PART A
A US $44.3 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. Anchored by
an extraordinary force of over 120,000 employees belonging to 42 nationalities, the Group is built on
a strong foundation of stakeholder value creation. With over seven decades of responsible business
practices, the Groups’ businesses have grown into global powerhouses in a wide range of sectors –
metals, textiles, carbon black, telecom and cement. Today, over 50% of Group revenues flow from
overseas operations that span 34 countries in North and South America, Africa and Asia.
Aditya Birla Group has products in agribusiness, carbon black, cement, chemicals, e-commerce,
finance, mining, retail, telecommunications, textile and wind power sectors out of which the retail
and telecommunications areas have been big in my life.
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd sells in-house brands such as Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Van Heusen,
Peter England and People via their individual brand stores and through other multi-brand outlets. It
operates a multi-brand fashion retail chain Pantaloons which it acquired from Future Group. Also
acquired exclusive online and offline rights to American fast fashion retailer Forever 21 in India.
The wide range of options available in clothing in these various brands is a delight for customers like
me who are very picky about choosing a certain outfit and making sure that the colour combination
feels just right. The quality and the selection offered is very good at the price range that the products
are offered.
The telecom services of ABG had been very useful and reliable when I first owned my own mobile
and purchased an Idea sim card that was 8 years ago. The signal coverage was good and covered
rural areas well too.
PART B
Life is a challenge for everyone. I feel that it depends on us individuals how we go about facing those
challenges and obstacles in life. Do we blame others for our failures or start to take responsibility for
our actions?
I have done both and have come to the realization that you only start growing when you start to
take responsibility for the things you have done yourself. Me being a sportsperson, I play a lot of
sports that are individual or team events. Most often than not, you don’t win the game but instead,
fail. Such outcomes can discourage a lot of people, but it also teaches us perseverance and develops
determination and patience. This attitude has helped me throughout the journey so far in my life.
Getting into an IIM like a lot of people was also a challenging task. There is the CAT entrance test and
WAT PI process that follows thereafter which shortlists the students for admission in one of the
toughest programs to get in the country. Only a few manage to get into these institutes and the
efforts required to get in an IIM is equally tough. There are discipline, consistency and hard work
required to overcome this challenge and I thoroughly enjoyed every single part of it.
The best part about facing challenges is that you learn from the experiences which is value addition
in your life too. You come out better and stronger than before. You can therefore also become a
source of inspiration or a guide or motivator to people going through the same situations that you
had gone through.
#IIMRaipur #ABGLPWooMe