| VENU
SRINIVASAN
 Chairman
of TVS Suzuki and Sundaram-Clayton, Venu Srinivasan
is the grandson of TVS Founder - T. V. Sundaram Iyengar.
Despite being from a business family, Venu Srinivasan's
induction started off as a car mechanic at their own TVS
garage. Annual vacations meant 8 hours a day of sweat and grime
in the garage.
This engineering graduate and MBA (Purdue University, United States),
is known for his obsession with excellence. That perhaps, accounts
in part for Sundaram Clayton winning the global quality benchmark
- the Deming Application Prize. Venu Srinivasan is also credited
with pioneering TQM (Total Quality Management) based on the Japanese
model, long before most enterprises in India did. This man who bridles
at the sight of even a scrap of dirt on his factory floor, believes
in the all-encompassing scope of quality consciousness.
M. V. SUBBIAH
 CEO
of the Murugappa Group - leaders in confectionery, sanitary-ware,
chains and bonded abrasives, M. V. Subbiah has overseen its
remarkable turnaround in the last seven years. The group is also
strong in cycles, fertilisers and tubes.
( Between 1993 and 1997, the group doubled its turnover, from Rs
1,084 crore to Rs 2,600 crore ).
Part of the third generation of the Murugappa family,
M. V. Subbiah completed his MBA in the United States and
worked for over 12 years in middle management. This climb to the
top dispels the generally held belief that the group is more family-run
than professionally run.
This unassuming CEO, who still travels economy class, reflects
the toned-down image that the group consistently portrays in the
media. But his 'one-with-the-employees' style of functioning does
not seem to hinder him, in his role as taskmaster.
K. M. MAMMEN MAPPILLAI
 Founder
of the Madras Rubber Factory (MRF), K.M. Mammen Mappillai
started off in 1946, with a toy balloon-manufacturing unit at Tiruvottiyur,
Chennai. In 1952, he began manufacture of tread-rubber and MRF
became market leader in this segment within four years. Buoyed by
this success, MRF began manufacture of tyres in 1961. In
1964, the now-familiar corporate mascot - the MRF Muscleman,
was launched. MRF was awarded the Visvesvaraiah Award
for the Best Business House in South India and the Economic
Times Harvard Business School Award for the Best Corporate
Performance in 1989.
In 1993, K.M. Mammen Mappillai was awarded the Padmashri Award
for his contribution to industry - the only industrialist from South
India to be given this honour. In 1996, its Golden jubilee year,
MRF's turnover crossed Rs 20 billion.
| Author : Anuradha Sriraman |
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