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 "We have always believed that we should worry about doing
things first and talking about them afterwards." One gets the distinct impression
that the reticent Dr. Naushad Forbes or just Naushad - could well be speaking about
himself instead of his 100 crore legacy that he, alongwith grand father Farhad and
belle-soeur Rati, proudly represents and painstakingly nurtures. That then is the
affable, but unassuming younger son of Darius Forbes in a nutshell? Not quite.
Two things stand out almost immediately in startling clarity : First, the younger grandson
of J.N. Marshall would rather be anywhere else, than suffer through the
photo-session. Second, Naushad's infallible sense of humour. In between shots, we
recall the articulate gentleman's chock-a- block diary that swings back and forth in
between doing a stint each year in October, teaching at the Stanford University, U.S.A.,
and another month between two visits trying to write, and simultaneously contribute to the
growth of Forbes Marshall in India. phew! How does he cope with this rather taxing
schedule, we ponder."I enjoy the travelling especially since it normally involves
meeting some of our branch field engineers who I enjoy spending time with. However, as I
get older I really like getting back to Pune and home!" he quips, with the humour
still in place. Incidentally, whilst at Stanford, the educationist "who absolutely
hates grading papers!" teaches a course on Technology in Newly Industrializing
Countries, which looks at technology from both perspectives, the country's policy as well
as the firm's management. Since "the course is an elective one which means every
student takes it because they are interested in the subject and not because they have to
take it as a required subject, it makes it easier to teach!" smiles Naushad.
The mention of Forbes Marshall has us moving away from across the Atlantic ocean and the
field of education to closer home. We talk to Naushad on how the low-key corporate group
"which is quite intensive in both areas of manufacturing engineering and sales
engineering" has always managed to hold its own. Especially, with the turbulent winds
of recession sweeping everyone off their feet and engulfing them in its fury. The
behind-the- scenes activities of an entity called Forbes Marshall that had a 90 crore
turnover last year.". He strongly believes the recession has made most companies
re-evaluate their strengths and weaknesses; simultaneously rearrange their strategies to
become more innovative and resourceful. "I think the whole recession of the last
three years has been very useful for most companies, including us. It forced us to
re-examine how we do things. The first five years or so of liberalisation, we simply were
in the boom market and just went with the flow," articulates Naushad who is also on
the board of directors of Tata Mutual Fund. And when the tide turned in the last three
years, they had to be much more resourceful. "I think we are becoming much more
demanding," the self confessed results-oriented Dr. Forbes reasons. "Each
individual in the organisation contributed as much as he could. It has stopped us from
taking things lightly and there is a much greater need for every area to come to its
calling. That is very productive."
Plans bring us to the future of Forbes Marshall, a company that follows the percepts of
Darius Forbes about giving back something to the society that it got from. "We see
growth," Naushad predicts with unshakable conviction. "This year, we have a
major challenge. Everyone has Y2K as a problem. But we have M2K - March 2000!" he
quips, breaking into a disarming grin, "And we have a particular challenge where we
are trying to work on M2K." Which basically means doubling their productivity (their
value added-employee) in '98-'99 from what was '97-'98. "So by March'00, it'll be
reflected in 11 lakhs of the value-added employee."
This coupled with the winds of change has ensured that the 100 crore, ISO 9001 certified
corporate group, has become "much more aggressive and focussed", both within the
country and outside - in the boiler efficiency product market. Though they haven't sold
the thermo-compressor range in the international market, Naushad believes there is a great
scope for it. "Those areas we think will add significantly in overall turnover
growth." Being essentially a people's person, the recipient of the `Gores Award for
Outstanding Teaching' at Stanford in '84, is "by nature an impatient person" who
believes he does a good job of encouraging people and gets a "kick out of figuring
out what gets people going. When one works with individuals, you spend a lot of time
talking to them about different things as a result has provided FM with a very sociable
work environment." No surprise in there, considering the group is well known for its
atmosphere of bonhomie.
Then Naushad goes on to share that he can forgive almost anything "but if someone is
not doing their best, then to me that is a big turn-off. I am strongly results focused -
maybe excessively results focused - and don't react very well to why we have not achieved
something if we have not very obviously done our best to achieve it."
Before we leave this teacher and businessman, with a yen for western classical music to
get back to his world of academics and economics, we cannot resist asking him about their
deliberate low profile stance. Unlike other companies who have taken to the 90's axiom of
Show-n-Tell, Forbes Marshall still believes in letting their work do all the talking.
Naushad smiles agreeably and discloses, "Having a good product and selling it will
count for much more, post-liberalisation. We are keen on getting more visible. But I won't
say we are keen on radically changing our low profile nature. We hope to become more
visible not just by the consumer, but by the society too." |
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