A CENTURY & Counting

Building a company is difficult anywhere in the world. Nurturing it for 100 years takes a combination of philosophy of growth, astute understanding of headwinds and the determination to survive the deadliest of down cycles. What makes this survival story in India more interesting is the cross-currents of everyday politics and ideology Rajat Mishra

- Rajat Mishra

In 1976, Bruce Henderson, the celebrated founder of global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), wrote in a memorandum to BCG Partners: “It would be nice to say that I foresaw the future and planned it as it eventually turned out. But at the beginning, for every firm, the overriding question is: Can you survive?” Henderson sensed way back in 1976 that it was not as difficult to reach the top as it was to stay there—strong and committed.

India is home to multiple enterprises that have redefined strength and commitment in their path of survival. They are not only older than the Indian democracy, but stories of their resilience spread through the landscape of 200 years of subjugation under imperial England. Take the case of the Wadia Group. Founded even before the Battle of Plassey, it was established through imperial benevolence as a marine construction company but during the freedom movement placed itself firmly against its benefactors. This is a trajectory that many other old groups, such as the Tatas, also followed. Juxtaposed with these conglomerates are a few, such as the Birlas, whose positioning since inception was nationalistic, making the history of corporate India a fascinating story.

As we train our lens on centennial Indian companies, the question we seek to answer is “What does it take to build a company that lasts 100 years?”

Government policy choices play a huge role in deciding a company's future. There are companies which are favoured by governments and benefit from their decisions. It will not be wrong to say that governments decide fortunes of these firms

S.C. GARG Former Union Finance Secretary