Coimbatore-based Ekki Pumps becomes a case study at INSEAD Business School

Chennai: Pumps and water technology provider Ekki has become a part of the MBA curriculum at INSEAD Business School. The study has been included in the MBA reading list for the subject “Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.” The case study titled ‘Sustainability in Asia’ is authored by Professors Stephen J Mezias (INSEAD), Indira Pant (National University of Singapore) and Rikki Abzug, (Ramapo College of New Jersey).

“We interviewed the leaders of six successful medium-sized family firms based in South East Asia about their efforts to make their organizations more sustainable. Ekki, which was the only firm based in India in our study, was archetypical: with generational change, external orientation, and a focus on innovation to help the community being key factors driving them towards sustainability,” said Stephen J. Mezias, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD.

INSEAD has created a case study on the challenges, growth and transformation journey of the pump major. It explores the reinvention of Ekki from 2013 and how the company modeled itself into a sustainable water technology provider. “We don’t want to be a ‘Me too’ pump manufacturer,” Ekki’s Co-CEO Kanishka Arumugam told ET. “We would like to be a unique water technology platform company providing sustainable water solutions to agriculture, buildings, public utilities and industry partnering with technology leaders, global investors and startups.” He went on to add that going forward, water scarcity will be a huge concern and spoke at length about the need for technology to be used in the sector, especially agriculture which accounts for about 70% of the global water usage.

“Water is one of the least technologically influenced industries, so it holds big opportunities for Ekki. From office towers to factories to homes and agriculture, the need for clean water has never been greater. The future wave is water sustainability, and Ekki will be part of it. Our goal is to provide access to clean water using cutting edge technologies and sustainable ways,” he said. Kanishka said the global water market is estimated to be around $400 billion. Of this, the Indian pump market accounts for around $ 2 billion of the global $50 billion pump industry. Thus, providing huge scope for Indian manufacturing firms to leverage the space, he said.

Article Credit: economictimes.indiatimes