The Aditya Birla group, a premier business conglomerate, had a very humble beginning in 1857 at Pilani, Rajasthan. The company which started as a cotton trading operation has now turned into US$44.3 billion corporation with over 120,000 employees from 42 countries. The group is a major player in various sectors like metals, textiles, carbon black, telecom and cement. But how has this small business turned into a global leader? The answer to this can be found out in Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla’s quote. He stated that, “Great businesses are never built on the quick sands of opportunism. I reiterate that, if living by our values means, perhaps growing at a pace slower than we would otherwise have liked, so be it. For us, leadership lies at the heart of knowing what we stand for.”
It is also by following the values of Integrity, Commitment, Passion, Seamlessness and speed it is been able to be the brand of peoples’ choice. The brands of ABG in fashion sector from Allen Solly, Peter England, PEOPLE and Pantaloons offer range of clothing of excellent quality. The range of products offered are affordable to people of different financial background. This has made ABG number one fashion (branded apparel) and lifestyle player in India. This legacy of providing quality product is also followed by the Ultra-tech Cement brand which - as the tagline suggests - is in-fact Engineers no. 1 choice. (Me being a civil engineer and having worked in construction industry can attest to this fact). This is proved by the fact that Ultra-tech cement is No. 1 player in grey cement, white cement and concrete. Similarly, it is also peoples’ no 1 choice in aluminium sheet making, carbon black and viscous staple fiber.
But it is not only the quality of products offered that makes people choose ABG. The way this group contributes to the society and lives of people and how it cares deeply about the community has made it favorite to people. It works in 5000 villages globally and provides education to almost 50,000 children. Its 20 hospitals tend to more than a million villagers. It is also involved in fighting malnutrition by providing mid-day meals to 74,000 children.
PART B
The Aditya Birla Group has been in the market for so long because they changed with changing times. They diversified their businesses and new modern sectors so as to keep them sustained in fast changing market and develop themselves. They took risks and came out of their comfort zone. This also must be done by each individual to grow. If one remains contained and enters a comfort zone and does not want to try new things then his/her growth is stopped. This is something I faced while I was working. After graduating I had decided to work for a year or two and pursue MBA. I had decided to prepare for CAT exam while working. But after starting my job I went into a different comfort zone and was very satisfied. This was because I was working for a reputed construction company and had a very good job profile. I was enjoying my job and had became very happy with what I have. Even though I was preparing for CAT, it was not whole heartedly. Also, the time I was getting to prepare was very less. I was not ready to take a gap and prepare because somewhere in my mind there was a feeling that, what I have now is very good and what if after CAT things will not be how I want. So, I was not ready to take the risk. Trying to overcome this was my biggest challenge. For two years I tried to crack CAT but was not successful. But ultimately it was my parents who convinced me to take the risk and to prepare wholeheartedly by leaving the job which I did last year.