The panelists: (Top L-R) A.T. Kearney's C. Srinivasan, Zensar's ganesh Natarajan, A.T. Kearney's Ravi Kushan, A.T. Kearney's Devinder Chawla, and A.T. Kearney's Anshuman Maheshwary (the consultant who worked along with Chawla on the project); (Bottom L-R) Rothschild's Munesh Khanna, Thermax's Anu Aga, and Professor J. Ramachandran of IIM, Bangalore

The value growth matrix maps market value growth adjusted for changes in equity against revenue growth (See The Value Growth Matrix). Our objective was to closely study companies that made it to the top right of the matrix, the value-builders. That way, we would only focus on companies that managed the tricky balance between profit and growth.

A.T. Kearney has conducted a series of global studies using the framework of value-building growth covering over 1,100 companies across continents. Apart from mapping a company's performance in relation to that of its peers', the matrix provides insights into how a company has exploited growth opportunities while ensuring the right balance between profit and growth. More importantly, such an analysis is the ideal starting point to discover how value-builders manage their growth cycle over time.

The first step of the exercise was to shortlist, from the universe of listed companies, a sample. To make the cut, companies had to: have been publicly listed no later than 1996; have minimum revenues of Rs 100 crore; minimum market capitalisation of Rs 50 crore; and have declared a net profit in at least two out of the past four years. Over 250 companies across nine industries-automotive, energy and utilities, financial services, FMCG, it and telecom, manufacturing, metals and minerals, process, and pharma and healthcare-made the grade.

These companies were plotted on the Value-building Matrix framework. A total of 23 companies across nine industries from the value-builders quadrant were selected. This was based on quantitative criteria as well as qualitative ones (consistency of appearing in this quadrant over time; present size of operations; potential for future growth).

In the second stage, a team of consultants from A.T. Kearney sought to meet with the senior leadership of the 23 companies to understand the strategic decisions that enabled the company to remain a value-builder. Seven companies refused to participate. These include HLL, Kodak, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, Zee Telefilms, Balrampur Chini, and Hero Honda. The other 16 companies either met with the team of consultants from A.T. Kearney or filled up a detailed questionnaire. The next step was a qualitative evaluation based on the interviews and the responses. The parameters on which this was done are: strategy, financial performance, leadership and management philosophy, systems and processes, employee skills and hr effectiveness, organisational structure, corporate governance, and social responsibility. Each of these has a role to play in the process of value creation.

The results were discussed by an expert panel that met in Delhi on May 20. The panelists were: Dr C. Srinivasan, Chairman, A.T. Kearney, Ravi Kushan, Managing Director, A.T. Kearney, Devinder Chawla, Vice President, A.T. Kearney and the leader of the team that conducted the survey, Anu Aga, Chairperson, Thermax, Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Zensar, Munesh Khanna, Managing Director, Rothschild India, Professor J. Ramachandran of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Sanjoy Narayan, Editor, Business Today, and R. Sukumar, Deputy Editor, Business Today.

The panel looked at all the parameters considered by A.T. Kearney and decided to identify India's best managed company on the basis of four characteristics: value creation, strategic direction, complexity of portfolio, and status as a role-model. From 16, the panel shortlisted eight companies, then four, and finally two, before identifying India's Best Managed Company.