Pawan Goenka of M&M Talks to IIM-A Students About
'Competing in The New World'
Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director and President of the Automotive, Farm Equipment and Two Wheeler sectors of the Mahindra Group, addressed students of PGPX, the one-year MBA programme at IIM-A, about the challenges of ‘Competing in the New World.'
He took an engaged audience through the last decade of M&M's growth story and their strategic actions at a time when the Indian automotive industry "was among the fastest growing automotive markets in the world."
Dr Goenka stressed that the effects of globalisation and the entry of global automakers into the Indian market actually "generated an enhanced desire to perform within M&M." M&M far more consciously focused on customer centricity, brand value, ecosystem and making the right investments. He spoke about a number of strategic actions which enabled Mahindra to access 57% of its target market segment as against 27% a decade ago.
The student audience was enthralled as the leader shared insights on the strength of a shared vision, and a philosophy of "the way we do things" exemplified by the Mahindra Rise initiative. Dr. Goenka envisioned that the future belonged to organisations with a strong philosophy and ethics culture, as the new generation placed a value on "how business is done" in addition to "what business is done."
In speaking about customer centricity, Dr Goenka said "No one should be able to say that Indian companies do not care for their customers." He explained how India, a country with values such as "Atithi devo bhava" should be far ahead in the focus on customers. He emphasised that customer centricity is in the "mindset of an organisation" and "cannot be contained in process manuals."
The leader also responded to questions from the PGPX students ranging from his views on intellectual property rights, the evolution of the rural market segment in the automotive sector, to questions on Mahindras' strategy and vision on acquisitions as well as joint ventures. The PGPX programme of IIM-A is in its 9th batch, and comprises of 85 professionals with substantial work experience in diverse industry segments.
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