By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Five Indian companies led by Tata Group’s Indian Hotels, Godrej Industries and Yes Bank figure in the list of the world’s 25 ‘unsung’ innovative companies by BusinessWeek magazine.
The other Indian firms on the list are Bajaj Holdings & Investment and Bata India.
‘The world’s 25 unsung innovative companies’ includes “firms which have failed to get a position on the list of world’s most innovative companies but are likely to become household names like Apple, Google in the next 10-20 years,” the magazine said.
“Apple, Google, Toyota, and Microsoft-the corporations at the top of this year’s Most Innovative Companies ranking are household names the world over.
But they wouldn’t have all been winners 10 or 20 years ago. The same may be true 10 or 20 years from now,” it said.
The ‘unsung’ list is based on a Boston Consulting Group survey of senior executives across the world when asked to name an innovator others would not think of.
About Indian Hotels, which runs the luxury hotel chain of Taj Hotels & Resorts, the magazine said, “its slick and modern accommodations and attentive service, which it attributes to a merit system that links employee pay to customer satisfaction ratings.”
Bajaj Holdings “is known for tailoring products and services to the Indian market”, Bata India “products are known for their durability and Indian flair” and Yes Bank “has carved out a niche in India by using technology to keep costs low while providing ‘value added services’ to its customers,” Businessweek said.
While Godrej Industries’ “products array may seem mundane, the company is developing customer-relationship software that will enable buyers to track orders and transactions and receive updates through personalized Web pages,” it noted.
Despite recession and market meltdown, “many of the corporations on the 2009 ranking are finding ways to forge ahead,” the magazine said noting some like “India’s Tata Group (No. 13), are taking greater advantage of in-house experts.”
IBM (No. 6) “is shifting more jobs to low-cost places like India while broadening its services through acquisitions, the magazine noted.