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COVER STORY
“TITAN STANDS FOR
SOMETHING BIG”
FOUNDER AND MD EMERITUS OF TITAN INDUSTRIES, XERXES
DESAI, TRAVELS BACK IN TIME AND REVEALS HOW HE BUILT THE
BRAND 'TITAN' OUT OF NOTHING IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH SRAY AGARWAL AND CHARU
Xerxes
Desai,
Founder
and MD
Emeritus
of Titan
Industries
The Oxford-graduated Desai is
the man behind the country’s
premium and leading globally
recognized Indian brands – Titan.
Under his leadership, Titan has become
the world’s sixth largest watch
manufacturer and marketer and exports
watches to about 32 countries.
What was the idea behind starting
the company and how did you
come in the picture?
It was the time when I joined Tata
Press and the company was identifying
a project which Tata’s would
be permitted to enter. But every
time, we identified a project either
the government of India or the
Government of Tata said ‘no’. But
one day, I got a call from TIFR and
was asked to print a book. Then, I
got familiar with the author of the
book, Jaivardhan Mahadevan who
happened to be the chairman of the
watch industry. After discussing
the project with him, we finally
sent a proposal to JRD Tata. Unfortunately,
nothing worked out as the
stakeholders declined to work with
us as they wanted to launch the
product in any country except India.
But the industry took a new
shape when Rajiv Gandhi came to
power and we were asked to apply
again. And finally, the government
agreed to form a joint sector company
in collaboration with Tamil
Nadu Industrial Development Corporation
(TIDCO). So, it took almost
16 years to start Titan and it was in
1987 that the products started hitting
the market.
Where did the name Titan come
from?
Titan stands for something big.
Also, it is a cheeky way of asserting
the Tata’s presence in the project.
‘TI’ stands for Tata Industries while
the second half ‘TAN’ stands
for Tamil Nadu Industrial Development
Corporation.
What were the changes incorporated
under your leadership in
Titan?
Success finally lies in getting things
right and we were able to understand
that the watch industry is a
very rationale industry. Moreover,
the timing of Titan’s launch was in
our favour as the opposition was
weak so it was a cake-walk for us.
We had a team of young people and
a huge number of people joined us
from HMT in the manufacturing division.
The culture in our company
was not rigid or bureaucratic as we
were far from Tata’s headquarters.
We experimented a lot many things
at the same time and even broke the
rules too.
How important it is for a CEO to
manage the entire transition?
Change in a way, is being structured
upon people, upon CEOs, in a manner
that desn’t happen in 60s, 70s,
80s. And there is a perception that
we should change with time. It’s not
the change that change, it’s the
question of understanding the market
not only in India but worldwide,
not only what is happening in the
market but also what is happening
in the laboratories and people’s
mind the world over. We focused on
what could be the product for next
generation, what could be its style
with not much focus on current
competition. One doesn't think
about current competition as it is
changing continuously. One needs
to tap the market aspirations.
Who were the people motivated
you throughout your journey?
I was highly motivated by JRD Tata
particularly in the second half of my
working life. Mr. Darbari Seth who
retired as chairman of Tata Chemicals
also was the person who influenced
me a lot.
count your chickens before they hatch 28 april 2012