Leading From The Front
The Forbes India Leadership Awards recognise the vision and strategies of business leaders who excelled in a challenging corporate environment
By SALIL PANCHAL
The Forbes India Leadership Awards (FILA), now in its ninth year, are an acknowledgment of corporate excellence, visionary leadership, and innovation. Our distinguished jury navigated the corporate landscape to identify companies and business leaders worthy of the honour.
The year gone by could not have been worse for corporate India. The country is in the midst of a slowdown with the pace of growth slowest in over six years. A deeper crisis looms large. The government is yet to admit this, but Krishnamurthy Subramanian, chief economic advisor to the government, has spoken about “signs of a slowdown”. In such a scenario, achieving corporate excellence, turning around business fortunes, or scaling up startups is rare.
Besides the quantitative data, which includes operating performance, efficiency measures and evaluation with peers, Forbes India looked at qualitative factors to map leadership skills, quality of corporate governance, and effective management.
This year, we included a Special Jury category to recognize the efforts of Bhaskar Bhat, whose transformation of Titan and role in the Tata Group cannot be ignored. Havell India’s Anil Rai Gupta wins the Entrepreneur for the Year award for maintaining critical growth rates (revenue grew by a CAGR of 18 percent in five years to ₹10,058 crore) in a tough business cycle while readying for organic growth. Shiv Nadar, like Azim Premji in 2018, wins the Lifetime Achievement Award, for not just revolutionizing India’s technology landscape but also building HCL Technologies into a global enterprise across 44 countries. Nadar’s contributions towards his philanthropic foundation are also noteworthy.
This story is from the December 6, 2019 edition of Forbes India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 6, 2019 edition of Forbes India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
