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Kuber Tiles: In Pursuance of Growth

In Jan 1910 Mr.Ramjilalji Agrawal escaped from Calcutta because of communal riots and settled inIndore. And earned his livelihood by selling clothes on bicycle , selling scraps etc. He had six siblings; allwere well qualified and posted in Govt. organizations. His all sons and daughters got government jobs butone of them Mr. Suresh Agrawal had entrepreneurship zeal and because of that he left the job fromhousing finance department of State Bank of Indore. For a long he was not able to bring his dream cometrue because of lack of financial support but he didnt give up and joined a chemical factory as a manager.A significant turbulence was created by an accident which made to close the factory. In 1975-76 Mr.Agrawal started his own chemical factory along with two partners. The previous factory provided himvaried experiences and he got accustomed to think strategically. The factory was producing all basic

drugs for its clients like Ipca, Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddys, Plethico etc. The business was gaining its height but partners were not taking interest therefore in 1985 the partnership dissolved abruptly after tenure of nine years. All Making satisfied and Mr. Suresh Agrawal shouldered all the liabilities. He tried very hardto run the factory but inadequacy of support from the banks and government he could not sustain thisventure. The District Magistrate declared the factory a viable sick unit

In 1989 Mr. Suresh Agrawals new initiative included the establishment of franchisee of tiles, but it wasnot enough to create new horizons in the entrepreneur market. So he set his own tiles manufacturing unitagain to quench his thirst for amibitious growth plans he ventured in new category of products in the

same industry, also he was determined to contribute in the modernization process of this industry.

To make aware of this business he involved his two sons Abhishek and Anurag .He made them to look after production,accounts,purchasing etc.He was also very enthusiastic for his sons to take professionaleducation.But this venture got adversely affected because of his premature deathin 2006 and the task inhand came on his elder son Mr.Abhishek Agrawal and as a result he left his professional education.Thenhe had in front of him a big challenge from all the four corners like partners,vendors,distributors andlabours.He also had a challenge to build the confidence in his family that he can make the businesssuccessful.He equally proved himself good in motivating his younger brother to continue his professional

education and could overcome the challenges and maintained good relations with business partners andgave a new direction to the business.

Having done with his MBA Mr.Anurag joined his brother Abhishek leaving better career prospects.Headded more variety to its product mix and differentiated from the competitors and planned aggressivelyto widen and expand its plants capacity.Being in the market for ten years they developed competency intheir product, quality , service and price which played a major role in achieving success in short span of

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time.But to achieve success, they faced very tough time convincing the workers and also they wereunable to meet the demand.

HR Challenges

During their conversation they highlighted that absenteeism was crucial problem even though they were pioneer in remuneration.Mr.Anurag also emphasized that the turnover of official staff was very high andtheir training cost used to put huge loss on their factory as they concentrated on providing best qualitytraining to them.Standing against competition they also faced the whims of contract labour.Thus all their motivational excercises,attractive and gainful remuneration went down the drain.

Pressures for Growth

Adding capabilities was another route to expansion.They believed that the factory could double in sizesimply by serving needs of its existing clients.However, the availability of consistent production capacity

was an issue of significant capital investment which was required to introduce technological breakthroughs.But key issue in adding new capabilities was whether the capability would be superior,onits own,to leading competitors or it will put loss on the factory?Although they were constantly focusingon forward and backward integration but there existed a vast world that needed to be tapped.

Road Ahead

All the activities related to marketing mix gave Kuber a unique goodwill of being the only set up withhighly reliable attitude.Their intensive reliablility geared up the customersmoral support in repeated

purchase with Kuber,developing a high market share.But the biggest challenge they were facing wasgrowing demand and they were not able to meet it without expanding their production capabilities.Yet

their vision was to become one of the most trusted brands.

Questions:

1. Analyse the Case.

2. What strategies would you recommend for the future to Kuber Tiles?

3. What problems you identify with Kuber Tiles?

4. As an HR Manager what measures would you suggest to retain trained personnel for Kuber Tiles?

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Teaching Notes:

DISCUSS THE PURPOSE OF THE CASE.

The vary purpose of the case is to give an insight of entrepreneurship,marketing,HR,brand building.

DISCUSS THE ISSSUES INVOLVED IN THE CASE.

Following issues are involved in the case

Enterpreneurship skills

Corporate Planning

Management of resources

Division of labour

Span of Management

WHEN SHOULD THE CASE BE TAUGHT?

The case can be taken in the class by the faculty at the time of general managementclasses,entrepreneurship,marketing,HR,Product management.

WHAT SHOULD BE THE PREPARATION EXPECTED FROM THE STUDENTS?

The participants should be aware of elementary entrepreneurial concepts,HR and Marketing concepts.The participants can refer to books and journals.

HOW THE CASE SHOULD BE HANDELED?

The case should be read twice thoroughly ,analyzed individually and in the group of five-six participants.

This case was developed in Twenty Fourth National Case Writing Workshop by Dr.Kalpana Agrawal,,Prof.Vinod Mishra,Prof.Rajesh Jangalwa of Prestige Institute of Management Research,Indore Dr.RajeevShukla of Vaishnav Institute of Technology and Science,Indore.