What routes of globalization has the Mayor group chosen to go global?

Answer 1

This is one game that India has permanently lost to its arch-rival Pakistan-manufacturing and

exporting sports goods. Historically, when India and Pakistan were one before 1947, Sialkot, now in

Pakistan, used to be the world's largest production centre for badminton, hockey, football, volleyball,

basketball, and cricket equipment. After the creation of Pakistan, Jalandhar became the second centre

after Hindus in the trade migrated to India. Soon Jalandhar overtook Sialkot and till the early 1980s it

remained so. However, when the face of the began to change in the 1980s and import of quality

leather and manufacturing equipment became a necessity for quality production, Pakistan wrested the

initiative as India clung to its policies of discouraging imports through high duties and restrictions. As it

was, the availability of labour and skills was a common factor in both Sialkot and Jalandhar, but with

Sialkot having the advantage of easier entry, most of the world's top sports manufacturers and

procurers developed an association with local industry in Sialkot that continues even today. Ten years

later, in the early 1990s, when Manmohan Singh liberalised the norms for importing equipment and

raw material required for producing sports goods, it was too late as majority of the global majors had

already shifted base to Sialkot.

In 1961 the late Narinder Mayor started the first large-scale sports goods manufacturing unit,

Mayor & Company, thereby laying the foundation of an organised industry. Even today, more than 70

percent of the industry functions in an unorganized manner. Starting with soccer balls, Mayor

expanded to produce inflatable balls like volleyballs, basketballs, and rugby balls. Today his two sons

Rajan and Rajesh have built up into five companies engaged in a wide array of businesses, though

sports goods remain the group's core business. While the parent trading company, Mayor & Company,

remains the leading revenue-earner to the tune of Rs 55 crore annually out of a total group turnover of

Rs 85 crore-plus, Mayor's second venture, the Indo-Australian Mayor International Limited, is spinning

another Rs 15 crore. Mayor international is a 100 percent export-oriented unit (EOU) exclusively

manufacturing and exporting golf and tennis balls.

The product portfolio of the company comprises the following:

Inflatable balls

• Soccer balls and footballs (Professional, Indoor, Match and Training, leisure toy)

• Volley balls, rugby balls (Volley balls and Beach Volley balls)

• Australian rugby, hand balls (English League, Union and touch) (Australian rules, Australian

Rugby League balls and laces)

Boxing Equipment

• Boxing and punching balls (Boxing and Punching Balls, Head Gear, Gloves, Punching Mitts and

Kits Punching Bags & Bags Sets)

• Gloves

• Goal keeper's gloves (Football / Soccer)

• Boxing gloves

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Cricket Equipment

• Worldwide distributor for Spading Cricket Bats, Balls and Protective equipment.

Hockey Equipment

• Worldwide distributor for Spading Hockey Sticks, Balls and Protective equipment.

Based in Delhi, Rajan Mayor, 41 is the CMD of the group, which also comprises an IT division

working on B2B and B2C solutions; Voyageur World Travels in the tourism sector; a houseware

exports division specializing in stainless steel kitchenware, ceramics, and textiles; and a high school.

Younger brother Rajesh, 34, is the executive director and looks after all the divisions operating in

Jalandhar. Technical director Katz Nowaskowski divides his time equally between India and Australia,

where he looks after the group's interests. "While inflatable balls are our prime competence in our core

business, we are presently focusing on golf balls, for which we are the sole producers in South Asia.

Out of a total Rs 300 crore of sports goods business generated in domestic marker, most of which is

supplied by the unorganized players, golf balls constitute a miniscule amount and therefore we came

up with a 100 percent EOU for producing golf balls. Later the same facility was utilized with little

moderation for tennis balls too," says Nowaskowaski.

Clarifying that the sports good industry in India only includes playing equipment and not

apparels or shoes, D K Mittal, chairman of the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council and joint

secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, has certified Mayor group as the number one exporter since

1993 till date, barring 1996. However, SGEPC secretary Tarun Dewan points out that being the

number one exporter does not mean that Mayor is the number one brand being exported. "Actually we

have tieups with Dunlop, Arnold Palmer, and Fila for manufacturing golf balls. For footballs and

volleyballs we have associations with Adidas, Mitre, Puma, Umbro, and Dunlop. We manufacture

soccer World Cup and European Cup replicas for Adidas, which is a huge market. Only 400 balls used

for actual play in the World Cup are manufactured in Europe and that too only for sentimental reasons,

otherwise we are capable of delivering products of the same, if not better quality. Now since we

manufacture balls for them, we cannot antagonise them by producing balls of similar quality with our

own brand name. Secondly, I agree that competing with such big giants in the world market in terms

of branding is a task that is well beyond our reach at the moment. However, we are trying to brand

ourselves in the domestic market and that is one of the prime focus areas in the coming year," says

Rajan.

Coca-Cola, Unilever, McDonald's, American Airlines, Disney Club, and other such big brands

come up with huge orders at times for golf balls with their logos for promotional schemes. However,

there is no mention of the producing country since these companies do not want to show that balls

they deliver in the US are being produced in Asia, "Not only is our quality good enough; labour in India

is cheap enough to churn out a much less expensive product in the end. Yet, the main threat to our

industry comes from countries like Taiwan and China, who have already cornered a chunk of world

markets in tennis, badminton, and squash rackets. This is primarily because of two reasons-slow

response to our needs in tune with the market requirements from the government and lack of

infrastructure. And most importantly, tags 'Made in China' or 'Made in Taiwan' are more acceptable in

the West than 'Made in India' or 'Made in Pakistan'. One of the mottos of the Mayor group has been to

make 'Made in India' an acceptable label in the West. For that we stress quality, timely delivery, and

competent rates. Yet, a lot depends on perception value, which in our case is sadly on the negative

side, much owing to our government's stance over the years. Things might be improving, but the pace

is very slow and as our economy drifts towards a free market scenario supinely, it might just prove to

be too little too late in the end," says Rajesh.

Today, Mayor group is sitting pretty as its competitors, Soccer International Sakay Trades,

Savi, Wasan, Cosco, Nivia, and Spartan are only trying to catch up in the inflatables category. With 1.2

million dozen golf balls, Mayor is way ahead of its competitors. The company is planning to enhance its

manufacturing capacity to 1.5 million dozen golf balls next fiscal. With approval from the worlds top

two golf associations-the US PGA and RNA of Scotland, demand for its product is not a problem, the

company's senior marketing officials point out. With the markets in Mayor's current export

destinations-Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand-all set to expand in the coming years

after the present slump, Mayor want expand its sports goods business that caters to 60 percent of its

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overall exports. Though 40 per cent of exports come from houseware manufacture in Delhi and

Mumbai, with export centers in the same countries for its sports goods, just about mainting this

business at its present state, and concentrating entirely on sports goods is what the Mayors are intent

on.24

With nearly 2000 skilled workforce; quality certification from ISO 9001:2000 and ISO

14001:2004; and having spread to more than 40 countries, Mayor and Company is obviously sitting

pretty.