How Harsh Mariwala 'Groomed Marico'

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I had to learn the business virtually by the seat-of-my-pants and that gave me first-hand knowledge of how traditional Indian businesses are run?

Harsh Mariwala, just out of college, joined Bombay Oil Industries Ltd (BOIL) as the third-generation scion in his family's traditional spice-trading and consumer oil manufacturing business. He learned the key drivers of growing a profitable consumer product business in the field in the inhospitable Maharashtra and Gujarat hinterland-the first Mariwala to do so. Alongside, through reading and taking the initiative to learn from mentors, national and global, he soaked up the essentials of building sustainable brands and creating a multi-channel network in sync with the times. He demonstrated vision and leadership in transforming the quality conscious, traditionally-run, family commodity business to a professionally managed, branded consumer goods giant, Marico, in the face of well-managed, international competition in the Indian market. Marico is today an emerging market multinational with a noticeable presence in the domain of branded health and beauty products. It is making a difference to peoples' lives in 25 countries.

How Harsh Mariwala 'Groomed' Marico is the fifth book in the series Shapers of Business Institutions and is an absorbing read for its insights into Harsh Mariwala's learn-apply-enhance-institutionalize approach to creating an FMCG multinational of Indian origin. What are this Shaper's enduring values, innovative ideas and breakthrough actions? What is his contribution to the branding of fast moving consumer goods in India? How is Marico managing the challenge of relevance from one generation of consumers to the next? Based on insightful interviews with Harsh Mariwala, his family, friends and peers, besides access to relevant material, the narrative provides unique management insights into how to run and grow a consumer product business.

R. Gopalakrishnan is an author, speaker and corporate advisor, with a career spanning over 50 years. He spent 31 years in Hindustan Unilever Limited, where he rose to be vice chairman, followed by 19 years in Tata Sons as a director. He now serves as non-executive chairman of Castrol India; an independent director of Hemas PLC, Sri Lanka; executive-in-residence at S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai and distinguished professor of I IT, Kharagpur. He has authored nine books so far, notably A Comma in a Sentence, Six Lenses and Doodles on Leadership.

M. Suresh Rao is alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. He was chairperson, Centre for Entrepreneurship at SPJIMR, following a career in corporate entrepreneurship. He completed a stint as CEO of a start-up telecom company before he took to academics. Professor Rao has participated in global programmes conducted by Harvard Business School and Babson for Entrepreneurship faculty and is among the pioneering faculty for entrepreneurship in B-Schools in India. The Centre for Entrepreneurship at SPJIMR conducts the first-of-its-kind Start Your Business and Grow Your Business programmes for aspiring and early growth stage entrepreneurs.

The activity of making and marketing everyday household products like soap, toothpaste or oil is commonly regarded as frivolous and light in terms of technology, unlike corporate ventures engaged in the automotive, infrastructure or engineering sectors. One cannot oppose this view that perceives the breathtaking sweep of a bridge over the gushing power of a river, or the revving power of a truck, or even the sophistication of a piece of software, with far more adulation and gasps than a face cream or a bottle of hair oil.

It would, however, be wrong to presume that fast-moving consumer companies do not deploy complex technologies to successfully manage business operations as a comprehensive model, right from research and production to marketing, distribution and customer service. In fact, such companies must master a whole business model comprising the supply chain, manufacturing, distribution and, above all, the art of tempting both the fickle and the reluctant-to-change consumer. Complexity is, thus, not only contained in the technology visibly driving the product, but lies in the invisible end-to-end business model, comprising deep immersion into the arenas of physical sciences, psychology, sociology, communications and logistics. These aspects are not easily recognized by the mindset of a developing nation. No wonder involved in heavy then, that since early times, fast-moving consumer goods engineer learnt (FMCG) have been perceived as low value, dispensable and lacking in technology.