Leadership Styleof

BACKGROUND

Born: June 14, 1967 Chairman of Aditya Birla Group Education:

– Chartered accountant

– MBA from the London Business School, where he is also an Honorary Fellow.

Family:

– Son of Aditya Birla

– Wife, Mrs. Neerja Birla

– Three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha.

ROLES PLAYED

Took over as chairman of Aditya Birla group in 1995

At the age of 28 taken responsibility towards business

Holds key positions on various regulatory and professional boards:

Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India

Chairman of the Staff Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India

Serves on the Prime Minister of India’s Advisory Council on Trade and Industry

Chairman of the Board of Trade constituted by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry.

And many more…

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Several accolades have been showered on Mr. Birla such as

– The Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence – Exemplary Leader Award

– NDTV’s “Global Indian Leader of the year”, and “Most Socially Responsible Leader” by Outlook Business Magazine – all in 2007.

– Earlier, the Lakshmipat Singhania – IIM, Lucknow National Leadership Award – 2006, Business Leader, was conferred on Mr. Birla by the Prime Minister.

– He also has been named the World Economic Forum’s “Young Global Leader“, “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year"

– The Economic Times – “Business Leader of the year”, Business India’s "Business Man of the year”, Business Today’s “Young Super Performer in the CEO Category”

PERSONALITY

Type B personality

But believes in speed

Introvert

Intuitive

Feeling

Perceiving

Extraversion

Moderately extravert

Soft and Shy

Maintained a low profile

PERSONALITY Contd..

Agreeableness

High

First person to introduce feedback

Conscientiousness

High

Very reliable and trustworthy

Emotional Stability

High

Openness to experience

High

TRUST DIMENSION

LEADERSHIP

Vision

To be a premium global conglomerate with a clear focus on each business

K M Birla is a leader who has a clear vision and drives his followers to achieve that

Employee oriented

Introduced Organizational Health Survey covering almost 10,000 workers in 95 locations

Is the barometer of the 'happiness at work' index in the group

LEADERSHIP Contd..

Authentic Leader

Hailed from a family with a foundation on values ,which was and is respected by the country

Brought great changes in the organization without compromising on the believed values.

Believed in less power distance.

“Leadership at all levels in the organisation as much as leadership at the top. It is about plugging in to the minds and hearts of people”.

CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP

STYLE

After taking up the change, he decided to consolidate entire group’s companies under one umbrella of the “Aditya Birla group”.

When inherited business from his father in 1995,his critics dismissed him as a soft and shy person. who lacked the business expertise and assertiveness of his father A.V.Birla and would be unable to manage the group successfully.

An unapproachable management style and misplaced priorities the result was the investors started selling off their shares .In 1996 the market value of group’s four largest companies Grasim ,Indian rayon ,Hindalco & Indo-gulf fertilizer suddenly decreased by $1billion or 37%.

So K.M.Birla took several initiatives to prove his critics wrong.

TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADER

He said "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

From a commodity-based organization steeped in babu culture it is transformed into an aggressively modern multicultural transnational with more than 72,000 people drawn from twenty different nationalities.

Brought in radical changes, changed business strategies, professionalized the entire group and replaced internal systems

Made the business more focused, making each company concentrate on its key strengths

Launched a feedback programme, first of its kind, that allowed managers to question even his leadership style.

TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADER Contd..

He also threw age-old financial practices out of the window and revamped power centers.

Under his leadership, the Aditya Birla Group, apart from consolidating its position in existing businesses, also ventured into sunrise sectors like cellular telephony, asset management, software and BPO.

KM Birla believed in constant learning, humble and a visionary.

The result of his leadership style has increased the revenues five folds since he took charge.

VARIOUS CHANGES

Retirement policy

Corporate logo

Recruitment process

Change in decision making

360 degree appraisal

Scholarships to students and Awards to employees

Happiness at work

Hierarchy based on performance of employees

Changes in reporting

CORPORATE SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY

Mr. K.M. Birla, has been an ardent follower of the humane values that Gandhiji and Mr. G.D. Birla espoused.

CSR initiatives are focused on five areas — education, healthcare and family welfare, sustainable livelihood, infrastructure support and social causes.

He has brought in order, new management processes and technology and streamlined the Group's social initiatives.

Kumar substantially expanded the scope of the Group's CSR initiative — over Rs.150 crore is spent in hundreds of projects in 3,700 villages, touching the lives of 7mn people every year in some way or the other

CSR Contd..

Kumar has brought in "sophistication" in the processes and also a clear management structure in place

Various Projects:The Aditya Birla Centre for Welfare of Children, Mumbai, Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital

The Group works on 250 villages with the aim of lifting people living below the poverty

Future Plans:

Working to start a vocational training centre in Thailand, A health care centre is also being set up in Egypt

So, How do we know when we are

seeing Leadership?

And we know it’s not always the most visible guy.

Nine Important Learning By

Kumarmangalam Birla…

Leadership at all levels in the

organization as much as

leadership at the top

The need to relate, to belong to a club, to an

association, basically to some sort of fraternity

Transformation is about communication,

communication and more communication

Focus on that bulk of the organization who are

somewhat dismissively referred to in management

jargon as 'the stayers'

Heterogeneous mix of people, though very difficult to lead, helps in the process

of change

Good to analyze failures- Not merely to not repeat the

same mistakes, but

Equally to showcase success

An attitude of willingness to learn and assimilate the

Learning

Seeking feedback in an institutionalized way

and Acting on it

Infinite and indefinite PATIENCE

Leadership is a Leadership is a relationship that relationship that creates change.creates change.

Leadership is a Leadership is a relationship that relationship that creates change.creates change.

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