The World Bank Index’s 2017 update shows that India is the world’s sixth-biggest economy, edging out France into seventh place. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $2.597 trillion at the end of last year, against $2.582 trillion for France. The economy rebounded strongly from July 2017, after several quarters of slowdown blamed on the economic policies pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. India, with around 1.34 billion inhabitants, is poised to become the world’s most populous nation, whereas the French population stands at 67 million. This means that the country’s per capita GDP continues to amount to just a fraction of that of France which is still roughly 20 times higher, according to World Bank figures. Manufacturing and consumer spending were the main drivers of the Indian economy last year, after a slowdown blamed on the demonetization of large banknotes that Modi imposed at the end of 2016, as well as a chaotic implementation of a new harmonized VAT regime. India has doubled its GDP within a decade and is expected to power ahead as a key economic engine in Asia, even as China slows down. According to the International Monetary Fund, India is projected to generate a growth of 7.4 percent this year and 7.8 percent in 2019, boosted by household spending and a tax reform. The US is the world’s top economy, followed by China, Japan and Germany.
In a matter concerning racial discrimination, a senior executive at Uber, Liane Hornsey, has called it quits from the company. It has just been 18 months since Hornsey joined the company, after quitting Google, and was HR head of the cab-sharing service. Her resignation comes on the heels of the controversy around the firm’s founder, Travis Kalanick, who had to quit following reports of gender discrimination and harassment. The move has further dented the image of the company. Hornsey had quite a reputation as a former Google and was considered one of the well-regarded names in tech industry HR. Uber started investigating the allegations after anonymous whistle-blowers at the company claimed Hornsey systematically dismissed internal complaints of racial discrimination. They revealed that complaints to the firm’s internal anonymous tip line never received any attention, especially cases related to issues of race. In a separate e-mail to the employees, Hornsey said she realized her exit “comes a little out of the blue for some of you, but I have been thinking about this for a while.”
Mike Manley will take over from Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne of the Fiat Chrysler (FCHA.MI) as Jeep division boss. The latter is seriously ill after suffering major complications following surgery. The carmaker said British-born Manley, who also takes responsibility for the North America region, will push ahead with the mid-term strategy outlined last month by Marchionne, who was due to step down next year (April). Marchionne, 66, was credited with rescuing Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after helming the Italian carmaker’s wheel in 2004. He was also replaced as chairman and CEO of Ferrari (RACE.MI) and chairman of tractor maker CNH Industrial (CNHI.MI) - both spun off from FCA in recent years. FCA disclosed earlier this month that Marchionne, a renowned dealmaker and workaholic, was recovering from a shoulder operation. But his condition deteriorated sharply in recent days when he suffered massive complications that were not divulged. Ferrari named FCA Chairman and Agnelli family scion John Elkann as new chairman, while board member Louis Camilleri becomes chief executive. CNH appointed Suzanna Heywood to replace Marchionne as chairman. All three companies remain controlled by the Agnellis.
The change in the helm has come for Adecco Group as Marco Valsecchi takes over from Priyanshu Singh. The group brings in Marco Valsecchi as the Country Manager & MD for India, as he will oversee general staffing, professional staffing, spring professional and Lee Hecht Harrison businesses in India. Having joined the company in June 2017 as the chief financial officer, Valsecchi will continue to oversee the role in the interim. He will be based in the company’s head office in Bangalore. In his previous role, Valsecchi served as the managing director, Punkt, in Lugano, Switzerland. “His proven expertise in finance and operations has made him an invaluable asset to our company. Marco is a proven leader with a deep understanding of our business operations and a clear vision for the future. All of us at Adecco are confident of his ability to oversee and manage country operations as we continue to move forward and grow,” said Ian Lee, regional head, Asia Pacific, The Adecco Group. With an MBA degree from Babson College (Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business), Valsecchi joined Randstad in 2007 as senior M&A business controller and worked across geographies including Netherlands, India and Italy in various capacities. In his nine-year stint at Randstad, Valsecchi worked in India for three years as the country chief financial officer. In the initial years, he worked with Nextra Investment Management and Morgan Stanley.
With a net worth over $150-billion, the Amazon.com Inc. founder, Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, at about $55 billion more than Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the world’s second-richest person. Bezos, 54, has now topped Gates in inflation-adjusted terms. The $100-billion mark that Gates hit briefly in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom would be worth about $149 billion. That makes the Amazon chief executive richer than anyone else on earth since at least 1982, when Forbes published its inaugural wealth ranking. Bezos crossed the threshold just as Amazon prepared to kick off its 36-hour summer sales event, Prime Day. But the Prime Day sale got off to a rocky start as glitches struck Amazon’s website and mobile app. Shares of the company, which had climbed to a record $1,841.95 earlier, pared gains on the news, closing up 0.5 percent at $1,822.49. Bezos’ stay above $150 billion may be short-lived. Amazon shares slipped below $1,800 in extended trading after Netflix Inc. posted disappointing results, rattling tech investors. Bezos’ net worth has soared by $52 billion this year, which is more than the entire fortune of Mukesh Ambani, the newly crowned richest person in Asia. It also puts Bezos’ personal fortune within spitting distance of the Walton family’s $151.5 billion. The Waltons are the world’s richest dynasty. Behind Bezos on the Bloomberg index is Gates, with a $95.5-billion fortune, followed by Warren Buffett with $83 billion.
Gautam Anand has been elevated as the Chief People Officer (CPO) for India and South Asia at Airtel. Anand, a graduate from SRCC, Delhi, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, US, has been part of the Airtel family for over nine years. He was head HR for India and South Asia consumer business. He managed the digital TV business, which accounts for 12,000 employees. He managed a team of 72 HR professionals to cultivate a high performance, engaged and values-based culture across 17 offices in three countries. Anand joined Airtel as global head, Total Rewards with the responsibility of handling the compensation philosophy design and its implementation across 21 countries. In May 2012, he was elevated to the position of vice-president, chief of staff for CEO, India & South Asia, where he was closely associated with the CEO in all aspects of business management, including performance reviews, strategic updates for the board of directors, and internal and external stakeholder management. Anand worked in the US for 10 years before joining Airtel in India. He started his career with PwC and worked as a senior associate for five years. He was part of PwC’s International Assignment Services practice providing consulting advice to Fortune 500 clients. In the US, he also worked with Heinz and Citi Cards. At Heinz, he was responsible for managing the international mobility program, US domestic relocation program and ensuring consistent application of compensation practices across all geographies outside the US.
Mahinder Singh Dhoni has kept cricket statisticians busy all through his playing era, but this time he calls the attention of the Income Tax department in a different manner. MS as he is better known emerged as the top most tax payer, paying income tax to the tune of Rs.12.17 crore in Jharkhand, for the assessment year 2017-18 and has also declared advance tax of Rs three crore for the next financial year. According to chief income tax commissioner V Mahalingam, Dhoni had paid income tax of Rs.10.93 crore in the 2016-17 financial year. Things have not been good for MS in the ongoing England tour, and there were even speculations that he might call it a day from this shorter version of the game, when he took the ball from the umpire after the third ODI. However, the team manager, Ravi Shastri put those discussions and rumours to rest while saying, “MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun, about the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like.” Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar also suggested that it would be best for Dhoni to decide when he’s done playing cricket for the country, after having quit the longer version of the game (the Test) in 2014. And for records, MS became the only cricketer to enter the 10,000 ODI runs club with a batting average of over 50.
Just five months after quitting Sun Pharma, Yashwant Mahadik has joined pharma company Lupin as president global HR. Commenting on the post, Mahadik said, “This will be an exciting journey. There are certain practices at Lupin which are really good and we will continue following them. However, we will also need to move the needle from good to great and look at the future. The idea is to make the organization fit for purpose and future ready.” A graduate trainee with Crompton Greaves in 1988, Mahadik dabbled through various businesses – consumer electronics, telecom, motors, switch gear – and assumed positions of increasing responsibility in human resources management. After his eight-year stint with Crompton Greaves, he moved to Colgate Palmolive as manager employee relations and development where he rose up the level and became the head of HR for the supply chain. He had his first taste of the pharma sector when Mahadik joined AstraZeneca in India as VP HR. After spending two years at AstraZeneca, he moved to another pharma company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J). He joined J&J’s medical devices and diagnostics arm as head of HR of the Indian business. Then in November 2007, he was promoted as regional VP HR for India, Pakistan and ASEAN countries, which is the South Asia Region of J&J Medical Asia Pacific. For nine months, between April 2008 and December 2008, he had the additional responsibility of managing HR function for Japan – his first international stint. In October, 2010 Mahadik joined Philips as vice president and head of human resources for the Indian sub-continent. In July 2012, he assumed additional charge and role of global lead for learning strategy with Philips University Program. In April, 2013, he was promoted to senior vice president. Besides his responsibilities as the Head of HR for the Indian subcontinent, he also took on the role of the global chief learning officer, responsible for leading the company’s learning transformation program and building of the Philips University. Though he was based in New Delhi India he was travelling extensively all over the world. In a joint comment, CEO, Vinita Gupta and the managing director, Nilesh Gupta said, “Mahadik will establish best practices, enhance people processes, and most importantly develop and build capabilities that will meet the company’s value and aspirations.
Bajaj Auto Ltd. has been number one in many ways, this time the company makes headway as it brings in Rakesh Sharma as its first chief commercial officer (CCO) to complement the offices of the ED and the CTO. The job of the CCO would have many roles to play, and the Pune-based company has found Sharma as the perfect man. The CCO would be responsible for product harmonization leading to ‘one world, one product’ marketing synergies, creating ‘one brand, one position,’ customer focus resulting in ‘one company, one quality’ and corporate alignment facilitating ‘one stakeholder, one message,’ said a release of the firm. Sharma takes charge of the job, while Eric Vas will continue to lead the motorcycle business unit (MBU) reporting to the CCO. On the other hand, Ramesh Maheshwari will continue to lead the Intra-city Business Unit (IBU), K S Grihapathy will now lead the Export Business Unit (EBU), and Subash Rao will continue to lead the Auto Finance Business of Bajaj Finance (BFL-AF), all reporting to Sharma, the CCO. Amit Nandi will continue to lead the Probiking Business Unit (PBU), in addition to managing India for the KTM & Husqvarna brands, also be responsible for all overseas KTM & Husqvarna markets that have been assigned to Bajaj Auto. Commenting on the reshuffle in the company, Rajiv Bajaj, MD of the firm said, “I feel very confident that each of our Business Heads shall lead us to ever greater heights in the area of their responsibility and that they shall collectively, led by Rakesh, ensure that the outstanding work that we do in design, development, engineering, purchase, and production continues to earn us and our country a worthy name and sincere goodwill worldwide.” He went on to add, “Simultaneously, I believe that this re-organization will permit the ED to accord greater focus to our internal operations.”
Skill soft who are into corporate learning and Sum Total who provide a learning, talent, and workforce-management integrated system, in their attempt to boost their revenue, have roped in Kamal Dutta as managing director. In this newly created post, Dutta will be responsible for accelerating revenue growth and forging strategic relationships for both brands in the country. A former HP managing director, Dutta was in charge of software, Asia growth countries. Based out of Singapore, Dutta was responsible for delivering business outcomes for Asia growth countries comprising India, SEA, Taiwan, HK and Korea. An IT veteran, Dutta has spent 18 years at HP in various capacities, having joined as country manager-business critical servers, India, in 2001. He has been with Hewlett-Packard for long years climbing up the rungs steadily, in his career span of 25 years. He was promoted to director and country general manager-HP software and solutions, India in 2007, where he was instrumental in achieving more than four times the market growth for the business along with significant customer acquisitions. In 2010, Dutta was appointed vice-president and head- IT management business units, Asia Pacific and Japan. He moved to Singapore and was responsible for market development, sales management and revenue growth of license. A bachelor’s degree holder in computer engineering with specialization in artificial intelligence (AI), he also worked with IBM and Wipro. “Dutta’s experience leading high-performing teams in highly competitive environments at HP, IBM and Wipro makes him a perfect fit for this senior-most and new sales leadership role in India,” said Chad Gaydos, chief operating officer, Skill soft. Commenting on the move Dutta said, “We’re witnessing rapid technology shifts and wider adoption of big data, block chain, robotics and AI, all of which will have a significant impact on organizations and society. Skill soft and Sum Total are uniquely positioned to be strategic partners in the delivery of engaging learning experiences, training content and talent management solutions that support employee success in our rapidly-changing digital world”.
Praveen Kumar and Paul Dueman join the family of Amura Marketing Technologies (AMT), as the CEO and Senior VP, Business, respectively, of this digital marketing agency from Pune. “The collective knowledge, expertise, and experience that both Praveen and Paul bring along will help the firm transition into the space of Marketing Technology and evolve from a digital marketing service provider to a technology-driven 360-degree marketing solutions front-runner,” said Vikram Kotnis, MD, Amura Marketing Technologies. Joining the MD’s comments, Ram Gopalan, member of Advisory Board & Ex-Country Manager of Sapient Nitro, said, “These new talents on our board will enhance our strategic approach towards business growth and help us to transform the landscape in the field of technology and marketing automation.” Paul comes with a substantial experience of 20 years nuanced across diverse digital marketing and technology development domains. In his previous role, he was associated with Indigo Consulting, heading the business and strategy services unit for India. He has also held a senior leadership position at Lowe Lintas. Praveen is an industry expert, backed with experience in leading marketing and strategy teams across Finance, Real Estate, and Sports industries.
by Joe Williams
