The Economic Times 19/02/2013
The Economic Times - TLG Index of Thought Leaders India 2013
Megha Bahree
A new survey ranks the Tata Group as the most successful company in India, while Reliance Industries 500325.BY +2.11% ranks a low 29.
TLG Partners, a London-based consultancy that advises companies on how to build their reputation and shareholder value, on Monday released the India Index of Thought Leaders, a list of the 100 most successful and influential companies in India.
The list is topped by the Tata Group, which replaces Infosys Ltd. 500209.BY -0.18%, followed by Google India Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. 532500.BY -0.85% Apple leapt from number 40– a position it had in 2011, when the study was last carried out – to number four, even though it has minimal business in India. The Delhi Metro Rail Corp is a new entrant at number five. This state-owned company has won several plaudits for efficiently constructing a world class metro network connecting this vast city.
The list has Indian companies and a few global firms, as well as a few state owned companies. Indian conglomerates that make an appearance include the Aditya Birla Group (17) and the Mahindra Group 500520.BY +0.17% (10).
And though Forbes pegs Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian, money alone clearly doesn’t translate into success and influence on this list as Reliance Industries comes in at 29, up from 31 in 2011.
“Size does not automatically equate to thought leadership potential,” said TLG founder Malcolm Gooderham. “We’ve seen this when we conducted surveys in America. GE does not fare well on the survey.”
A Reliance spokesman said he was not aware of the survey.
TLG outsourced the research to data firm Nielsen, which put together a panel of 100 people from four sectors: business, media, civil society and government.
Nielsen carried out its research in two steps over a 10 week period. In the first step, the panelists nominate companies that can qualify to be thought leaders. In the second step, panelists score these companies against TLG’s leadership criteria—integrity, influence and innovation.
Maruti Suzuki made it high up on the list despite having been hit by labor unrest for several weeks last year State Bank of India 500112.BY +0.14%, the country’s largest public sector bank by assets, ranked 6th, despite an increasing number of bad loansfor more than a year now. I.T. firms Wipro Ltd. 507685.BY +0.92% and Infosys Ltd., both of which have been struggling in the last few months to expand their business, also ranked high.
A TLG spokeswoman explained the study looked beyond the headlines: “What the Index results show is that these companies ultimately have very strong brands, which can withstand external shocks/debt crises/bad press etc. The brands are too strong to be defined by one or two bad events and their ability to still come out on top shows the importance of investing in your brand reputation.”
TLG has been carrying out this survey in the U.K. and the U.S. since 2007. It expanded this survey to emerging economies, starting with India in 2011, Brazil in 2012 and China this year. This is TLG’s second survey on India and it’s considering making this an annual list starting next year, a spokeswoman said.
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Royal Mint to Restart Production in India
James Crabtree
… The Mint’s move also comes at a time in which other widely recognised British brands have struggled to break into the top tier of India’s fiercely competitive market, according to research to be published later this week.
The study reveals that only one British business ranks in the top 20 most admired companies in India, with telecoms group Vodafone ranking 19th on the index published by TLG, a British consultancy.
India’s Tata conglomerate is the nation’s most admired business, the research suggests, but major UK investors including oil group BP and banks such as Barclays and HSBC failed to appear on the list.
Larger British businesses have suffered a number of setbacks in India in recent years, including Vodafone’s long-running $2.5bn tax dispute, and bureaucratic delays hitting BP’s oil and gas exploration efforts, in which it invested $7.2bn in 2011.
British banks have also endured a torrid period, with Barclays selling its retail operations after a period of unsuccessful expansion, while Royal Bank of Scotland has failed to find a buyer for its retail and commercial operations as it also tries to shrink its presence in the country.
The Index of India’s Thought Leaders study, which is based on interviews by research group Nielsen with more than 100 business and political leaders, also suggests Mr Cameron’s delegation may find India tougher to crack than other large Brics markets.
It suggests more than two-thirds of India’s 20 most admired companies are local rather than international businesses, including IT outsourcer Infosys and State Bank of India, compared with one-third in an equivalent previous study of the most admired companies in Brazil.
Matt Cartmell | London
The agency has set up media brand TLQ Media and a digital magazine in a move that agency boss Malcolm Gooderham calls an example of ‘comms growing up’.
TLQ is a quarterly app that is being branded as ‘The digital magazine for Thought Leaders’, providing independent articles on global business trends and issues, alongside interactive elements.
The first edition’s authors include MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga and Unilever CEO Paul Polman.
Each quarterly edition of TLQ will explore a ‘zeitgeist issue’, with the first covering ‘the future of capitalism’. Forthcoming editions will focus on ‘cities’, ‘health’, and ‘energy’.
Gooderham told PRWeek: ‘We’ve noticed a gap in the market – we’re getting business leaders into an interesting dynamic space to develop and discuss ideas. But also, it’s about comms growing up and from a corporate perspective it’s about delivering thought leadership.’
Gooderham, who likened the app to ‘TED meets Harvard Business Review’, explained that it has been backed by a mystery ‘angel investor’. Each issue will be funded by taking on a single corporate partner.
TLG clients will be at a minimum in the app’s articles, with Gooderham explaining that ‘they’re not going to have preferential treatment – we’d say that the opportunity is there for anyone to work with TLQ’.
TLG has taken on seven designers to prepare the first issue but has not yet appointed an editor, something which is expected to take place in the near future.
The free app is available from Apple’s App Store.
Por Cynthia Malta | De São Paulo
As quatro empresas mais influentes do Brasil têm sede nos Estados Unidos, forte presença na vida do consumidor e sua principal ferramenta é a internet. São elas Google, Apple, Microsoft e Facebook.
As quatro americanas foram apontadas numa pesquisa realizada pelo instituto inglês YouGov, em parceria com as consultorias Ideal e Thought Leadership Group (TLG). Foram ouvidas 200 brasileiros, considerados formadores de opinião, entre 26 de julho e 10 de setembro. O ranking, que deverá ser divulgado hoje, lista 100 companhias.
No grupo das 20 empresas mais influentes do país, há três públicas – Petrobras, Banco do Brasil e Correios. A forte presença de estatais é algo inédito nas pesquisas da TLG, que divulga um ranking anual na Europa há quatro anos; nos Estados Unidos desde 2010 e na Ásia desde o ano passado. Em geral, a presença do setor público é ínfima.
Boticário, Vale, Natura e TAM também integram a lista das 20 mais influentes. O fato de haver apenas sete companhias de capital nacional nesse grupo chamou a atenção dos pesquisadores. “É um forte indício de que as companhias verde-amarelas não são tão eficientes em lidar com sua reputação e influenciar seus mercados quanto suas rivais internacionais “, disse Ricardo Cesar, da consultoria Ideal. Nos rankings da Europa, dos EUA e da Ásia, a presença de companhias locais é muito maior (pelo menos metade do ranking), segundo a TLG.
The Hindu | Business Line | New Delhi | Sep. 23, 2012
Enterprises not investing in cloud computing platform may fail to manage costs and innovate, and as a result lose market share due to the inability to meet customers’ needs, a survey by Wipro Technologies and TLG today said.
Cloud computing enables companies to use software, applications and various services on pay-per-use basis, without the need to set up and own IT infrastructure.
Being hailed as a “game changer”, cloud technology helps businesses become more efficient, productive and helps them bring new products and services faster in the market.
“Despite the evident advantages of cloud computing there are a significant number of companies that have placed themselves at a competitive disadvantage purely by failing to adopt cloud computing,” the survey said.
It added that 43 per cent of the 100 CXOs of companies with turnover in excess of $250 million interviewed agreed that companies that do not invest in the cloud may lose out by failing to manage costs.
About 40 per cent of the respondents said lack of cloud solution will mean that businesses fail to innovate, while one-fifth of the CXOs believed that such companies will lose market share due to the inability to meet customers’ needs, it added.
“We see cloud technology as absolutely critical in delivering efficiencies and making businesses more productive but there is another vital benefit – cloud technology has the potential to create completely new business models and SMEs and start-ups will embrace them.
“That’s good news for consumers but is a real concern for established companies that have yet to adopt Cloud,” Wipro Technologies Chief Technology Officer Anurag Srivastava said.
About 51 per cent of the respondents said the biggest benefits from cloud adoption are scalability and mobility.
“At the moment some businesses are seeing cloud adoption as a choice but the reality is that in a few years the next generation of consumers will force the cloud onto businesses.
“Both business customers and consumers want accessibility and services on their terms which means that in the near future being in business will mean being cloud centric,” Srivastava added.
Security continues to be the greatest worry for business leaders looking into cloud adoption.
Two-thirds of the respondents said security worries are the greatest barrier to cloud adoption, while three-quarters said that being able to ensure security is a critical criterion for their selection of cloud service providers.
Politicians and business leaders have named BT as the company that has provided the greatest corporate contribution to the success of the London 2012 Olympics.
TLG, using Populus’ Opinion Leader Network panel, quizzed top business people, academics, journalists and politicians on the winners and losers of the 2012 Games.
The respondents said that BT’s provision of telecoms services and infrastructure was the most valuable corporate contribution to creating a positive Games.
Malcolm Gooderham in Financial Times, July 24, 2012
There are several things to consider. First, a resignation demonstrates a degree of accountability. This is refreshing and has the potential to improve corporate reputation. Second, the more integrated the announcement the better, otherwise it risks leaving the brand looking detached. Third, a crisis can be the making of a brand, as companies are judged both by how they handle such situations and by their results.
Underlying this is the need to try to lead the story, rather than letting critics do it for you. This is not a comfortable position for some executives. However, “waiting to see what happens” is not shrewd but an example of weak leadership and will undermine the brand.
