Big bazaar, Pantaloons and
Central must have attracted every Indian consumer through its product diversity
and competitive pricing. But the how a man managed to establish modern retail
in India where retailing was largely disorganised and lacked any success story
to imitate? It Happened in India is
the story of Future Group, of Big bazaar, Pantaloons and Central, of Kishore
Biyani, of Modern Retail. In the book Kishore Biyani and Dipayan Baishya have
elaborated the genesis and development of the entrepreneur Kihsore Biyani.
The book has eight chapters, but
could be divided into three distinct parts: emergence of Kishore as an
entrepreneur, establishment and growth of Future Group, and the management
style and future outlook of the company.
Kishore despite his middle class
trading family background had the power to dream big and understand the
intricacies of business. He mustered the courage to tread the unexplored path
and demonstrated his entrepreneurial ability. Ability to arrange Dandia nights
in his locality, launching of WBB fabric brand acted as the steeping stones for
Kishore.
Future group had confidence in
the consumption power of Indian consumer and thus focused on the common people.
The book explains how the group understood Indian consumer, how the Sarvana
store of Chennai acted as a role model for the group, how issues related to
real estate, advertising were managed.
The book also discusses the
management style and organization issues of the group. Some of the management
concepts are explained in a digestible format for easy understanding of an
average reader.
The short narrations by various
stakeholders attached to the business make the book interesting. The narrations
provide a neutral view on Kishore’s management style and the merits-demerits associated
with it.
The detailed descriptions on
management principles and functional aspects appear more of a text book kind of
reading. Some of the management styles and principle discussed lacks any kind
of uniqueness and appears common across the industry, so some portions of the
book may look redundant.
If you want to understand the
evolution of modern retail in India, this book will be a help.
