S V Ganapathi: A True Business Leader Striving To Incapsulate Perfection In Their Operations
S V Ganapathi
Managing Director
In an exclusive interview with CEO INSIGHTS, S V Ganapathi talks more about his professional journey and the operations of Phenomenex India.
Kindly throw some light on your professional background and experience that directs the company’s progress and helps in molding strategic business modules for Phenomenex India?
I had a humble beginning as Sales Officer in Tulip Diagnostic P Ltd (now with Perkin Elmer). I have worked for a couple of clinical Diagnostic firms for the first 14 years in progressive roles, including Zonal Head for the South and West region. This is the period wherein I received maximum number of coaching on various skill sets including sales, marketing, process management, and commercial excellence.
I have travelled to different parts of India and met the healthcare professionals and Medical research fraternity and after that, I moved to Biotechnology/ Life Sciences sector by joining Millipore India which is part of Merck Group now. From 2008 till now, I have been fortunate to be in this thriving industry, meeting the C-Suite leaders of various Pharma, Biopharma, Research institutes, and industrial organizations. The last 13 years have specifically transformed me
from a people manager to a capable and competent people leader.
In my earlier roles as Business Unit leader at Pall Life sciences and later as Sales Director for APAC for a product portfolio and as a Global Product Manager, the KPIs were achieving the business requirements. However, when I assumed the role of MD, the scope was beyond business growth. I had the responsibility to lead functions as well. Functions like HR, Customer support, Supply chain, Marketing and Market development all reported to me and I had accountability to lead them successfully. Though Finance & IT reported to me on matrix level, I was still the responsible person for audits, compliance and legal matters.
My professional background and all the experience and training I received helped me build a convincing game plan for Phenomenex India and when I joined the company as MD, the goals I had set to achieve were improving employee engagement and productivity, giving visibility to associates on their growth and development and bringing disruptive changes in the process for impactful growth and desired outcomes. I have always believed that only an engaged employee can bring a positive outcome to an organization. Productivity is directly proportional to engagement. And engagement can be achieved when we connect the KPIs of the associate with the overall vision and mission of the organization. Strategic business models should be dynamic as per the requirement of the customer and market.
How does Phenomenex India stand unique in the market when compared to the rest of the competition?
First, Phenomenex India has this unique model of Inside Sales and none of our competitors have a robust inside sales concept and this is a big differentiator. Associates are our biggest strength and apart from that, Phenomenex leverages Danaher Business System. Also, our customers are our driving force and our products are used in Pharma, Biopharma, research institutes and
In my earlier roles as Business Unit leader at Pall Life sciences and later as Sales Director for APAC for a product portfolio and as a Global Product Manager, the KPIs were achieving the business requirements. However, when I assumed the role of MD, the scope was beyond business growth. I had the responsibility to lead functions as well. Functions like HR, Customer support, Supply chain, Marketing and Market development all reported to me and I had accountability to lead them successfully. Though Finance & IT reported to me on matrix level, I was still the responsible person for audits, compliance and legal matters.
If we are aiming for inspirational leadership then first, we need to prove our trust worthiness to the TEAM
My professional background and all the experience and training I received helped me build a convincing game plan for Phenomenex India and when I joined the company as MD, the goals I had set to achieve were improving employee engagement and productivity, giving visibility to associates on their growth and development and bringing disruptive changes in the process for impactful growth and desired outcomes. I have always believed that only an engaged employee can bring a positive outcome to an organization. Productivity is directly proportional to engagement. And engagement can be achieved when we connect the KPIs of the associate with the overall vision and mission of the organization. Strategic business models should be dynamic as per the requirement of the customer and market.
How does Phenomenex India stand unique in the market when compared to the rest of the competition?
First, Phenomenex India has this unique model of Inside Sales and none of our competitors have a robust inside sales concept and this is a big differentiator. Associates are our biggest strength and apart from that, Phenomenex leverages Danaher Business System. Also, our customers are our driving force and our products are used in Pharma, Biopharma, research institutes and
academia, and all industries wherein analytical instruments are used. Apart from that, our Quality, Innovation, Delivery, Cost and Productivity that we bring in whatever we do, be it products, processes, plans and people helps us to always stay ahead of the curve.
Tell us about your R&D and infrastructural facilities and highlight the various quality control measures you resort to, to ensure quality-based outcomes?
Our R&D set ups and manufacturing units follow all safety and procedural guidelines to ensure the highest standard of quality. Again, for this segment, we have specific DBS modules. At R&D, we have domains built around Innovation and Strategy and here we focus on Product to Portfolio, Customer insights, NPD, and Customer Experience to name a few. Under Innovation and execution, we have modules like Danaher software system and visual project management and for manufacturing, we follow Lean principles and have built domains around reliability, operations, procurement and materials. We also have modules which addresses quality, production process improvements, inventory /cost & funnel/freight and logistics management. Also, as a Danaher company, Phenomenex drives Kaizen events for continuous improvement in whatever we do.
Please mention the awards and recognition you have received in your journey till date? Also, what advice would you like to give to the young entrepreneurs in India?
In my 27 years of professional experience, I have won the best salesperson award and the best employee award on multiple occasions. I have also received OpCo President’s award for outstanding contribution, Award for Integrity and Compliance, and Best Business Unit within the OpCo and region to name a few.
As far as my advice is concerned, the famous Richard Branson quote that he penned in 2014 goes “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to”. This statement carries a lot of meaning, and it should be the driving force of every entrepreneur. Undoubtedly, it is self-discipline, ownership and passion to excel that gives success. If we are aiming for inspirational leadership then first, we need to prove our trust worthiness to the TEAM. And trust worthiness is enhanced ONLY when we put others before us. Being selfless and behaving like a true and serving leader.
Tell us about your R&D and infrastructural facilities and highlight the various quality control measures you resort to, to ensure quality-based outcomes?
Our R&D set ups and manufacturing units follow all safety and procedural guidelines to ensure the highest standard of quality. Again, for this segment, we have specific DBS modules. At R&D, we have domains built around Innovation and Strategy and here we focus on Product to Portfolio, Customer insights, NPD, and Customer Experience to name a few. Under Innovation and execution, we have modules like Danaher software system and visual project management and for manufacturing, we follow Lean principles and have built domains around reliability, operations, procurement and materials. We also have modules which addresses quality, production process improvements, inventory /cost & funnel/freight and logistics management. Also, as a Danaher company, Phenomenex drives Kaizen events for continuous improvement in whatever we do.
Please mention the awards and recognition you have received in your journey till date? Also, what advice would you like to give to the young entrepreneurs in India?
In my 27 years of professional experience, I have won the best salesperson award and the best employee award on multiple occasions. I have also received OpCo President’s award for outstanding contribution, Award for Integrity and Compliance, and Best Business Unit within the OpCo and region to name a few.
As far as my advice is concerned, the famous Richard Branson quote that he penned in 2014 goes “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to”. This statement carries a lot of meaning, and it should be the driving force of every entrepreneur. Undoubtedly, it is self-discipline, ownership and passion to excel that gives success. If we are aiming for inspirational leadership then first, we need to prove our trust worthiness to the TEAM. And trust worthiness is enhanced ONLY when we put others before us. Being selfless and behaving like a true and serving leader.