Frontrunner's Winning Strategy
In a recently published study on top management of Fortune 500 companies in the US, Spencer Stuart, a research firm, specifically focused on the gender of the employees in top positions, their job profiles and the source of their appointments. Spencer Stuart provides organizations a qualitative understanding that helps them to select, assess and develop executives, optimize team effectiveness, and evaluate and evolve their organizational cultures.
As per Spencer Stuart's key findings, men represent 60% of the select group that constitutes top management, including positions, such as Chief Operating Officer, Head of Division, and Chief Financial Officer. On the other hand, women represent 40% that constitute top management positions. But they occupy lesser positions, such as Head of Communications, Head of Human Resources and Head of Sustainable Development. As per a survey undertaken by the International Labour Organization, while 91% of the women strongly agreed that women lead as effectively as men, only 77% of men agreed with this view.
Despite these perceptions and perspectives, some extraordinary women like Renuka Jagtiani, chairwoman of Landmark Group, Dubai, have broken the glass ceiling and reached top positions. Renuka has been able to challenge traditional leadership styles, and promote a more balanced, inclusive and equitable workplace.
Renuka Jagtiani is at the helm of Landmark Group, an omnichannel retailing giant headquartered in Dubai. Under her able leadership, the group has expanded its footprint across 24 countries, including the Middle East, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. She has been involved in corporate strategy and market expansion of the group for more than two decades. With a workforce of more than 50,000 employees, Landmark Group's diversified portfolio has over 25 proprietary brands, spanning across retail, hospitality, food and leisure sectors.
Hailing from India, Renuka Jagtiani was born in 1955 and studied in Mumbai. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the prestigious Mumbai University. She set her foot on the retail world in 1993 when she joined Landmark Group. She worked shoulder-to-shoulder with her late husband, Micky Jagtiani, who founded Landmark Group in 1973. Together the couple successfully built a retail powerhouse.
Business Journey
Renuka Jagtiani's business journey began with the establishment of Landmark's Indian arm in 1999. It has since grown to encompass around 900 outlets across five verticals. Also, she was instrumental in crafting the high-street fashion brand, Splash, in 1993.
Landmark that was set up in 1973, with its first store in Bahrain, today has a retail presence of over 30 million sq ft across 24 countries. The group's retail brands include Centrepoint, Babyshop, Splash, Shoe Mart, Lifestyle, Iconic, Max Fashion, Shoexpress, Home Centre, Home Box, and Emax, among others. It also holds franchise rights for many global fashion and footwear brands. Moreover, it has a presence in leisure, food, hospitality, and healthcare with Landmark Leisure, Balance Spa and Salon, Citymax Hotels, Fitness First, and Foodmark, the group's restaurant division.
Perceiving the growing needs of the community, Renuka foresaw an opportunity to deliver exceptional value to customers through the launch of the region’s first food discounter brand, Viva, in 2018. With the launch of Viva, Landmark Group pioneered the concept of food discount retail in the Middle East. The brand offers a range of private label quality products at least 30% cheaper. Viva promised customers saving of an average family a month's salary on its annual shopping bills. Within a short span of 18 months of launching Viva, 16 more outlets were launched. By 2023 Viva had 77 supermarkets in the Emirates, and currently the number of outlets has grown to 87.
Renuka Jagtiani at 70 years has been taking Landmark Group to another level of success after her husband's demise last year. With an estimated net worth of $4.8 billion (INR 40,040 crore) in 2024, she has consistently been ranked as one of the top businesswomen in the Forbes Billionaire list. In fact, her husband Micky Jagtiani was also an Indian billionaire who built the empire of Landmark Group from scratch. Renuka Jagtiani has dedicated more than 25 years to the company, thereby creating a mammoth retailer. The couple was inducted into the Retail Hall of Fame at the 2017 World Retail Congress held at Madinat Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai.
Awards
Renuka Jagtiani has received numerous awards for her entrepreneurial acumen and strategic planning. She was the "Outstanding Asian Business Woman of the Year in 2007," and "Entrepreneur of the World Year by the World Entrepreneurship Forum in 2014." It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her achievements extend beyond business successes. Her influence was also recognised in Forbes' 2021 list as one of the world's most powerful women.
Social Work
Landmark Group, along with the Jagtiani Foundation, donated AED15 million ($4.08 million) to accredited NGOs, food banks and healthcare workers in the GCC countries and India. The group’s brands, alongside the Jagtiani Foundation and The LIFE Foundation, have committed to support and empower affected communities, including migrant and garment workers, low-income families, frontline workers, and other vulnerable individuals. The Jagtiani Foundation donated large sums of money to government hospitals to provide personal protective equipment and masks to healthcare workers during the pandemic. The group is also working with Max India to leverage its partner factories in India to channel resources through its existing supply chain.
The Jagtiani Foundation is also working through NGOs, including, Apnalaya, Jan Sahas, Oscar Foundation, SAVE, and READ to provide access to food for under-served populations and low-income families, daily-wage earners, and migrant workers. READ has consistently been working on prevention, protection and rehabilitation for young workers from textile industries and garment factories located in and around Tiruppur, Erode, Coimbatore and nearby districts in India, while SAVE, a reputed organisation with its roots in the Tiruppur area in Tamil Nadu, has been highlighting the issues of textile and garment workers to the world.
Moreover, The LIFE Foundation has also tied up with SPAR Hypermarkets to ensure that good quality subsidized food is made available to the needy. The Foundation, in its first phase, has focused on resources in Mumbai, Coimbatore and Tiruppur. The LIFE Foundation has also been providing free medical equipment to hospitals and medical facilities. Recently, it donated medical equipment to the pediatric ward (ICU) of Nair Hospital, Mumbai.
Today, Landmark Group is one of the largest omnichannel retailers in the GCC countries and also the top home and fashion retailers in India. Renuka Jagtiani, who resides in the UAE with her family, inspires women to be strong and independent. Renuka and Micky Jagtiani have three children: Aarti, Nisha and Rahul. The children hold key positions as group directors in Landmark Group.
(Photo: Courtesy Company Site)
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