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Our Bureau

Kolkata , Aug. 13

BALMER Lawrie, now a public sector unit, has been around for 160 years. Over the years, its business has undergone a sea change.

From a managing agency, Balmer Lawrie now has a fair presence in the manufacturing and service sectors. Interestingly, the company has made profits all these 160 years. The secret lies in keeping pace with the times and in evolving a company-specific management model.

Contemporary research, however, shows that wealth does not last more than three generations. This is applicable to both family business and professionally managed companies. A comparison of today's Fortune 500 list with that of 30 years ago shows that hardly 10 per cent could sustain their position in terms of wealth creation.

The analogies were presented by Mr Joydeep Datta Gupta, Executive Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd. Discussing the growth potential of family business, Mr Gupta said that in today's context, family business and small business are getting connected to the global value chain.

While this has its own challenges, there is a greater opportunity to create wealth too, provided local businessmen are able to keep pace with the changes in business and technology.

"The competition does not necessarily come from foreign companies. While the policy makers are debating the pros and cons of allowing FDI in the retail sector, Indian industry has already jumped the gun, making the retail sector highly competitive and technology-oriented. Needless to say that the small time retailers have started feeling the heat."

The evolution of mobile telephony, which has challenged the existence of private telephone booths (a highly profitable proposition 10 years ago), is the best example in this regard.

Topping the list are HR issues. Gone are the days when workers could be retained on a loyalty basis underlined by the benevolence of the employer and the limited opportunities for change for the employees.

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