A US $44.3 billion conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. The Group is anchored by an extraordinary force of over 1,20,000 employees, belonging to 42 nationalities, spanning 37 countries. Over 50 per cent of the Group’s revenues flow from its overseas operations.
The Aditya Birla Group enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates – metals, cement, carbon black, specialty chemicals, viscose staple fiber, viscose filament yarn, acrylic fiber, textiles, telecom, financial services, retail, branded apparel, natural resources, agri-solutions, power and trading. Its products and services touch every person’s life uniquely.
A value-led, performance driven, customer-centric meritocracy, the Aditya Birla Group had topped Nielsen’s Corporate Image Monitor 2014-15 and emerged as the Number 1 corporate, the ‘Best in Class’, for the third consecutive year. The Group works in 5,000 villages, reaching out to 7 million people across geographies through the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development.
As they voyage into a sensational future, they must find it within themselves to look beyond what they currently do. It is the responsibility of every generation to leave behind a safer, superior, more enlightened world than the one that they inherit. When future generations look back upon the group, they must credit them for being an organization that actually foresaw the future and helped give the world a better tomorrow. As it is said, giving is true having. The teachings of the Buddha tell us that thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and yet the life of that candle will not be shortened. I believe that the company truly practice compassionate capitalism. Service to society is at the very heart of their value system. They attempt to reach out with a sense of purpose to those with distressed lives. Every Indian has used its products and feel connected to the brands associated with the group.
Over the last few years, the Aditya Birla Group has been building critical infrastructure on the human resource front to realise its leadership aspirations in the global business arena. And very recently, a new and significant initiative has been launched across the group wherein we have more sharply defined our values framework.
The values of any organisation define its character and personality. Values guide, shape and influence our behaviour and actions. The external world perceives and responds to an organisation based on the way that it goes about conducting its business. The world of business today is going through a crisis of trust, where the credibility of business leaders and the legitimacy of business organisations are subjected to questioning. This scrutiny from the government, media, analysts, investors and action groups, is becoming more stringent everyday. In such an environment of skepticism and cynicism actions alone can inspire confidence. Once again, people are searching for the soul of the corporation, its values.
The Aditya Birla Group are becoming more heterogeneous as they globalise. Also, 30 per cent of the people have been with the group for less than five years and 48 per cent are below the age of 38 years. With every acquisition, a significant number of new colleagues with diverse backgrounds, and experience and most importantly, with different expectations are added. These developments are surely exciting.
People contribute when they relate to an organisation and they relate, when they understand the organisation. And people understand an organisation through its values, by experiencing the culture that the values create and by using the systems and processes that the values define. In large organisations, such shared understanding cannot be created through the leadership of individuals alone, it requires leadership of principles, of beliefs, of conviction — these together constitute what we call the “values”.
The articulation of a common set of values enables organisations to pull in a common direction, gives employees something they can easily identify with, helps them to find common cause with each other and creates a common sense of purpose.
