Mumbai: Former Titan Managing Director and industry veteran Bhaskar Bhat shared his thoughts on leadership, governance and customer trust, saying successful companies are built by putting customers and employees first, while shareholder value naturally follows later.
Speaking at the FPJ-CareEdge Annual Report Awards, Bhat explained how Titan built its businesses differently from traditional industry practices and focused on creating long-term trust instead of short-term profits.
According to Bhat, the foundation of every successful company lies in serving customers well and constantly improving products and services. He said governance is important, but “good” must come before governance.
“Good governance starts with good values and good intent,” he said while addressing business leaders at the event.
“The customer is always one step ahead of you.” – Bhaskar Bhat
Bhat explained that during Titan’s early years, the company took bold decisions. Instead of hiring experienced professionals from industries such as jewellery, watches or eyewear, Titan preferred recruiting people with fresh thinking and training them internally.
He revealed that many Titan employees in the early days were recruited from villages around Hosur, where the company’s manufacturing facilities were located. Titan believed in building talent rather than simply hiring industry veterans.
Even in its jewellery business Tanishq, Bhat pointed out that none of the franchise owners were traditional jewellers. According to him, the company intentionally chose people from outside the industry to bring new ideas and challenge old practices.
Bhat admitted that Titan also made mistakes during its journey. He recalled that the company faced difficulties while expanding into Europe and initially struggled when entering the jewellery business. However, he said the company remained strong because its core values and customer focus never changed.
Sharing his management philosophy, Bhat said the customer is always the first stakeholder for any company. Employees come next because they serve customers every day. Managers and leaders then follow, while shareholders come last in the chain.
He explained that shareholder returns are not created directly by chasing profits or market valuations. Instead, they are the outcome of good work done by employees, managers and service teams focused on customer satisfaction.
Using Titan’s products as examples, Bhat said customers expect reliability, quality and long-term support. He stressed that customer expectations keep changing every day, and companies can never become fully satisfied with their performance.
“The customer is always one step ahead of you,” Bhat remarked.
Concluding his speech, Bhat urged businesses to evaluate companies not just by profits or market value, but by management quality, customer focus and organisational culture.
“Good comes first. Governance follows,” he said.
