Women and Entrepreneurship
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SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS contd...
Mazumdar believed in encouraging an open and supportive culture at Biocon.
The company had a flat organizational structure and anybody in the
organization, from the gardeners to the presidents, had equal access to her.
She said, “The moment you start building boundaries, you destroy open
culture.”[15] She believed that motivation comes from empowerment, and
consequently, she encouraged her employees to challenge themselves and solve
their own problems.
In the initial years of the business, Mazumdar believed in employing more
women than men in her company. But she realized that a large number of women
eventually succumbed to societal or family pressures and stopped working.
She therefore decided to recruit on the competency parameter alone. The
ratio of women to men in Biocon was 1.5: 4 in 2002. A lot of key positions
were occupied by women, but men were also well represented in the core team.
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Biocon also set up a crèche, so that women employees
could bring their small children to work. The company thus relieved them
of at least one of the pressures they had to face. Biocon was very
successful in retaining employees. Most of the core team had been there
for 10 years or more. Nirupa Bareja, the head of human resources, said,
“I can't think of working for another company. It's either Biocon or
nowhere.”[16] Biocon created a culture in which employees could grow and
develop. This helped the company attract and retain the best talent in
the country. |
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Biocon also gave importance to customer relations. It did
not simply sell the customer a product; it sold a product as well as a
service. “We do not just provide the customer with a product. We also
provide information on the market, a strategy, a future,” said Rakesh Bamzai,
vice-president, marketing, Biocon.
Mazumdar enjoyed art and regularly visited art galleries and exhibitions. In
2001 she released her first book, “Ale and Arty,” a coffee table book about
brewing beer. The book contained reprints of paintings by some of India's
best artists, like Jatin Das, Gurudas Chenoy, T.M Aziz, etc.
Mazumdar won a number of awards. Prominent among them were the Padmashri in
1989 and the Rotary Award for Best Model Employer. She also won the M.
Visweswariah Award in 2002 for her achievements as an industrialist and her
contribution to society. Mazumdar also held positions in industry councils.
She was Vice President of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of
Karnataka (AWAKE) and the chairperson of the Vision Group on Biotechnology
in Karnataka, which was charged with formulating the state's Biotech policy.
Under Mazumdar's leadership, Biocon grew from a small business in the garage
of her house to becoming the largest biotech company in India. She was able
to achieve this by attracting and retaining the best talent in the country.
She said that she was able to achieve this success because of her belief in
the field, her magnificent team of people who shared her passion and her
determination, and her desire to succeed. Mazumdar wanted to make Biocon a
global bio-therapeutics company which developed innovative and proprietary
products and technologies. She believed that Biocon would achieve this
position around 2005.
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SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD (SMGULP)
ENTREPRENEURIAL STYLE
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
ADDITIONAL READINGS & REFERENCES
[15] Bio Spectrum India.
[16] Business World December 2, 2002.
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