Editor's Letter: Commanding Respect

Most people have heard of Tesla Motors. It was a company founded by Elon Musk and a group of engineers in Silicon Valley in 2003 with the vision of making electric cars with zero emission. The long-term object is to replace those which run on petrol and diesel. It was a bright idea; and it was driven by the world’s concern to end the damage caused by fossil fuels and move towards more sustainable transportation.

It was not just a bright idea; it was an idea that worked. The cars Tesla produces have instant torque, and immense power that put the gasoline-fired ones to shame. Their batteries can be charged at home and there is no going to the petrol station. The popular Model S which has sold 55,000 units this year is a runaway hit and there is a huge waiting list. Customers are now queuing up for the new, snazzy Model X SUV.

On the other hand, Tesla is to yet taste a year of actual profit. It lost $294 million in calendar year 2014, $74 million in 2013 and $396 million in 2013. Yet the market loves the company. Its shares continue to rise despite reporting quarterly losses. Research reports routinely put a ‘buy’ option on the stock. Last November, Model S became the first electric car to win the coveted ‘Motor Trend Award of the Year’. So, despite continuing challenges and facing near bankruptcy once, Tesla is seen as a company of the future. It is a ‘Most Respected Company’.

That’s what we are talking about in the current issue. There are companies that are behemoths. India Oil Corporation has revenues of $4.51 lakh crore; Reliance Industries (RIL) reported revenues of Rs 3.88 lakh crore for FY2015. Some big companies are hugely profitable too. But then there are other ways of looking at a company. Is a company built on evolving trends, or on a product line that is eventually going to die? Is it a receptacle for new ideas, or is it hidebound, clinging only to the tried and tested? What are the standards of governance? Are employees slave-driven or is their productivity a quotient of a happy environment?

This is the stuff that makes or mars ‘respect’. Some companies lay more importance to the long-term value of gaining good perception over immediate results. A company that stands on the high ground of good and ethical business practices may not be the most profitable, but it makes for a better corporate citizen. Google, which has emerged at the top of the Most Respected Companies list in the Businessworld survey, is seen as great on innovation, and a favourite for creating good and friendly workplaces.

Businessworld and TNS Global, a market research subsidiary of Kantar Media, did a survey in two phases interviewing over 1,200 CEOs and senior executives, to bring to you India’s most respected companies. Both unprompted responses as well as giving points for specific ‘respect’ parameters have been used to cull out the best as well as the sectoral leaders. And for the first time, respondents were asked to name the company they ‘least respect’!

As we enter 2016, and wish each other ‘Happy New Year’, most of us are glad that a stormy year is over. Narendra Modi and his government too would want to put 2015 firmly behind them as a year where little was done and the day was saved only perhaps because international oil became so cheap, it made everything affordable. We have asked a dozen wise men to do a bit of crystal-ball-gazing into the year ahead and predict what is likely to happen.

There is great variation but strangely the common thread among them is a feeling that the worst is over, the markets have bottomed out, and that a pick-up is on the horizon. Wishful thinking or scientific alchemy? We’ll find out soon!

(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 11-01-2016)