The Hindu Business Line : Godrej wants to shed frumpy old lady image

"The study has indicated that Godrej as a brand has an image of a frumpy old lady and is looked upon as an industrial brand," Mr Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej group, said at a meeting here.

He said the group has appointed consultants to undertake a study to evaluate the Godrej brand. The study is expected to be completed by June.

The Godrej brand straddles across various products including locks, cupboards, refrigerators, hair dye, edible oil and soaps. It is also a prefix brand to brands such as Cinthol.

"Once the study is completed, we will have to set up a managing committee within the group to decide our step forward," Mr Godrej said.

During the current fiscal, the Godrej group will focus on brand building, Mr Godrej said.

He said the Godrej group has undertaken several measures to keep an old organisation contemporary. "The first step we took towards this seven years ago was enterprise resource planning (ERP) establishing connections between departments across the group," Mr Godrej said.

Another step was 360-degree evaluation primarily to assess people, used mainly for self-development. TQM was yet another initiative when converted to TPM, Mr Godrej said.

More recently, the group started strategic planning initiatives by setting up Blue and Red Teams. "Under this system, the group leaders have to strategise the next three years about going forward. This provides great leadership and development opportunities for these employees," Mr Godrej said.

Economic value added (EVA) was adopted 18 months ago as a main financial metric. EVA, according to Mr Godrej, is profit after cost of capital is debited.

The group also started reverse monitoring about a year ago. "This is primarily to get youngsters to teach you," he said.

The setting up of a young executive board was another measure to improve performance and business outlook. This 11-member board, chaired by Deputy General Manager-level person, looks at all aspects of business and periodically present a report on the findings. Think tank is yet another tool adopted by the Godrej group to look into the future. The other tools include performance ethic, chairman's tea, recruitment changes, innovation funnel, grow talent and outbound programs.

"The concept of chairman's tea was something I initiated. I meet 10-15 managers every month for a no-holds barred discussion on everything relating to work and business," Mr Godrej said, adding that these sessions helps him to get a macro picture.

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Godrej wants to shed frumpy old lady image