A. Akram – Managing Director, Parveen Express
In this month’s edition we feature A. Akram, Managing Director, Parveen Express, part of Parveen Group of Companies, who believes that data is king and reveals to Sarada Vishnubhatla the values he has imbibed from the elders in his family and the legacies he wishes to continue with and pass on. Above all, he shares how he is raring to go with all cylinders firing to take the express logistics industry by storm
The eldest scion of the family that owns Parveen Group of Companies knows well that carving a niche in a business family is always a challenging, and even daunting, task. A. Akram got the first taste of it when he came back to India post his MBA in Human Resources and a qualification in integrated marketing communications from the United Kingdom a decade ago and wished to join the family business. “I was pumped up with the theoretical knowledge of how businesses should run but the harsh ground reality here hit me hard,” he recalls. Born in 1988 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Akram is a bike and car enthusiast and has a passion for riding superbikes which are all about speed and racing.
Interestingly, the same concept is applicable to the express logistics business vertical that he is handling. “Soon after joining my father in this business, I realised that our company needed to catch up drastically with the competition. It needed tough changes,” he says. He firmly believes that ‘systems work, sentiments do not’. And putting it into practice was a major challenge. Only with sustained efforts was he able to usher in professional ways of working, which eventually led to results that the company’s directors were only too happy with. Akram believes that though family-run businesses in India have an advantage, they are bogged down by complex work environment.
“It is like a tussle between experience and innovation,” he says. “Fortunately, we are professionals and are able to understand this. We do research, debate and also fight about an idea or an issue but ultimately choose what is best for the company. We believe that if the employees are looked after, they will drive the business forward,” he adds. Akram is an active endorser of the research and development division, not only in his own vertical but across the group companies. “The benefit is in knowing the exact figures on an hourly basis so that the business becomes transparent and the management can plan strategies ahead of time,” he says. There is also the ‘value’ factor.
“I think we have been able to rise head and shoulders above the competition due to the values instilled in me by my grandfather,” he states. “He had always said that ‘wheels should keep moving or else the business will stop’. Till date, I follow it. As a child, he would send me to our Egmore office after school to talk to the drivers, and managers and to report back at dinner time. I would ask the drivers about the routes they were taking, the speeds that they would be maintaining on the highways, etc. Their typical answer always was – we follow the speed limit. It was much later when it dawned on me that there could be a different reality on ground regarding that,” he reminisces and laughs.
A stickler for punctuality, Akram is self-motivated and believes in ethical business practices as well as the power of innovation. “We excel at applying and integrating technologies and lean processes to achieve the best possible results,” he says. Also, his well-rooted connection with customers and employees helps him keep an ear to the ground. He knows that his various successes are being noted by the family elders and is working relentlessly towards making his metaphorical shoulders stronger and wider to take on additional responsibilities when he will be invited to sit on the ‘big chair’. Till then, he is happy juggling data, for numbers do not lie