ANAND MAHINDRA 1
F.Y.B.B.A SEMESTER-I
(2022-2023)
BUSINESS LEGENDS
ASSIGNMENT- I
FULL NAME and ROLL NO: HANOZ BHAGAT-107
JAY DESAI-111
RUDRA DESAI-112
TITLE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: BUSINESS LEADERS
TOPIC OF THE ASSIGNMENT: ANAND MAHINDRA
SUMBMISSION DATE: 10-10-2022
SUBMITTED TO: PROF. PRATIK PATEL
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Mr. Anand Mahindra
Chairperson of Mahindra & Mahindra.
Anand Gopal Mahindra is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the Chairman of
Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate. His grandfather Co-founded
the Empire of Muhammad and Mahindra as a steel business company.
Born on 1st may 1955 in Bombay, India to the late industrialist Harish and Indira
Mahindra. His grandfather co-founded the Empire of Muhammad & Mahindra. He
completed his early schooling from Lawrence School, Lovedale, from Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
Then he went on to study for film making and architecture from Harvard University.
Where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1977. In 1981, he completed his MBA from
the Harvard Business School.
In 1981, Anand joined Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Ltd (MUSCO) as an Executive
Assistant to the Finance Director. After nine years as Executive Assistant then in 1989, he
was appointed as President and Deputy Manging Director of MUSCO. He was the one
who initiated the Mahindra Group’s diversification into the new business areas of real
estate development and hospitality management.
It was a new beginning for the company on 4th April 1991, when Anand Mahindra
became the Deputy Managing Director of M&M Ltd.largest automobile Company which
is amongst the top ten industrial houses of India.
In April 1997, Anand was appointed as the Managing Director and then in 2001 as the
Vice Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
In August 2012, he took on the role of Chairman of the board and Managing Director of
the Mahindra Group from his uncle, Keshub Mahindra.
Currently he is also the chairman of Tech Mahindra which is a leading multinational
information technology services and consulting company of India.
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He expanded Mahindra Ugine steel Company into sectors of real estate development and
hospitality.
Anand Mahindra was a Co-Promoter of Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. In 2003, Kotak
Mahindra Finance Ltd transformed it into a bank. Now, Kotak Mahindra Bank is one of
the leading private sector banks in India.
Anand was a co-promoter of Kotak Mahindra Bank (formally known as Kotak Mahindra
Finance Ltd,) In 2013, he ceased to be a promoter and stayed on as a non-executive
director.
In November 2016, Anand was re-designated as Executive Chairman of Mahindra &
Mahindra Ltd and continued to be the Chairman of Mahindra Group.
Today, the Mahindra Group is a US$19 billion organization, and one of India's top 10
industrial houses.
Anand Mahindra has been tagged as the face of Indian capitalism by The
Economist. Forbes India Magazine has recognized him as their 'Entrepreneur of the Year'
for the year 2013.
One of the biggest challenges Anand Mahindra faced was when he was assigned the work
of M&M's Kandivali Factory in 1991. At that time, there was a strike of the worker's
union. They had surrounded his office and could not be controlled.
Anand tactfully handled the strike; he took the smart way. He announced that there would
be no Diwali Bonus if workers didn’t get back to work. with just this productivity gains
of company inclined from 50% to 150%.
From this we can learn that taking risk is the one of the first trait of the Entrepreneur but
it should be managed properly.
Another problem in 2002, this time, a bigger one, they lacked the technology to build a
car from scratch. So, they entered into a joint venture with Ford. Unfortunately, the Escort
car failed when it launched in the markets. But Anand Mahindra didn't lose hope.
Then Anand set his feet on a suicide mission of producing a vehicle, that too without a
joint venture this time. The project cost was just 550cr which just around 10% cost of
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other automobile units. He defied all the odds. And this led the birth of one of the most
iconic car ‘Scorpio’.
His never giving up skills led to the Birth of ‘Scorpio’ which was then the first step
towards modern utility vehicles like XUV, KUV, and many more.
By 2009, Mahindra & Mahindra had become famous among the Indian households. And
a billion-dollar business as well. They proved that Indians are second to none.
Due to the remarkable efforts of Anand Mahindra, M&M has become the market leader
in the tractor and light commercial vehicle segment. Besides automobiles, it enjoys a
leading position in the IT, financial services, and vacation ownership sectors. It has an
international reach, operating in 72 countries and a business presence in more than 100
countries.
In 2014, Anand Mahindra with his brother-in-law and sports commentator, Charu
Sharma, launched Pro Kabaddi League, a professional-level kabaddi league in India.
Anand, along with Mukesh Ambani and Mahesh Samat, was the co-founder EPIC, an
Indian television channel in 2014 that showcases Hindi content. In 2016, he became the
sole owner after both the co-founders sold their stakes to Mahindra.
Anand was featured in Fortune Magazine's list of The World's 50 Greatest Leaders in
2014 and in the list of the top 25 most powerful business people in Asia in 2011.
He was the World Economic Forum co-chairman in 2009. He was one of the contributors
for the book 'Reimagining India' published by Mckinsey & Company. In 2003, he was
elected as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Anand married
Anuradha, who was a journalist and later launched the magazine, Verve. She is currently
the editor of magazines Verve and Man's World. They have two daughters, Divya and
Aalika.
Anand has a keen interest in film making, a subject he pursued as an undergraduate at
Harvard. He is a keen photographer with a strong interest in films. He also enjoys
listening to the blues and has set up Mahindra Blues Festival held annually
in Mumbai since 2011.
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Anand promotes arts & culture and has set up an awards platform named Mahindra
Excellence in Theater Awards and the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival, a crafts
exhibition and performing arts event held annually in Lucknow.
Some of the most valuable Lessons that can be learned from his Life are:
1. Don’t cling to a bad business idea
You must never cling to a strategy that keeps throwing you off.
2. Carefully observe your setbacks
In 1995, Mahindra Group tied up with Ford Motors to produce the Escort car, which
eventually failed to make its mark. Anand said, “Everybody enters a joint venture with a
what’s-in-it-for-you-and-what’s-in-it-for-me attitude.” He added that before the venture
with Ford, “they had no experience in making a hard-top vehicle, or in modern methods
of manufacturing…The 300 people who put the Ford Escort together were the first ones
to work on the Scorpio. It can be argued that they would not have been able to make the
Scorpio without the Ford joint venture”.
3. ‘Adopt a start-up mindset’
At the onset of India’s ‘Unlock 1’ phase after the initial COVID-19 lockdown, Anand
took to Twitter to share a “3-step plan” for reopening businesses. He called this plan
the Sanjivani Solutions, or “a potion for emerging from a Corona-induced coma”. The
steps included:
“Become as lean an organisation as possible.”
“Nothing is sacred; all business model is open for debate. Create ‘feedback loops’
that constantly test product/market assumptions.”
“Share ideas and data across the company at warp speed.”
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4. Focus on women’s participation in the workforce
In 1996, Anand launched the Project Nanhi Kali, with the aim of educating
underprivileged girls across the country. The idea of the project was to mitigate low
literacy rates in females and increase workforce participation of women, in addition to
addressing various social issues such as child labour and marriage, dowry deaths, and
the caste system. Designed as a sponsorship programme, wherein individuals and
corporates could participate by sponsoring girls’ education for a minimum of one
year, Nanhi Kali has transformed over 4,50,000 lives across 14 Indian states.
Impacted areas include the far-flung hamlets of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu and tribal
hills of Araku in Andhra Pradesh.
5. Keeping up with changing times
In 2013, Mahindra ranked 3rd among the ‘Top 30 CEOs on Social Media’, right after
Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Anand is
known for his witty, engaging and lively tweets, wherein he constantly discusses
changing economic trends and ideas while remaining conversational and funny.
Anand was among the first few to understand the then growing importance of social
media as a tool of interaction and growth, and was the only Indian CEO to feature on
this list.
6. ‘Be a people’s person’
Anand Mahindra says the hallmark of a good leader is the ability to empathise and put
themselves in someone else’s shoes. “Empathising helps you know things and
inevitably makes you a good listener who is intrigued to know and gather information
from others,” he said.
7. ‘The past is just a lesson, not a life sentence’
In yet another example of how Anand says “I try to use Mondays to break free from
obsessing about what I could have done differently. I focus on the different things I
can do from today onwards.”
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8. ‘Find a place in the customer’s mind’
Today, the Mahindra Group holds leading positions across key industries, including
IT, aerospace, energy, retail, finance, defence, and logistics to name a few. He said
this has been because his “penchant is for building brands that find a place in the
customer’s mind and for developing businesses that live or die by how well they
connect with the consumer”.
9. Reimagining our future
Anand Mahindra was among the top global CEOs who emphasised on how we must
rebuild the economy post COVID-19, keeping in mind sustainability and not solely
focussing on reverting to our old ways. The CEOs signed an open letter to call on
governments to create inclusive and sustainable post-COVID-19 economies which
could also benefit the society and the planet. “Today, more than ever, the world needs
to be able to reimagine a new future…in which people can feel safe and protected.
The initiative…is an effort towards defining the new environment…” he said.
Anand Mahindra possesses in both consideration and initiating structure. He is a
great leader in the combination of both of the behaviour bringing a very high structure
and consideration.
Vision-co-create and shape the "future of mobility".
Mission-'Work hard and play hard' is his motto and he applies it to all aspects of his
life with complete passion.
“Nobody understands how the world will change. The only way you can plan for the
future is to have scenarios. You have to have the courage to take a leap of faith on
one of them.”
“Sustainability has to be a way of life to be a way of business.”
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