Famous Labels

1. What did this picture inspire?

2. Which iconic logo is based on the picture below?

3.  Some of the methods of making it are claimed to be X recipe , Reed recipe and Merory recipe. X is the pioneer of making it, although X method is only believed to be the right way. What are we talking about?

4.  This company manufactures Browning Automatic Rifles and M1 Carbines. Which are we talking about?

5. Whose business tactics are sometimes criticized as “Embrace, Extend and Extinguish”?

6. American Cotton Company, American Sugar Company, American Tobacco Company, Chicago Gas Company, Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company, Laclede Gas Company, National Lead Company, North American Company, Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Company, US Leather Company, United States Rubber Company. Fill in the missing company. Should be easy.

7. The name of this company is taken from a river that flows through the town where it originated. In it’s native language, the word is derived from the plural of a dark furred animal that lived on the banks of that river. In the old version of the language, the word meant Sable (a fox-like animal whose fur is highly valued). In the modern usage, though, the word means soot. Which company are we talking about?

As usual there’s a connect. Connect the answers of Qs 3-7.

Answers tomorrow.

Growth Stories of Indian Companies

1. X  joined Simpsons Group, a British-owned South Indian business conglomerate as Secretary in 1935 and went on to become one of it’s first Indian Directors, marking the Indianization of the group. After going public, it was renamed as Y group and X, by now also known simply as “J” became the Chairman. Among it’s acquisitions were Madras Mail and Higginbotham’s, before diversifying into many other businesses like Finance, Advertising, Forging etc. Currently, one of it’s businesses is the second largest tractor company in India. Identify X and Y.
2. In the 1970′s, A quit his job with Delhi Cloth Mills (DCM) along with five of his friends (Arjun Malhotra, Subhash Arora, Ajai Chowdhry, DS Puri & Yogesh Vaidya) to start a new company, Microcomp Limited. The focus of the company was design and manufacturing of scientific calculators. The venture provided its founders money to start a company that focused on manufacturing computers. The founders also seeded another famous venture Y in 1981 to cater to the increasing demand of computer education in India. ID X and Y.
3. The company was started by Mr. Pyare Lal in 1910 to manufacture steel goods. As it grew, it diversified into many other sectors. Mr. Pyare Lal’s sons took over after his demise and grew the company into various businesses. One of his sons also became a famous “Life peer” assuming the name Baron Y. The company owns The Park Chain of Hotels in India, Oxford Bookstores, India’s largest private shipping Company, among others. Which group are we talking about? Also ID Y.
4. In 1929,  a company by the name X was set up by the Chauhan family to manufacture sweets and candies for children in Bombay. In a decade, it became the largest biscuits and confectionaries company in India and retains the place till today. Easy – ID X.
5. A man called B V Rao started  a modest poultry business in 1971. Today, the group is one of the well-recognized brands in poultry industry in India and a large biotherapeutics company. Identify the group and it’s famous chicken brand.

Bonus Question – Identify the common theme in the questions above.

Answers tomorrow.

Tomorrow is here. Scroll down for answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. X = Sivasailam Anantharamakrishnan, Y = Amalgamations Group and Tractor Company is TAFE. Additional Trivia – This group is reputed to    have one of the best organized worker unions in India. Also, Mallika Srinivasan, the daughter of A.Sivasailam heads TAFE. Here’s her picture

2.  A = Shiv Nadar, X = HCL (formerly Hindustan Computers Limited), Y = NIIT. Recently, Roshni Nadar has taken over from her father. Here’s her picture.

3. Apeejay Surrendra Group. Additional funda – APeeJay is in fact A P J…A for Pyare Lal’s father Amin Chand, P for Pyare Lal and J for Jalandhar. Y is none other than Swraj Paul. Surrendra Paul’s daughters Priti and Priya Paul now head hospitality (The Park group of Hotels) and real estate divisions. Here are their pics.

4. Parle Products or Parle Agro. Now the daughters are into managing the business. Here they are – Schauna, Alisha and Nadia

5. Venkateshwara Hatcheries and Venky’s Chicken. Again, the daughter Anuradha Desai has taken over the business and is the brain behind Venky’s Chicken. Here is her picture.

As you could guess from the pictures. The theme is basically daughters who have taken over from their fathers to manage huge businesses. Inspired from the following rediff article - http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/oct/22/slide-show-1-daughters-shine-at-helm-of-family-businesses.htm. It has additional useful information on other business groups.

Related reading  - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2004/10/22/stories/2004102200230400.htm