Manish Sharma on how he used his learnings at LG, Samsung to great effect

At first sight, Manish Sharma looks nothing like what I had expected. The gentleman who deftly makes his way through the stream of people towards me looks more like a character straight out of a television soap. Well, television does play a key role in his life — played through his professional life, to be precise — but the ballgame is completely different in his case. 

He quickly scans the waiting area and we start walking towards ThreeSixtyOne Degrees. We are at The Oberoi in Gurugram and I have to scamper across the hallway to stay in step with Sharma. As we settle down at our corner table in the restaurant, I wonder what might be the source of his seemingly boundless energy. As we get talking I learn yoga and meditation is the secret sauce. Sharma was earlier into heavy-duty cardiovascular workouts; now he starts his day with asanas that, he says, keeps his “mind and body energised through the day”.

Sharma has chosen the venue of our luncheon meeting and he suggests that we should try out the lavish buffet rather than order a la carte. There’s an artificial water body right outside the restaurant — the view through the high glass partition irons out my Monday afternoon blues. Sharma, 47, gets into the flow without much prodding. He talks about the early days of his career, which he says was a mix of luck, fortune and accident. 

Back in early 90s, when the Indian government was busy calculating the pros and cons of liberalising the economy, Sharma was studying electrical engineering at the Bhilai Institute of Technology, Chhattisgarh, which was then part of undivided Madhya Pradesh. While he had wanted to take up medicine after finishing school — influenced by a bunch of school buddies who viewed medicine as the most prestigious career option — Sharma changed his mind at some point and decided to pursue civil engineering to be able to join his father’s construction business near Gowaliar, Madhya Pradesh. A last moment change of plan occurred as his then girlfriend and now wife joined the electrical engineering course. He followed suit.

By the time he completed the four-year engineering course, many things had changed. Large multinational companies were setting up shops in the country, new, state of the art production facilities were coming up and the demand for engineers was going up rapidly. His own aspirations were also changing — he wanted to get out of the “small town” and try his luck in the wider job market rather than join his father’s business. His first job, though, lasted only a day. “By afternoon, I was sure it was not for me. So I quit,” he chuckles. While he chooses not to name the company, he says it was in the business of fibre optics. 

The restaurant begins to fill up and it appears everyone in the room is talking at the same time. Sharma too raises his voice. Good for me — the recording would be easier to decipher.

His big break came with a bit of luck, Sharma recalls. Korean electronics major LG had already entered the country and joined hands with one of the bigger local TV manufacturers of the time — the Hotline Group. Sharma joined LG as a trainee engineer. LG invests huge money into training and skill development to upgrade local talent and bring them on par with its global standards. “LG-Hotline was also the place where I got exposed to the power of analytics, supply chain management and logical thinking capabilities.” At the end of his five-year stint at the company, Sharma was managing a team of 70 at its integrated factory and had more or less figured out what Korean  precision really meant. 

The defining moment in his career came three years later, in 2004, when he joined Chinese appliances firm Haier. In between he had also spent three years at LG’s arch rival, Samsung, and had “polished his decision making abilities”. He was in charge of product development at Samsung as head of R&D in its Noida facility. He began to feel restless and wondered if it was marketing and sales where he would be able to see the kind of career growth that he aspired to. Somewhere in his mind he also knew that he wanted to interact with consumers and channel partners one on one. The shift to product marketing in what was then a small operation was not very difficult. 

By now, we have moved to the main course after negotiating the starters. I picked up some non-vegetarian salad and sushi and a grilled chicken breast after dealing with the juicy kebabs like a professional. Sharma, a vegetarian, focused his attention on a heavy soup. He was a foodie but now he minds what 

he eats. 

Sharma’s next stopover would be his most successful stint. In August 2008, he joined Panasonic as head of marketing for consumer electronics and home appliances. At that time, Panasonic was a mere Rs 3 billion company in India and was mostly operating in the southern parts of the country, with its headquarters in Chennai. While the brand had considerable recall value, thanks to the excellent quality radio sets that it sold, the chips were down. The learnings during his previous stints at the two chaebols came in handy. They had taught him the value of analytics and quick decision-making. His hard work paid off when in 2012, four years after joining the local arm of the Japanese technology major, Sharma was elevated to the position of managing director for India. In 2017, Sharma became the first Indian to secure a place among the top echelons of Panasonic Corporation’s appliances business. He was inducted as an executive officer — a bunch that meets twice a year to chalk out the growth path for the 300,000-strong company. 

Television continues to be an integral part of his repertoire at the company and they earn a hefty revenue for Panasonic in the country. But its share in Panasonic’s overall business has come down over the years; so the company has diversified into categories such as security cameras and industrial solutions, apart from large consumer appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners.

Panasonic has grown its revenue in the country a whopping 30 times over the last 10 years, Sharma claims. “It is just the beginning”, he says, adding, “Panasonic’s core competency lies in business-to-business solutions and industrial products. In these categories, we are yet to arrive at the desired levels in India. One key area now is power storage and we are quite bullish about it”. 

As we approach the end of our lunch, Sharma tells me how Panasonic is making quick strides in the segment by capturing supply contracts for power storage in critical areas like bank ATM machines and telecom towers. Growing concerns over environmental pollution is pushing tower management companies to replace generator sets with batteries and Panasonic is aggressively scouting for opportunities there. Its next big play would be in the solar sector where convenient power storage is increasingly becoming important. 

Sharma skips dessert saying he has to stay focused during his next meeting. I pick up some gulab jamuns and fruits. “While my love for food has not declined a bit, it is the realisation that I am in my 40s that is keeping me away from sweets.” And then, like most health conscious people, he waxes eloquent about the benefits of regular exercise. 

Sharma looks forward to the day when Panasonic will be able to establish its legacy in the country through “long-term contribution to the development of the local people” — a motto that its founder Konosuke Matsushita strongly believed in. Matsushita is considered the god of management in Japan and Sharma is a big fan of his philosophy. 

As we part ways, Sharma rushes out for the next meeting, not without unleashing his boyish charm one last time — and offering a detailed excuse for not doing justice to the lavish spread at the restaurant.