No.PR-271 September 28, 2020 New Delhi
“Find the right people, trust them and totally delegate, do not control, this is my style of operation”, says Mr. Ashok Kajaria
The Young Business Leaders Forum (YBLF) organized the Leadership Talk Series with Mr. Ashok Kajaria, CMD, Kajaria Ceramics Limited and Former President, PHD Chamber on 25th September, 2020 virtually.
During the session, he quoted that “the journey of Kajaria Ceramics has just begun and it has a long way to go as it is being driven by highly professional and efficient individuals under the leadership of his sons”.
Mentioning about his style of operation, he said that “I believe in total delegation of work. Find the right people, trust them and delegate the work to them in totality without controlling them”.
The dignitaries present during the webinar were Dr. D K Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber & Chair & Managing Director, SMC Investments and Advisors Limited; Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber &Chair & CEO, Paramount Communications Ltd.; Mr. Pradeep Multani, Vice President, PHD Chamber & Chair, Multani Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Dr. R K Somany, Former President, PHD Chamber & Chair & Managing Director, HSIL Limited; Mr. Sandip Somany, Former President, PHD Chamber &Vice Chair & Managing Director, HSIL Limited; Dr. Mahesh Gupta, Former President, PHD Chamber & Chair & Managing Director, Kent R O Systems Ltd; Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, Former President, PHD Chamber &Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd.; Dr. Lalit Khaitan , Chair, Economic Affairs Committee, Mentor, UP State Chapter & Senior MC Member, PHD Chamber & Chair & Managing Director, RadicoKhaitan Limited; Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka, Former President, PHD Chamber &Chair & Managing Director, Salora International Ltd; Dr. Ashok Khanna, Former President, PHD Chamber &Chair & Managing Director, Khanna Watches Ltd.; Mr. Saket Dalmia, Chair, Retail Committee & Mentor, YBLF &Managing Director, PG Industry Limited; Ms. Aditi Pasari, Chairperson, YBLF & Director, Gulshan Polyols Ltd.; Ms. Priya Hingorani, Chairperson, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Cell, Co-Chairperson, Library Committee & Co-Chairperson, Sports & Youth Affairs, PHD Chamber & Partner, Hingorani & Associates; Mr. Ravi Gupta, Co-Chair, Railways Committee, PHD Chamber & CEO, Instinct Infra & Power Ltd.; Mr. Salil Gupta, Co-Chair, YBLF & Director, Instinct Infra & Power Ltd.; Mr. Harsh Kataruka , Co-Chair, YBLF &Joint Managing Director, Rafbrix International and Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHD Chamber.
The webinar commenced with the Presidential address by Dr. DK Aggarwal, wherein he welcomed all the dignitaries and participants to the webinar. Furthermore, he touched upon the various contributions made by Mr. Ashok Kajaria to the growth of PHD Chamber during his tenure as the President of the Chamber. He specifically mentioned about the various initiatives he took during his tenure like introduction the concept of an all member directory, annual sponsors etc.
This was followed by a brief introduction of Mr. Ashok Kajaria by Mr. Salil Gupta, during which he mentioned about Mr. Kajaria’s educational background. This was followed by an interactive session with Mr. Ashok Kajaria regarding the Kajaira Ceramics Limited journey and rapid fire round, where Mr. Kajaria answered number of questions, curated and moderated by Ms. Aditi Pasari.
On being asked about his journey as an Entrepreneur and the growth of Kajaria Ceramics Ltd., he began by mentioning about the birth of the current largest manufacturer of vitrified tiles in India which happened in the 1980s with the support of his friends in the Gulf and with collaboration with a prominent company in Spain. He mentioned that the first and foremost challenge for the company was to offer a product which was different than the products already present in the market. He also mentioned about the instances which helped the company earn huge profits with a new product i.e. bigger sized tiles than the others. He added that how gradually in the year 1995 his company crossed the turnover of 100 Crore. He said that today the company has also entered the bathware and woodply segments of the market. He mentioned that his company has always kept his dealers satisfied through award ceremonies in India and also abroad. He also mentioned about how he has ensured employee satisfaction at his organization. He concluded about his journey by commending the efforts of his sons who are currently driving the company and the immense support provided by his wife throughout.
He quoted that the Covid Times have come up as an opportunity despite of being challenging. Sharing an instance of one of his dealers he said that today if there are only 4-5 people who are visiting their showrooms in a day, it is more beneficial for them than earlier when more people used to visit the showroom. This is because all these 4-5 people are serious buyers and visit the store with an intention to make a purchase.
He highlighted that being focused on a product and taking onus of the work & relationships of the company is the competitive advantage of the company. On being asked about the challenges faced, he said the initial years were quite tough for the company and he had to reasonably invest in brand building to tackle these challenges.
During the session, he also expressed his keen interest in cricket, swimming and yoga as well. He said that companies like Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Havells have been the three positive benchmarks for him personally. He mentioned that regularly monitoring the performance numbers of your organization is the winning formula.
Mr. Pradeep Multani shared that being humble, smiling and taking care of the human resources of the organization are the key to succeed in life and business and Mr. Ashok Kajaria is the best example who possesses all these qualities.
Post which, Dr. Ashok Khanna congratulated and appreciated the hard work of Mr. Ashok Kajaria which has led to the progress and phenomenal growth of his company.
Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, also proudly mentioned that he feels very happy about the fact that he was the one who inducted Mr. Kajaria as the Vice President in the Chamber. Mr. Sandip Somany in his comments mentioned that he was honoured to be the Vice President during Mr. Kajaria’s tenure as the President of the Chamber and shared that Mr. Kajaria is a person who is always smiling and spreads positivity. He also said that Mr. Kajaria is a leader in true sense as he never asks a person to stretch he rather encourages them to stretch. Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka thanking Mr. Kajaira for being his mentor at the Chamber highlighted that Mr. Kajaria never tries to portray himself bigger than anyone else, he is always humble.
Post the remarks and questions by the Former Presidents and other dignitaries, the Q & A Session was conducted which was followed by Mr. Salil Gupta highlighting the key learning from the session for the Young Business Leaders.
The webinar concluded with a formal vote of thanks by Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI. Mr. Aggarwal thanked Mr. Kajaria for his immense contribution to the Chamber. He highlighted that Mr. Kajaria not only transformed the Chamber with the hard infrastructure but he also supported it with some changes in the soft form. He said that Mr. Kajaria worked as the President of the Chamber towards a direction of setting things right leading to major positive changes in the working of the Chamber. He said that Mr. Kajaria was the one who converted the approach of the Chamber more focused and instilled the sense of responsibility and accountability in the employees of the Chamber.
The webinar was moderated by Mr. Vivek Seigell, Principal Director PHD chamber and was attended by 140 delegates through zoom and many more through social media.
Ends
Media Division PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry