Bata to split retail chain, to focus more on branding  ( April '16,2004, ET)

Though Bata is a well-recognised brand in India, there are few ageing retail stores which are not at par with global standards, said Thomas Bata, chairman and CEO Bata International.

“Bata India is facing problems like accumulated fixed cost rigidity and labour grief in West Bengal,” said Mr Bata in Mumbai while addressing a seminar titled “From Market Driven To Market Driving” organised by the Aditya Birla Centre in collaboration with the London Business School.

Bata is counting on a strategy of splitting the retail chain organisation into segments and reinventing the selling approach by focusing on branding, he said.

“We are realigning the manufacturing with more outsourcing and rebalancing costs towards a variable structure,” he added.

Dealing early with succession and defining leadership points are the hallmarks of a good organisation, Mr Bata said.

“Bata family may look at the option of becoming ‘active interested owners’ in the long-run leaving the day-to-day management to professionals. I cannot say right now whether the next generation in the family will take up the reins of the company,” he added.

Creativity, product innovation and research for higher quality levels lie at the core of Bata product development policy, he added. Bata has also extended the product lines beyond shoes to fashion categories like apparels and lately to “feet wetness products to further enhance the customers’ shopping experience,” he said.

Addressing the seminar, Nirmalya Kumar, professor of marketing at London Business School said organisations become successful when they combine method with madness. “Managers should learn the art of converting jobs into a challenging one,” he added. Indian mangers are a success story abroad. Indians are doing well in fields like healthcare, he added.