HOW ABG IS BIG IN MY LIFE
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.
-Mr KumarMangalam Birla (Chariman, ABG)
Being a resident of Ujjain, influence of Nagda and Grasim industries was inevitable due to the close proximity to the city. Grasim is not just an industry in Nagda, it is the lifeline of the city. The ABG group has not setup the industry in the city just to make profits by using the resources of the city, the group has also constructed Schools, Residential Colonies and Hospitals for its employees and their families. This changed my perception of corporates from self-serving to the people who work hard to create a better life for everyone around them. In various discussions with my relatives and natives of Nagda, I got to know that after the ABG group setup Grasim Industries, outlook of the whole city has changed from a rural village to a self-sustaining developed town. The organisation has grown multi-fold and emerged as the market leader in various industries such as Cement, Telecommunication, Fabrics, Chemicals, Carbon, and Aluminium etc. Today ABG is present in 34 nations across the world with employees belonging to 42 nationalities working for the organisation making the place global in the true sense of the word. ABG has also ventured into initiatives such as Novelis that focuses on reducing environmental impact by recycling aluminium waste. Through Birla Cellulose the organisation is working with global brands to reduce environment footprint and on improving efficiency. The mission of the group to help people also reflects in their CSR initiatives which shows that it is working towards making the world a better place for everyone. These initiatives show that ABG cares deeply about the society and is working to create a sustainable future for generations to come. ABG has inspired me as a future manager to play my part in building a better society.
HOW HAVE YOU MADE AN IMPACT
While working for L&T constructions as a graduate engineer trainee, my job was to design the drawings and do calculations as per standards set by RDSO. Around 6 months after joining, I was assigned a task to design and draw around 400 drawings in an unreasonable amount of time. The project was the flagship project of the incumbent government and it was a priority because of the upcoming elections. Our team was short on resources. So I along with my seniors decided to use a rather unconventional method of automation. We had to create the complete database from scratch after learning programming. With the help of our colleagues, not only did we manage to complete the task in the required time frame, but the method used by us was later used in other similar projects saving a lot of resources for the organization. My efforts were also appreciated by the management. Major takeaway from the whole episode is that first, a difficult situation can be an opportunity in disguise if we utilize it properly. Second, we must never be afraid of walking on roads untraveled, sometimes the unconventional solution is the best solution. Third, if we work truly and sincerely with the entire team pitching in, the outcome of any tough situation can change.