Mumbai, May 24: ``There are only two types of companies-the quick and the dead,'' says the first man at Lever House, modifying what Michael Dell of Dell Computers fame once said about the computer industry. For the 45-year-old new chairman of the Rs 10,145 crore FMCG major Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), MS Banga, speed of operation will be a key determinant of success for the company in the coming years.At his first official interaction on Wednesday with the press after taking over as chairman, Banga did not disclose any major plan that he will implement at HLL. However, he did give clues as to how he planned to defend his turf from competitors, both global and local.
``What has to change is the speed at which we work,'' Banga emphasised. According to him fast movement is the key to growth in any industry. ``We will have to start moving at the speed of the internet, because that is the speed customers are accustomed to today. Further, this speed has to keep pace with the speed of the internet, which is ever changing,'' he added.
Planning and strategy will not be a matter of the short-term alone at HLL, says Banga, who took over the reins of the company from Keki Dadiseth with effect from May 1, 2000. ``We will look at three time horizons simultaneously. While dealing with day-to-day competition, we reckon that we are going to be in business tomorrow and the day after. It is, therefore, important to look at a continuum of time horizons,'' he said, giving the example of Aviance beauty advisors online and piloting beauty salons and laundry services, which the company has invested in with `tomorrow' in mind.
`People,' one of the three pillars of the ambitious `Project Millennium' penned by Dadiseth, are going to be equally important in Banga's scheme of things. To quote him, ``We also have to win the war for talent. What we do to attract and retain people is going to be the key driver of our success in the future.'' He reiterated the organisation's commitment to the HR challenge by endorsing internal initiatives in this area which have been spawned over the past one year. These include initiatives aimed at empowering employees with ESOPs and the recently-established venture capital fund which aims at giving employees a stake in the wealth that they create through their ideas.
``We will have to transform ourselves to attract the best talent. For the `best' to want to come to us, we have to become a youthful company in mind, spirit and heart such that we reflect the values of the young,'' Banga said.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.