Aditya Birla Group, a $44.3 billion corporation, is in the League of Fortune 500. The business, with over 70 years of operation, has grown into an extensive range of sectors – textiles, cement, metals, telecom etc. With over 130 state-of-the art manufacturing units and 50% revenues from international businesses, Aditya Birla Group has been ranked no. 1 in Asia Pacific and no. 4 globally with the title “Top Company for Leaders”.
Some of the significant achievements to mention are as follows:
•#1 in Aluminium rolling
•Among the world’s largest telecom company
•Largest Indian MNC with manufacturing units in the US
•#1 in fashion(premium branded apparel) and lifestyle player(India)
•#1 in grey, white cement and concrete(India)
•Leading player in Life Insurance and Asset Management
Key milestones achieved by the conglomerate are as follows:
•From US $2 billion to $44.3 billion
•From 8 nationalities to 42
•From an average age of 56 years to 36 years
•From 0.4% women at managerial positions to 14%
•From 60,000 to 120,000 colleagues
ABG is associated with people’s lives so closely so that it is highly unlikely that you have gone without using any ABG products in your life. Even to my surprise, I have been associated with this organization through various products since quite a long time now.
To start with, my very first telecom connection was of Vodafone which I am using till date. This could be a perfect example of Customer-Brand loyalty as I have been hooked onto Vodafone even during the times when competition tried its best to disrupt the telecom market by providing services at the cheapest of rates. I am glad that Vodafone did not indulge into such practices and kept its brand integrity up to the mark as I personally feel that customer acquisition via free of cost services is only a short term engagement and may prove to be dismal during the course of its operations.
What made me stick around with the same telecom brand can be stated as follows:
•Super-fast after sales service
•Optimized call rentals as per usage
•Attractive data packs (I currently have 190 GB data stored in my account)
•Exciting and attractive deals in the RED Box
Another brainchild of the group – Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) yet again holds a significant value in the hearts of many shopaholics. With a large number of quality brands under its roof, they enjoy a good share of more than 90% of my personal wardrobe.
Brands of ABFRL I often go shopping for are:
•All of my chinos and trousers come from either Allen Solly or Peter England
•A noteworthy quantity of shirts that I own are either Van Heusen or Louis Philippe
Reasons for my Brand Loyalty:
•Shirts and Trousers available in a variety of fits along with subtle colors
•8 out of 10 times that I have got a compliment was when I dressed up in one of the above brands
•The clothing and fit brings out the best of my personality
I am also a Pantaloons Green card holder!!
I am sure there is a lot to write about how big a role Aditya Birla Group plays in our lives which can go on for a lengthy article. But allow me to share one of my life anecdotes where I encountered an ethical dilemma and was faced with a challenge of either doing the right thing or take the shortcut.
I was Steering Design Head of Delhi Technological University (DTU)-Efficycle Team, for design & fabrication of aerodynamic human-electric hybrid powered tricycle. EFFI-CYCLE is an annual intercollegiate event organized by SAE-NIS.
We were a team of 16 students (including our juniors) working under a faculty member of our college. This was my first-hand experience of leading a team and simultaneously motivating juniors to continue the legacy for upcoming projects and ultimately do the college proud.
In the initial stages of our project, we faced a major problem regarding the use of material for building up the vehicle frame. The material originally proposed and tested for design consideration was quite expensive in the market and was disturbing our budget. We tried a lot to search for alternate suppliers roaming around markets, seeking help from seniors, but could not succeed.
So my team members suggested opting for a lower grade material of low cost but still document the mechanical properties of original material and sending for verification to the event committee.
I was totally against this idea as it might lead to vehicle breakdown; safety was being compromised and might also tamper college reputation.
Therefore, I did a thorough research on material strength corresponding to various grades available in market, explained in detail the pros and cons of using low-grade material and finally managed to convince my team members to not resort to such risky methods and explain the scenario to our faculty advisor, who might be able to help us in the situation and show us the right direction of approach.