Ranbaxy Laboratories: India's First Multinational

<< Previous

Introduction

Ranbaxy Laboratories (Ranbaxy), one of India's leading pharmaceutical companies recorded sales of Rs. 37.14 billion and a net profit of Rs. 6.48 billion in 2002. The company's global forays had paid rich dividends. Under the leadership of, first Parvender Singh and subsequently, D S Brar, Ranbaxy had made significant progress in its plans to become an international research based company. Ranbaxy had a strong presence in the US generics market.

But in late 2003, when CEO D S Brar announced that he would resign shortly, analysts became concerned. They wondered whether a phenomenon quite visible in other Indian family controlled businesses might repeat itself at Ranbaxy – the promoters getting involved in day-to-day management at the expense of professional managers.

As Brar prepared to make way for his successor, Brian Tempest, many senior executives put in their papers. These included Rashmi Barbhaiya, R&D Chief, K Srinivas, Head of API (Active Pharma Ingredients) business, Vinod Dhawan, Regional Director, Asian-Pacific, Vijaya Sampat, VP-Legal and Company Affairs and Sanjeev Sethi, Director, Regulatory Affairs. Press reports speculated the impact of these changes on one of India's most respected companies. Despite these concerns, the business model that Ranbaxy had built was unique in many ways.

Ranbaxy was founded in Amritsar in 1937 by Ranjit Singh and Dr Gurbax singh, who distributed vitamins and anti-tuberculosis drugs for a Japanese pharmaceutical company. After the Second World War, Ranbaxy continued as a distributor. In 1951, Ranbaxy took over the North Indian distribution for Lapetit, an Italian pharmaceutical company...

Excerpts >>

Custom Search

---

Economics for Managers Textbook Textbooks Collection	Economics for Managers Workbook ICMR books Collection	Case Studies in Business Strategy Volume VI Case Study Volumes Collection