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 Aspy
D Mehta, chief executive officer, Escosoft Technologies, had
held multiple portfolios in his 25-year career. He tells Punita
Jasrotia why it is necessary to constantly compete with oneself
to make a mark
A compelling
desire to bring about change and a missionary zeal in building “the
preferred company”, is what drives Aspy D Mehta, the chief
executive officer of Escosoft Technologies. In a career span of
25 years, Mehta has perfected the art of making organisations perform
in all circumstances. It is his spirit to excel that keeps him going.
“I always had this continuous competition with myself,”
he says matter-of-factly.
Following
his Bachelors in Commerce (B Com) from St Xavier’s College,
Calcutta, Mehta completed his Chartered Accountancy (CA) at the
age of 22 years. His grandfather always wanted him to join the family
business so he continued to work along with his studies. Always
a sports enthusiast, Mehta’s favourite sports are hockey and
table tennis, for which he has even played at the State level.
He
joined ICI in 1974 and continued to work with the company for 11
long years. Mehta says that this phase was a very enriching experience
for him, as he learnt a lot about management tactics and shared
great relationships with his colleagues. The freedom provided in
the working environment enabled him to “look and work”
beyond his job profile and helped him also to develop the art of
thinking “out of the box” for his future assignments.
Joining as a manager in the finance department, his portfolio later
expanded to supervisor and then business accountant. Mehta was also
involved in preparing an IT implementation study for the company,
regarding plans for investments and educating employees. “ICI
helped me gain characteristics like business acumen, ability to
be always alert and ready and be strong when faced with any eventuality,
which is key for succeeding in today’s competitive environment,”
he says.
At
the time of joining the company Mehta had decided to work there
till his retirement, however after a decade he realised that it
was not possible. The company was not making enough profits and
if he had to develop further, he needed to shift from his present
base. This saw Mehta shifting to Lucknow where he joined the LML
Group. Though this move meant a total change in terms of the working
environment, from a professionally-run MNC to a more traditionally-run
work place, Mehta took it as part of the challenge. Being one of
the key members of the newly established plant, he played an important
role in setting up the unit and helped it progress to a manufacturing
capacity of 20,000 scooters every six months. Posted as the head
of LML scooter division-finance, he was responsible for looking
after the business side of the unit. During his tenure of one-and-a-half
years with the company, Mehta also initiated their IT division and
helped in computerisation of the accounting and sales departments.
This
assignment however could not hold his interest for long. Soon afterwards
he realised that there was little scope for further growth in the
set-up. So, when he got an offer from Escorts in 1986 to head the
finance department of their Yamaha plant near Calcutta, he decided
to move. Mehta was also offered to head the finance and “business
steering role” for Nikitasha, another company of the Escorts
group, mainly involved in indigenous manufacturing of television
and ovens. As the second offer meant wider opportunity in the job
profile, Mehta opted for it. But, this position brought its own
set of challenges. “The television market was consolidating
at that time and the industry was not in a growth phase. Consequently,
being in the indigenous TV manufacturing sector the company had
to bear losses.” It was his responsibility to introduce a new
line of business engineering, cutting down on the wastage (be it
in terms of R&D projects or employees), and also streamlining
the company’s processes for gaining a better financial opportunity.
Mehta
meanwhile wanted to return to Escort’s mainline business group,
but did not get a challenging job which could hold his attention.
This led him to join the Gujarat Heavy Chemicals (GHC) as vice president-finance.
Later in 1991, he was posted in Germany for the overseas functioning
of the company’s management board. However, due to certain
funding issues the project could not work out. Sensing the lack
of growth and opportunity, he decided to come back to India in 1993
and joined Escorts as a senior member of their corporate team.
“This
time I had a great job and was given the responsibility of an associate
vice president,” he says. Mehta was soon promoted as the chief
controller, overseeing all levels of business and also IT infrastructural
issues. He played a key role in helping Escorts make an entry into
the software business by creating a wholly owned subsidiary called
Escosoft Technologies. “At the time we decided to start Escosoft,
we already had a 200-strong IT division, possessing expertise in
manufacturing, healthcare and telecom domains. While this was an
altogether different experience, we had, at the outset, decided
that we will run it as a professionally managed company at all levels.”
Firmly
believing in the value of strategic partnership, this saw Escosoft
Technologies partnering with Computer Associates and IFS of Sweden.
Primarily having two divisions, namely the Software Group and the
Interactive Games & Animation Group, the company is all set
to achieve a 60 percent growth in the coming financial year.
Mehta
believes that the reason for his success has been his dual approach
towards business and life. Firstly, working with a sense of belonging
and ownership, and secondly always practising humility.
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