Owner and Chairman of Welspun Group, B K Goenka has shed his operational responsibilities to take up more strategic and nurturing ones. This move is to empower professionals as the steel to home textiles conglomerate turns into a more customer-focussed group. Goenka stated that the group has become quite large with international operations and a need to be system-driven, with essential risk mechanisms and stronger corporate governance norms. His role will be more of a group trustee, he added. Goenka will now look into investing in start-ups aligned with the group's businesses.

Global consultant McKinsey has been hired by the $3-billion group to craft 'Vision 2020' and build a new organisational DNA for the group. The company earns most of its revenues from selling pipes to global oil companies and towels and bed sheets in both, local and overseas markets.

According to consultants, though the group has an advantage of a first generation entrepreneur managing the business with a big chunk of the revenues coming from overseas, a change in approach is needed for a transformation into a customer-centric business. Supporting this view, Arvind Singhal, Chairman and Managing Director at consultancy firm Technopak said that Welspun was more of a business-to-business group which, does not directly sell to consumers, and so the transition to a B2C (selling goods to retail customers) needs a different DNA.

Besides, the group needs to move steadily in terms of promoters getting out of operating roles so that the vision and entrepreneurial focus does not diminish, Singhal added. He also feels that Goenka has time and can comfortably make it a professionally led group in the next 5-10 years.