CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE COMPANY

FASTRACK WATCHES- A SUB-BRAND OF TITAN
Fastrack was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan. It was spun off as an independent
Accessory brand targeting the urban youth in 2005. With a vision to become a complete
fashion brand for the youth, Fastrack quickly extended its footprint to sunglasses in 2005 &
then Bags, Belts and wallet in 2009.1

Fastrackprovocative, tongue-in-cheek advertising, its unique & affordable designs & its quick
extension across categories ensures its popularity with the urban youth audience, making it
one of the fastest growing fashion brands within the country. Its growing presence on
Facebook a fan base that now touches 6 million, keeps it in touch with its audience.

With enough categories to fill up a store, Fastrack moved on to open its exclusive store chain
for its young consumers across the country. The store is positioned as a complete accessories
destination with all Fastrack gear under one roof. The first store was opened in Pune in 2009;
which has now grown to over 150 stores. 2

Fastrack is fashion accessory brand retailing its products in India. The company was launched
in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan Watches. In 2005, Fastrack was spun off as an independent
brand targeting the urban youth and growing fashion industry in India.

HERITAGEAND GROWTH OF FASTRACK

Flashback

Turning back the hands of time to pre-1980s, Tata Press conceived an idea to conquer the
Watch Industry. Initial negated pioneering efforts aside, perseverance won the day. Titan
Watches sprang into being with the signing of a joint venture of Tata Industries with the
Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in June of 1984. From that point
on, it has been full steam ahead.3

1
https://www.scribd.comaccessed on, 03/04/2018
2
http://marketingtantrik.blogspot.com, accessed on, 03/04/2018
3
https://m.titan.co.in, accessed on, 03/04/2018
First Milestone

Titan commenced production end 1986 and hit the market in March 1987 with its brand
Titan. The analogue electronic Quartz range met instant acclaim, appeasing a hungry watch-
starved consumer market. This spurred encouragement and manufacture extended to
bracelets, cases, electronic circuitry and the step motors.

Along the way

Spanning 25-years of growth, the Titan Watch Project became Titan Watches, Titan
Industries and ultimately Titan Company Limited. Production kept an impressive pace,
topping the 15 million plus mark per year. Three years down the trail produced a dividend of
15% today, 2012, sees a declaration of 17%.

Numerous technologies and sources came into play during this period. Progress was swift,
steady and stamped with characteristic Titan Company aplomb. This led to innumerable
achievements and accolades. Audaciously challenging the Swiss, Titan now is the world's
largest integrated own brand manufacturer of watches. A major brand player, Titan stakes
claim to 60% of the organised watch market, with over 150 million pieces sold across 32
countries collectively.

In successive events the 'World of Titan' exclusive showrooms mushroomed nation-wide,

currently totalling 367 plus. The main manufacture facility is situated at Hosur in Tamil Nadu
with assembly units in Dehradun, Pantnagar and Roorkee and an electronic sub assembly
plant in Goa and in India.

Titan Company notably left its footprint in Europe in 1993; then came a major one in the
Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions. Titan now happily ticks its way across over
30countries around the globe.

A brief joint venture with the American brand, Timex, between 1992 and 1998, focusing on
market mass, prospered. The brand Timex jumped to 2nd place next to Titan, in popularity.
On dissolution of the partnership, Titan reclaimed market share by launching Sonata, an
absolute winner, followed by an astute array of wrist wear - Titan, Fastrack, and Xylys
brands, luxury watches and designer timescapes - a range of outdoor clocks - defining
spectacular landmarks in several cities. Pacing on, the Swiss and Japanese watch fraternity
were justifiably astounded, not only with the state-of-art Production facility established by
Titan, but also with its highly trained, dedicated, youthful workforce.

Endorsing the Tata spirit, Charles Correa, a world-renowned architect, was commissioned
and fashioned a complete modern township at Mathigiri in Tamil Nadu, India to
accommodate over 2000 Titanians, complete with an excellent school that doubles as a
learning facility for neighbouring District schools.

Venturing on…

Diversification accelerates progress. Titans expansion plans in 1993 turned to jewellery, with
a brand launch Tanishq in 1996. Then a spate of new ventures followed suit, Fastrack †“
the youth watch and accessories line in 2003; Precision Engineering (now TEAL) in 2005,
Goldplus the standardized mass marketing of jewellery in 2006 (merged with Tanishq in
2017) and the Titan Eyewear Division in 2007 - a project of prescription eyewear, complete
with specialised outlets, catering to customers every need.

Catering primarily to a country which views gold as a prime investment, believes that it is
auspicious, and finds it an irresistible adornment, Titan Company literally struck it rich by its
entry into the world of traditional and designer jewellery. The concept of entering the glitter
field, in order to forge a way out of a foreign exchange crunch of the early 1990s, appealed to
Titan Company considerably. And yet again, though early steps were far from expected, the
innovative Titan spirit came to the fore, turning adversaries into achievement, and how!!

Foreign Exchange being no consequence subsequently caused Titan Company to focus

exclusively on the home market. Tanishq offers a stunning world of exquisite, precious
designer ware through over 200 stores in over 115 cities across the nation.

These two ventures are a pride to India and to Titan Company, for they certainly keep value
conscious customers happy and contented.4

CHAPTER- II

4
https://m.titan.co.in, accessed on, 03/04/2018
 PROMOTER’ S NOTE

The brand has the potential to get snazzier, says brand consultant Harish Bijoor. “While Titan
occupies mind-space of a serious category called time-keeping devices that pack in fashion,
Fastrack occupies a different mindset altogether. It is a younger, more irreverent brand, and
certainly more on the edgy-buzzy side of style and the demand for style from a generation
that is younger. But there is a need for a sharper positioning stance that is bullish, edgy and
buzzy. Buzzier than it is today.”

The brand custodians think the time is just ripe for more collections, and not just on the
wrist! “For Fastrack, the time has come to “move on” into newer “emerging segments” to tap
the youth market, which promises huge potential, says Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director,
Titan Industries.

Fastrack is charting newer territories now in a bid to become a complete fashion brand for the
youth – wallets, bags, back packs and belts. “When we set out our vision in 2005, our aim
was to be a complete fashion brand for the youth. And in order to achieve that, we have now
launched accessories such as belts, bags, wallets and wrist bands. In the 10-year horizon we
are looking at more categories in personal wear to life space,” says Bhasin.5

Harish Bhat says these brand extensions will “increase consumer touch points many-fold for
Fastrack, increase the frequency of consumer interaction for the brand and also increase its
aggregate consumer base.” “Branded accessories as a category is growing at 25 per cent per
year. Given the limited range in the market place, we see large potential for accessories for
the youth, which forms about 55 per cent of the country’s population.”
Ronnie Talati, Business Head, Fastrack, says that the brand is engaging with the youth where
they best like to be: the virtual space. While it’s creating some buzz on the social networking
sites, it is also relaunching its Web site and will transact sales on the site as well. “We are
pushing conversations with like-minded people, not so much the brand,” he says. 6

PRODUCTS OF FASTRACK

5
http://www.tata.com, accessed on, 03/04/2018
6
http://www.tata.com, accessed on, 03/04/2018
 It has established itself as a fashion accessory rather than as a device showing time
without compromising on quality.
 Fastrack watches includes various collections like XY collection,

 Neon disc collection,

 Army collection,
 sports collection,

 bikers collection,
  denim collection.

 Providing watches for every occasion.7

PROMOTION OF THE COMPANY

Fastrack has been unique and aggressive as far as brand promotion is concerned. Trendsetter,
cool, fashionable, youth centric themes are some of the adjectives that is associated with
Fastrack. It uses aggressive and unconventional themes in its advertisement which is bold,
provocative. This helps in gaining attention and therefore the product has a high recall value
with its print, television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Fastrack also promotes the
newness in the product which captures the changing fashion trends among the youth. Themes
like Move On, Never Have I Ever are more provocative and has been more attention
grabbing. Social media platform like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been used
effectively to promote their campaigns which are theme based. Brand celebrities like
cricketer Virat Kohli are the ambassador of Fastrack since he associated being stylish,
ambitious and fashion. This gives an insight in the marketing mix of Fastrack.

7
https://www.slideshare.net/deepaksinghemba, accessed on, 04/04/2018
  To promote the product it uses Mass Communicationthrough 360 degree media blitz.
i.e. Newspaper, T.V, Magazines.
 Maintains image of the product by continuously maintaining freshness in its
communication.
 Most of its advertisements are dominated by youth.The famous fastrack ads were: yes
sir ad, move on ad.
 The most interesting thing in all these Ads is the last statement “HOW MANY YOU
HAVE” which has a hidden strategy.8
CHAPTER- III
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Today Titan is India’s leading producer of watches and is credited with changing the face of
the Indian watch Industry. It has a domestic market share in excess of 50%, in the organised
watch market. Titan industries comported a turn over of Rs. 958.52 crores for a year ended
2003-2004. As a full range producer- Marketer, Titan offers the Indian and International
customers a very large range of products to suit various tastes and budgets. It’s Products are
recognised for innovation in design, quality and reliability.

Titan Industries is India’s leading Manufacturer of watches and jewellery and the world’s 6th
largest manufacturer brand of watches. Established in 1984 as a joint venture between the
Tata group and The Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corp. The company transformed the
Indian watch market offering quartz technology with International styling, Manufactured at

8
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in, accessed on, 04/04/2018
its state- of- the- art factory at Hosur, Tamilnadu in 1995. The company diversified into
jewellery and the brand Tanishq.

Leveraging its understanding of different segments in the watch market, the company
launched a second independent watch brand- Sonata- as a value brand to those seeking to buy
functionally styled watches at affordable prices. It also entered the segment of premium
fashion watches by acquiring a license for global brands such as Tommy Hilfiger. Titan has
also diversified into fashion eyewear with its Fastrack eye gear sunglasses. Further, Titan
leveraged its manufacturing competency and branched into precision engineering products
and machine building in 2003.

AREAS OF BUSINESS

Titan manufacture over 7million watches per annum and as a customer base of over 65
million.

WATCHES:

Titan Manufactures two main brands viz., Titan for the premium segment and Sonata fir the
below $25 category. The Titan brand architecture comprises several brands, each of which is
a leader in its segment. Notable among them are: Titan edge- The world slimmest watch:
Nebula- in solid gold and precious stones; the gold and steel collection; Raga 9 to 5; for the
women achiever, flip- India’s first and only reversible watch with two movements and dial
faces; And Fastrack in the sporty casual category.

Today, Titan has over 60% of the domestic market, share in the organised watch market. It’s
exclusive retail showroom chain- world of Titan- is amongst the largest in its category. Titan
watches are sold through over 9000 outlets in over 2300 cities and in internationally in over
30 countries.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Titan has a clearly defined policy on social responsibility. It’s CSR initiative include children
education, employing the disabled, women’s empowerment, environment management
programmes and other community initiatives. The company is a signatory to the Global
compact and has been awarded the Helen Keller and Mother Theresa awards. It’s watch and
Jewellery divisions are certified under ISO 9001: 2000 quality management system standards
as well as the ISO 14001 environment system standard.

Decade back Titan would predict market requirements for each month of the year a good
6months before the year begin. Gradually, by breaking down its array of products into
discrete buckets, Titan reduced its responds time significantly. The cycle of forecasting sale,
creating a production plan, mobilising components and ascending them into watches was
paired down to four months. But the market getting competitive, Titan was faced with the
danger of style’s star appeal getting trustee even quicker. So now this watch wizard can bring
you a watch in one or two months and, in case of urgent requirements, even in 15 days.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Titan industry has been awarded the following.,

 The president of India’s awarded for employing the disabled.

 Friends of VIL award for employing the handicapped.
 The Titan design team received 7 accreditation’s at the NID- business world Award
including the ‘Young Design Entrepreneur of the year’.
 Titan and Tanishq adjourned “most admired brands” as well as “Retailer of the year”
by images fashion forum.
 Titan retained it ranking as the number 1 brand in the brand equity survey, in the
consumer durables category.

CHAPTER-IV

MAJOR COMPETITORS

 SWATCH

Have a distinct identity with its plastic body and vibrant colours. Limited market share
growth due to competition. Part of the Swatch group that has 28,000 employees across 50
countries operating 900 boutiques around the world. Associated with sporting competitions
has strengthened its brand image.9Top-of-the-mind popular brand across the world. Excellent
advertising and brand image. Emerging markets in Asia like India and China can be the

9
https://www.mbaskool.com, accessed on, 04/04/2018
primary targets for its distribution expansion strategy. Swatch can use its positioning as a
young brand to diversify in different product categories. High manufacturing cost associated
with Swiss brands can lead to switching to lower cost brands. Competition from other youth
watch brands with a trendy and youthful positioning.

 CASIO

CasiosG-Shock, Baby-G, Edifice and Pathfinder as sub-brands are targeted for different
groups and marketed accordingly. Thus, targeting for each sub group is clear and
focussed.Casio is been positioned as being technology advanced. Casio designed world’s first
LCD watch having a full auto calendar. This, with many other innovations are synonymous
with the brand image. Casio has sponsored events in the area of sports that can prove
beneficial to the brand image. Considered value for money and excellent quality. Casio brand
is protected with 1,900+ registered trademarks in 180+ countries around the world. More than
11000 people are employed with the organisation. Electronic musical instruments from Casio
are extremely popular among customers. Tie-up with fashion houses and sponsoring events
More innovative designs and styles to attract the youth. More advertising can boost the
market share of Casio brand and its products.
  TIMEX

There is high brand awareness of the Timex brand, especially in Asia. Timex brands are
known to be high quality and reliable products. The brand enjoys a very high brand recall.

Timex has more than 5000 employees with manufacturing and distribution in over 20
countries and a presence in more than 100 countries across the world. Excellent brand recall
and god advertising through TVCs and print ads. The watch segment in the low to middle
segments is a rapidly expanding environment, especially in the developing markets of Asia.
New technology in the watch segment can open up opportunities. The low to mid level
segment of watches is most crowded with competitors. Price levels in this segment are very
crucial as the consumer is very price conscious. Fake watches that carry the same brand name
and sell cheaply.

 TITAN

Titan has a large network of exclusive stores and service centres. High top of the mind recall
ofthe brand.Different sub-brands under the brand Titan have been successful in their
positioning. One of the world’s top five and India’s biggest watch manufacturer. Titan
watches are exported in over 40 countries. Strong advertising and brand presence of Titan.
The brand uses celebrity brand ambassadors to promote itself. India is an under penetrated
market for watches. Global expansion and tie-ups with global watch and Jewellery brands.
Titan can focus on more brand awareness and having watches catering to every segment.
Broad target segment may lead to lack of focus in brand strategy. Stiff Competition faced by
foreign brands, particularly in the premium segment can decline Titan's market share. Being
an international brand, the company's business is affected by recession and economic
instability.

 DIESEL
A complete lifestyle brand known for its luxury and prey-a-porter clothing aimed at young

adult market. The exclusiveness strategy which saw them intentionally shrink from 10000
points of sale 5000 points of sale. Strong advertising strategy which sees them building
stories around Pictures. One of the first clothing companies to have a major presence on the
internet since 1995. The diversification into other merchandise like sunglasses ,watches,
perfumes, footwear makes it a complete lifestyle brand has over 2500 employees serving in
80 countries . Apart from clothing, it offers watches, footwear, perfumes etc. With rising
concern in eco-friendliness of products Diesel can respond to this concern with promotion
campaigns to instil trust. Diesel can tap emerging retail markets like India and Africa to make
the most of the unsaturated markets there. Outsourcing some divisions in some countries may
help maintain economies of scale. The highly fragmented fashion industry amounts to low
consumer loyalty related to a particular brand due low switching cost and high bargaining
power. The trade barriers which cause fluctuations in currency denominations may cause
losses when it comes to revenues. The emergence of many designers in the jeans segment
may cause a serious threatto their core product.

 HUBOLT

Hublot has developed innovative materials for its watches. Its scratch resistant material called
as Magic gold has been popular worldwide.It has around 40 boutiques worldwide. The
company benefits from the association and experience of its parent company which is a
renowned luxury goods name in the industry. Its known for its fusion of unexpected
innovative materials with traditional precious materials. Hublot has been the first luxury
brand that has associated itself with football. It has gained significant visibility in being the
official timekeeper of major championships and football teams. Hublot double the number of
stores (boutiques) in 2011 providing great growth opportunities for the brand. Luxury
watches are becoming more sought after in developing markets. Since luxury watches are the
first luxury purchase of an individual, stronger presence of its competitors in this segment is a
threat. There is stiff competition in the luxury watches segment. Fake watches that carry the
same brand name and sell cheaply.

 CITIZEN

Citizen has sponsored and associated with prestigious sporting events such as the US open
and the World figure skating championships. Citizen has been following an aggressive
advertising strategy in Asia, particularly in China to strengthen its brand image. The solar
powered series of watches are very popular among the customers. Strong brand name and
high quality watches. The brand has a good presence in Asia and aggressive marketing can
open up opportunities in India as well. Getting knowledge about the demands of loyal and
creating products that are desired by them in order to capture the latent demand. Japanese,
high-end Swiss and low end Chinese models provide tough competition to the brand. Heavy
price competition in the market also poses a threat. Fake watches that carry the same brand
name and sell cheaply.10

MARKET ENVIRONMENT

POLITICAL: Fastrack has the government support.

INTERNAL: being owned by tat group. It has a good ‘Tata’ culture. They take care their
employees.

EXTERNAL: Timex, Casio, swatch rat the very strong competitors .Fastrack have 100
fastrack stores across 50 towns with the titan service centers across India.

CUSTOMERS: mainly targeted for youth.

10
https://www.mbaskool.com, accessed on, 04/04/2018
 CHAPTER-V

PRICING STRATEGIES OF FASTRACK WATCHES

Fastrack has mostly priced its products on a competitive scale. The products of Fastrack has
huge following among the urban youth and have characteristic of being price sensitive. It has
adopted midlevel pricing strategy to capture consumers from urban region who prefer style
over class. The pricing of major products fall between 500 to 5000 INR including the
watches, sunglasses and bags. Similarly the Fastrack products are priced according to the
value addition they offer to consumers. This has been adopted to tackle the competition faced
from other brands in the same segment. Therefore by offering lowest price in the terms of
same products offerings compared to other brands Fastrack is aiming to capture the market
share. There has been process of incentivising the consumers through its vouchers and
discount offers through its purchase in the online and offline stores. The Fastrack products
have been generally termed to be affordable and trendy in terms of its pricing strategy
adopted. This gives an insight in the pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Fastrack
products.11

Fastrack has its presence in many urban centre across the country. The parent brand Titan had
already established its presence across the nation. This has helped Fastrack in the initial
stages to have a wider reach in the market. Also the brand utilises the large format chain
stores like Westside, Shoppers Stop, Central etc. to make the products available to the
consumers. Generally stores trading Fastrack products make use of trendy, stylish and funky
promotions in terms of posters and banners to connect with young consumers. The wide
reach of the Fastrack products has been further enhanced by the use of e-commerce platforms
like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. This has helped in connecting with more consumers
who could not access the existing offline stores for purchasing the products. Service centres
of Titan is spread in more than 250 towns with 740 contact points which also cater to the
needs of its brands like Fastrack and Sonata. Therefore it provides better customer after sales
service and thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF FASTRACK

 Fastrack’s Confrontations Strategy

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The confrontation marketing strategies are a type of marketing warfare strategy designed to
obtain an objective, usually market share, from a target competitor. In addition to market
share, an offensive strategy could be designed to obtain key customers, high margin market
segments, or high loyalty market segments.12

There are four fundamental principles involved in confrontation strategy:

1) Assess the strength of the target competitor. Consider the amount of support that the
target might muster from allies. Choose only one target at a time.
2) Find a weakness in the target’s position. Attack at this point. Consider how long it
will take for the target to realign their resources so as to reinforce this weak spot.
3) Launch the attack on as narrow a front as possible. Whereas a defender must defend
all their borders, an attacker has the advantage of being able to concentrate their
forces at one place.
4) Launch the attack quickly. The element of surprise is worth more than a thousand
tanks.

 Types of Confrontation Strategies

The main types of confrontation marketing warfare strategies are:

 Frontal Attack - This is a direct head-on assault. It usually involves marshalling all
your resources including a substantial financial commitment. All parts of your
company must be geared up for the assault from marketing to production. It usually
involves intensive advertising assaults and often entails developing a new product that
is able to attack the target competitors’ line where it is weak. It often involves an
attempt to “liberate” a sizeable portion of the target’s customer base. In actuality,
frontal attacks are rare. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, they are expensive.
Many valuableresources will be used and lost in the assault. Secondly, frontal attacks
are often unsuccessful. If defenders are able to re-deploy their resources in time, the
attacker’s strategic advantage is lost. You will be confronting strength rather than
weakness. Also, there are many examples of a dedicated defender being able to hold-
off a larger attacker. The strategy is suitable when:
 The market is relatively homogeneous
 Brand equity is low

12
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in, accessed on, 05/04/2018
  Customer loyalty is low
 Products are poorly differentiated
 The target competitor has relatively limited resources
 The attacker has relatively strong resources

 Envelopment Strategy

This is a much broader but subtle offensive strategy. It involves encircling the target
competitor. This can be done in two ways. You could introduce a range of products that are
similar to the target product. Each product will liberate some market share from the target
competitor’s product, leaving it weakened, demoralised, and in a state of siege. If it is done
stealthily, a full scale confrontation can be avoided. Alternatively, the encirclement can be
based on market niches rather than products. The attacker expands the market niches that
surround and encroach on the target competitor’s market. This encroachment liberates market
share from the target.13The envelopment strategy is suitable when:

 The market is loosely segmented

 some segments are relatively free of well endowedcompetitors
 The attacker has strong product development resources
 The attacker has enough resources to operate in multiplesegments simultaneously

13
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in, accessed on; 04/04/2018
  The attacker has a decentralisedorganisational structure.
 Leapfrog strategy

This strategy involves bypassing the enemy’s forces altogether. In the business arena, this
involves either developing new technologies, or creating new business models. This is a
revolutionary strategy that re- writes the rules of the game. The introduction of compact disc
technology bypassed the established magnetic tapebased defenders. The attackers won the
war without a single costly battle. This strategy is very effective when it can be realised.

 Flanking attack

This strategy is designed to pressure the flank of the enemy line so the flank turns inward.
You make gains while the enemy line is in chaos. In doing so, you avoid a head-on
confrontation with the main force.

Titan Industries, though does not completely adopt the above strategy, yet the company uses
it to a great extent in as much as it captured sizeable market share from already established
brands like HMT.

CHAPTER-VI

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT(SCM) STRATEGY AND PRACTICES BY

FASTRACK

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the process of planning, implementing and controlling
the operations of the supply chain as efficiently as possible. Supply Chain Management spans
all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods
from point-of-origin to point-of- consumption. Supply Chain Management encompasses the
planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion, and
logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration
with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third- party service providers,
and customers. In essence, Supply Chain Management integrates supply and demand
management within and across companies. More recently, the loosely coupled, self-
organising network of businesses that cooperates to provide product and service offerings has
been called the Extended Enterprise.14

Some experts distinguish Supply Chain Management and logistics, while others consider the
terms to be interchangeable. Supply Chain Management can also refer to Supply chain

14
http://scm-institute.org, accessed on; 04/04/2018
management software which are tools or modules used in executing supply chain
transactions, managing supplier relationships and controlling associated business processes.
Supply Chain Event Management(abbreviated as SCEM) is a consideration of all possible
occurring events and factors that can cause a disruption in a supply chain. With SCEM
possible scenarios can be created and solutions can be planned.

In operations management as well as materials management, one topic has recently invited
attention of all businesses – it is supply chain management. The difference between the
conventional thinking and SCM is that SCM treats the whole flow of information, materials
and services from the suppliers through factories and stores to the final customer as a
business system. These core activities require management on day-to-day basis so as to fulfil
the demand.
The major objective of supply chain management is to minimise uncertainty and risks
associated with the supply chain. This by itself positively affects inventories, cycle time,
processes and customer service. SCM is another name of systems optimisation. The tools for
this system management are forecasting, aggregateplanning, inventory management and
scheduling. Organisations increasingly find that they must rely on effective supply chains, or
networks, to successfully compete in the global market and networked economy.15 In Peter
Drucker's (1998) Management's New Paradigms, this concept of business relationships

15
Baziotopoulos (2008). "An Investigation of Logistics Outsourcing Practices In the Greek Manufacturing
Sector".
extends beyond traditional enterprise boundaries and seeks to organise entire business
processes throughout a value chain of multiple companies.
During the past decades, globalization, outsourcing and information technology have enabled
many organisations such as Dell and Hewlett Packard, to successfully operate solid
collaborative supply networks in which each specialized business partner focuses on only a
few key strategic activities (Scott, 1993). This inter-organisational supply network can be
acknowledged as a new form of organisation. However, with the complicated interactions
among the players, the network structure fits neither "market" nor "hierarchy" categories
(Powell, 1990). It is not clear what kind of performance impacts different supply network
structures could have on firms, and little is known about the coordination conditions and
trade-offs that may exist among the players.
From a system's point of view, a complex network structure can be decomposed into
individual component firms.16Traditionally,companies in a supply network concentrate on the
inputs and outputs of the processes, with little concern for the internal management working
of other individual players. Therefore, the choice of internal management control structure is
known to impact local firm performance.
In the 21st century, there have been a few changes in business environment that have
contributed to the development of supply chain networks. First, as an outcome of
globalization and proliferation of multi-national companies, joint ventures, strategic alliances
and business partnerships were found to be significant success factors, following the earlier
17
"Just-In-Time", "Lean Management" and "Agile Manufacturing" practices. Second,
technological changes, particularly the dramatic fall in information communication costs, a
paramount component of transaction costs, has led to changes in coordination among the
members of the supply chain network.
Many researchers have recognized these kinds of supply network structure as a new
organisation form, using terms such as "Keiretsu", "Extended Enterprise", "Virtual
Corporation", Global Production Network", and "Next Generation Manufacturing System".
In general, such a structure can be defined as "a group of semi-independent organizations,
each with their capabilities, which collaborate in ever-changing constellations to serve one
ormore markets in order to achieve some business goal specific to that collaboration."18

16
Zhang and Dilts, 2004
17
MacDuffie and Helper, 1997; Monden, 1993; Womack and Jones, 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999
18
Akkermans, 2001.
Several models have been proposed for understanding the activities required to manage
material movements across organisational and functional boundaries. SCOR is a supply chain
management model promoted by the Supply Chain Management Council. Another model is
the SCM Model proposed by the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF).19

STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS
 Strategic network optimization, including the number, location, and size of
warehouses, distribution centers and facilities.
 Strategic partnership with suppliers, distributors, and customers, creating
communication channels for critical information and operational improvements such
as cross docking, direct shipping, and third-party logistics.
 Product design coordination, so that new and existing products can be optimally
integrated into the supply chain, load management.
 Information Technology infrastructure, to support supply chain operations.
 Where-to-make and what-to-make-or-buy decisions
 Aligning overall organisational strategy with supply strategy.
TACTICAL FUNCTIONS
 Sourcing contracts and other purchasing decisions.
 Production decisions, including contracting, locations,scheduling, and planning
process definition.
 Inventory decisions, including quantity, location, and quality ofinventory.
 Transportation strategy, including frequency, routes, andcontracting.
 Benchmarking of all operations against competitors andimplementation of best
practices throughout the enterprise.
 Milestone payments
 Focus on customer demand.
OPERATIONAL
 Daily production and distribution planning, including all nodes in the supply chain.
 Production scheduling for each manufacturing facility in the supply chain (minute by
minute).
 Demand planning and forecasting, coordinating the demand forecast of all customers
and sharing the forecast with all suppliers.

19
Haag, S., Cummings, M., McCubbrey, D., Pinsonneault, A., & Donovan, R. (2006), Management Information
Systems For the Information Age (3rd Canadian Ed.), Canada: McGraw Hill Ryerson ISBN 0-072-81947-2
  Sourcing planning, including current inventory and forecast demand, in collaboration
with all suppliers.
 Inbound operations, including transportation from suppliers and receiving inventory.
 Production operations, including the consumption of materials and flow of finished
goods.
 Outbound operations, including all fulfilment activities and transportation to
customers.

PRICING PRACTICES OF TITAN

Pricing is one of the four aspects of marketing. The other three parts of the marketing mix are
product management, promotion, and distribution. It is also a key variable in microeconomic
price allocation theory. The price floor is determined by production factors like costs,
economies of scale, marginal cost, and degree of operating leverage.Price is influenced by the
type of distribution channel used, the type of promotions used, and the quality of the product.
Price will usually need to be relatively high if manufacturing is expensive, distribution is
exclusive, and the product is supported by extensive advertising and promotional campaigns.
A low price can be a viable substitute for product quality, effective promotions, or an
energetic selling effort by distributors.

From the marketers point of view, an efficient price is a price that is very close to the
maximum that customers are prepared to pay. In economic terms, it is a price that shifts most
of the consumer surplus to the producer. The effective price is the price the company receives
after accounting for discounts, promotions, and other incentives. Price lining in the use of a
limited number of prices for all you product offerings. This is a tradition started in the old
five and dime stores in which everything cost either 5 or 10 cents. Its underlying rationale is
that these amounts are seen as suitable price points for a whole range of products by
perspective customers. It has the advantage of ease of administering, but the disadvantage of
inflexibility, particularly in times of inflation orunstable prices. A loss leader is a product that
has a price set so low that it acts as a promotional device and draws customers into the store.
Promotional pricing refers to an instance where pricing is the key element of the marketing
mix.
The price/quantity relationship refers to the perception by most consumers that a relatively
high price is a sign of good quality. The belief in this relationship is most important with
complex product that are hard to test, and experiential products that cannot be tested until
used (such as most services). The greater the uncertainty surrounding a product, the more
consumers depend on the price/quantity hypothesis and the more of a premium they are
prepared to pay.

PREMIUM PRICING

Premium-pricing (also called prestige pricing) is the strategy of pricing at, or near, the high
end of the possible price range. People will buy a premium priced product because:

1. They believe the high price is an indication of good quality;

2. They believe it to be a sign of self worth - "They are worth it" - It authenticates their
success and status; it is a signal toothers that they are a member of an exclusive group; and

3. They require flawless performance in this application - the cost of product malfunction is
too high to buy anything butthe best.

DEMAND BASED PRICING

Demand based pricing refers to any of the pricing methods that use consumer demand as the
central element. These include: price skimming, price discrimination and yield management,
price points, psychological pricing, bundle pricing, penetration pricing, price lining, and
premium pricing.
 CHAPTER-VII

PLACE IN THE MARKETING MIX OF FASTRACK

Titan launched Fastrack in order to meet the rising demands of a younger generation that
were interested in something funky and cool. The company was interested in targeting the
youth segment in an urban sector that went for style. Rapidly growing retail and e-
commerce market became an inspiration for the brand and it started opening its retail outlets
all over India. These are exclusive stores positioned to provide a complete destination for all
gear related to Fastrack brand under a single roof. The first outlet was opened in the year
2009 in Pune and steadily its network spread to seventy-nine cities that included one hundred
and fifty-eight Fastrack stores.

The brand has an actual presence in nearly 6000 outlets because of its parent company Titan
and its distribution network includes 228 channels of Titan network and 122 format chain-
stores like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Westside and Central. The company has
even switched to online marketing and its products can be purchased through portals
like Amazon India, Snapdeal and Flipkart.20

PRICE IN THE MARKETING MIX OF FASTRACK

Fastrack has realised the importance of a good pricing strategy as it can ultimately make or
break a brand. Its target is the youth, who is interested in a variety of products instead of one
and is a bit sensitive about prices. Hence brand has adopted a mid-level pricing policy for its
products. This makes prices affordable and reasonable and thus allows for bulk buying.
Fastrack has adopted this value-added pricing system so as to create further consumer base by
breaking into the rival customer base. It wants to provide best possible products at lowest
possible prices so that it can create larger sales volume and greater profits.

PROMOTIONS IN THE MARKETING MIX OF FASTRACK

20
https://www.marketing91.com, accessed on; 05/04/2018
Fastrack has adopted a tongue-in-cheek method of advertising that is bold, provocative and
sure to grab the attention of any individual. In order to create a favourable impression, it has
undertaken several promotional policies that will help to create a positive brand awareness.
The brand has utilised the social media to its advantage and has a fan base of more than 6
million on Facebook. Fastrack created a variety of commercials that changed the perception
towards its watches.

Now it was seen as a fashionable accessory instead of a functioning tool. Brand executed
various marketing plans under which its commercials were shown on television, radio,
newspapers, hoardings and magazines. It also participated in outdoor events to create
further brand visibility. Virat Kohli, Indian test team captain in cricket is its brand
ambassador.
 CHAPTER-VIII

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

The return on capital employed has seena significant increase driven mainly by the
enhancement in operational efficiency, including a reduction in capital employed in the
jewellery division, despite the rapid top line growth. Reducing funds were employed in
working capital of the domestic business through new initiatives likesupply chain
management to bring down inventories and costs.The company’s continued efforts have
resulted in a significant reduction in the capital employed, despite a considerable growth in
the turnover.The savings from these initiatives are beginning to kick in and it is expected that
operating margins will continue to show a healthy growth.

TITAN’S CONTRIBUTION IN MAKING FASTRACK ‘MADE IN INDIA’ GLOBAL

Titan’s first foray into international markets was through the export of watch movements in
1989.

This was a result of an arrangement with France Ebauches from whom Titan had sourced its
movement technology to buy back a part of Titan’s production of watch movements.This led
the company to get keen on selling the value-added watch in the international markets instead
of selling the movements.The company first launched its watch range in the Middle East in
1991.The Middle East emerged as the best choice as it had a sizeable non-resident Indian
population that was familiar with the brand.With the availability of Indian newspapers and
television channels, the spillover of domestic advertising was another influential factor.

The first global footprint was placed in the United Arab Emirates — the largest market in the
Middle East.This was followed by an entry into Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and a
few key markets in Africa. Despite competition from global majors, Titan achieved sales of
over 100,000 watches within a year of its launch.With the success of the Middle East venture,
the company was eager to advance its geographic presence.The neighbouring countries of Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives were identified as ideal locations.The company also
moved into the Asia-Pacific markets of Singapore,Vietnam, Malaysia,Thailand, Fiji and
Philippines.

After covering these markets, the company setits sights on Europe.The company decided
against the soft option of driving its globalisation throughprivate label exports. It launched its
watches under its own brand name in the UK market in 1993. The direct sales route was
employed in the UK and the distributor-led route in other markets.

The Mecca of Swiss watches was a huge challenge in every sense of the word.The company
hired leading European designers on a time sharing contract to design a distinctive watch
collection to spearhead its entry in the world market. It alsoset up a separate manufacturing
facility with an annual capacity of 200,000 watches per annum for manufacturing its range of
Euro watches.21

After an extensive survey of the European market, Titan found that with brands jostling for
shelf space, retailers needed good reasons to stock the brand.The need of the hour was also to
create strong consumer demand. So the company unleashed a massive advertising campaign
to create brand awareness. It also participated in the world- renowned Basle Fairs, an annual
event in which the world’s biggest watch and jewellery manufacturers customarily participate
in and unveiled its Eurowatch range at this fair.The company received a huge amount of
interest from major watch distributors and companies.

Soon thereafter Titan inducted a French watch industry veteran and the man credited with
establishing Seiko in Europe, Jacques Meyer, to the board of its overseas subsidiary TIME.
Meyer had a host of distribution contacts throughout the continent and Titan leveraged these
to expandits presence in twelve European markets. It also created a specific campaign for
each market. However, the investments required for sucha strategy were huge. Also, in the
time takento launch, the initial designs had to be augmented with a new collection. So the

21
https://www.ibef.org, accessed on;05/04/2018
company went back to the drawing board and created a completely new collection for the
European market.

The International Business Division launched the Titan brand in two new countries -
Kazakhstan andYemen and its second brand Sonata in Kuwait. Today Titan watches are sold
internationally through a networkof approximately 2500 dealers across the world with
increasing presencein jewellery. Plans are on to enter the markets of Pakistan and Indonesia,
for which market surveys have already been conducted.

FACTORS FUELLING TITAN’S GLOBAL INITIATIVES

The watch industry historically was a licensed industry in India with the only major player
having the license to manufacture watches being HMT. However, HMT was strong only in
the mechanical watches segment. It only made a handful of ordinary looking quartz watches
and neglected styling altogether. In the late 1970s the Government of India as a part of its
efforts to step up watch production in the country had granted TIDCO the licence to
manufacture watches, theother recipients of the license being small-scale units.TIDCO was
seeking an Indian partner to collaborate with and was aware of the Tata Group’s intention to
enter into watch production. The Tata Group saw this as an opportunity and formed a joint
venture with TIDCO to venture into watch production.22

The company made aggressive efforts to ramp up its position in the domestic market. Besides
heavy advertising and publicity to build up a brand name, the company also concentrated on
the design element. At the time of Titan’s entry, the consumer had a total of 400 models to
choose from across various brands and companies.Titan entered with 200 models of its own
and rapidly expanded its product range to over 850 models. Its product development cell
focussed on encouraging consumers to own multiple watches in orderto expand the
market.Titan also revolutionised the retail market with its innovations in enhancing the
customer’s in-shop experience through fashionable outlets.

GLOBALISATION AT A GLANCE

• World's sixth largest watch company

22
https://www.ibef.org, accessed on; 05/04/2018
• Watches exported to Europe, Middle East,Africa,Asia Pacific

• Launched its own brand in 30 countries

• Jewellery exported to the Middle East andSingapore

SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS

Demand for the share causes price fluctuation. If the supply of a particular company's share is
more than the demand in the stock market, it will sell at a lower price. The demand for
a share is determined by several factors most of which are related to the yield from the share.
23STATISTICS OF TITAN WATCHES PRODUCTION WITH PEER COMPANIES

RISK RETURN COMPARISON

Higher risk is associated with greater probability of higher return and lower risk with a
greater probability of smaller return. This trade off which an investor faces
between risk and return while considering investment decisions is called the risk return trade
off.

23
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com, accessed on 07/04/2018
 HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES AND PRACTICES AT FASTRACK- TITAN

There are a number of factors relating to human resources management at Titan Industries
which make it one of the mostemployee-friendly organisations. It makes the organisation an
employer of choice for prospective talents in the industry and is also known as a company
which stresses on creating a non-hierarchical environment, focused on growing in-house
talent, and at the same time, providing a healthy work-life balance for their employees. In this
company, people are allowed to innovate and also make mistakes and learn from them.

HR Philosophy and Policies at Titan :

The HR practice at Titan has focuses on five broad areas. The first is to make sure that that
the values and the philosophy of the company are upheld. This translates itself into having
respect for the individual and giving people space to work, innovate and grow. Nurturing
internal talent and building the leadership pipeline is part of the succession planning process
in the company. The majority of the people in managerial and leadership positions are,
therefore, those who have come through the ranks.
The second is maintaining healthy employee relations, wherein it is ensured that there is a
robust employee reward system and a healthy relationship with the union. Third, in keeping
with the company’s growth ambitions, the right talent is brought on board. On average the
company adds about 1,000 to 1,200 people a year, which is a reasonably large number (this is
primarily at the front line).

Fourth, the company takes utmost care to see that their compensation and reward and
recognition policies are equitable and the differences between the levels are not too high. It is
ensured that the reward systems are such that there are certain timed rewards and there is also
space for spontaneous rewards. The fifth is creating a good, sound culture that withstands the
test of time. The stated ambition of thecompany is to generate revenue of Rs300 billion by
2018. This also means that the company has to increase its size of manpower since it is
looking to grow organically.

Leadership Development at Titan:

Titan believes in practical training and hands on approach or as they call it a feet-on-the-
ground approach to develop leaders from within. The company believes that training
contributes only 10 percent to one’s evolution and development, 20 percent comes through
coaching and mentoring and 70 percent is contributed by on-the-job experience. People are
given the space to grow, the opportunity to take on multiple and varied roles and helped in
evolving into new ones. There is awareness in the company that the person might not deliver
100 percent in the initial period, but it is worth the risk.

Helping Employees with Ethical Issues at Titan:

The company takes pride in having a good ethics management structure. People who are seen
as fair, logical individuals are on the company’s ethics council, which is headed by the chief
ethics counsellor. The ethics function is run in a transparent manner and this approach to
ethics handling and robust practices has been much appreciated in the industry circles.

THE ROLE OF HR IN FOSTERING TEAMWORK AND CREATING A CULTURE

OF COLLABORATION

The company has HR business partners who work with both divisions and geographies. The
role of the HR is to ensure that the line managers are adequately empowered and equipped
with different methods, tools and techniques to get more productivity out of their teams. It
runs training programs in team development to help people understand the composition of
their team, how to handle the different personalities in a team, to make them synergise better
and work harmoniously.

CHAPTER-IX

ROLE OF HR DEPARTMENT IN DEALING WITH EMPLOYEE FRUSTRATION

IN RECESSIONARY TIMES

During the recent recessionary cycle, the company instituted a program called ‘Army of one’,
wherein people were encouraged to contribute towards topline revenue, and generation and
implementation of ideas on reducing costs and wastes. This has led to a lot of productive and
enthusiastic activity, consequently leading to a sharp increase in revenue and control of cost
and waste. The company top management feels confident that they will exceed the set targets
in the present cycles and in the near future, also.

Recruiting New Talent at Titan

As a brand Titan is an attractive proposition and attracting talent is easy for the company. The
company is not on the list of top-end paymasters, but it offers the excitement in terms of
working in diverse businesses, with brands that are well known and in a culture that allows
employees to operate independently, learn from mistakes, and take on greater responsibilities.

Managers with a high potential often feel the need to move to new areas of work this
recharges their faculties, strengthens their own abilities and realises their aspirations. The
company encourages internal mobility as a means of building expertise, generating synergy,
and promoting self-improvement. Internal mobility reinforces the professionalism, diversity,
and competitive spirit at the company, in addition to providing satisfaction and choice to
every individual.

Titan Company has been rated highly by the Gallup engagement survey - with scores for
satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy far higher than the average scores of Gallup India. The
Company has also been rated No.1 in Retail category and 24th overall by Great Places to
Work (2009), an institutional study, in the Economic Times.
 WELFARE FACILITIES

The company provides a host of welfare measures to help retain talent in the organisation
such as, a crèche facility at the manufacturing units,gymnasium, canteen, medical, transport,
etc. Loans for marriage, house deposit allowances, an interest subsidy on housing loans,
vehicle loans, internal and external accident benefits, death relief fund, etc. are offered to
unionised and non-unionised employees.A culture of camaraderie is evident in the
enthusiastic celebration of all Indian festivals and special occasions such as birthdays,
anniversaries, long service awards, cultural programs, sports competitions, business meets,
etc. The company also extends medical facilities and provides highly subsidised food to
workers who are not on its rolls, an act of kindness that goes beyond statutory requirements.

Family members are also made to feel welcome at Titan by including them in awareness
programs, factory visits, family picnics, and celebrations such as Father’s Day, Spouse’s Day,
and Children’s Day and community initiatives. More than 1,000 children participate in the
Children’s Day program each year to display their talent in drawing, painting, music, etc.

Occasions such as, these, are used by the management to communicate the goals and
aspirations of the organisation. Company representatives also visit newlyweds at their
residence to congratulate them and give them gifts, a practice that has helped in bonding
employees and their family members to the company.

The company has also created a structure consisting of small group activities, suggestion
schemes such as SEED and Idea Plus, and cross- functional teams to help employees in
expressing their ideas for improvement within the company. This helps employees to play a
more active and constructive role in their work lives. Employees are recognized and rewarded
for taking the extra initiative, through a well-drawn out three-tiered recognition program,
called as Moment of Fame, Outstanding Titanian, and Dream Team awards. Titan has also
instituted a special recognition program for frontline employees, namely, ‘Face of Titan’,
‘Super Stars’ and ‘Look for Stars’.24

24
http://sdmimd.ac.in, accessed on, 07/04/2018
 EMPLOYEE TRAINING INITIATIVES AT TITAN

The growth and development of its people is very important to Titan. They have a formal
structure to impart knowledge and skills through in-house as well as external training
programs. All categories of employees go through an average of two to five man days of
training each year. The program ensures that the organisation has a continuous supply of
high-potential individuals. The focus is to recognize high performance, address the
aspirations of the talent and provide opportunities for career growth, which will help them,
take leadership roles.

Training is also provided on stress management and yoga, personality development and
grooming, English and Hindi speaking, etc. Additionally, Titan encourages its employees to
participate in public events, seminars and competitions by providing additional training and
mentoring. The company also encourages employees to take up higher studies.

The Tata philosophy is quite evident in Titan’s approach towards its employees. Titanians, in
turn, have acknowledged the approach by naming it ‘a great workplace’.25

Based on the above, one can draw following conclusions for a company to be successful in
terms of strategy and execution and sustain excellence and leadership over a long time
horizon under changing market dynamics.

1. Customer is always first and always be customer-centric and use competition only to
benchmark performance which will help to lead business and lead customer.

2. Re-define the rules of the business to be a leader in the business.

3. Leverage on the human capital and their commitment to the company.

4. Always approach holistically and focus on business excellence than functional excellence
and adopt boundary-less approach with customer in the center.

5. Create an environment which fosters thinking freely and thinking out of the box which in
turn encourages creativity and innovation.

6. Build cross-functional teams to crack business problems to encourage collaboration and

seamless working driving higher productivity and speed.
25
http://sdmimd.ac.in, accessed on 07/04/2018
7. Continuous and quick re-alignment with ever changing market dynamics and customer
expectations and work to surprise and delight the customer by thinking ahead of him.

8. Last and not the least, a host of well designed HR policies, with needed up-gradations
helps the company to reinvent the wheel each time it is faced with challenges and keeps it
going with the support of a largely committed and involved workforce capable of addressing
challenges and issues before they cross the next hump.26

26
http://www.icmrindia.org, accessed on; 07/04/2018
 CHAPTER-X

SWOT ANALYSIS

 STRENGTH

1. Good Distribution Network – over 100 Fast track stores across 50 towns with Titan Service
Centres across India

2. High youth connect – Positioning as a youth stylish brand

3. Fast changing designs to keep up with latest trends

4. One of the most trusted brands in India

5. Excellent advertising and brand visibility connecting with the youth

6. Has a diverse portfolio of watches, sunglasses, bags, wallets etc

 WEAKNESS

1. Products have a short life due to changing trends – Adds to the cost of production

2. Limited global reach despite being a popularbrand

 OPPORTUNITY

1.Fast growing youth segment presents growth opportunities (Titan showed)

2. Global penetration would help brand grow and target youth worldwide.

3. Tie-up with fashion houses and special schemes for youth

 THREATS

1. Youth segment is price sensitive.

2. Entry of foreign players has led to tough competition

3. With lots of options available, brand switching is quite high

 FINDING AND CONCLUSION

As would be seen from the various discussions and the data provided in the case, the
company has endeavored to innovate, survive and sustain in the growing competition in the
watch making industry. The primary focus to herald this initiative has been possible by the
company by redefining its positioning, branding and creating necessary internal levers to
accommodate the same. Specifically, in its initial stages, the company focused on the brand
factor by positing an image in the market that the product created by them (watch) is
something which has more than a utility value , i.e.: it is an accessory. By doing so, the
company deviated from the usual notion prevalent in the minds of the customers and replaced
the same with the styling factor closely associated with smart products capable of projecting
certain brand value in the mind of customers. Secondly, this exercise of projecting the
product as an accessory also gave the company an edge over its competitors by helping them
to segregate the market according to certain demographic factors to create a variety of
products, not only suitable for various age groups, but also keeping in view the cultural fabric
of the Indian subcontinent - creating products for specific occasions like religious festivities,
marriages, birthdays, etc. The result of this was felt in the company’s ability to spin up profits
through market segmentation in a product line traditionally associated only with the utility
aspect.

In the second stage the company further enhanced this organic strategy by further
cannibalizing their product base by redefining some of the product offerings as lifestyle
products. For doing so, as seen in the case, the company needed to reinvent the wheel by
rationalizing and innovating its entire operational processes, which in turn affected and
forced them to change the way they viewed the human factor within the company. Thus, at
this stage the company embarked on a strategic change management process focusing on
three key areas,

by augmenting the human resource by talent development, learning and development

initiatives and provision of specific career paths to the people ; revolutionizing their work
methods by renewing their operational dynamics in terms of product innovation, tie-ups with
other companies for technology transfer and looking at ways and means to rationalize the
operational efficiency for maximizing their output ; diversifying their business by offering
multitude of products by moving away from watch making to jewelry design, production and
manufacturing, the need to serve the customers, keeping in view, the various needs across
cultures prevalent in the Indian subcontinent; leveraging their manufacturing capabilities to
cater to the needs of precision engineering components for industries like automation,
aerospace and automobile.

Thus, it is clear that this case clearly demonstrates the efforts taken by a company which
refused to accept the traditional methods of embracing change normally seen in companies
like it, which have a strong presence as a historical factor. This ability to move away from
functional towards organic change process is a clear sign of a winning company, and not
afraid to diversify into different product lines for its growth, survival and sustenance. Truly,
Titan has lived up to its name.