A Toast To The Captain
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” — Herman Melville
Behind every successful enterprise are factors like a steady leadership, adequate capital, an effective growth plan and an ability to tackle and adapt to changing market needs. Yet we only celebrate the persona who lead from the front – the leaders – for are they not the helmsmen who steered the ship, even though the crew were accomplished too and the ballast was just right?
This special issue, in which we cheer on the ‘Most Valuable CEOs’, comes after a gap of two financial years, the past couple of years having been among the most challenging for Corporate India. It is a continuation of sorts of the previous two special issues, the BW 500 (issue dated 26 February, 2022) and the Most Respected Companies (issue dated 4 June, 2022) that we brought out with the help of our knowledge partner, TechSci Research. For all practical purposes, the work of shortlisting eligible companies and their CEOs began with analysing the financial data of the past few financial years. Additional filters and parameters were also applied to showcase leaders who generated value for their companies and their shareholders through the challenging economic environment of the past few years.
Based on financial parameters like average growth rate, average market capitalisation and leadership continuity at the top, particularly during the last three financial years, the companies were placed across four categories determined by their total income, namely Super Heavyweight (revenue of more than Rs 20,000 crore), Heavyweight (revenue between Rs 7,500 crore and Rs 19,999 crore), Middleweight (revenue between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 7,499 crore) and Lightweight (Rs 250 crore to Rs 2,499 crore).
Companies with a negative average growth rate and those that underwent changes in leadership during this spell missed the shortlist of around 150 companies. It must be made absolutely clear that the names profiled and presented are not ‘rankings’ per se. In fact, there are no rankings, but only an editorial selection out of the pool of companies shortlisted by TechSci Research. We could not showcase many companies for constraint of space.
Also read our In Depth reports. The successful culmination of 5G spectrum auctions is a major turning point for the telecommunications industry, which will not only accelerate internet speed, but also generate jobs. The Indian arm of the Japanese automobile giant, Yamaha Motors, has undergone a dramatic turnaround under its newly appointed chairman. The health insurance penetration is growing at a fabulous pace in India, but there is scope for more growth in this business. Of course, we also bring to you all our regular columns and features.
Happy Reading!
