Analysis of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

As an Entrepreneur
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the chairperson of Biocon started her own business with just
Rs.10,000 in hand and a degree in Brewery, and went on to become a Richest women
Entrepreneur in India but actually she became an entrepreneur by accident. Mrs. Shaw
wanted to start her Brewing industry and in spite of her degree she established Biocon
in 1978 which lead to the foundation of India’s Biotech industry. But still she has to
overcome difficulty as Banks refused to provide her loans due to the lack of assets
and as she was a women entrepreneur which was a rare phenomenon, and above all
Biotechnology was a new field at that point of time.

She has become the Poster Girl for Indian women Entrepreneur, and also a source of
inspiration to many others, though she had a number of failures she still became a
successful leader. In India Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is a motivator of all aspiring
women entrepreneurs.

Personality Traits
According to kiran Mazumdar Shaw a combination of several factors such as
Determination, Value, integrity and a sense of purpose which led her to built up a
valuable organisation through her effort.

 Determination:

First when kiran Mazumdar Shaw approached financial institutions but they
refused it as:

 Company had no assets.

 Woman entrepreneur was a new word.
 Biotechnology was a new concept to Indians.

In that stage also her determination to build up Biocon didn’t turn down. As it
was first company in worldwide to produce Insulin and in October 2008 it
developed oral insulin too. As a leader she used to set a possible goals like
production of enzymes and antibodies from fermentation and research process.

 Confidence:

Her confidence level is clearly seen through her activities as she started her
Business in relatively new and innovative field, also when bank refused loans
to Kiran she still went against all odds as a belief that women can be an
entrepreneur.

The confidence of Kiran was unexplainable when comparing that with the
challenges that she faced. These challenges have been evolved with the growth
 of Biocon. Initial challenge that she faced was her young age, her gender and
the nature of unfamiliar business. There was no inflow of fund as banks
refused to give loans. Once she overcomes all these, she had to face
technological challenges to build a Biotech business in a country like India
which was not so good in infrastructure at that point of time. The high tech
biotech industry dependent on high quality, power, high technological lab,
equipments etc.

Now the challenges has moved to maintain quality, about growth, managing a
large company and managing investor expectations like other CEO’s.

 Motivation:

In Biocon employees’ feedback are being regularly asked so as to motivate

them and it will further help them to excel in their field. In Biocon
Performance checks are done annually and implement it at the end of the
financial year. It helps to measure employees’ performance and also helps to
reduce grievances etc. They also conduct Behavioural training, leadership
programs, and also provide with compensation packages. Due to all these HR
polices, the Attrition rate of less than 1% has been seen in Biocon. She had set
up a mission for her to build pride into her workplace and also into her
country.

Work place principles which helped her to keep employees motivated are:

Excellence

Integrity

Accountability

Organizational Pride

Fairness

Learning

Informality in work place

Elegant and refined working environment

 Socially Responsible:

Along with the growth of Biocon they also involved their support in various
community programs and corporate citizenship initiatives with a focus in the
areas of healthcare, education, and environment. The Biocon Foundation in
2004 has setup “Arogya Raksha Yojana” which is a unique health initiative for
rural India.
 In her effort to protect the uniqueness of her Home town (Bangalore), she had
proactively involved in various city improvement programs like the Bangalore
Agenda Task Force (BATF).

 Risk Taker:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is a risk taker, and it can be seen from the beginning of
Biocon itself. She has also proved it when she had done her Post-Graduate in
brewery which had never been touched by a woman in India. Further when she
failed to continue her career in Brewery, she has been directed towards
Biotechnology industry which was a new business to Indians. But due to her
Confidence and determination she was able to be India’s richest woman.

Other risks which she had taken in her organization were:

 Beacon’s R&D programme has been rapidly advanced

 Took the risk to produce Oral Insulin an Anti - CD6 Monoclonal
antibody.

These two are the leading discoveries in the field of research programs.

 Innovative:

Kiran is an innovator in all sense, in creating a successful company,

developing innovative ideas, new products, etc. Also she has a clear vision and
prefixed objective for her organisation and to achieve those objectives she
encouraged her employees to think innovative and keep on in research.

Some of the products of Biocon are:

 INSUGEN R:

It is useful when Oral agents fail to control blood glucose levels or

when therapy with Insulin.

 BIOMAB-EGFR:

This is used in head and neck cancer.

 RAPACAN

This is used for the prevention of rejection and rescue therapy for
rejection in renal transplantation.
As a Leader
We say that kiran Mazumdar Shaw is a transformational leader as she had similar
personality traits like that of other transformational leaders such as Richard Branson
of virgin group, A.G. Lafley CEO of Proctor & Gamble. Kiran Shaw had a Vision of
her own and she never followed the footsteps of others or never bothered about what
others think or say about her. She also possesses the ability to bring the changes or
transform her organisation, and she also has influential power to motivate and
encourage her employees to think innovative and keep on in research.

Eg. As book on Organisation Behaviour by Robins, Judge, Sanghi; describes A. G.

Lafley as a transformational leader as he has brought flexibility and creativity to a
slow growing company and also the innovations which helped them to achieve the no.
1st position from the 5th position in united state for their brand and doubled the sales
worldwide. Whereas Mrs. Shaw started her business with the initial capital of Rs
10,000 and at present the company is worth Rs. 1.79 crore. From this we can observe
that she was determined about her company’s success and also has taken number of
risks and continued innovating new products. As a result Biocon has become the
number 1 company in India.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has transformed Biocon from an enzyme company to a fully
integrated biopharmaceutical company therefore on this basis say that Mrs. Shaw is a
transformational leader.

Achievements of kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is an entrepreneur who has the potential to take risk and she
succeeded in turning Biocon as India’s largest biotechnological firm. She has won many
awards and honours. Some of the major awards and prizes are:

 She is the list of 100 most powerful women (by Forbes, 2010)

 Nikkei Asia Prizes- Regional Growth by Nikkei Inc. (2009)

 Express pharmaceutical leadership summit award for dynamic entrepreneur (2009)

 Businesswomen of the year by Economic Times (2009)

 Honorary Doctorate from university of Abertay Dundee UK.(2007)

 Wharton Infosys Business transformation Award (2006)

 Padma Bhushan (2005)

 Honorary Doctorate from Manipal Academy of Higher education –MAHE (2005)

 Life time Achievement Award from Indian chamber of Commerce (2005)

 Honorary Doctorate of Science from Ballard University (2004)

 The Economic Times Business Women of the year (2004)

 Whirlpool GR8 women award for science and technology (2004)

 Australian Alumni High Achiever Award from the IDP Australian Alumni
Association (2003)

 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Healthcare & Life Sciences
Category (2002)

 Woman of the Year from the International Women's Association, Chennai (1998–
1999)

 Padma Shri (1989)

 Outstanding Young Person Award by Jaycees (1987)

 Rotary award for the Best Model Employer (1983)

 Outstanding Contribution Award (AWAKE) (1983)

 Gold for Best Woman Entrepreneur, Institute of Marketing Management (1982)