| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
Keki Dadiseth, Chairman, Hindustan Lever, India (int'l edition) Keki Dadiseth likes to talk about his "restless incandescence," his inability to be complacent. The chairman of India's leading consumer products company, the $2.6 billion Hindustan Lever Ltd., won't allow himself to rest easy. ''We are constantly dissatisfied and never sit back and rejoice,'' says the 52-year-old Pune native. ''We are restless to do even better.'' That's why he regularly visits shops, presses for new products, and searches for India's most creative minds. The worrying pays off. Under his leadership, Hindustan Lever has doubled profits over the past three years, and sales have grown 20% annually, despite a slowing economy. This comes in the face of growing global competition. Dadiseth does it by studying what consumers want and giving it to them. An accountant by training, Dadiseth has spent 25 years at the company, a subsidiary of Unilever Group. His employees credit him with keeping morale high. He dines with workers, usually a simple plate of curry and rice at the company cafeteria. In search of ideas, Dadiseth keeps his door open even to low-level employees. ''We are blessed with people who don't get frozen into inaction by failure,'' he says. His strategy is to build businesses not only now, but down the line: ''I often put myself in the mind-set of the year 2010.'' Dadiseth also enjoys wise counsel at home. His 22-year-old daughter has enabled him to follow the latest fads in the youth market--although she sometimes calls him a ''fuddy duddy.'' But he's not easily put off. The result is what many call India's best-run company. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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