"The Pure Food Movement in the USA, supported by various consumer groups and thought leaders, wanted legislators to consider making laws that would protect consumers from adulterated drugs and food products. However, the majority of the processed-food producers and meat companies, were against the state’s interference in their businesses. All except one: S J Bainz, the largest food-producing company in the USA. Was Bainz right to adopt this position? Was it wrong of him to support legislation t

"The Pure Food Movement in the USA, supported by various consumer groups and thought leaders, wanted legislators to consider making laws that would protect consumers from adulterated drugs and food products. However, the majority of the processed-food producers and meat companies, were against the state’s interference in their businesses. All except one: S J Bainz, the largest food-producing company in the USA. Was Bainz right to adopt this position? Was it wrong of him to support legislation t

Harsh Mariwala, Chairman and Managing Director, Marico Limited, in an exclusive to The Smart Manager talks about how Marico assumes the role of a teacher and mentor, helping all its stakeholders—members, customers, associates, shareholders and the community—to ‘Be More. Every Day’.

Rapi-Kola could well qualify as an ideological concept, considering its origins are traceable to a conscious effort to avoid all symbols of American hegemony. However, according to founder Lalt Kembouline, it also makes imminent business sense. Will he succeed in proving that money can be made while serving a social cause?

Rapi-Kola could well qualify as an ideological concept, considering its origins are traceable to a conscious effort to avoid all symbols of American hegemony. However, according to founder Lalt Kembouline, it also makes imminent business sense. Will he succeed in proving that money can be made while serving a social cause?

Rapi-Kola could well qualify as an ideological concept, considering its origins are traceable to a conscious effort to avoid all symbols of American hegemony. However, according to founder Lalt Kembouline, it also makes imminent business sense. Will he succeed in proving that money can be made while serving a social cause?

Rapi-Kola could well qualify as an ideological concept, considering its origins are traceable to a conscious effort to avoid all symbols of American hegemony. However, according to founder Lalt Kembouline, it also makes imminent business sense. Will he succeed in proving that money can be made while serving a social cause?

Can excellent service recovery create happier customers than if there was no service failure in the first place? Should managers focus on providing excellent, error-free service upfront instead of relying on service recovery later? This article delves deeper into the service recovery paradox to uncover certain truths...

Can excellent service recovery create happier customers than if there was no service failure in the first place? Should managers focus on providing excellent, error-free service upfront instead of relying on service recovery later? This article delves deeper into the service recovery paradox to uncover certain truths...

Ramesh Iyengar waxes eloquent about his lifelong tryst with direct marketing and putting the customer on center stage…

Why is it that many companies have initiated balanced scorecard programs only to stop short after the very first scorecard? Here is a low down on the essentials of sustaining a balanced scorecard program.

Contrary to popular perception mass customization is not about achieving a Utopian state, where the company creates or produces goods or services to order.

The concept of ‘organizational fitness for purpose’ has been around since 1978. Morgen Witzel, deconstructs and discusses the concept in detail…

When Subramanian, a financial service professional with his 'different' way of looking at business, created a retail chain, he challenged almost every paradigm in the sector.

It takes radical innovators to make giants catch colds. And C K Ranganathan who started CavinKare in 1983 with a seed capital of just Rs15,000 has a record of giving colds to transnational FMCG giants.

Recent studies show that people stay in one company for as little as 2.5 years. Yet at Marico tenure can be as long as fourteen years. So how does Marico manage to retain its key people year after year? The secret lies in leveraging people's strengths rather than looking at people's weaknesses, says Harsh Mariwala.

With the motto, 'one member, one vote, one domain', Amul has built a staggeringly complex supply chain, twice a day collecting milk from 2.5mn farmers across 12,000 villages, delivering quality dairy products to millions of Indian consumers through 500,000 retail outlets.

"We were so used to success that we were slow to recognize problems and therefore slow to act. The first step in change management is to admit a problem and share it,” says Vindi Banga.

Are you making as much profit as you can? Or are there profits you could have picked up that you never noticed? Use the six market forces theory to build your bottom line, says IMD’s Professor of Marketing & Strategy, Adrian Ryans.

In today's swiftly changing and volatile market scenario we need people who can see through the apparent chaos, crystallize scenarios, communicate and then implement their ideas quickly, says Vindi Banga.

CEOs need leaders to manage global operations. Recruit extra talent, says Adi Godrej, Chairman Godrej Group. The Group's recruitment model is different from that of other corporates in two ways.

Today’s CEO has to not only run a business but also tackle challenges such as organizational restructuring, acquisitions, new market strategies and even terrorist threats. Musharaf Hai, Chairman, Unilever Pakistan, offers her insights.

Born out of determination, bred with simple values, Lijjat Papad is the story of an enterprise that has steadily grown into an institution. President Jyoti Naik explains how.

Hindustan Lever’s legendary distribution network was created by a remarkable 19 year old boy. Here’s how.

Shunu Sen looks back and looks ahead profiling the best management minds. This time, it is Prakash Tandon.

In this perceptive profile of the Unilever’s chairman, Kamini Banga discovers the qualities a leader needs as well as the man behind one of the world’s largest companies. Some of his colleagues describe FitzGerald as “ruthless” but the Irishman from Limerick seems to be obsessed with “not letting people down”.

How do you run a just-in-time program when your suppliers are 2.1 mn mostly illiterate villages? Here’s how Amul managers one of the tightest supply chains in the world. By Pankaj Chandra and Devanath TIRUPATI.