The Mahindras have chalked out a succession plan for its flagship Mahindra & Mahindra. As part of the plan, two old-timers--Alan Durante and KJ Davasia--the heads of the automotive and tractors businesses, respectively, will hand-hold their successors till they retire in 2005, upon turning 65.
Ex-General Motors employee Pawan Goenka, who was in charge of the Scorpio project, would be Durante's deputy, while Biswambhar Mishra, head of marketing and sales, will assist Davasia in the day-to-day functions of the farm equipment business. Both Goenka and Mishra have been elevated to the level of chief operating officer.
Davasia's current contract is valid till January 24, 2005, while Durante's contract ends on September 25, 2005. Both Durante and Davasia, currently in their early sixties, have been employed with M&M throughout their working careers, since 1962. It is a policy at M&M for senior executives to relinquish their executive positions on turning 65.
A K Chaudhari, executive vice-president (HR & corporate communications), M&M, said, "As COOs, Goenka and Mishra will be in charge of day-to-day operations of the automotive and farm equipment sectors, respectively. It is an excellent opportunity for them to prove themselves. They could be the first among equals to take over as successors (to Durante and Davasia)."
While the sectoral heads of marketing, sales, supplies, R&D and accounts/finance of the two divisions will henceforth report to their respective COOs, functional heads for HR and exports will continue to report to the sector presidents.
Chaudhari added that Davasia and Durante would henceforth leverage their experience and work at the strategic level for their respective business units.
Pawan Goenka, 50, joined M&M in 1993 after a 14-year stint with General Motors in Detroit. Goenka, who was the executive vice-president (product development) previously, is credited with making the Scorpio project a reality.
On the other hand, Mishra, 53, has 29 years experience in the domestic auto industry, and has previously worked with Tata Engineering, Hindustan Motors and Daewoo Motors India, before joining M&M three years ago. In his last assignment, he was the head of marketing and sales for M&M's farm equipment units.
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