ABOUT ADITYA VIKRAM

BIRLA
Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla was born on 14 th November 1943 in Calcutta. He is the son
of Basant Kumar Birla and Sarala Birla. His grandfather Ghanshyam Das Birla was
a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He was key to establishing the Birla empire
and established established his fortune by manufacturing the Ambassador car and
through aluminium prospecting.

Aditya Vikram Birla was the first child in the family to go abroad for further
studies and graduated in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Post his graduation, he returned to India in 1965 and began his
venture in the textile business. He set up the Eastern Spinning Mills in Calcutta – a
venture that became successful in no time! He also payed a pivotal role in reviving
the rayon business. His vision was to diversify the business and expand the
operation beyond India. Therefore, he became one of the first Indian industrialists
to set up plants in countries like Philippines, Egypt and South East Asia. Mr. Birla
also spearheaded the diversification of the business into petrochemicals and
telecommunications. His grandfather passed away in 1983 and bequeathed most of
the companies to him.

He marries Rajshree Birla in 1965 and has two children – KM Birla and Vasavadatta
Bajaj. Unfortunately, Mr. Birla was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Despite
receiving the best medical treatment at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore USA,
he could not withstand the disease and breathed his last 1 st October 1995.

Although he was physically weak in his last years due to the disease, he was
emotionally more determined than ever! His wife Rajshree said that he worked the
hardest in his last few years, he did not want people to be sympathetic about his
disease. He was visionary leader and our former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh described him as “among the best and brightest citizens of India.”

ADITYA BIRLA GROUP

The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian conglomerate with a turnover of $48.3 billion
that features in the Fortune 500. The company operates in 42 countries worldwide
and owes its success to its emphasis on stakeholder value creation. The Group has
a diversified business in multiple sectors ranging from metal, pulp and fiber to
chemicals, textiles, telecom and cement. The group believes strongly in giving back
to the community and facilitates inclusive growth. They actively work towards
promoting a sustainable lifestyle for the weaker sections of the society and
improve the country’s human development index.

ADITYA VIKRAM BIRLA – MANAGEMENT LESSONS

Mr. Birla was a shrewd businessman with an incredible hunger for business. He
was extremely focused and determined to succeed in all walk of life. He was a man
of habit and had a fetish for punctuality and was sharp in his decisions. He
believed that his role was “to provide leadership, impart entrepreneurship, give
direction and motivate people to work as a team.” Over a span of 25 working years
he built approximately seventy plants and the fellow industrialists described him
as “A HUMAN FACTORY-MAKING FACTORY.”

LEADERSHIP – Mr. Birla believed that good leadership is critical to success. He

believed that there are several routes to be a good leader it could be financial
management, good human relations, marketing etc. but what remains constant is
“Commitment and Hardwork.” He believed in consistent work and talks about the
verse from Bhagvad Gita – “The business is with the action only, never with its
fruits.”

INNOVATION – He believed that a business faces new challenges each and

therefore it is imperative that we improvise the approach to tackle the
shortcomings at hand. The strategies and the goals need to be revised basis the
circumstances to tackle the problem efficiently. Innovation is key to survive and
excel.

PRODUCTIVITY – He said that a corporation cannot remain static. Constant

efforts need to be made to improve ourselves and remain updated with the
changing scenarios – this is the only was to handle the competition and avoid
redundancy. If one does not progress, the corporate world can be a nightmare.

QUALITY – Mr. Birla propagated that one should lay extreme focus on the quality
of services provided to customers at all times. A myopic vision in terms of quality

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is a recipe for destruction. Focus on quality helps in cost reduction in the long run
and therefore should be the primary goal of any organization.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – Mr. Birla believed in “participative management by

consensus”. In this system all possible situations and the finals are deliberated by a
group. This approach ensures that the ultimate action plan is balanced and well
thought out. He believed that management is science but as you progress up the
ladder it slowly transitions into an art where there are no defined structure or
theories within which one must operate.

He was of the opinion that we need more EXECUTIVE EXTREPRENEURS for

entrepreneurs can dream but a dream is of no use if it cannot be transformed into
reality through a proper action plan and an effective management. He said that
“ENTREPRENEURS ARE BORN. EXECUTIVES AS MADE.”

LIMITATIONS
There was instance during his career wherein due to the existing family feud, he
was cornered over Hindalco and Grasim. He allowed the others to do that cause
“perhaps he was too trusting” as stated by his wife Rajashree. He considered the
family to be a whole and did not worry much about the shareholdings. While this
could have been an attempt to reunite on the family front, from the business
standpoint this was a very dangerous move and posed challenges for him. Though
he was a visionary leader he let his emotions get the better of him in this instance
and it could have costed him two of his most important businesses.

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