There are some recurring constants in life – like the monsoon in Mumbai, the moon of Id, the skepticism relating to Indian infrastructure and the Group Annual Day (GAD) at Sanmar. This ‘templated’ corporate event is held annually and each year it continues to make its mark in a new way. The eve of the two day event is marked by a dinner; the first day has presentations that exercise the grey matter and the second day is one for voicing out and interaction.
The GAD this year was special as there were participants from Sanmar’s extended families – members from Eisenwerk Erla, Germany, TCI Sanmar, Egypt and our US representative for Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Ltd (SSCL).
Relationship dynamics between owners & CEOs
Preety Kumar’s presentation provided insights into the relationship dynamics between owners and executives. She presented a detailed study of family owned and non-family owned organisations and the dynamics of managing in both situations by external executives within the organisation. No Man’s Land is the management space, a shared area of accountability between owner-executives and external executives. The crux of the presentation was recognising this space, understanding factors that influence it and managing it.
Preety Kumar is the Managing Director of Amrop International and a Director on the Group Corporate Board of The Sanmar Group.
- Preety Kumar
An update of the Indian economic, political and business scenario
Adit Jain’s presentation laid bare the global and Indian economic scenario bringing the euphoria of ‘the bubble’ to terra fi rma. What’s in store for the US and Asian economies, the domestic capital markets, is there a tipping point to the asset prices, the impact of the strengthening rupee, will the GDP rate lose some of its sheen, how would infl ation behave, the correlation in credit growth and interest rates, what’s in store for the various sectors, the unfolding political climate – these were some of the areas where his presentation drove home the data. This well substantiated truth of the matter left the audience spell bound.
Adit Jain is the Managing Director of International Market Assessment India Pvt Ltd and a Director on the Group Corporate Board of The Sanmar Group.
- Adit Jain
Captain Raghu Raman’s strategic and tactical lessons of leadership were set in the backdrop of Siachen, the world’s toughest battleground in the northwest frontier of India. He drove home lessons in leadership which he himself acquired through experiential learning, the result of the trauma as commander in the most hostile terrain. When soldiers earning a meagre Rs 5000 to 6000, readily sacrifice their lives, it is not for the money or the feeling of nationalism evoked in a hostile land, but purely for the sake of the leader in command. In this situation, what does it take to be a leader? He drove home lessons in getting the perspective, the challenges, responsibility and importance of decisi-
on making, and most important of all, the burden of command.
Capt Raghu Raman is CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group.
- Captain Raghu Raman
The DSCL experience
Ajay Shriram presented the success journey of his organisation - the opportunities and challenges faced by the group, strategic initiatives, organisational restructuring, change management initiatives, addressing people issues, customer service orientation, managing the external interface and protecting and building core values and beliefs.
Ajay Shriram is the Chairman and Senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited.
- Ajay Shriram
Vijay Sankar’s presentation rang a chord of pride in the audience as he announced the possibility of surpassing the billion dollar mark. The Group is going through a great transformation - from three employees overseas to 1000 overseas employees, from a turnover of Rs 1000 crores in 27 years to Rs 6000 crores by 2010. While the fi nancial commitment to growth is already made, the challenge is to realise the projections through execution excellence and developing a people culture.
Presentations by the Managing Directors of the industry segments - P S Jayaraman (Chemicals), C V Subba Rao (Shipping), Murli Ramachandran (Speciality Chemicals), P Natarajan (Engineering).
Suggestions, views and plans.
“Really...In my 35 years in the army, I never expected that I would be a member in the respected team of The Sanmar Group. I was touched by the warm hospitality and nice feelings of the people at Sanmar. It felt like being amidst one’s own family.
- Mostafa Mohamed Saad, TCI Sanmar, Port Said.
On the first day, I made a lot of new friends. The last part of the evening, the dinner, was very pleasurable since I love Indian food.
On the second day, in spite of my imperfect English (I’m learning diligently!), I enjoyed most of the presentations. I found the presentation by the former Colonel to be the most interesting. I’ve made some points for implementing as part of my daily work in Erla. When I returned to Erla, I had a lot to tell my colleagues, and found many interested and inquisitive listeners.
Nach dem ersten Tag hatte ich somit schon eine Menge neuer Bekannte. Das Dinner war der Abschluß dieses Abends und wie immer waren die indischen Speisen ein Genuß für mich.
Trotz meiner nicht perfekten Englischkenntnisse (Ich lerne fleißig!), genoss ich am zweiten Tag die meisten der Vorträge. Die Präsentation des ehemaligen Majors der Armee fand ich persönlich am Interessantesten. Ich konnte einige wichtige Aussagen für meine Tätigkeit in Erla übernehmen. In Erla zurückgekehrt, konnte ich meinen Kollegen vieles über unseren Jahrestag berichten und fand viele interessierte und neugierige Zuhörer.
- Dietmar Hahn, Eisenwerk Erla, Germany.
I enjoyed being part of the group discussions on Growth and Challenges. There was lively exchange of ideas and proposals with a consensus in the end. I was impressed by the candid and honest exchange of views among managers even in the presence of senior managers, directors and the chairman.This clearly indicates that Sanmar is a progressive organisation with a matured corporate culture encouraging creative and out of box thinking on the part of the managers.
Both Mrs Jagan and Mr Natraj and their staff are to be commended for facilitating the event in such an efficient manner.
- Jeri Raman, Sanmar Speciality Chemicals, USA.
Interactive sessions on Day 2.
Dinner programme.
Nilesh was a one man army for Tyco in the JERP project. He gets recognition for exceeding the expectations of customers like RIL, Bechtel, Bantrel, Foster Wheeler, Becrel and a host of engineering contractors. He solely provided tech-
nical solutions across 10 locations worldwide. His proactive customer engagement initiatives have kept the order books swelling.
SFL Investment Foundry has had a successful year and the key person behind this success is Govindarajan. He elevated the perspective of the foundry business from mere tonnage and value to line items and customer solutions, keeping the customer indi-
ces at its best. Investment foundry achieved zero overdue status in its order bookings and 99% on-time delivery. His major achievement is in creating flexible production systems that helped remove bottlenecks and scale up production levels beyond estimates.
V Sriram Kumar was instrumental in conceptualising and implementing the electrical system for the membrane cell conversion at Mettur Dam. The project was executed in a very short time without disturbing the running systems and no product-
ion loss. He remains a nodal point in the power distribution between all the plants and its adjustments against the EB billings. He was instrumental in getting an interim MD hike up to 13,000 kva from 9,500 kva and this has resulted in savings of about Rs 25 lakhs for Chemplast Sanmar.
K Kumaresan deserves commendation for his role in the successful completion of the marine terminal facility at Karaikal. The project was beset with challenges like the tsunami, other extreme weather conditions, execution glitches, failure
in honouring delivery commitments by contractors and more. In the face of such challenges, Kumaresan showed nimbleness in following alter-
native action plans, effective coordination between agencies and a self starting ability that drastically cut down turnaround time. Significantly, he carries this experience onward in drawing up the specifications for the Cuddalore marine terminal facility.
Ramdas is credited with the smooth transition of the recently acquired iron foundry in Erla into the Sanmar fold. In the acquisition phase he supervised the legal, financial and environmental due diligence studies, participated in the negotiation of the
share purchase agreement and negotiated and put in place the acquisition financing. Subsequently, he ensured audit of the closing of accounts as of March 2007 and integrated their accounting and reporting systems with those followed by the Group. He deserves special kudos for learning German along with his family members. As our sole representative, he is an ambassador of sorts for India and The Sanmar Group in the small rural community of Schwarzenberg in which Erla is located.
Balaji’s role in the Treasury function has been commendable. He has provided invaluable support in the financing of overseas acquisitions and projects through the presentation of proposals, management of project financing, coordination with financi-
al and investment bodies and the successful closure of financing. He developed user-friendly financial models for financial forecasting which has benefi ted internal analysis and in dealing with lenders and investors. In the midst of his critical role, he also topped the Executive MBA programme at the Great Lakes Institute of Management.
B Natraj in his long tenure with Sanmar has worn several hats. This year he traded it for a crown. Giving out the award, N Sankar said, “Natraj is really another of Sanmar’s ‘Men for all Seasons’. I realised that his real strength lay in his versatili-
ty. Since then he has done many things in the
Group – Human Resources, Corporate Finance and Treasury, top level recruitments, n egotiations with a variety of joint venture partners, evaluating the Group’s entry into auto components and so on. What he did at Erla was amazing. He functioned as a one man team handling all aspects of the acquisition – fi nancial, legal and other due diligence. Post the acquisition he was instrumental in bringing the Sanmar stamp to bear on Erla, ensuring at the same time that the sensitivities of the local management and the people working there were respected. The Erla acquisition was put through smoothly in a record time of about four months. For this and for his many other invaluable contributions to Sanmar over the years, I am delighted to be able to recognise B Natraj as Employee of the Year”.
The Sanmar Group is presently in a stage of transition. The sentiment today is one of pride and is increasing each year. Our task is to ensure growth and also be ready to take advantage of opportunities that come along. I am confi dent and proud that the management and future of the Group is in good hands.
- N Sankar