Unruffled by abuse

Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case, at least as far as the reaction to the party in power is concerned. Is this because the CII now listens to the beat of a different drummer? Or do they know more than you and I do? Or are tycoons simply getting tougher? Perhaps the reason is that their immediate ex-president, Sanjeev Goenka is a tycoon with connections. Remember he set a unique record of sorts by getting Prime Minister Vajpayee to address the CII thrice in a year. And this hold over the Prime Minister is something the CII has managed, albeit at a lower benchmark, in the past too. For those who wonder why the BJP8217;s fulmination doesn8217;t bother the Confederation. Look only as far as Sanjeev Goenka8217;s corporation for the arts world8212;HMV. The company that made Vajpayee, from a mere Prime Minister, into a poet with a video album. Now that has some special cache that nobody can relieve the CII of. Its members do matter. And each of them has in hand, strings that are more than merely corporate purse strings. So party voices may scream. But the melody that goes beyond politics ensures that the CII stays calm and cool.

Divided we stand

Aditya Birla is finally adding a little pizzazz to his branded apparel major, Madura Garments. The Birla Group has been slowly consolidating the garment business through overseas acquisitions. This leader in the men8217;s ready-to-wear segment is now in a neck-to-neck race with much older players such as Raymond, Bombay Dyeing, Arvind Mills and Siyarams. Birla is now working towards building distinct and crisper brand images for Allen Solly, Peter England, Van Heusen and Louis Philippe. It seems as though each brand will soon be a strategic business unit, and for this the company has created independent marketing teams. But Birla has to consider whether the time is right for such focused differentiation. So far, the strategy of 8216;divide and rule8217; appears to have been effective. But strategic business units are usually formed for distinct products in order to give them specialised focus. Taking four different brands and one large market, the manner in which the pie is cut into four distinct target segments, would be interesting to watch. Each marketing team would have a point to prove and soon, unless he watches out, there could be possibilities of brand warfare taking place even within the Birla stable.

Shah-e-Voltas

The white goods ship is rollicking. Who would have thought that the man sitting smugly in the driving seat of Lok Prakashan Ltd, Bahubali S. Shah would manage to jolt the Indian white goods market from its slumber? He has recently emerged from the shadows and has somehow succeeded in giving none other than the mighty Tatas a reason to panic. It so happened that the wily Shah caught the Tatas napping in the white goods trade.

As has been their past practice, they had not increased their stake in Voltas Ltd for quite some time. The opportunist in Shah spotted the prospects and acquired around 14, against Tatas8217; majority stake. This certainly points towards a possible take-over saga in the near future. Shah should consider himself warned that he should be well armed financially. Whether Shah has the muscle to take on the Tatas still remains to be seen. For their pockets are truly deep. The Tatas have meanwhile woken up and decided to make their presence felt in the company. Voltas has been restructuring its operations. It has exited all its non-core businesses and is now consolidating its core business. The company is also planning to don a fresh, younger look. Its newly launched, Vertis range is expected to bring in some desperately needed revenue. This new image is expected to pole vault Voltas back into the retail end of the white goods business with its air-conditioners. Shah, meanwhile, is contemplating getting onto the Board of Voltas. According to him, it is his presence that is responsible for the company8217;s shares currently being traded for a good price. Portraying himself as the knight in shining armour for the shareholders, Shah opines that the Tatas have long ignored the views of the shareholders. Forecasters have stated that the air conditioning industry is bound to pick up this summer. Whether it will cool Shah8217;s heels for a while is still unclear but it certainly leaves the others hot and bothered.

Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker . None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcheriannow-india.net.in