The Hindu : Mammen Mappillai — an ideal employer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 29, 2002

Business

Business

Mammen Mappillai — an ideal employer

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI NOV. 28. Tyre major MRF officially celebrated the 80th birthday of its Chairman and Managing Director, K. M. Mammen Mappillai, in a quite way at its corporate headquarter here today.

The low key celebrations, according to long time MRF watchers, were in keeping with the conservative image and well-perfected style of the tyre company. The company always talked through its performance. Perhaps, it is celebrating this momentous occasion, too, through a better show. If sources are to be believed, the company has done this by more than doubling its profit in the just ended year.

The past few years had been difficult times for the economy as a whole. Yet, Mr. Mappillai was able to deftly pilot the company and hold the team largely in tact.

"He should be recognised as an ideal employer for his ability to command the devotion of a whole majority of his employees in the face of attractive compensatory packages offered by others in the industry and elsewhere," said an industry source.

Unlike in some groups in this part of the country, Mr. Mappillai has laid out a clear succession policy with his eldest son, K. M. `Vinoo' Mammen, already anointed as the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director. The latter's younger brother, Arun Mammen, is currently lending a supportive hand to him.

The real challenge in the coming years could be managing the change. The company is bound to undergo a major metamorphosis with a substantial long-serving trusted managerial personnel retiring.

To the owners' credit, MRF, notwithstanding fierce competition in the marketplace, even today remains the leader in the domestic market. The massive expansion programme now under way clearly reflects the MRF's concern to stay top for a long while to come.

With `core competence' becoming the new mantra, the moot question is: Will MRF confine to tyre making alone? Surely, the Funskool, a joint venture between MRF and Hasbro of the U.S., and the speciality paint foray form a minuscule part of the company's business.

At least industry watchers are convinced that MRF may be forced to spend time, energy and money on tyre making in the unfolding era of competitive globalisation.

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