Outlook Business 20th Sept 2006 After years of losing ground to competition, the Rs 6,000 crore-plus group is getting its act together; putting on a tough fight in core markets and aggressively pushing out to new frontiers. Welcome to Godrej’s Act Two. For a person who’s watched his strong holds being stormed one after the other in the post liberalization years by a new, brasher set of entrants, Adi Godrej, the 63- year patriarch of the Godrej Group of companies, comes across as a mite sanguine in his outlook. While some markets like furniture sans air-conditioners where it is in action are new to the group, others are its traditional mainstays such as capital goods and consumer durables like refrigerators where it has been on a retreat for past several years. While the outcome of these activities is far from settled, revival in the spirit of the groups 22,000- odd employees is evident. Mr. Adi Godrej says that the Koreans, LG and Samsung have been extremely aggressive. But that’s because this is their major business in India. He says that there are other businesses also. All the same, Godrej’s durables business is growing and we they are regaining market share. The Godrej style of working is still seen as conservative. When Menezes, the flagship’s appliances division head says, “we want to grow our market share but not at the expense of delivering value to our stakeholders,” he more or less sums up the groups attitude of growth. The insistence on all business showing positive Economic Value Added, while laudable from a shareholders’ perspective, may not be same frame of reference that other groups with a goal of getting into the 25% growth orbit would share. To reach that target, the group would have to alter the industry wise revenue contribution in favour of its higher growth businesses progressively. Something it has failed to do despite its recent efforts, critics show. Much of the current restructuring is a work-in progress and cannot be taken for granted. Even if change is effected, a lot would depend on competition and demand. In the face of such imperatives, how long it would take to transform the group remains to be seen. But the journey is apace in full earnest.