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march 21 2013 Boldness in Business foreword Rewarding innovation he Ft arcelorMittal boldness in business awards, jointly sponsored by arcelorMittal and the Financial times, have over the past five years Tbecome the pre-eminent forum for recognising entrepreneurial risk taking and business innovation. the past year has witnessed a wave of re-regulation and central bank intervention in response to the global financial crisis. amid the continued fire-fighting, there have been glimmers of recovery, notably in the US. but while the symptoms of the crisis may have eased, it has not been resolved. this applies not only to the transmission of credit in the european banking system, but also to the imbalances between the debt-ridden west and those countries with surpluses in the east, led by china. this was the challenging backdrop to this year’s boldness in business awards and it has, inevitably, informed the selection of the candidates and winners. We were looking for outstanding examples of companies taking bold decisions, not just in terms of adapting their business models to increase shareholder value but also in creating profitable and socially useful enterprises. in selecting the shortlist we spread our net far and wide, from the advanced industrialised west to the fast-growing emerging markets of asia, latin america and africa. the winners were rigorously sifted and selected from an extremely strong field. i would once again like to thank the judging panel for their contributions. their accumulated expertise has again proved indispensable. i am also particularly grateful to lakshmi Mittal, chairman and chief executive of arcelorMittal and co-chairman of the judges, for his continued support of this important set of awards. lionel barber, FT Editor photo: charlie bibby ft.com/BoLdNeSS | 3 boldness in business contents 10 18 6 introduction 26 corporate The award winners are as responsibility diverse as capitalism itself Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals’ innovative 8 judges financial model is helping The panel brought huge ordinary indians access experience from industry vital healthcare services and academia to bear on the selection process 32 technology 3d Systems is tapping into 10 person of the year the potential of three- ivan glasenberg combined dimensional printing to charm and a competitive change the process of streak as he masterminded manufacturing radically glencore’s audacious deal to buy Xstrata 38 emerging markets mahindra & mahindra is 14 drivers of change building a leading position mondragon’s co-operative in high-end vehicles for ediA structure has not stopped it india as it seeks to establish Tm thriving despite Spain’s a global profile economic downturn rcrOf 42 smaller company BA 18 entrepreneur goPro has caught the wave 26 masayoshi Son thinks big to the next boom in digital with his deals, as imaging with a range of SoftBank’s $20bn bid for action cameras that can be US telecoms operator taken anywhere Sprint Nextel has shown 46 shortlist 24 winners The full list of nominees What the judges said for this year’s awards PHOTOS: BlOOmBerg, AflO / 4 |ft.com/boldness Special reports editor michael Skapinker Editor Hugo greenhalgh Commissioning editor robert Orr Production editor 42 george Kyriakos Art director Sheila Jack Picture editors michael crabtree, John Wellings Sub-editors Jearelle Wolhuter, Philip Parrish Illustrator clear as mud Researcher Hesham Zakai Special projects director diana Whittington Senior project manager rebekah dent Marketing & events executive michael lundby Special projects manager Artes Haderi Head of strategic sales Patrick collins Head of project delivery, strategic sales rachel HarrisHarris Advertising production daniel lesarlesar Technical adviser 14 Pwc contributors JOHN AUAUTHerSTHerS is the fT’fT’s senior investment columnist JAVier BlAS is the fT’s commodities editor JAmeS crABTree is the fT’s mumbai correspondent mileS JOHNSON is the ffT’sT’s madrid correspondent AmY KAZmiN is the ffTsTs south AsiaAsia correspondent PeTer mArSH is the ffT’T’s manufacturing editor micHiYO NAKAmOTONAKAmOTO is the fT’s deputy TokyoTokyo bureau chief cHriS NUT TAll is the ffT’sT’s 38 technology correspondent ft.com/boldness | 5 BoLDNESS IN BUSINESS INtRoDUctIoN separately by the judges, without Learning process regard to the other categories. But the deliberations produced a range of winners that could This year’s award winners, who represent not have been more diverse even if it had been scripted. capitalism in all its diversity, have much to Unlike in previous years, teach one another, writes John Authers there are hardly any internation- ally known companies on offer. Previous winners have included here is more than markets are not yet function- the likes of Apple, Google, one way to skin a cat. ing normally. Anger about the Amazon and Twitter, and And there are many inequality generated by capital- well-established and respected ways for businesses ism has also continued to inten- international companies such Tto show boldness in sify, and was on full display in an as Marks and Spencer, Sam- difficult environments. abnormally ideological 2012 US sung and Unilever. Yet this year Last year was a kinder one for presidential election campaign. produced a more eclectic group, capitalism than 2011: markets So how can companies tackle with few household names. largely avoided fresh crises, asset these difficult circumstances and They also produced a startling prices rallied and deal-making find ways to thrive? In a variety diversity of models for helping returned. But it was still a tough of ways, it turns out. capitalism out of its current fix. 12 months. The capitalist model Judging the Boldness in Perhaps the most surpris- remains under Business awards, ing was from Spain – a country intense scrutiny. When growth now in their racked by crisis – and structured The western fifth year, has as a co-operative. Mondragon world has contin- in the world always been hard: Corporation, the Basque com- ued its weak recov- economy is so by including pany that won this year’s Drivers ery after a severe companies of any of Change award, shares none downturn during weak, you need size, in any line of of its profits with shareholders. the financial tur- to look widely business and in Instead, it ploughs them back moil. The eurozone, for inspiration any geographical into a business in which many of while avoiding area, the job its workers have a stake. the much-feared of making fair It is a collection of more existential crisis, has lapsed back comparisons is always dif- than 250 companies, employing into recession and leaders of the ficult, going on impossible. roughly 83,000 people. In 2011, emerging world are under pres- This year, the sheer diversity ¤3.97bn of the ¤5.93bn sales sure as they try to adapt their of the nominees that survived in its industry division were own models for development. the vetting process, and the outside Spain. The need for China, in particular, breadth of what they were Co-operatives and con- to modify an approach that has attempting to achieve, made that glomerates are often regarded so far focused on exports and task harder than ever. as dinosaur concepts. But in cheap labour has created worries However, the diversity of the Mondragon, the conglomerate for the rest of the world. winners demonstrates why these structure seems to have added Central banks throughout the awards serve a purpose: they security and diversification, as developed world are still using are a systematic and exhaustive intended, and the co-operative drastic monetary policy measures attempt to find role models for model has not obstructed to keep the ship afloat. Even the contemporary capitalism. This the company from behaving impeccably orthodox European year it found them in unlikely boldly. There is a lesson for Central Bank joined in last year, places, from Spain’s Basque others in this. saying it would do “whatever it region to Japan – both racked by Another surprise, and the takes” to save the euro. the long-lasting effects of first unanimous winner of a With the “risk-free” rate that a credit-fuelled binge – and, Boldness in Business award, underpins the world’s transac- twice, in India. came in the social responsibility tions held deliberately low, it The results were not by category, won by India’s Naray- is plain that capitalism and design. Each award was voted on ana Hrudayalaya Hospitals. 6 |ft.com/BoLDNESS As any follower of the and when political uncertainty tortured politics over the US is so high. Does this mean the deficit will be aware, judges somehow unwittingly world capitalism called for a retreat from capital- has few more acute ism red in tooth and claw? problems than the Not at all. Look at the person escalating costs of the year: Ivan Glasenberg. of healthcare. Glasenberg, who runs the For whatever commodities trading and min- reason, the ing powerhouse Glencore, may US in particular seem an odd fit to some. The seems incapable of secretive Switzerland-based capping the money it group was a private company spends on health- until two years ago. The dif- care, and this radi- ficult work of operating mines cally undermines in developing countries means the nation’s finances. making hard-nosed decisions, Remarkably, a with low wages sometimes paid promising model for difficult and dangerous work. to deal with the Yet the company’s 2010 initial issue is taking shape public offering created several in India. Even more notewor- instantaneous billionaires, thy, its structure is borrowed including Glasenberg. The man from a US corporate titan: himself is a tough negotiator Walmart, the retail chain. who speaks freely and would not The need for Narayana deny any of this. Hrudayalaya to adopt such a He won the award for pulling model was born out of neces- off 2012’s biggest and most sity.