Deepak Mittal assisted SS Mahansaria in pioneering the first overseas investment of Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group in Thailand more than 40 years ago. Since then, the group has set up many world-class companies here. Mittal talked to The Nation's Pichaya Changsorn on the unique Indian-Thai corporate culture and his "leadership secret". Retired from executive post more than two years ago, Mittal still serves as director at four Aditya Birla companies in Thailand and Indonesia - Thai Acrylic Fibre, Thai Carbon Black, Indo-Thai Synthetics, and PT Indo Liberty Textiles-as well as Indorama Polymers.
-What have you learned from working in Thailand for more than 40 years?
One good thing is humility. You remain humble. You care for everyone around you. You show "kreng jai". I'm very easy-going and comfortable to act as a friend…bringing everybody together. Because these days, to be a good leader, you can't be authoritative. You listen to everyone, absorb good ideas and then take action.
I combine both Asian and Western cultures. The combination of Asian and Western ways is perhaps the most effective way, whether you're at home or in the office. I believe in corporate governance. The most important thing is people. You must take care of your customers, employees and all stakeholders. That, I believe, is the secret of success.
And I believe happiness is very important, rather than money. Therefore, I have always given a lot of respect to everyone. There have been many times that I've made decisions based on suggestions of junior people. I believe the capability to listen seriously is an important one. [It's important to] listen, and accept every idea, and then take action. This is the secret of being a good leader.
-What sets the Aditya Birla companies in Thailand apart from Western and other Asian companies, in terms of management and corporate culture?
First, we give a lot of authority to all employees, from senior executives to those on the shop floor. We have a management system that allows all people at all levels to decide on their actions. I've found that whenever you delegate responsibility, people act very carefully. Secondly, we care more about our employees. We try not to be authoritative. We do everything according to a consensus.
-Consensus...That sounds more like the Japanese or Thai way?
The Japanese believe in 100-per-cent consensus. For us, once we have reached a consensus, we will take action. We won't wait for consensus on how to take action. To take action, we may consult a few people, while in planning we may consult 20 people.
What I have found is that Thai companies are weak [in that] they do not review results. We must review and be ready to make a change. It's "PDCA": Plan, Do, Check, Act. At Birla, we're aware of our gains and losses quickly: We have a system to keep track [of performances].
-Your companies have won a lot of recognition for their quality management. Thai Acrylic Fibre was the first company to receive the Thailand Quality Award. What is the secret of their achievements?
Thai Acrylic also won the Deming Prize and the Japan Quality Medal; only 20 firms outside Japan have ever won the award.
It's a combination of the brain power and innovative techniques of Indian engineers, and Thais' work habits and ability to bring ideas into practice. Thais, once you tell them what to do, they execute very well, even [better than] what I would expect from workers in India. So training is important: You need to train them properly. You can build-world class companies very easily in Thailand. [In future] you will find more Thai companies on the world stage.
-How do you view the attitudes and styles of younger-generation Thai-Indian companies and executives, compared to your generation, which tends to be very conservative?
Because India has grown so quickly, Indian management has become much more progressive. In the past at Birla, we were an exception among firms, in that we had expanded abroad. But today, as you have heard, Indian companies are acquiring big companies worldwide. Yes, we were conservative [in the beginning, because] at that time, making new investments was not so easy. The banking system was also very conservative.
But it's more difficult now to attract Indians to come and work abroad because there are more opportunities in India. I think in the future you'll see more Indian investment in Thailand and more Thai investment in India. In fact, it's my objective to help encourage more investment between India and Thailand. I agree it's not easy to go to India. But it's not so difficult either, if you know the right way and the right people.
-Can you share with us your personal recipe for success?
You must be ready to work hard. You can ask my wife: Many times I would come home from work at 2am. And there was no cell phones [in the early days]. We worked hard, but we enjoyed it. And you must "work smart", also.
Secondly, you must lead by example. You can't just talk. Because you must have people working with you as a team. If I think the floor is not clean enough, I must be the leader who goes and cleans up the floor with everyone else.
You must plan well. Success comes only if you plan well. And you must take care of your customers: The customer is god. At Thai Acrylic Fibre, we have a separate section that displays machines used by customers.
We train our workers to realise that if they don't produce good products, the fibre will break. We try to have our workers understand things from the customer's point of view.
One of our customers, every New Year, he would come with a lot of apples to distribute to all the workers, to say thank you to them. It shows he was happy with our products.
A leader must be able to listen well. I've spent many hours talking with our people on the shop floor to see how I can help them improve the products. A lot of companies do customer surveys. We do also community surveys every six months, asking villagers how we can help them. That's why we never have a problem.
-You have become only the second person from Thailand, after Shivnath Rai Bajaj, chairman of the Diwanchand Group, to have received the Bharatiya Samman Award from India. How special is this award to you?
There are 25 million non-resident Indians all over the world, and only 10 to 15 people are given the Bharatiya Samman Award by the president of India each year. It is a great honour and high regard for the people who contribute to India's progress. In India, there is the Padma Shri, given to residents, which is similar to the Royal Thai Decoration in Thailand, while the Bharatiya is given to non-resident Indians.