IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION Siddarth Mallya has the tenacity, ambition and the aggression of his flamboyant father. By ROMSHA SINGH & NEHA SARAIYA
He made his first public and business appearance on May 8, 2005, during the launch of Kingfisher Airlines. It turned out to be one of the most important days of his life, and not because it was his birthday. It was because his father, the flamboyant Vijay Mallya, patted his 18-year-old son, and gave him the best possible gift. Junior Mallya became the official heir to the Rs.60 billion UB group. Siddarth Mallya became a director on the board of United Breweries (Holdings), the holding company.
The King of Good Times, Vijay Mallya, has always celebrated, launched and introduced new products or companies with aplomb and in style. His son’s grand entry into the family business seemed to be no exception. But then, as they say, there are always two sides of a coin; in this case, immense power came with even more immense responsibilities that were directly put on Siddarth’s shoulders. The immediate question that everyone around asked was ‘whether the young son was ready for the new job’.
He will step into shoes that seem several sizes bigger. “Vijay Mallya’s is a personality-driven organization, so it will not only be big shoes for Siddarth to fit into, but a tough act to follow. In the near future, when he joins, UB will try to consolidate its position in every sector,” says an equity analyst in Arihant Capital. From a stage where he was written off by observers, thanks to the burgeoning debt burden of UB group, Vijay emerged as the world’s second largest liquor manufacturer. Can his son do the same in new sectors like infrastructure, and emerge as a strong player in them? Answers Sayed Sagheer, an aviation analyst at PINC Research, “It depends upon what type of grooming he is getting. He could come with fresh insights, and take the group to another level.” Although not much is known about Siddarth, and he’s quite young, there seems to be a business streak in this heir-apparent. After his schooling from Wellington College, London, he’s currently pursuing his graduation from Queen’s Mary, UK. But already, he has acquired the tag of a ‘self-made man’. In his school days, he ran a small business, selling freebies and merchandise to make a quick buck.
People who know him say that Prince Siddarth follows the mantra of ‘work hard, party harder’, which has become common among NewGen middle and upper classes. But he supplements it with a disciplined routine, which he follows as it keeps him on his toes. What’s important is that the son shares a friendly relation with his dad, and is keen to follow his footsteps. Like Senior Mallya, who joined UB at a salary of Rs.400, Siddarth hopes to go through the grind before taking over managerial responsibilities.
Siddharth, who currently resides in London with his mother, has a fetish for sports like hockey (his favourite), squash and cricket. While we know all about Vijay’s love for flying high in his private Boeings, floating rapidly over water in his yachts, and racing fast and furious in his Formula I cars, Siddarth is pinned to the ground. Despite his diamond-like life that includes socialite evenings with the glitterati, he does care to remember the social responsibility work that the UB group is engrossed in.
Fortunately for Siddarth, his father has already done the good job. Today, UB group’s brewing division rules the Indian liquor market with a market share of 37%. As a brand, Kingfisher is globally recognised and sells in 52 countries, including India. In the recent past, the group has acquired national sorghum breweries in South Africa and is aggressively strengthening its market position globally. May be, by the time Siddarth takes over the management reins, the group would have grown manifolds in the liquor business.
At the moment, it seems that Siddarth is likely to acquire the same aggression and ambition. In fact, after Vijay Mallya’s much-hyped takeover of Shaw Wallace, the son was all praises for his dad. Was it just a son-dad obsession, or was the child learning the tricks of globalised business? “He is a young guy and is likely to follow both backward and forward integration,” asserts a liquor analyst. Adds Arpit Agarwal, Research Head, Arihant Capital, “Infrastructure is a huge opportunity for any global player like the UB group. Siddharth would be joining with a lot of new energy.”
However, there are several grey areas that both Siddarth and his group will need to grapple with. The first will be to manage the merger between Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan. Although Vijay Mallya will handle the tricky marriage for the next few years, it will be the son who will have to devise strategies to make it the Number 1 aviation player in India, especially after the proposed Indian-Air India merger and the expected Jet Air-Air Sahara integration. Most experts think that the aviation sector will continue to bleed for a few more years. So, it will be up to Siddarth to turnaround the financial fortunes of the airline, which incurred an annual loss of Rs 2,000 crore.
Then there’s a question mark on the future of dad’s dream and pet project of bringing Formula I racing to India through a tie-up with MOI family named as Orange India. The price tag of the deal between the two is a cool €88 million. May be, Siddarth is not involved in the initial stages, but he will need to ensure that the project turns out to be a success, as well as profitable. The son will be the one who will have to establish Formula I in India. Formula I can easily turn out to be Failure I for him.
Clearly, Siddharth has to make the right moves to ensure that UB group reaches newer heights during his reign. Luckily for him, there are many who feel that he has the instincts and the abilities to achieve this objective. “When children take over corporations, they bring about a lot of value addition. Siddharth’s mindset will be different as he is an altogether different personality,” opines R. Vaidyanathan, an aviation analyst at CII. We just hope that the Mysore cub finally roars like a tiger.
For more articles, Click on
IIPM Article.
Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of
IIPM,
Malay Chaudhuri and
Arindam chaudhuri (
Renowned Management Guru and
Economist).
Read these article :-
‘This is one of Big B’s best performances’
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat IIPM awards four Bengali novelistsZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEYB-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (
Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (
Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (
Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)IIPM CampusThe Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
