AGM speeches stand out as fine examples for contemporary reality

Two of India's largest fast moving consumer goods companies, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and ITC, saw their chairmen speak at their recent annual general meetings on matters beyond the conventional calculus of commerce.

This is remarkable and welcome. ITC chairman Deveshwar reiterated the company's decade-old commitment to profitability that reinforces rather than shortchanges environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

He went on to make good use of the current focus on India's yawning current account deficit to underline the importance of ITC's efforts to create Indian brands, so that royalty payments to foreign brands do not add significantly to the deficit.

HUL chairman Harish Manwani's speech took in a broader sweep of contemporary global trends to explain company strategy.

He borrowed a coinage from military-speak , Vuca, standing for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, to describe today's world. From the shift in demand growth to the emerging world and the change this calls for in products and pricing, to digitisation and the gathering natural resource crunch, Manwani covered holistic ground to conclude that companies have to focus on responsible growth, in addition to consistent, competitive and profitable growth.

This obligation translates into conserving water to the extent of being net water rechargers, of creating products that create genuine value for individuals and communities and imparting knowledge and training that devolve to responsible, profitable growth for the company. HUL focuses on nurturing talent with the right values as part of such growth, he took pains to point out.

These AGM speeches stand out as fine examples of explaining how corporate strategy is forged from analysis of contemporary reality.