 |
PEOPLE
 Ah! The Sweet Taste Of
Success
Candy has finally proved dandy for Rajeev
Bakshi-in terms of a career, that is. Cadbury India's genial managing
director has now been made the person in charge of the entire South Asian
operations of the company. "Along with India, I'll also be looking
after South Asia, which includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It
is some sort of an acknowledgement for an Indian manager," says
Bakshi, 43, about the new job. Bakshi joined Cadbury as its marketing head
in 1992 (from Lakme), and spent some time with the parent's UK operations
before returning to take over as CEO of the company in 1998. Along the
course, this St. Stephens and IIM-Bangalore alum redefined chocolate
marketing by targeting adults with the company's flagship brand Cadbury
Dairy Milk. The past few years in the hot seat haven't exactly been a
cakewalk for him, though, with Cadbury's growth skidding more than once.
But Bakshi's strategy of refocusing on the children's market with
offerings like Milk Treat and extending the company's reach into
semi-urban areas by increasing retail coverage, seems to have worked.
Bakshi, whose interests, apart from work and family, include writing
(''but that's really inconsequential,'' he shrugs) has set his sights on
making Cadbury one of the best-performing food businesses in the region.
Perhaps, it is this desire that prompted his move up the candy, sorry,
corporate ladder.
 Heir Apparent
A foregone conclusion, this one! When
'Gauri Babu', as G.P. Goenka is referred to in Calcutta's
close-knit business community, anointed son Shrivardhan as his successor,
he was merely doing something every one expected him to. Says Goenka, 60:
''As I have only one son, there is no question of any dispute in choosing
a successor. I am preparing him to take on the mantle.'' But it may be
tough going for the 25-year-old Shrivardhan, who is studying for his MBA
at the NWU's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. The empire he's slated
to take over is strictly old economy, and several of its constituents,
like Herdillia Chemicals and Andhra Cement need strategic re-orientation
and operational overhaul. Shrivardhan, predictably, is also expected to
lead the group's foray into new economy businesses. Add another Goenka to
the growing list of Gs in business...
 Patron Saint
Here's a true believer in the cause.
When Pushpa Sundar resigned from Indian Administrative Service way
back in 1965, she decided to channel her energy and administrative flair
into something she believed in. After working with FICCI, the Gujarat
government, and the Ford Foundation, Sundar now runs the Indian Centre for
Philanthropy, a non-profit organisation that acts as a catalyst between
the corporate sector and voluntary organisations. It also crafts and
evaluates social responsibility programmes of companies like the Indian
Oil Corporation. Says Sundar, 59, who has penned two books on corporate
responsibility: "We believe in facilitating good citizenship through
donation of not only money but also skills and time.'' Well, she has all
the right words...
 Off The Road
The final events of a chronicle of a
departure foretold played themselves out in mid-October when Shiv Gopal
Awasthi, the erstwhile chairman of Daewoo India hopped off the
chaebol's bus. What next? Awasthi, 54, isn't telling: "I have options
and I am about to make up my mind. But it is a sensitive issue and I don't
want to talk about it.'' He's a bit more forthcoming about the reasons for
his exit: differences of opinion with Daewoo's senior management. The buzz
has it that Awasthi (one of former Telco head Sumant Malgaonkar's famous
small-car team) could be joining the higher echelons of a rival car
manufacturer, or a dotcom. As they say, you can't keep a good man down...
|
