Put In The Hard Yards: Muthu Murugappan On How To Sustain Family Legacy

Muthu Murugappan, chief executive officer of EID Parry, has opened up about challenges and lessons that surround being an heir to a legacy family business and navigating family relationships while growing as a professional.

"One has to put in the hard yards," said Muthu when talking to NDTV Profit about how to sustain a family legacy the size of the Murugappa group.

He talked about his personal growth journey, from his internship to working outside the family during his apprenticeship, to choosing an executive role in the family business and said that although he would have liked for the apprenticeship to be shorter, he credits the lessons he learnt on the way.

He also shed some light on his dilemma of picking an executive role or a more "passive" role in the company and shared that the alternative to being CEO would have been being a board member.

"The knowledge I have about the company and where we are headed was majorly due to this executive role," he said.

Talking about how legacies are built and whether there was pressure on people of his generation to join the businesses, he said: "Legacies are going to be created on different paths and different journeys."

"Legacies may be created outside of the business as well," he said, citing the example of his brother, who is a filmmaker.

Janmejaya Sinha, chairperson of BCG India, underlined the importance of the values of the group and the energy in the group. He shared how Muthu is the fifth generation of his family to be involved in the business, while the fourth and third are also involved.

He said "the values of the group and the generational shifts cannot in any way impede the energy that India, today requires".

Growing up around each other gave them a more than fair idea of how everyone is wired, according to Muthu.

But even then, he said, the conversations would happen across locations in time. "Some of these are done over a game of tennis or golf, some of them are dealt with in the office, some during vacation," he said.

Adding that what one needs to acquire to navigate these conversations and disagreements is experience and self-awareness. "You need to pick the place, you need to pick the time, and you need to pick the tone as well... this is the muscle you build out of experience and self-awareness."

Founded in the 1900s, the Murugappa group was originally a banking enterprise, currently they are a conglomerate providing services in sectors like agri-solutions, financial services & engineering.