Chanda Kochhar

Born On: November 17, 1961Born In: Jodhpur, RajasthanCareer: MD, CEO, ICICI Bank

In India's male dominated banking sphere, Chanda Kochhar carved a niche for herself. This was no easy task. In her career which extends to over three decades of experience, she remained strong willed and alert. Her determination to make it to the top only grew from year to year. Kochhar's career growth can be traced along with the expansion of the bank over the past several years. She never stuttered in her growth and was one of the few who kept up with the aggressive development run of ICICI bank. It was her sharp strategic planning which made the ICICI bank the 'Best Retail Bank in India' for five consecutive years.

As per Forbes, It's no wonder then that she has been ranked 20th amongst the most powerful women in business and in the world. Read on to find out more about how Chanda Kochhar made it to the top of the corporate pile. 

Early LifeChanda Kochhar was born in Jodhpur in Rajasthan on November 17, 1961, but was raised in Jaipur in Rajasthan. She then joined Jai Hind College in Mumbai for a Bachelor of Arts degree. After completing her graduation in 1982, she pursued cost accountancy (ICWAI). Later, she did her Master's degree in management studies from the esteemed Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai from where she received a Wockhardt Gold Medal for Excellence in Management Studies. In the same year, she won the J.N Bose gold medal for Cost Accountancy. 

CareerIn 1984, after her masters, Chanda Kochhar joined 'The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Limited' or ICICI Limited as a management trainee. In her initial years in ICICI, she handled project appraisal and monitoring and various projects in Petrochemicals, Textile and Cement and

Paper. In 1994, she became the Assistant General Manager and was promoted to the post of Deputy General Manager in 1996. She headed the Infrastructure Industry Group of ICICI. In 1999, she was promoted as the General Manager and became the head of ICICI's 'Major Client Group' which handled relationships with the top 200 clients of the organisation. In 1999, she started handling the Strategy and E-commerce divisions of ICICI. Under Kochhar's leadership, ICICI began its retail business in 2000 and in the next five years, became the biggest retail financer in India. In 2001, she became the executive director of ICICI bank. In April 2006, she was appointed as the Deputy Managing Director of ICICI bank and managed the corporate and retail banking business of ICICI bank. From October 2007 to April 2009, she was the Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Joint Managing Director (JMD), and the official spokesperson of ICICI. She was also the head of the Corporate Center of ICICI bank, the director of the ICICI group of companies, Chairperson of ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company and ICICI Investment Management Company Limited. Chanda Kochhar also held the positions of Vice-Chairperson of ICICI Bank UK and ICICI Bank Canada and the position of Director of ICICI International Limited and ICICI Prudential Life

Insurance Company Limited. In May 2009, she was appointed as the Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of ICICI bank for a term of five years. 

Contributions Chanda Kochhar was a part of the core team when ICICI decided to set the ICICI Bank 1993. In 2000, when the organisation decided to develop its wings, she decided to keep the bank open for twelve hours in a day when other banks were open for four to seven hours a day. She was also one of the bankers who came up with electronic banking and installed 2000 ATM machines all over India. Under Kochhar's leadership, ICICI was awarded the 'Best Retail Bank in India' in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2002, the bank was given the 'Excellence in Retail Banking Award'. 

Legacy Chanda Kochhar is one amongst the two women who is the head of an Indian domestic bank. Joining the ICICI bank as a management trainee, she was instrumental in making ICICI bank the largest retail financer in India. She is an inspiration to women all over the world. 

Awards And Accolades 'Retail Banker of the Year' (Asia - Pacific region) by The Asian Banker, 2004'Business Woman of the Year' by The Economic Times, 2005'Rising Star Award' for Global Awards by Retail Banker International, 2006 Featured in the list of '30 Most Powerful Woman Leaders' in business for 8 consecutive years from 2002 to 2010'Transformational Business Leader of the Year' by All India Management Association, 2010Ranked 10th in the Fortune's List of 'Most Powerful Women in Business', 2010Ranked 92nd in the Forbes List of 'Most Powerful Women' in the world, 2010'Outstanding Woman Business Leader of the Year' award by CNBC TV18, 2010'Ranked 11th in the List of 'Top 50 Woman in World Business' by the Financial Times, 2010Padma Vibhushan, 2011

Timeline 

1961 - Born in Jodhpur in Rajasthan. 1982 - Completed her graduation and pursued cost accountancy. 

1984 - Joined 'The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Limited' or ICICI Limited.1994 - Became the Assistant General Manager of ICICI bank. 1996 - Became the Deputy General Manager.1999 - Took over as the General Manager and became the head of ICICI's 'Major Client Group'.2000 - ICICI began its retail business under Kochhar's leadership.2001 - Became the executive director of the ICICI bank.2006 - Appointed as the Deputy Managing Director of ICICI bank.2009 - Appointed as the Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of ICICI bank.2011 - Awarded Padma Vibhushan.

Shikha Sharma

Career: Managing Director, CEO, Axis Bank

Starting her career with the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) in 1980, Shikha Sharma was picked to head the life insurance division of ICICI when it became the first bank in the private sector to get a license to carry out the business of insurance. She was able to maintain a lead from the first day which helped the organisation to remain the largest private sector life insurance company in India. Considering ICICI as her second home, she worked towards the development of the organisation, the growth of which can be considered parallel to hers. Born to an Army officer, Shikha Sharma maintained discipline in her life and this disciplined showed right through her career too. In a male dominated financial world, she carved a niche for herself. She is the kind of person who considers

every job that comes towards her as a challenge. It's no wonder then that she was chosen as the CEO of Axis bank, almost unanimously.

Early LifeShikha Sharma was born to a soldier who travelled all over India, before settling down in Delhi. She completed her school education at the Loreto Convent in Delhi and graduated in economics from the Lady Sreeram College, Delhi. She finished her post graduate diploma in software technology from the National Institute of Software Technology, Mumbai. She also completed her Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmadabad. 

Career Shikha Sharma started her career with ICICI, India's largest financial service provider in 1980. She joined ICICI right after graduating from IIM, Ahmadabad. In her 28 year association with ICICI Group, she set up various businesses. In 1992, she set up ICICI Securities which is a joint venture of ICICI and J.P. Morgan. She started setting up various group businesses for ICICI which included investment banking and retail finance. In 1995, she moved to ICICI Securities and was deputed to J.P Morgan. In 1997, she rejoined ICICI as the General Manager in

charge of Strategic Planning and Development. In 1998, she became the Managing Director of ICICI Personal Financial services. Shikha Sharma also served as the Director of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company till April 2009 and was the Independent Director of ACC limited December 2006 to May 2009. She is the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director of Axis Bank Limited and Chairperson and associate Director of Axis Asset Management company Limited since June 1, 2009. 

Contributions Shikha Sharma made ICICI Prudential what it is today. It is the organization she built from scratch; the leading player in the life insurance business .In her 28 year old association with the ICICI Group, she was instrumental in setting the foundation for the bank's personal financial services business. Here, she also launched an innovative micro insurance cover of 1 dollar a month for poor people in India. In December 2008, under her leadership, ICICI Prudential commanded a market share of 13 %. 

Legacy Shikha Sharma is one of the two women entrepreneurs who are at the helm of a private bank in India. In a male dominated banking and insurance

sector, she, with her exceptional leadership qualities, made ICICI Prudential, the largest private insurance company in the country. She has left behind a legacy which is followed by millions of women aspirants. 

Awards and Accolades 'Woman Business Leader' by CNBC TV18, 2007'Business Woman of the Year' by Economic Times, 2009Ranked 89th in the list of 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women' by Forbes magazine, 2010

Timeline

1980: Shikha Sharma started her career with ICICI as a project officer. 1992: Set up ICICI Securities which was a joint venture of ICICI and J. P Morgan. 1995: Moved to ICICI Securities and was deputed to J.P. Morgan. 1997: Rejoined ICICI as the General Manager in charge of Strategic Planning and Development. 1998: Became the Managing Director of ICICI Personal Financial Services. 2009: Became the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director of Axis Bank Limited and

Chairperson and Associate Director of Axis Asset Management Company Limited.

MARISSA MAYER

Marissa Mayer, born on May 30, 1975 in Wausau, Wisconsin, was appointed CEO of Yahoo in 2012. Prior to joining Yahoo, she spent 13 years at Google, where her work in production development largely contributed to the site's unique look and feel. At the time of Mayer's Yahoo appointment, she was one of only 20 female CEOs in charge of a Fortune 500 company.

Early Life

Born in Wausau, Wisconsin, on May 30, 1975, Marissa Mayer has described her early years as a small-town childhood, complete with ballet lessons, ice skating, Brownies and debate team competitions.

The daughter of an engineer and an art teacher, Mayer demonstrated an early affinity for math and science. While at Wausau West High, she worked at a local grocery store, where she memorized the prices for hundreds of items in order to streamline the checkout process.

Although she grew up thinking she would be a doctor, while at Stanford University, Mayer developed a passion for computers and went on to earn both a Bachelor of Science degree in symbolic systems and an Master of Science degree in computer science with a specialization in artificial intelligence. During her studies, Mayer taught undergraduate courses in computer programming, earning two teaching awards for her contribution to undergraduate education. But it was perhaps her research internships at Stanford University and the Union Bank of Switzerland's research lab in Zurich that helped her net 14 job offers fresh out of grad school.

Professional SuccessMayer's 14th job offer came from Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who quizzed her on artificial intelligence while sitting at a ping-pong table that the company used for conferences. In 1999, Google wasn't yet an Internet search giant. In fact, the company had only 19 employees. Upon

accepting an offer to lead Google's user interface and Web server teams, Mayer became the company’s 20th employee and its first female engineer.

Her tenure at Google involved work on some of the company's most recognizable and successful products, including Google Maps, Google Earth, Street View, Google News and Gmail. Known as a fashionista with an eye for design, Mayer is widely credited for the unique look and feel that has come to characterize the Google experience. For example, she was responsible for approving each "doodle" (the custom logos commemorating holidays and events) appearing on the Google home page.

Mayer spent more than a decade at Google accumulating accolades for her work ethic, eye for detail and vision. In a 2008 interview, however, she seemed to be looking ahead to her next act. "I helped build Google," Mayer said, "but I don't like to rest on [my] laurels. I think the most interesting thing is what happens next."

What happened next for Mayer captured tremendous interest both in Silicon Valley and around the world. In July 2012, she was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo, a company besieged

by declining stock prices, layoffs and slowing ad revenue. Tasked with course-correcting the company, Mayer is the fifth CEO hired by Yahoo in the past five years. She is also one of only 20 women running a Fortune 500 company. As a female technology CEO, Mayer follows in the footsteps of former Hewlett-Packard CEOCarly

Personal Life

Adding even more interest to the appointment,

Mayer announced that she and her husband,

venture capitalist Zachary Bogue, are expecting their

first child in October 2012.

BEST KNOWN FOR

Marissa Mayer led the development of Google's most successful products for more than 10 years and was appointed CEO of Yahoo in 2012, at the age of 37

Nooyi, Indra K..

Indra K. Nooyi is the president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo. Best known for its Pepsi soft drinks, the international powerhouse that Nooyi oversees is actually one of the world's largest snack-food companies. It makes and sells dozens of other products, including Doritos-brand chips, the Tropicana juice line, and Quaker Oats cereals. Nooyi is one of the top female executives in the United States, and is also believed to be the highest-ranking woman of Indian heritage in corporate America.

Joined Rock Band

Nooyi was born in Madras, India, in 1955, and was a bit of a rule breaker in her conservative, middle-class world as she grew up. In an era in India where it was considered unseemly for young women to exert themselves, she joined an all-girls' cricket

team. She even played guitar in an all-female rock band while studying at Madras Christian College. After earning her undergraduate degree in chemistry, physics, and math, she went on to enroll in the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. At the time, it was one of just two schools in the country that offered a master's in business administration degree, or M.B.A.

Nooyi's first job after earning her degree was with Tootal, a British textile company. It had had been founded in Manchester, England, in 1799, but had extensive holdings in India. After that, Nooyi was hired as a brand manager at the Bombay offices of Johnson & Johnson, the personal-care products maker. She was given the Stayfree account, which might have proved a major challenge for even an experienced marketing executive. The line had just been introduced on the market in India, and struggled to create an identity with its target customers. "It was a fascinating experience because you couldn't advertise personal protection in India," she recalled in an interview with the Financial Times 's Sarah Murray.

Nooyi began to feel that perhaps she was underprepared for the business world. Determined to study in the United States, she applied to and was

accepted by Yale University's Graduate School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut. Much to her surprise, her parents agreed to let her move to America. The year was 1978. "It was unheard of for a good, conservative, south Indian Brahmin girl to do this," she explained to Murray in the Financial Times. "It would make her an absolutely unmarriageable commodity after that."

"Behind my cool logic lies a very emotional person."

Could Not Afford Suit

Nooyi quickly settled into her new life, but struggled to make ends meet over the next two years. Though she received financial aid from Yale, she also had to work as an overnight receptionist to make ends meet. "My whole summer job was done in a sari because I had no money to buy clothes," she told Murray. Even when she went for an interview at the prestigious business-consulting firms that hired business-school students, she wore her sari, since she could not afford a business suit. Recalling that the Graduate School of Management required all first-year students to take—and pass—a course in effective communications, she said in the Financial Timesinterview that what she learned in it "was invaluable for someone who came from a culture

where communication wasn't perhaps the most important aspect of business at least in my time."

Pepsi v. Coke

The rivalry between Pepsi, the flagship product of Indra Nooyi's company, and its Atlanta, Georgia-based competitor, Coca-Cola, is one of corporate America's longest-running marketing battles. In the United States alone, the soft-drink industry is a $60 billion one, with the average American consuming a staggering fifty-three gallons of carbonated soft drinks every year.

The battle between Coke and Pepsi dates back almost as long as each company's history. Both emerged as key players in early decades of the twentieth century, when soft drinks first came on the market in the United States. In the 1920s, Coca-Cola began moving aggressively into overseas markets, and even opened bottling plants near to places where U.S. service personnel were stationed during World War II. Pepsi only moved into international territory in the 1950s, but scored a major coup in 1972 when it inked a deal with the Soviet Union. With this deal, Pepsi became the first Western product ever sold to Soviet consumers.

The battle for market share heated up after 1975, when both companies stepped up their already lavishly financed marketing campaigns to win new customers. Pepsi's standard cola products had a slightly sweeter taste, which prompted one of the biggest corporate-strategy blunders in U.S. business history: in 1985, Coca-Cola launched "New Coke," which had a slightly sweeter formulation. Coke consumers were outraged. The old formula was still available under the name "Coca-Cola Classic," but the New Coke idea was quickly shelved. This incident is often studied by business-school curriculums in the United States and elsewhere, along with many other aspects of what is known as "the cola wars."

Coke is the leader in market share for carbonated colas, but soft drinks remain its core business. Pepsi, on the other hand, began acquiring other businesses in 1965 when it bought the Texas-based Frito-Lay company, and has a larger stake in the food industry.

Nooyi did not earn a second M.B.A. from Yale. Instead, her degree was a master of public and private management, which she finished in 1980. After commencement, she went to work at the Boston Consulting Group, a prestigious consulting

firm. For the next six years she worked on a variety of international corporate-strategy projects, and went over to Motorola in 1986 as a senior executive. She remained there for four years, leaving in 1990 to join Asea Brown Boveri Inc. as its head of strategy. ABB, as the company was known, was a $6 billion Swiss-Swedish conglomerate that made industrial equipment and constructed power plants around the world.

Nooyi's skill in helping ABB find its direction in North America came to the attention of Jack Welch, the head of General Electric. He offered her a job in 1994, but so did PepsiCo chief executive officer Wayne Calloway. As she told a writer for Business Week, the two men knew one another, but Calloway made an appealing pitch for Nooyi's talent. He told her, she recalled, that "'Welch is the best CEO I know.... But I have a need for someone like you, and I would make PepsiCo a special place for you.'"

Nooyi chose the soft-drink maker, and became its chief strategist. Soon, she was urging PepsiCo to reshape its brand identity and assets, and became influential in a number of important decisions. She was also a lead negotiator on the high-level deals that followed. The company decided to spin off its restaurant division in 1997, for example, which made

its KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell holdings into a separate company. She also looked at the successful plan by Pepsi rival Coca-Cola, which had sold of its bottling operations a decade earlier, and had been rewarded with impressive profit margins on its stock performance. Pepsi followed suit, and the 1999 initial public offering of the Pepsi bottling operations was valued at $2.3 billion. The company kept a large share of stock in it, however.

Pointed Pepsi in the Right Direction

At PepsiCo, Nooyi has been the chief dealmaker for two of its most important acquisitions: she put together the $3.3 billion-dollar-deal for the purchase of the Tropicana orange-juice brand in 1998, and two years later was part of the team that secured Quaker Oats for $14 billion. That became one of the biggest food deals in corporate history, and added a huge range of cereals and snack-food products to the PepsiCo empire. She also helped acquire the edgy beverage maker SoBe for $337 million, and her deal beat the one submitted by Coca-Cola.

Indra Nooyi (left) and other Pepsi-Co and Quaker Oats executives pose with products from both companies. PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oaks in 2001.

AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

For her impressive dealmaking talents, Nooyi was promoted to the job of chief financial officer at PepsiCo in February of 2000. It made her the highest-ranking Indian-born woman among the ranks of corporate America. A year later, she was given the title of president as well, when her longtime colleague, Steven S. Reinemund, advanced to the position of board chair and chief executive officer. Reinemund had said he would only take the job only if Nooyi came onboard as his second in command. "'I can't do it unless I have you with me,'" she recalled him telling her, according to Business Week.

Upon taking over as president and chief financial officer in May of 2001, Nooyi worked to keep the

company on track with her vision: "For any part of the day we will have a little snack for you," she told Business Week in 2001. The company sold a dazzling range of snack foods and beverages, from Mountain Dew to Rice-a-Roni, from Captain Crunch cereal to Gatorade-brand sports drinks. It also owned the makers of Doritos-brand snacks and Aquafina bottled water.

One of Corporate America's Top Visionaries

Nooyi's success in the business world landed her on Time magazine's list of "Contenders" for its Global Business Influentials rankings in 2003. Many watchers predict that she will someday head one of the company's divisions, such as Frito-Lay, or its core brand, PepsiCo Beverages North America. In early 2004, there were mentions in the press that Nooyi, who still wears the occasional sari to work, was being considered for the top job at the Gucci Group, but she denied rumors that she had been talking with the Italian luxury-goods giant.

Nooyi serves on the board of trustees at the Yale Corporation, the governing board of Yale University. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from PepsiCo's headquarters across the state line in Purchase, New York. At home, she maintains a puja, or traditional Hindu shrine, and once she flew

to Pittsburgh after a tough session with Quaker Oats executives to pray at a shrine there to her family's deity. Her predictions that her American graduate education would hamper her marriage prospects proved untrue, for she married an Indian man, Raj, who works as a management consultant. They have two daughters who are nearly a decade apart in ages, and Nooyi occasionally brings her younger child to work. The former rock guitarist is still known to take the stage at company functions to sing. Her job, however, remains a top priority. She watches championship-game replays of the Chicago Bulls to study teamwork concepts, for example, and admitted to Forbes journalist Melanie Wells that she strategizes 24-7 sometimes. "I wake up in the middle of the night," she told the magazine, "and write different versions of PepsiCo on a sheet of paper."

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Who is the richest woman of India as on date? If this question is asked to you what could be your reply? Yes, she is a woman Kiran Mazumdar Shaw who had made it possible to create her enormous empire through an extensive struggle history. She is said to be the only successful woman to offer India the largest biotechnology company Biocon Limited. Kiran Mazumdar the gem of India, presently the CMD of this huge organization.

The early life and Education

She was born and brought up in Bangalore. Her subject was Zoology and she made B.Sc in 1973 from University of Bangalore. Subsequently she went to Australia, studied and became a master brewer from Ballart University. She started her career in Carlton & United Beverages as a trainee brewer in 1974. She had joined as an Asst. Manger in Biocon Biochemicals Ltd situated in Ireland.

Inception of Biocon by   Kiran Mazumdar Shaw:

In 1978, Kiron Mazumdar Shaw founded Biocon India in Bangalore supported and collaborated by Biocon Biochemicals. Her initial investment to Biocon was only Rs10, 000. At the beginning, she had to cross so many hurdles and problems to

arrange funds to feed her company. Biotechnology, being an uncertain subject field that time. In addition to that, she was than only a 21 years old woman entrepreneur. Therefore, it became the gray area at her end and Banks were reluctant to provide her a credit. The operation of running the business became hard day by day and in fact, she had to run behind the banks and financial institutes with her honest proposal. However, God is always good that the financial crisis was over and under her guidance, Biocon changed to a bio pharmaceuticals company. Biocon now identified as the pioneer in biotechnology in India. She made her each employee to understand the meaning of ‘vision’. Her leadership made a well-organized and proficient work force. She always liked to share responsibly among the workers that taught us what leadership is. Perhaps she has proved again that ‘impossible is a word found in a fool’s dictionary’. Whatever problem arises within the organization, Kiron Mazumdar Shah is taking the necessary steps immediately by herself to solve the problem and her workout steps are sincerely monitored. This behavior made her the most indispensable, respectable and authoritative leadership in Biocon. Kiran Mazumar Shaw is the first woman entrepreneur showed ‘what a woman cannot do!’

Awards of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw received a number of awards that includes Best Woman Entrepreneur, Best model Woman employer, ET Business woman, Emst & Young’s Enterpreneur Award, Outstanding Citizen Award, Technology Pioneer Award and above all two great awards Padmashri in 1989 and Padma Bhusan in 2005 from Government of India.

The     richest woman of India   Kiran Mazumdar Shaw:

The Biocon shareholders are quite happy in her business policy and trust in her leadership that credited a great value added emotion to the organization. Biocon now engaged in R&D of vaccination of diseases like Hepatitis B, C, and Antibiotics etc. At the present days, she is regarded as the richest woman of India having wealth estimated of Rs.2100 crore in 2004.