Healthcare is one of the fastest growing businesses for Philips in India. After a hiatus of six-months, Philips found a new leader for its healthcare business in South Asia. Sameer Garde joined Philips Healthcare as President, South Asia, in July 2014 but has kept a low profile ever-since. M Neelam Kachhap catches up with him to find out how innovative he is
You began your career at Nestle, and before coming to Philips you were heading enterprise business at Samsung. What attracted you to the device industry and to Philips in particular?
Philips is a strong brand in India and the people I met during the course of my selection, made me see a cultural fit. I have worked in two industries prior to Philips, FMCG and technology, each for 10 to 12 years. I have always wanted to challenge myself in new industries, so chose healthcare and Philips being a leader in the industry, it was a natural choice.
You became the President of Philips Healthcare last July. Is there anything in particular that has stood out or surprised you since you took the job?
Two things stand out clearly. One, the industry. If we focus only on equipment, it is relatively small compared to the potential for healthcare in India. So, it is critical that Philips look at adjacent opportunities to expand the size of the addressable market. Also our customers are asking us to do more, beyond equipment sales. Second, the decisions are made by owners and founders who have put their personal names, sweat and money into the ventures. And since they are making big capital outlay decisions with Philips brand, the brand and the people who stand behind the brand need to be seen as trustworthy, reliable and with skin in the game.
What is going to change under your direction at Philips Healthcare?
Philips Healthcare has had a great growth journey over the last several years to become the number one player in four out of the five categories we play in. The first job is to consolidate this leadership position. And then enter into adjacent opportunities to expand our addressable market opportunity. That would mean more innovative business models, entering in to infra services, helping our customers enter in to new areas like tele ICU etc. Lastly, as Philips transitions into the healthtech arena, it would be critical to start new businesses which span the entire healthcare continuum and not just diagnostics i.e. healthy living, prevention, diagnostics, therapy, recovery and home healthcare.
How does your experience in the past influence your approach to leadership today?
Well, everyone develops as a leader as one gathers experience. My previous organisational experience have given me an opportunity to work in various roles in India and globally. That helps a leader to adapt to any situation. I hope that I am able to balance the tactical vs the strategic better. Execution is critical irrespective of what role you do, and I think my experience has helped me hone my expectations from my team in that area. Also, I probably spend more time on people development today, which is the key to building great organisations. Lastly, I am a firm believer in managing businesses and people with a disciplined and process oriented approach while giving them the freedom to take risks.
What unique challenges and rewards come with working for a large organisation like Philips?
Culturally, Philips India and Philips Global is one of the most enriching experiences I have had till now. People are passionate about the brand and their roles. Extremely customer focused and believe in taking risks. The global leadership encourages innovation and risk taking and has a more federal structure of management, with local key markets having significantly more independence than any of my previous organisations. This responsibility comes with accountability and I think the team on the ground is extremely adept at managing the same.
Which segments would be your focus for growth in the coming years?
The diagnostic equipment market is small and hence has immense potential to grow. We will continue to focus on the core while developing the new businesses as mentioned above.
Where will Philips Healthcare be in the next five years?
Five more years older or younger I guess. We will have firm footed new businesses in the healthcare continuum, a larger footprint for R&D and manufacturing, continue the leadership in the core and continue to have the best team in the industry!
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