Kumar Mangalam Birla : Case Study

Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian billionaire industrialist, and the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest conglomerates in India. He is also the chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, and the chairman of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

Birla is a fourth-generation member of the Marwari Birla family from the state of Rajasthan. He was born in Kolkata and raised in Mumbai. He did his high school from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics and a bachelor's degree from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics of the University of Mumbai, and a MBA degree from London Business School, where he is an honorary fellow. He is also a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

His father’s death came as a shock, and Birla faced a lot of skepticism regarding his inexperience. But he refused to be let down by these challenges. During his tenure as the chairman, the group's annual turnover increased from $3.33 billion in 1995 to $48.3 billion in 2019. 

To inherit his father's legacy at the age of 28 was like to be in the deep end, said Mr K M Birla "In such situations, you either learn to swim quickly or you sink. I had to learn to deal with people really fast. Of course I had the qualification-a CA (degree) and an MBA degree-and five years of experience of working with my father," he said.

MBAs have an edge over CAs in many fields as the Indian economy is much closer to the world economy now. As merger and acquisition are order of the day, CAs have big roles to play," he said. Delivering the inaugural address at the Mind Rocks India Today Youth Summit 2011, Birla said, "I had two gurus-Pratap Sharma, who taught me the effects of communication, and Ram Charan Yadav, who is a world-renowned management consultant. It's very important that you communicate appropriately and at the right time.

Birla’s telecom venture, Vodafone Idea, was formed after the merger of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India in 2018, making it the second largest mobile telecommunications network in India, and the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the world, with a subscriber base of 332.65 million, as of December 2019.

There is no substitute for hard work and this can be seen in the work of Kumar. His main philosophy is to give back what is earned and he has given this back to society in the form of education. An international institute founded by him now runs in Mumbai that focuses on the inner growth of the future entrepreneurs.

Kumar for his impeccable contribution towards the stewardship has been bestowed with innumerous awards. Most prominent among them are CEO of the Year Award 2016, Global Leadership Award 2014, Entrepreneur of the Year 2012, NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2012, Business Leader Award in 2003 & 2013 and many more.

Powerful Quotes of Kumar Mangalam Birla :

1. Failure is not fatal, it’s inevitable. If you don’t fail, it perhaps means you aren’t taking enough risks.

2. First create jobs, and then provide skills to people.

3. The one important factor that keeps me going is the kind of people I work with.

4. Follow your passion and do something that is close to your heart to be successful and happy.