Cynthia Rodrigues

Bijou Kurien, chief operating officer of Titan Industries, chose to take the path less trodden armed with a passion to learn and innovate

Many will choose to walk the beaten path, but that is not the route Bijou Kurien, COO, Titan Industries, would take. His life and the choices he has made bear witness to his willingness to go where there is no path and make his own way. And it is this spirit that has led him to where he is today.

Right from his younger years, Kurien has chosen to follow his heart. While his peers fretted over their chances of being admitted into medical or engineering school, he decided to graduate and then do a course in chartered accountancy. This independence is a hallmark of his character.

Back then, such thoughts were seen as defying parental and conventional wisdom. Family members questioned the seriousness and lack of discernment so evident in the plan. But Kurien was unmoved. The lack of pressure in pursuing a professional degree gave him enough time to develop other interests, such as sports, quizzing and participating in cultural festivals. "To a large extent," says Kurien, "your early experiences and learning shape your character. They make up your initial foundation."

The family's fears were compounded when their son decided to stand for the students' union elections. It was something, they believed, that students with money to burn and no interest in getting an education did. But young Kurien was determined to make a difference to his college and to his fellow scholars.

Elected as general secretary, he and his friends worked with the college management and the student community for the benefit of the college, its students and the community around. One such achievement was the special student menu that they came up with along with 10 restaurants nearby. If a student showed his ID card, he would be able to order certain items from the menu at reduced rates.

They also created a cultural cooperative among several colleges in Bangalore so that students could participate in a number of activities. These activities enabled them to stay focused on the important issues and rid them of getting caught in the mire that inevitably clouds college elections. The apolitical stance allowed them to concentrate on the welfare of students of the college.

Along the way, Kurien changed his mind about taking up what the intervening years had taught him was nothing more than a "pedantic accountant's job." "I can't see myself fitting into that job," he said. Having lived such an active life at college, it was natural that he would want something more. The alternative that his professors and a student counselor suggested was an MBA.

"In those days, becoming a management post graduate wasn't of the same calibre as becoming a doctor or an engineer," says Kurien, "but I felt that the education that an MBA would give me and the opportunity that would come to me at the end of it would fit my profile better than a CA would. It would give me leadership and business challenges, opportunities to innovate, to make a mark for myself, and to contribute something to society because of my position. As a CA, I would run a process very well, but I couldn't go beyond the process."

Later he gained admission into both IIM, Bangalore and XLRI, Jamshedpur, and decided to attend XLRI. From there he went on to join Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, one of 14 recruits from various institutes across India. The stint lasted from 1981 to 1987.

It was a successful company, with extremely process-driven systems and yet Kurien wanted more. "Their basic focus," says Kurien, "was on growing their existing businesses, not on expanding business focus. I realised that I was doing the same thing every day. I was almost told what was to be done. Systems and processes were so deeply ingrained that there wasn't any major learning."

Having learned all he could, Kurien realised that it was time to leave. Titan was then a rising star on the firmament, but he wasn't keen on joining the company initially. At the time, he didn't think that the Tata Group was interested in consumer marketing.

A meeting with Ravi Kant (currently MD, Tata Motors) and Xerxes Desai (former MD, Titan Industries) convinced him to take a chance with Titan. Their passion for their work and never-say-die attitude encouraged him to think of Titan as the place to be. The opportunity to put into use everything that he had learned at Levers and the prospect of working in uncharted territory lured him. "I could contribute by transplanting the knowledge that I gained in Levers on systems. I could also do unstructured things and create something for myself."

Kurien assumed his duties as regional manager (East) at Kolkata (then called Calcutta). From the very beginning, things took on the nature of an adventure. Titan operated out of the Tata Steel office in Kolkata. On his very first day, he found the place flooded. He could reach the office only after hailing a hand rickshaw puller. He laughs, "I could not imagine living there amid such conditions."

Over time he got used to Kolkata's pace and style of working. The ability of the city's people to think big even though their situation was small appealed to him. While with Levers he worked in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Kolkata and Bangalore have been associated with Titan.

At every stage, he has managed to find strength within himself to do his best no matter what the situation. Kurien's attitude toward sports, especially, colours his attitude to work. "One of the things I like about sports is that it is extremely competitive. I have to win every game I play. If I don't win, I analyse what went wrong, so I am in a position to keep correcting myself. I go with a strong will to win."

	G. Jagannathan, executive vice president and head of business excellence at TCS, stays in professional overdrive while making time for the harmony of music and the drama of theatre
	S. Ramadorai, TCS' chief executive officer has made light of a reticent nature to emerge as the prototype of the self-effacing leader
	For Pauroos Karkaria, chief financial officer of Tata Infotech, the principles he grew up by have been the guiding light to professional achievement
	Bhaskar Bhat, the managing director of Titan, says that a leader has to be a blend of manager and visionary

Uploaded on August 31, 2005