Women and Entrepreneurship

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When Biocon first started working in 1978, it was a small-scale industry manufacturing industrial enzymes for packaged fruit juices. Over the years it evolved into a $ 60 billion global biotherapeutics10 business. By the early 2000s Biocon had 25 percent of the global market share for pectinases11 and had patents for 15 novel enzymes. Totally, the company manufactured and marketed 73 enzymes. Biocon was the first Indian company to get Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the manufacture of fermentation derived molecules for pharmaceutical purposes. The Group boasted of clients like Glaxo Smithkline,12 AstraZeneca13 and Bristol Myers Squibb.14 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. 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. 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.

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10] Biotherapeutics, also known as probiotics, is the use of beneficial bacteria to positively influence disease outcomes. It involves the induction of healthy microbes into the body to prevent the growth of pathogens.
11] Pectinase is an enzyme catalysing the hydrolysis of Pectins. Pectins are white amorphous substances which, when combined with acid and sugar, yield a jelly-like substance that cements cells together.
12] Glaxo Smithkline is the world's leading research based pharmaceutical company. It is headquartered in UK and its operations are based in USA.
13] Astra Zeneca Plc was formed in April 1999 with the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group PLC of UK. One of the prominent pharmaceutical companies in the world, Astra Zeneca is headquartered in London.
14] Bristol-Myers Squibb was created in 1989 through a merger between Bristol-Myers and Squibb. The merger created the second largest pharmaceutical company at that time. The company is headquartered in New York.
15] Bio Spectrum India
16] Business World December 2, 2002

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