Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-Admired Businesswoman

KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW
Born: 23 March, 1953
First job: Brewer at Carlton & United Breweries
Current Position: Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon
Group Turnover: Rs.1090.2 crore( Q1-2008 )
Group Net Profit: Rs.200.25 crore ( Q1-2008 )
Key Business Area: Biopharmaaceuticals
Biocon was founded in the backyard of a suburban house in Bangalore in 1978 as a small operation of enzyme extraction. The woman behind Biocon - Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Kiran) who dreamt of starting her own business with just Rs. 10,000 in hand and a degree in brewery - is now the richest woman in India. The case study describes how Kiran recognized the future potential of biotechnology industry when not many people in India knew about it.Over the years, the company grew under her stewardship and is today the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in India. In 2004, Biocon went for an IPO and the issue was over-subscribed by over 30 times. Post-IPO, Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was regarded as India’s richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore (~U.S. $ 480 million).
After schooling at Bishop Cotton Girls School,Ms. Shaw received a graduate honours degree in Zoology from Bangalore University (1973) and qualified as a Master Brewer from Ballarat University, Australia (1975). Ms. Shaw also received an honorary Doctorate of Science, from her alma mater, Ballarat University, in recognition of her pre-eminent contributions to the field of Biotechnology. Recently she also received an Honorary Doctorate from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in recognition of her outstanding achievements in biotechnology and industrial enzymes.
Ms. Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the ET Businesswoman of the Year, Best Woman Entrepreneur, Model Employer, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare, Leading Exporter, Outstanding Citizen, Technology Pioneer, etc. Her most cherished awards are however, the PADMASHRI (1989) and PADMA BHUSHAN (2005) presented to her by the President of India, for her pioneering efforts in Industrial Biotechnology.
She is married to John Shaw, a Scotsman and Indophile, who headed a leading textiles MNC, Madura Coats from 1991-1998 as Chairman and Managing Director. John Shaw has since joined Biocon as Director, International Business and is the Vice Chairman of the Board.

Fact figures: Reliance

1. Reliance group was founded by Dhirubhai Ambani.
2. Dhirubhai started his first textile mill in year 1966.
3. Anil Ambani was the first Indian to be awarded - Wharton School Dean's medal.
4. Mukesh Ambani has got the tag of richest person of the world.
5. Anil Ambani personal stake in reliance communications is 66%.

Biocon Q1 profit graph down

Indian based Biotechnology firm on Thursday announced consolidated net profit of Rs.15.02 crore for the first quarter of 2008. Thus a decline of 71.66 % over the year ago period of i.e first quarter of year 2007, on account of rupee fluctuation.
The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs.53 crore in the first quarter of 2007, previous year.
The consolidated total income however, rose to Rs.276.53 crore in the latest quarter from Rs.272.21 crore a year ago.
Biocon has been featured amongst the top 25 global biotechnology companies according to a report released by Med Ad News.

25% Profit in 1st Quater for HDFC

Housing Development Finance Corporation(HDFC), on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs.468.11 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, a 25.56% over Rs.372.81 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
Thus total income rose to Rs.2,318.62 crore in the first quarter of 2008 from 1,830.39 crore of the 2nd quarter of previous year.

Electronic Commerce

To make someone understood what Electronic Commerce exactly is in one sentence then we can define it as ‘Use of electronic system in the matter of business or commerce for buying, selling, delivery of information, payments and services at reasonable costs is known as Electronic Commerce’.
Depending on whom you ask, electronic commerce has different definitions:
From a communication perspective, electronic commerce is the delivery of information, products/services, or payments via telephone lines, computer networks, or any other means.
From a business prospective, electronic commerce is the application of technology towards the automation of business transactions and workflows.
From a service point of view, electronic commerce is a tool that addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving the quality of goods and increasing the speed of delivery.
From online perspective, electronic commerce provides the capability of buying and selling of products and information on the internet or other online services.
Part of difficulty in understanding Electronic commerce lies in the fact that the growth of Electronic Commerce is happening so quickly and in many directions that even experts are at loss to find any established business model for comparison.
‘Doing Business Online’ sounds technical, and organizations often delegate the task to the technical departments. A better approach is to develop a cross functional team composed of technical staff as well as marketing and financial personnel.
Thus today, technology is seen as a major driver of corporate strategy and business re-engineering.