Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Biocon India (Biocon), the number one biotech company in Asia in terms of revenues
and market capitalization, was founded in the backyard of a suburban house in
Bangalore in 1978 as a small operation of enzyme extraction. The woman behind
Biocon - Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Kiran) who dreamt of starting her own business
with just Rs. 10,000 in hand and a degree in brewery - is now the richest woman in
India.

Kiran was born and brought up in Bangalore in the state of Karnataka, India. She
hailed from a middle-class family, which encouraged her to pursue higher
education. Following the footsteps of her father, who was chief brewmaster in
United Breweries, she went to Ballarat College in Melbourne, Australia, to
specialize in Malting and Brewing Technology to become India's first woman
brewmaster. Kiran came back to India in 1975 expecting to get lucrative job
offers. However, she did not receive any. Though she possessed the required
technical qualifications, her chosen profession was completely male-dominated
one. After staying for two years as a consultant in India, Kiran went abroad and
found a job in the UK There she met Leslie Auchincloss (Auchincloss), the
owner of Biocon Biochemicals Limited, an Ireland-based company. Auchincloss
was planning to start a business in India. The Irish company wanted to
establish its operations in India to produce simple bio-products from indigenous
raw materials after meeting Kiran and seeing her confidence, determination the
company collaborated with kiran and floated two joint ventures, Biochemizyme
and Biocon-Quest India Ltd. Biocon had emerged as the 1 biotech company in
Asia, and 16 in the world in terms of revenues and market capitalization.

The company made its initial offer of shares to the public in March 2004. The
shareholders earned handsome returns on their investments as the stock,
which was offered at Rs 315, touched a high of Rs 780 in early November 2004
. Reportedly, Kiran had to break through the 'glass ceiling' effect on several
occasions being a woman entrepreneur in the traditional Indian society. She
believed that Indian women can do well in business even if they don't belong to
a business family or have political influence or immense wealth. Kiran believed
that women in India were not meant for only certain kind of jobs like teacher,
nurse or personal secretary, or for running a small or cottage industry at the
most. She considered herself a representative of the modern women who could
work shoulder-to-shoulder alongside men and build mega businesses.
Expressing a deep desire for equality, she said in her award acceptance
speech, "I do hope that in the not-too-distant future, there will be one award
for men and women alike - the Businessperson of the Year Award."

Biocon started with the manufacture and export of Papain, a plant enzyme, and
Isinglass, a marine hydrocolloid, which are key products for the brewing
industry. Within two years, Biocon established a steady flow of exports to
Ireland. As the offtake of the company's products by Ireland grew, Biocon's
manufacturing activity was shifted from the rented garage to a 20-acre site
near Bangalore city in 1983. Kiran was not content with the steady growth in
the product off take by the Irish company. In 1984, she decided to recruit a
team to commence research and development (R&D) in new areas of enzyme
technology.
The Biocon group has many success stories to its credit. It has been successful in
setting up a premier educational institution called the Institute of
Bioinformatics and applied Biotechnology(IBAB) in Bangalore, which imparts
Biotechnology training and education. But the most important success stories
of the Vision Group are the conception and organization of Bangalore Bio , an
annual event to showcase biotechnology opportunities and initiatives.

Without resting on her past laurels, Kiran has moved onto even more challenging
ventures of developing insulin and drugs that can cure cancer. With 120 mn
diabetic patients worldwide and 30 mn in India, diabetes had emerged as an
important area for disease research. Biocon, through its subsidiary - Clinigene,
embarked on a longitudinal research program in Type II diabetes. In the later
half of 2004, Biocon launched recombinant human insulin under the brand
name 'Insugen.' The product pitted Biocon against leading multinationals like
Eli Lilly25 who had already lowered prices.
 1. What qualities did Kiran Mazumdar Shaw possess?

2. How was she different from other businessmen of her time?

3. What strategy she followed to compete in the market?

4. In which areas she has diversified?

5. How she brought her dream into reality?