Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
product
Hindustan Unilever Limited
Type
Headquart
ers
Industry
Products
Parent
Website
Hindustan Unilever Limited (abbreviated to HUL) (BSE: HUL) formerly Hindustan Lever
Limited, is Indias largest consumer products company and has an annual turnover of over Rs
13,000 crores (calendar year 2007)[1]. It was formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited and
came into being in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited through a merger of Lever Brothers,
Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd.. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India
and has an employee strength of over 15,000 employees and contributes for indirect
employment of over 52,000 people. The company was renamed in late June 2007 to Hindustan
Unilever Limited.
In 2007, Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected company in India for the past 25
years by Business World, one of Indias leading business magazines [2]. The rating was based
on a compilation of the magazines annual survey of Indias Most Reputed Companies over the
past 25 years. HUL is the market leader in Indian consumer products with presence in over 20
consumer categories such as Soaps, Tea, Detergents and Shampoos amongst others with over
700 million Indian consumers using its products. It has over 35 brands. Sixteen of HULs brands
featured in the AC Nielsen-Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2008)
[3]
. According to Brand Equity, HUL has the largest number of brands in the Most Trusted Brands
List. Its a company that has consistently had the largest number of brands in the Top 50 and in
the Top 10 (with 4 brands).
Hindustan Unilever distribution covers over 1 million retails outlets across India directly and its
products are available in over 6.3 million outlets in India, i.e. nearly 80% of the retail outlets in
India. It has 39 factories in the country. Two out of three Indians use the companys products
and HUL products have the largest consumer reach being available in over 80 per cent of
consumer homes across India.
The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a majority stake (52%) in Hindustan Unilever Limited.
HUL was one of the eight Indian companies to be featured on the Forbes list of Worlds Most
Reputed companies in 2007 [4].
History - Chronology
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the
words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).
Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim.
Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.
In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company,
followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three
companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian
public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity
in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual
shareholders and financial institutions.
The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had
launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed.
Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile
Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977
Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated.
Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through
an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.
Brands
Kissan squashes and jams, Annapurna salt and atta, Pond's talcs and creams, Vaseline lotions,
Fair & Lovely creams, Lakm beauty products, Clinic Plus, Clinic All Clear, Sunsilk and Dove
shampoos, Vim dishwash, Ala bleach and Domex disinfectant.Rexona,Modern Bread and Axe
deosprays
Leadership
HUL has produced many business leaders for corporate India. It is referred to as a 'CEO
Factory' in the Indian press for the same reasons.[who?] It's leadership building potential was
recognized when it was ranked 4th in the Hewitt Global Leadership Survey 2007 with only GE,
P&G and Nokia ranking ahead of HUL in the ability to produce leaders with such regularity.[6][7][8]
Mission
Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and
personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life
Vision
Tag line-According to the CEO of HUL Mr Douglas Bailey the new logo and name
Present Stature
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods company,
touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home &
Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. They endow the company with a scale of
combined volumes of about 4 million tonnes and sales of nearly Rs.13718 crores.
HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognised as a Golden Super
Star Trading House by the Government of India.
The mission that inspires HUL's over 15,000 employees, including over 1,300 managers, is to
"add vitality to life." HUL meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with
brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares
with its parent company, Unilever, which holds 52.10% of the equity. The rest of the
shareholding is distributed among 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.
HUL's brands - like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Sunsilk, Clinic
Plus, Pepsodent, Close-up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr-Annapurna, Kwality Wall's
are household names across the country and span many categories - soaps, detergents,
personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products. They are
manufactured over 40 factories across India. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and
associates. HUL's distribution network, comprising about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering
6.3 million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 million rural
consumers.
In 2001, the company embarked on an ambitious programme, Shakti. Through Shakti, HUL is
creating micro-enterprise opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and
the standard of living in rural communities. Shakti also includes health and hygiene education
through the Shakti Vani Programme, and creating access to relevant information through the
iShakti community portal. The program now covers 15 states in India and has over 45,000
women entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 135,000 villages and directly reaching to 150
million rural consumers. By the end of 2010, Shakti aims to have 100,000 Shakti entrepreneurs
covering 500,000 villages, touching the lives of over 600 million people.
HUL is also running a rural health programme Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme
endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Indians and aims to bring
down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 84.6 million people in approximately
43890 villages of 8 states. The vision is to make a billion Indians feel safe and secure.
If Hindustan Unilever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being single-minded
in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk of life. [2]
Controversy
Mercury pollution
In 2001 a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal run by Hindustan Unilever was accused of
dumping glass contaminated with mercury in municipal dumps, or selling it on to scrap
merchants unable to deal with it appropriately.[9]
Type
Public
Headquarters
Mumbai , India
Key people
Mr.Harish Manwani ,
Chairman Douglas Baillie, CEO
Industry
FMCG
Products
Employees
41,000
Parent
Unilever
Website
www.hll.com
Hamam
Lifebuoy
Rexona
Lux
Liril
Moti Soaps
Breeze
Lipton Tea
Bru Coffee
Pepsodent
Close Up
Surf
Rin
Kissan
Annapurna
Pond's
Vaseline
Lakm
Clinic Plus
Vim
Ala Bleach
Domex
The Hindustan Lever Research Center (HLRC) was established in 1958, and now has facilities in
Mumbai & Bangalore. HLRC has 200 highly qualified scientists and technologists, many of them with
post-doctoral experience. HLL also runs various ambitious programmes like Shakti. Shakti's aim is to
create opportunities for rural women thereby improving their livelihood and standard of living in rural
sector. Shakti also includes health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani Programme. The
programme covers about 50,000 villages in 12 states. HLL's motive is to take this programme to
100,000 villages influencing the lives of over a 100 million rural Indians. HLL is also involved in
running a rural health programme - Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme aims to inculcate
the hygienic practices among rural Indians to bring down the figure of diarrhea patients. It has
already covered 70 million people in approximately 15000 villages of 8 states.
1996
Sales
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
7120,0 8342,7 10215,2 10917,6 11392,1 11781,3 10951,6 11096,0 10888,3 11975,5
6
5
4
9
4
0
1
2
8
3
Profit
After
412,70 580,25 580,25 1069,94 1310,09 1540,95 1731,32 1804,34 1199,28 1354,51
Taxatio
n
New Ventures
Hindustan Lever Network
Ayush Ayurvedic Products & Services
Sangam
Pureit Water Purifiers
Exports
HPC
Beverages
Marine Products
Rice
Castor
Shakti: The
Vision
Provides detailed business description, segment analysis, 5-year financial trends, key products
and key competitors
Includes information on suppliers/ partners, shareholding structure and key employees with
biographies
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a packaged mass consumption fast moving consumer goods
(FMCG) company based in India. It offers foods, beverages, home care, and personal care products. Its
operations are divided into seven reportable divisions: soaps and detergents, personal products,
beverages, foods, ice creams, exports, and other operations.
Its brands are spread across 20 consumer product categories. Hindustan Unilever markets consumer
goods throughout India. The company faces competition from international, local and regional players.
The company derives 44.3% of its revenues from soaps and detergents, 26.6% from personal care
products, 10.5% from beverages, and the rest from foods, ice creams, exports, and other products. As
counterfeit trade increases, the company stands to lose on its brand equity and exclusivity.
Key reasons to read this report
Access all the important information and analysis on the company in a single report
Understand company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats along with business
strategy and value chain
Gain access to company's adjusted five year financial data along with key ratios and market
capitalization
Table of Contents
Overview
Catalyst
Summary
Table of Contents
tables
Company Structure
Business Description
Overview
Financials
Overview
Financials
Beverages division
Overview
Financials
Foods division
Overview
Financials
Overview
Financials
Overview
Financials
Overview
Financials
History
11
Head Office
11
11
Company Financials
12
Overview
12
Revenue by Division
12
Revenue by Geography
13
14
14
List of Products
14
List of Brands
16
17
Top Competitors
17
List of Competitors
17
18
Clients
19
Shareholding Structure
20
Strategy
21
Vision
21
Mission
21
Company Statement
22
Strategy
24
24
24
25
25
27
Overview
27
Community commitment
27
Stakeholders
27
Environment commitment
27
SWOT Analysis
28
Overview
28
Strengths
29
29
29
29
Weaknesses
31
31
31
Opportunities
32
32
Project Shakti
32
32
Threats
33
Regulations
33
Increasing competition
33
Retail consolidation
33
35
Overview
35
Raw material
36
Overview
36
Manufacturing
36
Overview
36
36
Overview
36
Marketing
36
Overview
36
Services
37
Overview
37
Key Employees
38
38
39
Douglas Baillie
39
Harish Manwani
39
M.K. Sharma
40
S. Ravindranath
40
D.S. Parekh
40
V. Narayanan
40
C.K. Prahalad
41
A. Narayan
41
S. Ramadorai
41
D. Sundaram
41
Shirjeet Mishra
42
Ashok Gupta
42
Leena Nair
42
43
Financial Overview
43
45
APPENDIX
46
Data Definitions
46
46
Consulting
46
Disclaimer
47
List of Tables
Table 1: Hindustan Unilever - Key Facts
11
13
13
14
16
17
20
28
35
38
Table 12: Hindustan Unilever - Financial and Operational Highlights, 2002-2006 ($ Mn) 43
Table 13: Hindustan Unilever - Key Industry-specific Ratios, 2002-2006
Table14: Hindustan Unilever - Data Definitions
45
infrastructure development.
The company has acquired a wealth of experience and learning from
these activities.
KEY LEARNINGS ON RURAL DEVELOPEMENT:
The principal issue in rural development is to create income-generating
opportunities for the rural population. Such initiatives are successful and
sustainable when linked with the companys core business and is mutually
beneficial to both the population for whom the programme is intended
and for the company.
Based on these insights, HUL launched Project Shakti in the year
2001, in keeping with the purpose of integrating business interests
with national interests.
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), together with its subsidiaries, provides branded
consumer goods products worldwide. The company operates in three global business units
(GBU): Beauty, Health and Well-Being, and Household Care. The Beauty GBU consists of
Beauty and Grooming segments. Beauty segment provides cosmetics, deodorants, hair care,
personal cleansing, prestige fragrances, and skin care products primarily under Head &
Shoulders, Olay, Pantene, CoverGirl, and Wella brands. Grooming segment offers blades and
razors; electric hair removal devices; face and shave products; and home appliances under
Braun, Fusion, Gillette, and Mach 3 brand names. The Health and Well-Being GBU includes
Health Care, and Snacks, Coffee, and Pet Care segments. Health Care segment provides
feminine care, oral care, personal health care, and pharmaceuticals primarily under Actonel,
Always, Crest, and Oral-B brands. Snacks, Coffee, and Pet Care segment offers snacks, such
as potato chips under Pringles brand name and pet care products under Iams and Eukanuba
brands. The Household Care GBU consists of Fabric Care and Home Care, and Baby Care and
Family Care segments. Fabric Care and Home Care segment offers fabric care products,
including laundry products and fabric conditioners; home care products, such as dish care,
surface cleaners, and air fresheners; and batteries. This segment offers its products under Ariel,
Dawn, Downy, Duracell, Gain, and Tide brand names. Baby Care and Family Care segment
provides diapers, training pants, baby wipes, bath tissues, facial tissues, and paper towels
primarily under Bounty, Charmin, and Pampers brands. The company sells its products in
approximately 180 countries through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership club
stores, drug stores, department stores, salons, and high-frequency stores. P&G was founded in
1837 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Headquarters:
One Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45201
Employees: 138,000
CEO: A.G. Lafley
Stock Symbol: PG
Website: http://www.pg.com
Company News
Career Site
Procter and Gamble is the world's leading maker and distributor of household consumer
products including soap, toilet paper, detergent, shampoo, coffee, razors and potato chips.
The company's well-known brands include: Ivory soap, Tide detergent, Cascade dishwashing
detergent, Folgers coffee, Pringle's potato chips, Head and Shoulders shampoo, Crest
toothpaste, Pampers, Downy, Duracell, Gillette, Braun, Pepto Bismol and Tampax. Products
may have different localized brand names in other countries. The company has over 300 brands
in over 160 countries.
P&G has operations in over 80 countries.
In fiscal 2007, P&G had record revenues of $76.4 billion and net income of $10.3 billion.
Household Care made up $36.2 billion in revenues, Beauty and Health made $31.9 billion and
Gillette Division generated $9.3 billion during 2007.
The company spent more than $2 billion on research and development in 2007.
P&G announced in June it would sell its Folgers coffee business to J.M. Smucker Company in a
Wipro
Wipro Technologies is a corporation based in India. It was founded as a vegetable
oil company, but since then has diversified into the information technology,
consumer care, lighting, engineering and healthcare businesses.
Wipro started as a vegetable oil company in 1947 from an old mill founded by Azim
Premji's father. When his father died in 1966, Azim, a graduate in Electrical
Engineering from Stanford University, took on the leadership of the company at the
age 21. He repositioned it and transformed Wipro (Western India Vegetable Products
Ltd) into a consumer goods company that produced hydrogenated cooking oils/fat
company, laundry soap, wax and tin containers and later set up Wipro Fluid Power
to manufacture hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders in 1975. At that time, it was
valued at $2 million
Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven business solutions. Wipro is
the No.1 provider of integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform.
Azim Premji is the Chairman of Wipro Technologies. He took over the mantle of leadership of Wipro at the
age of 21 in 1966. Under his leadership, the fledgling US$ 2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company
has grown to a US$1.76 billion IT Services organization serving customers across the globe. Wipro is
presently ranked among the top 100 Technology companies in the world. It has 66,000+ employees,
serves 592 clients, and has 46 development centers across globe.
Wipro Technologies deals in following businesses:
IT Services: Wipro provides complete range of IT Services to the organization. The range of
services extends from Enterprise Application Services (CRM, ERP, e-Procurement and SCM) to
e-Business solutions. Wipro's enterprise solutions serve a host of industries such as Energy
and Utilities, Finance, Telecom, and Media and Entertainment.
Product Engineering Solutions: Wipro is the largest independent provider of R&D services in
the world. Using "Extended Engineering" model for leveraging R&D investment and accessing
new knowledge and experience across the globe, people and technical infrastructure, Wipro
enables firms to introduce new products rapidly.
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering: It has emerged as the leader in the hydraulic cylinders and
truck tipping systems market in India.
Wipro Infotech: It is one of the leading manufacturers of computer hardware and a provider of
systems integration services in India.
Wipro Lighting: It manufactures and markets the Wipro brand of luminaries. Wipro Lighting
offers lighting solutions across various application areas such as commercial lighting for
modern work spaces, manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, designer petrol pumps
and outdoor architecture.
Achievements of Wipro
The first to get the BS15000 certification for its Global Command Centre.
Only Indian company to be ranked among the 'Top 10 Global Outsourcing Providers' in the
IAOP-Fortune Global 100 listings.
.AzimH.Premji
BIO
AzimH.PremjihasbeenWiproLtd.'sChairmanoftheBoardandManagingDirectorsinceSeptember
1968.Mr.PremjiholdsaBachelorofScienceinElectricalEngineeringfromStanfordUniversity.Currently,
heisalsoaDirectorofMediaLabAsia
TheInformationTechnology100
23
Wipro
Comingoffitsstrongestyearsince2000,Wiprogrewat43%in2004.The
companyhasbranchedoutfromofferingssuchassoftwaredevelopment,R&D,
andapplicationsmaintenancetoprovidingremoteinfrastructuremanagement,
financialservices,andapplicationsandproducttesting.Allthatwhilemaintaining
itspositionastheworldslargestthirdpartyR&Dprovider.Wipro,whichgetsthe
majorityofitsrevenuefromtheU.S.,ispushingfurtherinEuropeandexpectsto
makesomeacquisitionstherethisyear.Athome,thecompanysbackoffice
operation,WiproBPO,gotajoltwhenChiefExecutiveRamanRoyquitinearly
Junetostartanotherbusiness.The$150millionoperation,mostlycallcenterwork,
willmoveintohigherendbackofficejobssuchasinsuranceprocessesinorderto
achievegreaterprofitabilityandtostemthehighemployeeattritiontonewforeign
players.
CompanyInfo
STOCK INFO
WIT
REVENUES*
$1.9 BILLION
Revenue Growth
39.2%
RETURN ON
EQUITY
27.9%
Total Return
41.4%
PROFITS*
$363
MILLION
Industry
SERVICES
CompanySnapshot
WiproLimited,throughitssubsidiaries,providesITservicesworldwide.Itofferssoftwaresolutions,IT
consulting,businessprocessoutsourcingservices,andresearchanddevelopmentservicesintheareas
ofhardwareandsoftwaredesign.Thecompanyoperatesinthreesegments:GlobalITServicesand
Products,IndiaandAsiaPacITServicesandProducts,andConsumerCareandLighting.TheGlobalIT
ServicesandProductssegmentprovidesITservicestocustomersintheAmericas,Europe,andJapan.
TheIndiaandAsiaPacITServicesandProductssegmentoperatesintheIndianITmarketandoffersIT
productsandservicestothecompaniesinIndia,AsiaPacific,andtheMiddleEastregion.Consumer
CareandLightingsegmentengagesinthemanufactureandsaleofconsumercareandlightingproducts.
Theconsumercareproductsincludesoapsandtoiletries,babyproducts,talcumpowders,and
hydrogeneratedcookingoils.Thelightingproductsincludelightbulbs,flourescenttubes,andluminaries.
WiproLimitedwasfoundedin1945.ThecompanyisheadquarteredinBangalore,India.
NO.OFEMPLOYEES
NA
DATAPROVIDEDBY
650 customers in India. It is powered by the expert skills of over 6,500 technical specialists and state-ofthe-art BS 15000 certified infrastructure for operations support.
A phased approach towards process standardization, process optimization and process re-engineering.
Wipro BPO provides a broad range of services from customer relationship management, back office
transaction processing to industry-specific solutions. The key element of services delivery is an integrated
approach towards providing increasing value over the entire course of our client relationships. This
involves a phased approach towards process standardization, process optimization and process reengineering
True value from technology requires an in-depth understanding of business strategy.
Todays businesses need partners who can talk about strategy and technology in the same conversation.
At Wipro, we believe true value from technology requires an in-depth understanding of business strategy.
Our cross-industry consulting services help you craft a vision for your organization and then provide a
specific, practical business and technology framework that will make that vision a reality. Our consulting
competencies spread across business, process, quality and technology consulting.
We've developed a model called "Extended Engineering that leverages synergies across the value chain
As product manufacturers and platform vendors across the world strive to make better products with
shorter development cycles and reduced total cost of ownership, we at Wipro Technologies partner with
them to provide comprehensive solutions in product lifecycle management and product realization. At
Wipro, we've developed a model called "Extended enginering" that allows you to leverage synergies
across the value chain and progress swiftly from concept to market. We are now the world's largest
contract R&D house for telecom, auto and electronics
For more details :www.wipro.com
infosys
infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) provides consulting and IT services to clients globally - as
partners to conceptualize and realize technology drivInfosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) provides
consulting and IT services to clients globally - as partners to conceptualize and realize technology driven
business transformation initiatives. With over 49,000 employees worldwide, we use a low-risk Global
Delivery Model (GDM) to accelerate schedules with a high degree of time and cost predictability.
As one of the pioneers in strategic offshore outsourcing of software services, Infosys has leveraged the
global trend of offshore outsourcing. Even as many software outsourcing companies were blamed for
diverting global jobs to cheaper offshore outsourcing destinations like India and China, Infosys was
recently applauded by Wired magazine for its unique offshore outsourcing strategy it singled out
Infosys for turning the outsourcing myth around and bringing jobs back to the US.
Infosys provides end-to-end business solutions that leverage technology. We provide solutions for a
dynamic environment where business and technology strategies converge. Our approach focuses on new
ways of business combining IT innovation and
adoption while also leveraging an organization's current IT assets. We work with large global corporations
and new generation technology companies - to build new products or services and to implement prudent
business and technology strategies in today's dynamic digital environment.
Locations
Corporate headquarters : Bangalore, India
US headquarters : Fremont, CA
Worldwide offices : Atlanta, Bangalore, Beijing, Bellevue, Berkeley Heights, Bhubaneswar, Brussels,
Charlotte, Chennai, Detroit, Frankfurt, Fremont, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Lake Forest, Lisle, London,
Mangalore, Mauritius, Melbourne, Milano, Mohali, Mumbai, Mysore, New Delhi, Paris, Phoenix, Plano,
Pune, Quincy, Reston, Shanghai, Sharjah, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Sydney, Thiruvananthapuram, Tokyo,
Toronto, Utrecht, Zurich.
Employees 49,422
Main officers of the company
Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor : Narayana NR Murthy
Managing Director, President and CEO : Nandan M Nilekani
For further information visit http://www.infosys.com
tata
Tata Group Company Profile
Ta-da! India's largest industrial conglomerate the Tata Group runs more than 90 companies in seven
main business sectors: chemicals, communications and IT, consumer products, energy, engineering,
materials, and services. Two of its largest operations are steelmaking, through Tata Steel, and vehicle
manufacturing (Tata Motors). Tata Tea is one of the largest tea producers in the world and owns the
venerable Tetley brand. Tata Steel acquired Corus Group for $12.2 billion, which created the sixth-largest
steel company in the world, and made an even bigger splash with the 2008 acquisition of Land Rover
and Jaguar from Ford. The group is managed through holding company Tata Sons.
Contact Information
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Financial Highlights
March
28500.00 M
33.20%
289,500
42.80%
Key People
Industry Information
Top Competitors
Reliance Group
The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest
private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain.
Group's annual revenues are in excess of US$ 34 billion. The flagship company,
Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private
sector company in India.
Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of
Reliance. Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical integration - in
polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production
- to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value chain.
The Group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing,
petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles, retail and spacial economic zones.
Reliance enjoys global leadership in its businesses, being the largest polyester yarn and fibre producer in the world
and among the top five to ten producers in the world in major petrochemical products.
The Group exports products in excess of US$ 20 billion to 108 countries in the world. Major Group Companies are
Reliance Industries Limited (including main subsidiaries Reliance Petroleum Limited and Reliance Retail Limited) and
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.
Reliance Industries Limited Company Profile
Contact Information
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Financial Highlights
March
Key People
Industry Information
Top Competitors
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is Indias largest private sector company on all
major financial parameters. It has emerged as the only Indian company in the list of
global companies that create most value for their shareholders, published by
Financial Times based on a global survey and research conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004. RIL features in the Forbes Global list of worlds
400 best big companies and in FT Global 500 list of worlds largest companies.
Icici bank
ICICI Bank Limited Company Profile
Contact Information
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Financial Highlights
March
15073.30 M
54.10%
61,697
47.40%
Key People
Industry Information
Sector: Financial
Industry: Foreign Money Center Banks
Top Competitors
Canara Bank
Punjab National Bank
State Bank of India
ICICI Bank is spread across the length and breadth of the country. It has 614 branches and over 2200
ATMs. The bank offers a huge variety of services in retail banking and investment banking, life and
non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. To serve global clients the bank looks
forward to strengthen its operations internationally. ICICI currently has subsidiaries in the UK, Russia,
Canada, Singapore, Dubai, etc.
ICICI Bank, with market capitalization of about Rs. 480.00 billion (US$ 10.8 billion), ranked third
amongst all the companies listed on the Indian stock exchanges in June 2006. ICICI Bank's stock was
listed on both BSE and NSE.
The bank is offering various services in:
Personal banking
NRI banking
Corporate banking
ICICI Bank
Rank - 4
2004-05
2005-06
No. of Offices
515
563
No.of Employees
18029
25479
880
905
11
10
50487
71547
Hdfc bank
BUSINESS SUMMARY
HDFC Bank Limited provides various financial products and services. It operates in three segments: Personal Banking, NRI Banking, and
Wholesale Banking. The Personal Banking segment provides savings, and current and fixed deposit accounts. It also offers personal, home,
two wheeler, new car, used car, gold, education, healthcare, commercial vehicle, working capital, construction equipment, and warehouse
receipt loans. In addition, this segment provides safe deposit lockers; credit, debit, and prepaid cards; mutual funds, general and health
insurance, bonds, and equities and derivatives products; and forex and payment services. The NRI Banking segments deposit products
include rupee savings accounts, rupee current accounts, rupee fixed deposits, foreign currency deposits, and accounts for returning Indians.
Its loan products comprise home loans, loans against securities, loans against deposits, and gold credit cards. The Wholesale Banking
segment offers funded services, which consist of working capital finance, short term finance, bill discounting, and export credit; and nonfunded services, such as letters of credit, bank guarantees, and collection of documents to corporations, and small and medium enterprises.
It also various services to banks, financial institutions, mutual funds, stock brokers, insurance companies, commodity businesses, and trusts.
As of March 31, 2008, it had a network of 761 branches and 1,977 automated teller machines in 327 cities in India. The company was
founded in 1994 and is based in Mumbai, India.
Key Statistics
GO
Profile
Get Profile for:
DETAILS
Index Membership:
N/A
Sector:
Financial
Industry:
37,836
Nokia
Wireless wizard Nokia has cast a spell on the mobile phone market. The company is the world's #1 maker
of cell phones (ahead of such rivals as Motorola and Samsung, among others). Nokia is also aiming for
the top of the nascent mobile Internet market. The company's products are divided primarily between
three divisions: devices (handheld device manufacturing); services and software (consumer Internet
services and products); and markets (supply chains, sales channels, and marketing). Nokia's wireless
network products business is operated in partnership with Siemens as Nokia Siemens Networks; the joint
venture is the #3 player in the wireless networking equipment market behind Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent
Nokia is a Finland-based company, established in 1865. The company is a leader in mobile
communications. It has an employee base of around 58,874. It has 14 manufacturing facilities located
in China, UK, Finland, Hungary, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea. Its Research &
Development centers are located in Japan and China
Financial Performance
2006
EUR m
2005
EUR m
Change %
Revised*
2004
EUR m
Net sales
41 121
34 191
20
29 371
Operating profit
5 488
4 639
18
4 326
5 723
4 971
15
4 705
Net profit
4 306
3 616
19
3 192
3 897
3 825
3 776
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and
communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that
enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and
more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet... see more
Dell
Dell Inc. Company Profile
GO
Profile
Get Profile for:
Dell Inc.
One Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682
United States - Map
Phone: 512-338-4400
Fax: 512-728-3653
Web Site: http://www.dell.com
DETAILS
S&P 100
Index Membership:
S&P 500
S&P 1500 Super Comp
Nasdaq 100
Sector:
Technology
Industry:
Personal Computers
82,700
BUSINESS SUMMARY
Key Statistics
Dell develops, manufactures, and sells personal computers and other computer-related products including servers,
data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals and televisions.
Dell, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and
support of various computer systems and services worldwide. It offers various products, including desktop
computer systems and workstations; mobility products that consist of notebook computers, mobile
workstations, and MP3 players; software and peripherals, such as printers
PepsiCo
Headquarters: 700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, NY 10577
Employees: 185,000
CEO: Indra Nooyi
Website: http://www.pepsico.com
Stock Symbol: PEP
Career Page
PepsiCo is one of the world's leading producers of snack foods and beverages including Pepsi soda. Its principal
businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker
foods. PepsiCo brands are available in nearly 200 countries and territories.
Major Frito-Lay products include Lay's potato chips, Doritos tortilla chips, Tostitos tortilla chips, Cheetos cheese
flavored snacks, Fritos corn chips, Ruffles potato chips, Rold Gold pretzels, Sun Chips multigrain snacks, Munchies
snack mix, Lay's Stax potato crisps, Cracker Jack candy coated popcorn and Go Snacks. Frito-Lay also sells a
variety of branded dips, Quaker Fruit & Oatmeal bars, Quaker Quakes corn and rice snacks, Grandma's cookies,
nuts and crackers.
Pepsi beverage brands include Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana Pure Premium, Aquafina water,
Sierra Mist, Mug, Tropicana juice drinks, Propel, SoBe, Slice, Dole, Tropicana Twister and Tropicana Season's Best.
For fiscal 2007, PepsiCo had record revenues of $39 billion.
PepsiCo World Headquarters is located in Purchase, NY, approximately 45 minutes from New York City. The sevenbuilding headquarters complex was designed by Edward Durrell Stone, one of America's foremost architects. The
building occupies 10 acres of a 144-acre complex that includes the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens, a worldacclaimed sculpture collection in a garden setting.
The collection of works is focused on major twentieth century art, and features works by masters such as Auguste
Rodin, Henri Laurens, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Claes Oldenberg.
The gardens originally were designed by the world famous garden planner, Russell Page, and have been extended
by Franois Goffinet. The grounds are open to the public, and a visitor's booth is in operation during the spring and
summer.
In October, PepsiCo announced it would close six plants and cut 3,300 jobs worldwide. The moves could save the
company $1.2 billion over the next three years
History
Many of PepsiCo's brand names are more than 100-years-old, but the corporation is
relatively young. PepsiCo was founded in 1965 through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and
Frito-Lay. Tropicana was acquired in 1998 and PepsiCo merged with The Quaker Oats
Company, including Gatorade, in 2001.
PepsiCo's snack food operations had their start in 1932 when two separate events took
place. In San Antonio, TX, Elmer Doolin bought the recipe for an unknown food product
-- a corn chip -- and started an entirely new industry. The product was Fritos brand corn
chips, and his firm became the Frito Company.
That same year in Nashville, TN, Herman W. Lay started a business distributing potato
chips. Mr. Lay later bought the company that supplied him with product and changed its
name to H.W. Lay Company. The Frito Company and H.W. Lay Company merged in
1961 to become Frito-Lay, Inc.PepsiCo's beverage business was founded 1898 by
Caleb Bradham, a New Bern, North Carolina druggist, who first formulated Pepsi-Cola.
Our History
Cross-Cultural Training
Cross-cultural team building and online training by RW3
www.rw-3.com
Pepsico is one of the largest companies there is that is engaged in the food, beverage, and snack industries. Their
address is 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y. 10577. Their phone number is 914-253-2000 and their fax
number is 914-253-2070. Their stock symbol is PEP and they are listed on the NYSE. The company URL is
http://www.pepsico.com/. Business Summary: PepsiCo, Inc. is engaged in the snack food, soft drink, juice, and fast
food franchise businesses. The Company, through its subsidiaries, markets, sells and distributes various snacks in
the United States and internationally, manufactures concentrates of Pepsi, Mountain Dew and other brands for sale to
franchised bottlers in the United States and international markets and produces, markets, sells and distributes juices
under several Tropicana trademarks in the United States and internationally. Pepsicos domestic snack food business
is conducted by Frito-Lay North America, and its international snack food business is conducted through Frito-Lay
International. The Company's soft drink business operates as the Pepsi-Cola Company and is comprised of two
business units, Pepsi-Cola North America (PCNA) and Pepsi-Cola International (PCI). In December 2000, the
Company announced an agreement under which a subsidiary of PepsiCo will merge with The Quaker Oats Company,
and Quaker will become a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. Quaker is a large worldwide marketer of foods and
beverages. It manufactures and markets Gatorade thirst quencher, along with hot cereals, pancake syrups, grainbased snacks, cornmeal, hominy grits and value-added rice products. The proposed merger is subject to certain
closing conditions, including approval by shareholders of both companies and regulatory approvals. The transaction
is expected to close in the first half of 2001. Pepsico also operates several food franchises including Pizza Hut, KFC,
and Taco Bell.
Financial Summary: PepsiCo, Inc. manufactures, markets and sells soft drinks and concentrates (Pepsi-Cola,
Mountain Dew, Slice, etc.), snack foods (Frito-Lay) and Tropicana branded juices. For the 12 weeks ended 3/24/01,
net sales increased 8% to $4.54 billion. Net income increased 18% to $498 million. Revenues benefitted from volume
gains across all divisions. Net income also reflects an increased gross profit due to higher effective net pricing. (See
above for other operations).
Officers of the company: Steve Reinemund,52, Chairman, CEO Indra Noovi, 45, Pres, CFO Roger Enrico, 56,
Vice Chairman Matthew McKenna, 50, Sr. VP and Treasurer Peter Bridgman, 48, Sr. VP and Controller
SUPPLEMENTARY ANALYSES
REPORTS
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ANALYSIS
FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS
WRIGHT QUALITY ANALYSIS ...
and more!
Business Description
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited. The Group's principal activity is to
manufacture, purchase and sale of Motor Vehicles and Spare parts. The Group is a subsidiary of
Suzuki Motor Corporation. The other activities of the Group comprises of facilitation of Pre-Owned Car
Sales, Fleet Management and Car Financing. The Group also provides services like framing of
customized car policies, economical leasing of cars, maintenance management, registration and
insurance management, emergency assistance and accident management. The product range includes
ten basic models with more than 50 variants. The Group has operations in over 1220 cities with more
than 2628 outlets and also exports cars to other countries.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited Company Profile
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Financial Highlights
Key People
Industry Information
March
Top Competitors
This is a list of company names with their name origins explained. Some origins are disputed.
Content Top 09 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
s
UVWXYZ
[edit] #
20th Century Fox Film studio; formed in 1935 through the merger of William
Fox's Fox Film, and Twentieth Century Pictures.[1]
[edit] A
A&M Records named after founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss[7]
A&P from Atlantic & Pacific in Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, a
U.S.-based supermarket chain.
A&W Root Beer named after founders Roy Allen and Frank Wright[8]
Accenture from "Accent on the future". The name Accenture was proposed
by a company employee in Norway as part of an internal name finding
process (BrandStorming). Before January 1, 2001, the company was called
Andersen Consulting.[9]
Adecco named from the merger of Swiss staffing company Adia with French
staffing company Ecco.[10]
Adobe Systems from the Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of cofounder John Warnock.[12]
Ahold a holding company of Albert Heijn and other supermarkets. For its
100th anniversary in 1987, Ahold was granted the title of Koninklijke ("Royal"
in Dutch) by the Monarchy of the Netherlands, changing its name to
Koninklijke Ahold (Royal Ahold).[13]
Akamai from the Hawaiian word akamai meaning smart or clever;[15] the
company defines it as "intelligent, clever and cool".[16]
AKZO named from the 1969 merger of Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU) and
Koninklijke Zout Organon (KZO).[17]
Alfa Romeo the company was originally known as ALFA, an acronym for
Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. When Nicola Romeo bought ALFA
in 1915, his surname was appended.
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos renamed the company Amazon (from the
earlier name of Cadabra.com) after the world's most voluminous river, the
Amazon. He saw the potential for a larger volume of sales in an online (as
opposed to a bricks and mortar) bookstore. (Alternative: Amazon was chosen
to cash in on the popularity of Yahoo, which listed entries alphabetically.)
Amstrad Amstrad Consumer Electronics plc was founded by Sir Alan Michael
Sugar in the UK. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading.
AOL from America Online. The company was founded in 1983 as Quantum
Computer Services.
Apache according to the project's 1997 FAQ: "The Apache group was formed
around a number of people who provided patch files that had been written for
NCSA httpd 1.3. The result after combining them was A PAtCHy server."[22]
Apple For the favorite fruit of co-founder Steve Jobs and/or for the time he
worked at an apple orchard, and to distance itself from the cold,
unapproachable, complicated imagery created by other computer companies
at the time which had names such as IBM, DEC, Cincom and Tesseract
Arby's the enunciation of the initials of its founders, the Raffel Brothers. The
partners wanted to use the name Big Tex, but were unsuccessful in
negotiating with the Akron businessman who was already using the name.
So, Forrest said, "We came up with Arby's, which stands for R.B., the initials of
Raffel Brothers, although I guess customers might think the initials stand for
roast beef."
Areva named from the region of vila in northern Spain, location of the
Arevalo abbey. Arevalo was shorted to Arevo.
Arm & Hammer based on the arm and hammer of Vulcan, the Roman god of
fire and metalworking. It was previously the logo of the Vulcan Spice Mills in
Brooklyn. When James Church, the son of Church & Dwight founder Austin
Church, came to Church and Dwight from Vulcan Spice Mills, he brought the
logo with him.[23]
ARP company that made analog synthesizers in the 1970s, named after
founder Alan Robert Pearlman.
Artis (zoo in Amsterdam) from the Latin phrase, Natura Artis Magistra, or
Nature is Art's Teacher
Asda Asda Stores Limited was founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores
Ltd in 1949. However the formation of the Asda name occurred in 1965 with
the merger of the Asquith chain of three supermarkets and Associated
Dairies; Asda is an abbreviation of Asquith and Dairies, a large UK
supermarket chain that is now a subsidiary of Wal-Mart.
ASICS an acronym for Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, which, translated from
Latin, means "Healthy soul in a healthy body". Originally the citation is mens
sana in corpore sano, but MSICS does not sound as good.
Asus named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The first
three letters of the word were dropped to get a high position in alphabetical
listings. An Asus company named Pegatron, using the spare letters, was spun
off in 2008.[24]
Aston Martin from the "Aston Hill" races (near Aston Clinton) where the
company was founded, and the surname of Lionel Martin, the company's
founder.
Atari named from the board game Go. "Atari" is a Japanese word to describe
a position where an opponent's stones are in danger of being captured. It is
similar, though not identical, to "check" in chess. The original games
company was American but wanted a Japanese-sounding name.
Audi Latin translation of the German name "Horch". The founder August
Horch left the company after five years, but still wanted to manufacture cars.
Since the original "Horch" company was still there, he called his new
company Audi, the Latin form of his last name. In English it is: "hark!".
[edit] B
B&Q from the initials of its founders, Richard Block and David Quayle
Bang & Olufsen from the names of its founders, Peter Bang and Svend
Olufsen, who met at a School of Engineering in Denmark.
Bally originally Lion Manufacturing, the company changed its name to Bally
after the success of its first popular pinball machine, Ballyhoo.
BASF from Badische Anilin und Soda Fabriken. Anilin and Soda were the
first products. Badisch refers to the location in the state of Baden, Germany
(Black Forest region).
Bayer named after Friedrich Bayer, who founded the company in 1863.
BEA Systems from the first initial of each of the company's three founders:
Bill Coleman, Ed Scott and Alfred Chuang.
Ben & Jerry's named after Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who founded an
ice cream parlor in 1978 after completing a correspondence course on ice
cream making from Pennsylvania State University. The company, Ben &
Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc. was later taken over by Unilever.
BHP Broken Hill Proprietary, named after the town of Broken Hill, where
BHP was founded (now BHP Billiton)
BIC Corporation the pen company was named after one of its founders,
Marcel Bich. He dropped the final h to avoid a potentially inappropriate
English pronunciation of the name.
Black & Decker named after founders S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G.
Decker.
Blaupunkt Blaupunkt ("Blue dot") was founded in 1923 under the name
"Ideal". Its core business was the manufacturing of headphones. If the
headphones came through quality tests, the company would give the
headphones a blue dot. The headphones quickly became known as the blue
dots or blaue Punkte. The quality symbol would become a trademark and the
trademark would become the company name in 1938.
BOSCH (full company name Robert Bosch GmbH) - named after founder
Robert Bosch. A German diversified technology-based corporation.
BP formerly British Petroleum, now BP. (The slogan "Beyond Petroleum" has
incorrectly been taken to refer to the company's new name following its
rebranding effort in 2000.)
Brine, Corp. sporting goods company named after founder, W.H. Brine. It
was taken over by New Balance in 2006.
Bull Compagnie des machines Bull was founded in Paris to exploit the
patents for punched card machines taken out by Norwegian engineer Fredrik
Rosing Bull.
[edit] C
C&A named after the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, who
founded a textile company called C&A in the Netherlands in 1841.
Cadillac named after the 18th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de
La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan. Cadillac is a small
town in the South of France.
Caterpillar Originally Holt Tractor Co, merged with Best Tractor Co. in 1925.
A company photographer exclaimed aloud of a Holt tractor that the tracks'
movement resembled a caterpillar moving along the ground. The name stuck.
Casio from the name of its founder, Kashio Tadao, who had set up the
company Kashio Seisakujo as a subcontractor factory.
Ciba Geigy CIBA, named from Chemical Industry Basel (after Basel in
Switzerland), merged with a company named after its founder Johann Rudolf
Geigy-Merian. It became Novartis (below) after a merger with Sandoz.
CiCi's Pizza from the first letters of the last names of the founders of the
franchise (Joe Croce and Mike Cole).
Cisco short for San Francisco. It has also been suggested that it was "CISco": Computer Information Services was the department at Stanford
University where the founders worked.
Coca-Cola derived from the coca leaves and kola nuts used as flavoring.
Coca-Cola creator John S. Pemberton changed the 'K' of kola to 'C' to make
the name look better.
Compaq from computer and "pack" to denote a small integral object; or:
Compatibility And Quality; or: from the company's first product, the very
compact Compaq Portable.
CPFL Companhia Paulista de Fora e Luz (So Paulo Company of Light and
Power), one of the largest in Brazil, based in Campinas.
Crabtree & Evelyn toiletry company named after gardener John Evelyn, and
the tree that bears Crabapples
[edit] D
Daewoo company founder Kim Woo Chong called it Daewoo which means
"Great House" or "Great Universe" in Korean.
DAF Trucks from 1932 the company's name was Van Doorne's
Aanhangwagen Fabriek (Van Doorne's Trailer Factory). In 1949 the company
started making trucks, trailers and buses and changed the name into Van
Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (Van Doorne's Automobile Factory).
Daihatsu the first kanji from "Osaka" (, the kanji is here pronounced dai)
and "engine" (, the first kanji is hatsu). Engine manufacturers were
listed on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges, and their names shortened
to the first kanji. (The company listed on the Tokyo exchange is Tohatsu.)
Danone (Dannon in the U.S.) Isaac Carasso in Barcelona made his first
yoghourts with the nickname of his first son Daniel (DAN-ONE)
Datsun first called DAT, from the initials of its financiers Den, Aoyama and
Takeuchi. Soon changed to DATSON to imply a smaller version of their original
car, then (as SON can means "loss" in Japanese) again to DATSUN when they
were acquired by Nissan.
Debian project founder Ian Murdock named it after himself and his
girlfriend, Debra.
DEKA named after its founder Dean Kamen, developer of the Segway, iBOT,
HomeChoice Dialysis and other products.
Delhaize named after its founders, Jules Delhaize and his brothers, who
originated from Charleroi (Belgium). They opened the first European selfservice "supermarket" in Elsene, near Brussels.
Dell named after its founder, Michael Dell. The company changed its name
from Dell Computer in 2003.
Denning & Fourcade, Inc. interior designer company named after its
founders Robert Denning and Vincent Fourcade in 1960.
DHL named after its founders, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert
Lynn.
Digg, Inc.- Kevin Rose's friend David Prager (The Screen Savers, This Week in
Tech) originally wanted to call the site "Diggnation", but Kevin wanted a
simpler name. He chose the name "Digg", because users are able to "dig"
stories, out of those submitted, up to the front page. The site was called
"Digg" instead of "Dig" because the domain name "dig.com" was previously
registered, by Walt Disney Internet Group. "Diggnation" would eventually be
used as the title of Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht's weekly podcast discussing
popular stories from Digg.
Duane Reade named after Duane and Reade Streets in lower Manhattan,
where the chain's first warehouse was located.[29]
Dynegy the Natural Gas Clearinghouse changed its name in 1998 to reflect
its self-described traits as a dynamic energy company. "Dynergy" had already
been taken by a German health foods company.
[edit] E
eBay Pierre Omidyar, who had created the Auction Web trading website,
had formed a web consulting concern called Echo Bay Technology Group.
"Echo Bay" didn't refer to the town in Nevada, "It just sounded cool", Omidyar
reportedly said. Echo Bay Mines Limited, a gold mining company, had already
taken EchoBay.com, so Omidyar registered what (at the time) he thought was
the second best name: eBay.com.
Eidos named from a Greek word meaning "species". The company became
well-known for its Tomb Raider series of games.
EMC Corporation named from the initials of the founders, Richard Egan and
Roger Marino. There has long been a rumor that another partner provided the
third letter (C). Other reports indicate the C stands for Company. EMC
adopted the EMC notation to refer to Einstein's famous equation, E = mc.
Emporis Empor comes from the German and means "aloft, rising". One of
the world's largest providers of data concerning buildings.
Esso the enunciation of the initials S.O. in Standard Oil of New Jersey.
Exxon a name contrived by Esso (Standard Oil of New Jersey) in the early
1970s to create a neutral but distinctive label for the company. Within days,
Exxon was being called the "double cross company" but this eventually
subsided. (Esso is a trademark of ExxonMobil.) Esso had to change its name
in the U.S. because of restrictions dating to the 1911 Standard Oil antitrust
decision.
[edit] F
Fair Isaac Corporation named after founders Bill Fair and Earl Isaac.
Fazer Finnish food company named after its founder, Karl Fazer.
Finnair from "Finland" and "air". Originally called "Aero Osakeyhti", which
led to its international flight code, "AY".
Five Guys American restaurant chain founded by "five guys" Jerry Murrell
and his four sons. The "five guys" would later become the Murrell sons, after
Jerry and his wife Janie had a fifth son two years after opening their first
restaurant.[32][33]
Ford Motor Company named after its founder, Henry Ford, who introduced
automobile mass production in 1914.
Forrester Research from the family name of the mother of the founder
George Forrester Colony.
[edit] G
Garmin named after its founders, Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao.
Gartner named after its founder, Gideon Gartner, who left the firm in 1992
to start Giga (named from Gideon Gartner).
Gatti's Pizza Gatti was the maiden name of Pat Eure, wife of company
founder Jim Eure.
GCap Media named after the merger of the GWR Group and Capital Radio
Group in May 2005. GWR was launched in 1985 after the merger of Radio
West and Wiltshire Radio.
Gulfstream Aerospace named after the Gulf Stream current that starts in the
Gulf of Mexico and crosses the Atlantic. The company traces its origins to the
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which was sold and renamed in
1985.
[edit] H
H&M named from Hennes & Mauritz. In 1947, Swedish businessman Erling
Persson established Hennes, a ladies' clothing store, in Vsters, Sweden.
"Hennes" is Swedish for "hers". In 1968, Persson bought the Stockholm
premises and inventory of a hunting equipment store called Mauritz Widforss.
The inventory included a collection of men's clothing, which prompted
Persson to expand into menswear.
Haribo from the name of the founder and the German home town of the
company: Hans Riegel, Bonn.
Harman Kardon named after its founders Dr. Sidney Harman and Bernard
Kardon.
HBOS UK-based banking company formed by the merger of the Halifax and
the Bank of Scotland.
HP Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the
company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
HMV from "His Master's Voice", which appeared in 1899 as the title of a
painting of Nipper, a Jack Russell terrier, listening to a gramophone.
Hotmail Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web
from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with
the business plan for the mail service he tried all kinds of names ending in
'mail' and finally settled for Hotmail as it included the letters "HTML" the
markup language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as
HoTMaiL with selective upper casing. (If you click on Hotmail's 'mail' tab, you
will still find "HoTMaiL" in the URL.)
H&R Block after the founders, brothers Henry W. and Richard Bloch (with
"Bloch" changed to "Block" to avoid mispronunciation).
[edit] I
ICL abbreviation for International Computers Limited, once the UK's largest
computer company but now a service arm of Fujitsu, of Japan.
Iiyama manufacturer of monitors and TVs named after the Japanese city,
Iiyama.
InBev the name was created after the merger of the Belgian company
Interbrew with Brazilian Ambev
Infineon Technologies derived from Infinity and Aeon. The name was given
to Siemens's Semiconductor branch (called Siemens HL or Siemens SC/SSC)
when it was spun off.
Intel Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore initially incorporated their company
as N M Electronics. Someone suggested Moore Noyce Electronics but it
sounded too close to "more noise". Later, Integrated Electronics was
proposed but it had already been taken, so they used the initial syllables
(INTegrated ELectronics). To avoid potential conflicts with other companies
with similar names, Intel purchased the name rights for $15,000 from a
company called Intelco. (Source: Intel 15 Years Corporate Anniversary
Brochure)
[edit] J
[edit] K
KFC short for Kentucky Fried Chicken. It is popularly believed that the
company adopted the abbreviated name in 1991 to avoid the unhealthy
connotations of the word 'fried'. The rumor that it was because the
Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked the name "Kentucky" is false.
Recent commercials have tried to imply that the abbreviation stands for
"Kitchen Fresh Chicken".
Kenwood Limited named after Kenneth (Ken) Wood, who founded this
kitchenware company as Woodlau Industries in the UK in 1947. It is not
related to Kenwood Electronics, which started as Kasuga Radio Co in Japan in
1946 and became Trio Corporation in 1960.
Kenworth Truck Company Kenworth Truck Company was formed in 1923 and
is named after the two principal stockholders Harry Kent and Edgar
Worthington.
Kia Motors the name "Kia" () roughly translates as "Rising from Asia" in
Hanja.
Kinko's from the college nickname of founder, Paul Orfalea. He was called
Kinko because he had curly red hair. The company was bought by FedEx for
$2.4 billion in 2004.
Kodak Both the Kodak camera and the name were the invention of founder
George Eastman. The letter "K" was a favorite with Eastman; he felt it a
strong and incisive letter. He tried out various combinations of words starting
and ending with "K". He saw three advantages in the name. It had the merits
of a trademark word, would not be mis-pronounced and the name did not
resemble anything in the art. There is a misconception that the name was
chosen because of its similarity to the sound produced by the shutter of the
camera.
Korg named from the surnames of the founders, Tsutomu Katoh and Tadashi
Osanai, combined with the letters "rg" from the word organ.
KPMG from the last names of the founders of the firms which combined to
form the cooperative: Piet Klijnveld, William Barclay Peat, Roger Mitchell, and
Reinhard Goerdeler.[36]
Kroger American supermarket chain named after its founder, Barney Kroger
[edit] L
Lada from the name of a Slavic goddess, and used as a trading name by
Russian automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ ( in Russian). VAZ is
derived from Volzhsky Automobilny Zavod.
Lancme began in 1935, when its founder, Armand Petitjean, was exploring
the ruins of a castle, Le Chateau de Lancme (Loir-et-Cher) while vacationing
in the French countryside. Petitjean's inspiration for the company's symbol, a
rose, was the many wild roses growing around the castle.
LCL from Le Crdit Lyonnais. The name change occurred after the bank was
involved in a major financial scandal where evidence disappeared in a
mysterious fire.
Lego combination of the Danish "leg godt", which means to "play well".[37]
Lego also means "I put together" in Latin, but Lego Group claims this is only a
coincidence and the etymology of the word is entirely Danish. Years before
the little plastic brick was invented, Lego manufactured wooden toys.
LG from the combination of two popular Korean brands, Lucky and Goldstar.
(In Mexico, publicists explained the name change as an abbreviation to Linea
Goldstar, Spanish for Goldstar Line)
Lionbridge the word "localisation", which is the service this company offers,
is often shortened to L10N. That is the first letter of the word and the last
letter of the word, with 10 letters missing in between, hence L 10 N, which
looks like lion. Bridge is the second part of the word as translation 'bridges'
gap between people and markets that do not have a common language.
Lionhead Studios games studio named after Mark Webley's pet hamster,
which died a week before the company was founded.[38] Webley worked for
Bullfrog, and co-founded Lionhead with Peter Molyneux, Tim Rance and Steve
Jackson in July 1997. Microsoft bought the company in April 2006.
Lotus Software Mitch Kapor named his company after the Lotus Position or
'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation
technique as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
[edit] M
Maggi food company named after its founder, Julius Maggi. It was taken
over by Nestl in 1947 and survives as a brand name.
MAN abbreviation for Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nrnberg (AugsburgNuremberg Machine Company). The MAN company is a German engineering
works and truck manufacturer.
Mandriva new company formed from the merger of Mandrake Linux and
Connectiva Linux
Mars named after Frank C. Mars and his wife, Ethel, who started making
candy in 1911. Their son, Forrest E. Mars, joined with Bruce Murrie, the son of
a Hershey executive, to form M&M Ltd (from Mars & Murrie). Forrest took
over the family business after his father's death and merged the two
companies in 1964. After retiring from Mars, Inc. in 1993, Forrest founded
Ethel M. Chocolates, named after his mother.
Masco Corporation from the names of the founder Alex Manoogian, Screw
and Company. Masco Screw Products Co. was founded in 1929
Mazda Motor Corporation the company was founded as Toyo Kogyo, started
manufacturing Mazda brand cars in 1931, and changed its name to Mazda in
1984. The cars were supposedly named after Ahura Mazda, the chief deity of
the Zoroastrians, though many think this explanation was created after the
McDonald's from the name of the brothers Dick McDonald and Mac
McDonald, who founded the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940.
Mercedes from the first name of the daughter of Emil Jellinek, who
distributed cars of the early Daimler company around 1900.
MFI from Mullard Furniture Industries. The original company was named
after the founder's wife, whose maiden name was Mullard.
Microsoft coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted
to microcomputer software. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-'
disappeared on 3/2/1987 with the introduction of a new corporate identity
and logo. The "slash between the 'o' and 's' [in the Microsoft logo]
emphasizes the "soft" part of the name and conveys motion and speed."[citation
needed]
Mitel from Mike and Terry's Lawnmowers, after the founders Michael
Cowpland (see also: Corel) and Terry Matthews, and the company's original
business plan.
Mitsubishi the name Mitsubishi () has two parts: mitsu means three and
hishi (changing to bishi in the middle of the word) means diamond (the
shape). Hence, the three diamond logo. (Note that "diamond" in this context
refers only to the rhombus shape, not to the precious gem.)
Morningstar, Inc. The name Morningstar is taken from the last sentence in
Walden, a book by Henry David Thoreau; "the sun is but a morning star"
Motorola Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company
(at the time, Galvin Manufacturing Company) started manufacturing radios
for cars. Many audio equipment makers of the era used the "ola" ending for
their products, most famously the "Victrola" phonograph made by the Victor
Talking Machine Company. The name was meant to convey the idea of
"sound" and "motion". It became so widely recognized that the company later
adopted it as the company name.
Mozilla Foundation from the name of the web browser that preceded
Netscape Navigator. When Marc Andreesen, co-founder of Netscape, created
a browser to replace the Mosaic browser, it was internally named Mozilla
(Mosaic-Killer, Godzilla) by Jamie Zawinski.[41]
MVC from Music and Video Club, the name of a UK-based entertainment
chain.
[edit] N
Nero Nero Burning ROM named after Nero burning Rome ("Rom" is the
German spelling of "Rome").
Nestl named after its founder, Henri Nestl, who was born in Germany
under the name "Nestle", which is German (actually, Swabian diminutive) for
"bird's nest". The company logo is a bird's nest with a mother bird and two
chicks.
Nikon the original name was Nippon Kogaku, meaning "Japanese Optical".
Nissan the company was earlier known by the name Nippon Sangyo which
means "Japan Industries".
Novartis after the Latin expression "novae artes" which means something
like "new skills".
Novell Novell, Inc. was earlier Novell Data Systems co-founded by George
Canova. The name was suggested by George's wife who mistakenly thought
that "Novell" meant new in French. (Nouvelle is the feminine form of the
French adjective 'Nouveau'. Nouvelle as a noun in French is 'news'.)
[edit] O
Oracle Larry Ellison, Ed Oates and Bob Miner were working on a consulting
project for the CIA. The code name for the project was Oracle (the CIA saw
this as the system to give answers to all questions or some such). The project
was designed to use the newly written SQL database language from IBM. The
project was eventually terminated but they decided to finish what they
started and bring it to the world. Later they changed the name of the
company, Relational Software Inc., to the name of the product.
Ornge new name (2006) for Ontario Air Ambulance, chosen to reflect the
orange color of its aircraft. It was intended to provide a unique branding but
the ornge.com misspelling was already used by an advertising portal.
[edit] P
Pamida U.S. retailer founded by Jim Witherspoon and Lee Wegener, it took
its name from the first two letters of the names of Witherspoon's three sons:
Patrick, Michael and David.
Philco from the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company. The pioneering U.S.
radio and television manufacturer was taken over by Ford and later by Philips.
Pixar from pixel and the co-founder's name, Alvy Ray Smith. According to
the biography "The Second Coming of Steve Jobs" by Alan Deutschman, the
'el' in pixel was changed to 'ar' because 'ar' is frequently used in Spanish
verbs, implying the name means "To Pix".
Porsche car company named after Ferry Porsche, son of the founder
Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian automotive engineer. The family name may
have originated in the Czech name "Bore" (boresh).
Prada an Italian high fashion house named after the founder Mario Prada,
who founded Prada in Milan 1914.
[edit] Q
Q8 the acronym for these gas stations sounds like Kuwait, that is, the letter
Q followed by the number 8. It is the abbreviation for Kuwait Petroleum
International Limited.
Qantas from its original name, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial
Services.
Quark named after an atomic particle. The word quark originates from
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.
[edit] R
Red Hat while at college, company founder Marc Ewing was given the
Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) by his grandfather.
People would turn to him to solve their problems and he was referred to as
that guy in the red hat. By the time he wrote the manual of the beta version
of Red Hat Linux he had lost the cap, so the manual included an appeal to
readers to return his Red Hat if found.
Robeez baby-shoe company named after the founder's son Robbie (Robert).
[43]
Robeez was taken over by Stride Rite in 2006.
RSA Security formed from the first letters of the family names of its
founders Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adleman.
[edit] S
Samsonite named from the Biblical character Samson, renowned for his
strength.
SCB from Standard Chartered Bank. The name Standard Chartered comes
from the two original banks from which it was founded The Chartered Bank
of India, Australia and China, and The Standard Bank of British South Africa.
SCO from Santa Cruz Operation. The company's office was in Santa Cruz,
California. It eventually formed Tarantella, Inc. and sold off its operating
system division to Caldera Systems (a spin off from Novell), which is based in
Utah. Caldera changed its name to The SCO Group (at which point SCO no
longer stood for anything).
Saudi Aramco the Aramco name was derived in 1944 when California
Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc) changed its name to Arabian
American Oil Company. The Saudi government purchased the company in
1980, and changed its name to Saudi Arabian Oil Company or Saudi Aramco
in 1988.[44]
Sealed Air from the "sealed air" found in its most notable product, Bubble
Wrap.
Sega Service Games of Japan was founded by Marty Bromley (an American)
to import pinball games to Japan for use on American military bases.
Sharp Japanese consumer electronics company named from its first product,
an ever-sharp pencil.
Shell Royal Dutch/Shell was established in 1907, when the Royal Dutch
Petrol Society Plc. and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd. merged
their operations. The Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd had been
established at the end of the 19th century by commercial firm Samuel & Co
(founded in 1830). Samuel & Co were already importing Japanese shells when
they set up an oil company, so the oil company was named after the shells.
Siemens founded in 1847 by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske.
The company was originally called Telegraphen-Bau-Anstalt von Siemens &
Halske.
Six Apart company co-founders Ben and Mena Trott were born six days
apart (in September 1977).
koda Auto the car company was founded in 1895 and originally named
Laurin & Klement after its founders, Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement. It was
taken over by koda Works, an industrial conglomerate, in 1924, and adopted
the koda name from Emil koda. koda Auto was split off after World War II
and is now part of Volkswagen.
Skype the original concept for the name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which
morphed into Skyper, then Skype.[45]
Smilebit former Sega development studio named from what they hope to
make you do (smile), and the smallest unit of computer information (bit). The
company developed Jet Set Radio.
Smeg acronym based on the Italian towns where the original enamelling
factory was located in Guastalla, Italy.
SNK Shin Nihon Kikaku, Japanese for Plans for a New Japan.
Sony from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a slang word
used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster, "since we were sonny boys
working in sound and vision", said Akio Morita. The company was founded as
Tokyo Tsoshiu Kogyo KK (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation)
in 1946, and changed its name to Sony in 1958. Sony was chosen as it could
be pronounced easily in many languages.
STX pronounced as the word "sticks" because, when first founded, STX
manufactured only lacrosse sticks
Subaru from the Japanese name for the constellation known to Westerners
as Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. Subaru was formed from a merger of seven
other companies, and the constellation is featured on the company's logo.
Sun Microsystems its founders designed their first workstation in their dorm
at Stanford University, and chose the name Stanford University Network for
their product, hoping to sell it to the college. They didn't.
[edit] T
Tata Group conglomerate named after Jamsetji Tata, considered "the father
of Indian industry".
Taxan made-up name chosen partly because Takusan is a Japanese word for
many or much and was considered propitious, but mainly because the head
of the company, in the U.S. at the time, Tak Shimizu was known by everyone
as Tak-san.
TCL from Today China Lion. Derived from literal translation of "
" from Chinese to English.
TCS from Tata Consultancy Services, from India's Tata Group, named after
founder and legendary industrialist Jamsetji Tata.
Tesco founder Jack Cohen who sold groceries in the markets of the London
East End from 1919 acquired a large shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell.
He made new labels by using the first three letters of the supplier's name and
the first two letters of his surname.
TIBCO Software The Information Bus Company. The company was founded
by Vivek Ranadive as Teknekron Software Systems in 1985.
Toshiba named from the merger of consumer goods company Tokyo Denki
(Tokyo Electric Co) and electrical firm Shibaura Seisaku-sho (Shibaura
Engineering Works).
Toyota from the name of the founder, Sakichi Toyoda. Initially called Toyeda,
it was changed after a contest for a better-sounding name. The new name
was written in katakana with eight strokes, a number that is considered lucky
in Japan.
Triang operating name for Lines Bros Ltd, which was founded by William,
Walter and Arthur Edwin Lines. Three Lines make a triangle
TVR derived from the first name of the company founder TreVoR Wilkinson
[47]
[edit] U
Unilever name created to reflect the merger of Margarine Unie and Lever
Brothers, agreed in 1929. Lever Brothers was named from its founders,
William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James.
Unisys from United Information Systems, the new name for the company
that resulted from the merging of two old mainframe computer companies,
Burroughs and Sperry [Sperry Univac/Sperry Rand]. It united two
incompatible ranges. The new-born Unisys was briefly the world's secondlargest computer company, after IBM.
UUNET one of the industry's oldest and largest Internet Service Providers,
named from UNIX-to-UNIX Network.
[edit] V
Virgin founder Richard Branson started a magazine called Student while still
at school. In his autobiography, Losing My Virginity, Branson says that when
they were starting a business to sell records by mail order, "one of the girls
suggested: 'What about Virgin? We're complete virgins at business.'"
Vodafone from Voice, Data, Telefone. Vodafone made the UK's first mobile
call at a few minutes past midnight on 1 January 1985.
Volkswagen from the German for people's car. Ferdinand Porsche wanted to
produce a car that was affordable for the masses the Kraft-durch-FreudeWagen (or "Strength-Through-Joy car", from a Nazi social organization) later
became known, in English, as the Beetle.
Volvo from the Latin word volvo, which means "I roll". It was originally a
name for a ball bearing being developed by SKF.
[edit] W
Wachovia from the Latin version of the German wachau, the name given to
a region in North Carolina by German settlers because it reminded them of a
river near their home in Germany. Many companies founded in or around
Charlotte, North Carolina have Wachovia in their name.
Wang Laboratories from the name of the founder, An Wang, the inventor of
core memory.
W H Smith founded by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in London,
England, in 1792. They named their small newsagent's shop after their son
William Henry Smith, who was born the same year.
WPP Global advertising and marketing company. Originally called Wire and
Plastic Products.
[edit] X
Xerox named from xerography, a word derived from the Greek xeros (dry)
and graphos (writing). The company was founded as The Haloid Company in
1906, launched its first XeroX copier in 1949, and changed its name to Haloid
Xerox in 1958.[48]
[edit] Y
Yahoo! The word Yahoo was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book
Gulliver's Travels. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and
barely human. Yahoo! founders David Filo and Jerry Yang jokingly considered
themselves yahoos. It's also an interjection sometimes associated with United
States Southerners' and Westerners' expression of joy, as alluded to in
Yahoo.com commercials that end with someone singing the word "yahoo". It
is also sometime jokingly referred to by its backronym, Yet Another
Hierarchical Officious Oracle.[49]
[edit] Z
Lists of etymologies
[edit] References
1. ^ UCLA Film & Television Archive Collections Twentieth Century-Fox
2. ^ Google-Launches DNA Test!, January 23, 2008, date accessed April 27,
2008
3. ^ 37signals >> 33 > What's in a Name?
4. ^ 3Com | Investor Information | Investor FAQs
5. ^ History
6. ^ 7-Eleven: About History
7. ^ Archival Collection
8. ^ http://www.rootbeer.com/textonly/roots.html
9. ^ The Long View: Putting An Accent On the Future
10.^ Company History Adecco the world leader in human resource solutions
11.^ History
12.^ http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pdfs/fastfacts.pdf
13.^ Royal Ahold AHO Annual and Transition Report (foreign private issuer)
(20-F) Item 1. Description of Business
14.^ Synthmuseum.com Akai
15.^ Hawaiian Dictionaries
16.^ August 11, 1999 "Akamaize" Adopted into Technology Lexicon
17.^ History
18.^ Alcatel History
19.^ Alcoa: About Alcoa: Trademark History
20.^ AMC Theatres
21.^ DeMaria and Wilson (2003) ""High Score!: The Illustrated History of
Electronic Games" p.109 ISBN 0-072-23172-6
22.^ Apache HTTP Server Project
23.^ Steve Ettlinger,. Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the
Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and
Manipulated Into What America Eats. Hudson Street Press. ISBN 1-59463-0186.
24.^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/16/computing-asus
25.^ BenQ Corporation | Introduction: International Directory of Company
Histories
26.^ CIGNA Company History
27.^ Cowpland/Corel (Profile)
28.^ "Cutco Cutlery: History". Cutco. 2007.
http://www.cutco.com/company/history.jsp. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
29.^ Mount, Ian (2005-05-29). "The Mystery of Duane Reade". New York.
http://nymag.com/nymetro/shopping/features/11908/. Retrieved on 2009-0205. "Founded in 1960 by the brothers Abraham, Eli, and Jack Cohen, Duane
Reade started as a three-store health-and-beauty chain that took the name of
the two streets that bounded its lower-Broadway warehouse."
30.^ Timeline | eds.com
31.^ FedEx Historical Timeline
32.^ Rosenwald, Michael S. (2006-04-03). "Five Guys, Taking a Bigger Bite". The
Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040200723.html. Retrieved on 200807-10.
33.^ "Number 1 with a Burger" (PDF). Restaurant Business. August 2006.
http://www.fiveguys.com/Images/Restaurant%20Biz%20Magazine%20August
%202006.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
34.^ Hagen-Dazs | Company | History