In October, Pawan Goenka, the executive director who heads the vital automotive and farm equipment sectors at Mahindra & Mahindra, made a presentation at this year’s Forbes India Leadership Awards in Mumbai. He demonstrated how, in a resource-constrained country like India, jugaad, or homegrown innovation, can help overcome major challenges. Goenka is, perhaps, the best person to speak on the subject. In the 21 years that he has been with Mahindra, he, together with present group chairman Anand Mahindra, has successfully transformed the company from a relatively insignificant player to one of the biggest names in India’s auto sector, and one with serious global ambitions. M&M has demonstrated that if an organisation and its leadership have the stomach for calculated risks and a focus on product development and innovation, results will most often follow.
(This story appears in the 12 December, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)