Dr Prathap C Reddy seems on course to navigating succession issues by trusting the mutual respect shared by his four daughters. Even as a model of rotating chairmanship is being proposed, the Reddy sisters are only focussed on the secure future of Apollo Hospitals
More often than not, first-generation entrepreneurs have been known to flounder on the succession issue. Not only is it a touchy—even volatile—subject, it is also left unresolved till too late due to either oversight or complacence. But Dr Prathap C Reddy, founder-chairman of Apollo Hospitals, is not shirking this responsibility. The 81-year-old promoter has been preparing for the future for a while now, grooming his daughters into various leadership positions in the hospital chain set up by him, while he continues to play an active role.
And they haven’t let him down. “My daughters got passionately involved in the business. They did everything,” says the proud father. “They even printed the first brochure of Apollo Hospitals, which was so good that people in the US didn’t believe it was made in India. They were involved right from that level.”
The Ties That Bind
Not that the sisters claim to be above a fight or two. “We are very different people. Suneeta is an introvert; Sangita is someone who thinks things through. We are not like peas in a pod. We understand that and are respectful of boundaries,” says Shobana. In this respect, a ground rule set by their mother Sucharitha Reddy has proved particularly useful. “Mom said that even if you fight, don’t sleep on a fight. She taught us to say sorry before sleeping, irrespective of who is at fault,” says Sangita who has led the group’s retail health care foray, which includes Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd. A firm believer in technology, she is also working on the digitisation of all patient records and making Apollo a paperless organisation.
A Rs 2,500-crore capex plan has been allocated for the next three years of which Apollo has already spent Rs 600 crore. Growth will also come through acquisitions. “We are in a high growth phase. We have incubated new companies. We will be building more infrastructure and capacity. It is going to be very challenging,” says Suneeta.
(This story appears in the 28 November, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)