi University before earning his Masters Degree from AIMA, Delhi. In his career spanning over two decades, he worked with brands like Benetton India, Bata India Ltd and PepsiCo India in various roles.  “The turning point in my career came when I left my job at Pepsi to start a new venture in India, which was so far non-existent in the country. We started HomeShop18 as a concept and I had to work really hard for two years to establish it,” Malhotra reminisces. He put together a strong team of dedicated professionals and launched HomeShop18 in 2008.

Today, HomeShop18 is one the largest and fastest growing e-commerce companies in India, with its user traffic growing at 400 per cent year-on-year, and has a monthly reach of over 2.5 million unique visitors (ComScore: October 2011), each spending an average of over 8 minutes on the website.

For all your needs

Today, HomeShop18 sells more than 450 brands and 10 million SKUs in 3,000 cities and towns across India. “Adding a new customer every 6 seconds, HomeShop18’s robust distribution set-up helps it reach out to over 3,000 locations in the country,” Malhotra says. HomeShop18’s 6.1 million CRM base is supported by a trained and customer focused 24X7 call centre manned by 750 executives catering to over 35,000 calls a day.

Persistence, Pursuance and Passion

In any business, it is important to be persistent, pursuant and passionate, and this is exactly what Malhotra swears by. “The success of any organisation lies in building a business while creating opportunities for the people around you to grow,” he says. Re-engineering the operating dynamics from time to time is also a key to success. “Re-engineering the operational dynamics has helped us retain our leadership position and I admire the passion of our highly-qualified professional team, as it is the team which has helped HomeShop18 to acquire the mammoth size that it is today,” Malhotra adds.

Miles to go

The brand has recorded a turnover in excess of  `800 crore in FY 2011-2012, and is aiming to touch  `2,500 to  `3,000 crore in two to three years. “We are planning to revitalise our operations in future through investments in infrastructure, IT and expansion of our product portfolio. The intent is also to move from value-for-money offerings to lifestyle and, eventually, add luxury to the product portfolio,” Malhotra concludes.

TOP 50 CXOs

Subhinder Singh Prem
Managing Director, Adidas Group

The game changer

The Adidas Group today enjoys a strong market position in India with 70 per cent of the market share. In Subhinder Singh Prem’s words: “The idea is to fuel the passion for sport further and impact the fitness culture of the country through innovative products and services.”
 

An alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and a management graduate from IMT- Ghaziabad, Subhinder Singh Prem has worked in leadership positions across various fields, including merchandising, marketing, retail and sales. He joined Reebok India in 1995 and was the Managing Director of the group from 2003 to 2011 before taking over as the Joint Managing Director of the Adidas Group in 2011.

The key lies in lateral thinking

In his career spanning 20 years, Subhinder Singh Prem has always relied on lateral thinking while taking a decision. He says, “For me, as a business leader, lateral thinking is very important in every situation. Along with this, I am a firm believer in investing in smart people and creating a winning team as a roadmap to success.” The Adidas Group thrives on innovation and each member of the team is ever willing to move out of their comfort zone and try out new concepts. In addition to this, there is a passion and willingness to break the norm and think out of the box.  This is an attribute that Prem loves about his team. “The knowledge sharing and the strong sense of solidarity based on mutual respect that the teams have is what I admire the most. We are an extremely tight knit group and this is because we all share a common passion for sports and fitness,” he says.

Sky is the limit for retail in India

“The retail sector in India is one of the most dynamic and fast paced sectors and is opening many varied opportunities for us. I believe sky is the limit for retail in India,” Prem says. The Adidas group has benefited greatly from this retail boom and grown by 10 times in seven years across 325 cities in India. “In the growth phase of 2003-2010, our main focus was to reach out to as many consumers as possible and increase our market share. With a challenger mindset, we opened almost one store every second day in the country and reached out to consumers beyond the tier I cities,” Prem says.

Consolidating its position

“We have big plans for the future wherein we aim to achieve retail excellence and communicate our brand point of view to consumers through breakthrough marketing and innovative products. We will continue to lead through creativity and empower our consumers to celebrate individuality through sports and fitness,” Prem imforms.

TOP 50 CXOs

Harish Bahl

Founder & CEO, Smile Group

A success planner

Harish Bahl has created a culture of sharing wealth.  Going by his ideology, he has created 30-40 entrepreneurs, popular in their respective businesses.
 

A computer engineer by qualification, Harish Bahl, bitten by entrepreneurship bug and with inherent management skill, today, runs Smile Group and world knows him as a serial entrepreneur. He took the plunge in 1999 and that was the turning point of his career. He developed leading business ventures like Dial-A-Meal, Fashion and You and Bestylish.com

What keeps him going?

What’s so intriguing about incubation business is that it’s the origin from where other companies are born. Citing an example Bahl states, “It’s a unique and special model that we operate on. If we see otherwise, it’s the other way round everywhere. I admire this whole journey and how so many people have joined hands with me, by joining me in my businesses till date. For instance, Pearl Uppal, who is now Co- founder and Chief Executive Officer at Fashion and You, joined me when she had an offer for CEO at LinkedIn India. Did we know back then that in future the business would generate 1000s of transactions every day?”

Incubating talents

His business nurtures talented, motivated professionals and he ensures that they are having enough comfort zones to appreciate and accept him as a leader. “To retain these talents I give enough scope for learning and growth. There is an environment created strategically so these super-smart people work together,” Bahl comments.

Growth always comes with challenges. It’s all about people, aiming to build a company where people want to work, are proud to work for. “There should be an attraction or pull towards the brand, attracting smart people towards us,” he further adds.

Advantage e-retail

In Bahl’s opinion E-retail is way ahead and in advantageous position in comparison to brick and mortar stores. “In India, physical retail is not developed beyond big cities. For physical retail to develop, infrastructure to develop, it will take 20-30 years. In India, the population is very scattered and e-commerce has arrived to be a national phenomena. With mobile 3D, PC penetration, broadband, the eco system is ready. The market is huge,” Bahl avers.

The company that has generated revenue more than  `500 crore will keep on business, being innovative, doing things differently, respecting people and investing in brands, “so that the right people keep coming to work with us,” he concludes.

TOP 50 CXOs

Ajay Kaul

CEO, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited

Delivering happiness

Ajay Kaul also played a key role in taking the company to the stock market and introduced several efficiency and cost management initiatives that increased JFL’s EBITA from 12.5 per cent to 17.7 per cent in just three years.
 

A BTech from IIT-DELHI and an MBA from XLRI-Jamshedpur, Ajay Kaul joined Jubilant FoodWorks Limited in 2005. He played an instrumental role in the expansion of the brand in India by penetrating nearly 100 cities and towns in India in a very short time. Jubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL) is India’s largest and fastest growing food services company, with a network of 411 stores (as of 30 September, 2011). JFL and its subsidiaries operate the Domino’s Pizza brand with the exclusive rights for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “I wanted to target all segments, so I introduced the concept of affordable pizza by launching Pizza Mania pizzas priced at  `35,” Kaul says. He also played a key role in signing Dunkin’ Donuts as JFL’s next big brand. “The company is the market leader in the organised pizza market in India with over 54 per cent market share and 70 pe