Six business, education and healthcare leaders win Qimpro Awards 2010

The Qimpro Awards instituted by the Qimpro Foundation in 1990, highlight the quality achievements of extraordinary individuals in an era of global competition and expectations.

Each year the awards attract entries from committed quality leaders, in the top 500 companies as well as educational and healthcare institutions.

Qimpro Awards for 2010 were presented to six individuals on 24 February in recognition of their achievements in business, education and healthcare at a function held at Gallops, Mahalaxmi.

Welcoming the delegates and delivering the keynote address Suresh Lulla said, the Qimpro awards were initiated on the advise of renowned quality gurus like Dr Juran and Dr Joseph. He said in the final analysis India needs hundreds of gold standards and platinum standards in different categories to transform India into one of the most developed nations as also one of the most trusted nations.

The winners are selected by three eminent panels in the respective category, each panel chaired by the respective Qimpro Platinum Standard of the previous year.

Selection criteria for Qimpro Platinum Standard

National Statesman for:

• Business Excellence
  
• Educational Excellence
  
• Healthcare Excellence

Candidates should be national role models on several of the following criteria:

• Visionary leadership
  
• Trustworthiness
  
• Ethical behavior
  
• Institutional governance
  
• Stakeholder focus
  
• Social responsibility
  
• Rural focus
  
• Green practices
  
• Innovative solutions
  
• Best practices

Selection criteria for Qimpro Gold Standard

• Institutional Leader for:
  
• Business Excellence
  
• Educational Excellence
  
• Healthcare Excellence

Candidates should have achieved results through best practices, for a specific organisation/institution, in several of the following areas:

• Deliverables outcomes
  
• Stakeholder-focused outcomes
  
• Market outcomes
  
• Human resource outcomes
  
• Governance outcomes
  
• Organisational effectiveness outcomes
  
• Social responsibilities outcomes
  
• Financial outcomes
  
• Green outcomes

The roll of honour for the Qimpro Awards 2010 included:

Qimpro Platinum Standard: Business

Om Prakash Bhatt: chairman, State Bank of India: For providing a rare combination of visionary leadership, performance excellence, people focus, and principle-centred values. He leads a 204 year old national institution with managerial practices appropriate for the 21 st century

Bhatt has served SBI for almost four decades, in India, England and the US. His vast experience enables him to recognise best practices in the banking sector. Several of these practices have been innovated for customer-driven quality at SBI. They also serve as a benchmark for other Indian banks, governmental and private.

Bhatt as chairman is credited with the transformation of SBI from a traditional transaction based, bureaucratic bank to a modern, customer focused, technology driven organisation with great success. His success in transforming the banking institution is the subject for case studies at management institutions.

According to Bhatt, people make the vital difference in transformation. In order to address his aggressive growth plans, Bhatt designed a unique change management programme, Parivartan, that was successfully rolled out to over 140,000 employees across all cadres in only 100 days. The focus of Parivartan was on cultural and attitudinal change as well as customer focus and social responsibility.

As a strategist, Bhatt has expanded SBI's presence in the international rural and agricultural markets, always with a sharp understanding of customer needs. Consequently, the world ranking of SBI has grown from 107 in 2006 to 68 in 2010 as assessed by The Banker Magazine of Financial Times, London.

Apart from SBI, Bhat also believes in the collective growth of the Indian banking sector. He is the current chairman of Indian Bank's Association, where he has left deep footprints. He is also on the boards of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, US-India CEO forum, Indo-French Forum and more.

Bhatt received the award at the hands of F C Kohli, former deputy chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, Panel Member for Business Category; and Qimpro Platinum Standard: Business 1999

The citation was given by Suresh Lulla, managing director, Qimpro Consultants Pvt Ltd and principal trustee, Qimpro Foundation

Qimpro Platinum Standard: Healthcare:

Dr Rustom Phiroze Soonawala: Consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist: Synomyous with population and family planning in India. Soonawala has shared his wisdom, knowledge, and skills in Asia, Europe, Australia and America.

Currently, Dr Soonawalla is a senior consultant and head of department at Jaslok Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Masina Hospital, Parsee General Hospital and Saifee Hospital in Mumbai: as well as Max Healthcare Hospitals in Delhi and Welcare Hospital in Dubai.

In addition, Dr Soonawala is professor emeritus at G S Medical College and Wadia Maternity Hospital; founder president of Indian Society of Prenatal Diagnosis and therapy; and honorary medical director of Family Planning Association of India. He is chairman of Tata Memorial Hospital Ethics committee; member of WHO expert panel on female sterilisation; member of international advisory board, American Association of Gynaecological Laparoscopy and member of the board of directors of world federation of voluntary surgical contraception.

Soonawala is a tireless crusader of population control and family planning. He is a gentleman surgeon and teacher. His patients describe him as a compassionate and ethical human; as well as an excellent listener. He has conducted a record number of vasectomy and sterilisation camps and has performed over 30,000 female sterilisations with very low complication rate. He believes that when you pursue perfection, you achieve excellence along the way.

Over the decades, Soonawala has facilitated the establishment of several socio-medical institutions. A sterling example is the low cost medical centre on the outskirts of Jaipur, which includes a free hospital; a medical college of 150 seats; post graduate college of 50 seats; as well as nursing and dental colleges. He firmly believes that knowledge is not knowledge until it is shared.

For his original work in Intra Uterine Contraception, Soonawala is one of the seven in the world to have been awarded the Von Graffenberg Medal by the University of Kiel, West Germany. Further he has numerous paper to his credit that have been published in Indian and international journals. A speaker par excellence, Soonawala has been the keynote speaker at numerous conferences on Obstretics and Gynaecology, globally.

Dr R P Soonawala accepted the award on behalf of Dr Behram Soonawala

The award was given by Dr Sultan Pradhan, chairman Aga Khan Health Services, and chief of Oncology, Prince Aly Khan Hospital; panel chairperson for Healthcare Category and Qimpro Platinum Standard: Healthcare (2009)

The citation was given by Dr Ram Tarneja, former managing directors, Bennet Coleman & Co and trustee, Qimpro Foundation

Qimpro Platinum Standard: Education

Shantilal Muttha, founder and national president, Bhartiya Jain Sanghatana, is a tireless crusader for values-driven-education. A principle-centred human, he has changed the face and soul of thousands of schools in India and is striving to achieve the same with a million.

Muttha, a sensitive human has contributed across the length and breadth of the country through extraordinary deeds in school education, disaster management, and social service, a rare combination. The thousands of volunteers and office bearers of BJS believe in his credo of selfless service. The impact is visible and distinguished.

In 1993, after the Latur earthquake, Muttha initiated a programme to rehabilitate school children in the area. This gave birth to the Wagholi Educational Rehabilitation Centre in Pune. As a result, 1,200 orphaned children from the 5th to 10th standard were transported from Latur to this school-cum-hostel where they were nurtured through graduation. The same centre also accommodated school children from the 1997 Jabalpur earthquake, as well as the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Muttha is an extraordinary healer.

After the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, through Muttha's leadership, the BJS organisation built 368 school buildings, with 1,000 classrooms, in 267 villages in just 90 days. Further after the 2005 tsunami along the eastern coast of India, Muttha and his team worked in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to build 11 school buildings, 30 primary health sub-centres and four semi-permanent and quake resistant structures. A mammoth task in view of the difficult logistics.

Muttha is a humble man with a national mission: Improving the quality of education in primary and secondary schools. He is a giver of resources, ideas, energy, time, and commitment.
To catalyse his mission, Muttha has also initiated multiple research projects directed at school accreditation, teachers' training, students' assessment, management development and so on. The projects are being currently tested in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Goa and Gujarat.

The award was given by Prof Y K Bhushan, senior advisor and campus head, IBS Mumbai, vice chancellor, ICFAI (State Private) University, Meghalaya; panel chairperson for Education Category and Qimpro Gold Standard: Education (2009)

The citation was given by Ms Tarjani Vakil, former chairperson, Exim Bank of India and Trustee, Qimpro Foundation

Qimpro Gold Standard: Business

Debu Bhattacharya heads the Global Metals business of Aditya Birla Goup. In this capacity, he is the managing director of Hindalco Industries Limied, vice-chairman of Navalis Inc and chairman of Aditya Birla Minerals Limited. Over the past 10 years, Bhattacharya has not onlyled the metamorphosis of Hindalco and Novelis but has in fact transformed himself from a consumer products and Indian retail professional, to a non-ferrous metals and global manufacturing authority. He is an effective leader and strategist; effective in any business environment.

Over the last decade, Bhattacharya has grown Hindalco 30-fold addressing the challenge of price volatility by building a robust, sustainable, integrated business portfolio. Today, Hindalco is the most profitable aluminium company globally, with its low cost position, significant presence in value added segments and world-class quality.

The leadership style of Bhattacharya is soft but firm. This has been a critical success factor during the organic and inorganic growth of Hindalco, particularly in a business environment impacted by recession, price volatility, climate change, terror, and poor governance. Apart from Hindalco, Bhattacharya has also brilliantly turned around Novelis, an organisation that was criticised for poor performance.

Bhattacharya has been the guiding force behind numerous CSR activities undertaken by Hindalco and its affiliates. He is an advocate of triple bottom line accounting and is therefore involved in significant community development. He is also pursuing reduction measures for carbon footprints.

Bhattacharya is a focused transformation leader, who is logical, subtle and innovative. He is a visionary, whose best practices are showcased in the Harvard Business Review.

The award was given by Jadish Capoor, former chairman, HDFC Bank and panel member for Business Category

The citation was given by Dr K K Nohria, former chairman, Crompton Greaves and trustee, Qimpro Foundation

Qimpro Gold Standard: Healthcare

Padmini Somani, director, Salaam Bombay Foundation, is a young crusader with extraordinary missionary zeal. Her mission: Prevention of tobacco addiction in under-privileged children, who lack support from family and society.

As a first step, capitalising on her strengths, Somani developed a special theatre based awareness programme title Ehsaas, educating children against the use of tobacco. This was supported by the Prince Aly Khan Hospital. Ehasaas was creatively structured around topical themes and Hindi film songs. The educational play travelled to 265 schools in Mumbai, over a span of 3 years, reaching out to 167,000 children.

In August 2000, Ms Somani represented the youth of India at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) in Chicago; only to realise that creating mere awareness was not enough to eradicate the national tobacco addiction problem.

Consequently, in 2001, Somani established an NGO, Salaam Bombay Foundation. At Salaam Bombay Foundation, Somani's aim has been to create a tobacco-free world for every child. Her first programme was life skills based, titled 'Super Army.' This non-preachy programme focused on the holistic development of a child to prevent a relapse into tobacco habits. The scale of her ambition required the development of change agents, through a formal two year training programme. Their agenda was to convince the government to shut illegal tobacco shops in the vicinity of schools, ensure restaurants observe the No Smoking ban, recognise tobacco vendors who do not sell tobacco to minors and more.

At this stage, Somani realised that the tobacco control programme could only be sustained by channelising the available energy of children into positive healthy activities. This gave birth to the Salam Bombay Cricket Academy, mentored by Ashok Mankad; all-girls Hockey Academy, mentored by Mir Ranjan Negi; Arts Academy; Weekend Running Clubs; Media Academy and more. These initiatives have been well received not only by children but also by their parents.

In 2009, Somani led the Salaam Bombay Foundation team to host the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.

It witnessed about 2,500 scientists, advocates, public health professionals and activists from 130 countries across the globe. In 2010, she co-hosted the 2nd National conference on Tobacco or Health.

Through the Salaam Bombay Foundation, Somani has impacted the lives of many children and played a huge role in shaping their future. They are transforming into responsible adults and role model citizens. Her mission is expanding, her responsibilities are galloping.

The award was given by Dr Adi E Dastur, Obstretician & Gynaecologist and panel member for Healthcare Category

The citation was given by Dr Shakuntala Lulla, director, Qimpro Consultants Pvt Ltd and panel member for Healthcare Category

Qimpro Gold Standard: Education:

Amit Mehta, CEO, Maa Foundation, Gujarat, manages a charitable organisation founded by the Bilakhia family. The mission of Maa foundation is to induce educational reforms in society that are scalable at a national level. The visible results delivered by Maa Foundation , a professionally managed organisation are traceable to the focused efforts of Mehta - a tough but humane manager.

Mehta, a chemical engineer, hung up his corporate boots after 14 years of professional success, to accept the leadership mantle at Maa Foundation. His passion to contribute to society has enabled Maa Founcation to serve thousands of children, parents and teachers over the past 5 years.

Mehta leads a team of 350 young, energetic and highly zealous individuals, from diverse educational backgrounds. He runs Maa Foundation as a company, with the synergy of a NGO and with total professionalism. The pilot projects adopted by Maa Foundation have been in Valsad, Bhavanagar and Amreli in Gujarat.

One of his earliest projects was in rural India, where children drop out from schools owing to the poor quality of education. Unfortunately, they do not realise the importance of education. This issue gave birth to Project Ken, which involves which involves deploying intensely trained, educated, unemployed local youth as full-time para-teachers in the rural government schools of Valsad district. Currently, 267educational officers are working in 300 rural schools, impacting the lives of approximately 60,000 students enrolled up to standard 7.

In addition, a unique Project Vikas focuses on grooming numerous rural arts graduates with essential hard and soft skills to increase their employability. Further, but more basic, Project Parvarish offers children career counseling in order to give them a sense of direction in life.

A left brain thinker with strong right brain emotions, Mehta has leveraged the advantages of technology by developing Samarthan, a free portal which provides education information to the academic community. Maa Foundation has also designed special software to help the management of schools, as well as to track the performance of students. Mehta clearly has scalability of education on his agenda.

The award was given by Prof Rupa Shah, director, International Park and panel member for Eduction Category

The citation was given by Dr Ashok Agarwal, founder IIHMR and trustee, Qimpro Foundation