Venu Srinivasan is an Indian

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 industrialist; the Chairman and Managing Director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd and TVS Motor Company, the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India. He also served as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry

Confederation of Indian Industry

The Confederation of Indian Industry is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organisation, seeking to play a proactive role in India’s development process. The organisation works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India,...

 for the year 2009-10. He is the Honorary Consul General

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 of Republic of Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 and a Member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry. He was also President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers is the apex industry body representing 38 leading vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India....

.

Career

Venu Srinivasan is the grandson of the TVS Group's founder, T. V. Sundaram Iyengar

T. V. Sundaram Iyengar

T. V. Sundaram Iyengar Thirukurungudi Venkagaruswamy, was an industrialist, the founder of TV Sundaram Iyengar and Sons group of companies, one of India's largest industrial conglomerates. With his humble beginning as a lawyer, he grew into one of the most successful industrialists of his time....

. After graduating as an engineer from the University of Madras

University of Madras

The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...

, he completed a Master's Degree in Management from Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 in the USA.

He became the Managing Director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd. in May 1979. He went on to become Chairman of TVS Motor Company in July 2002.

In the late 1980’s, Srinivasan scripted a turnaround of the company, which was then mired in labour trouble and was sinking into the red. Srinivasan dealt with the situation sternly and shut the factory down for three months, forcing the unions to relent. He then re-structured operations by upgrading plant machinery, investing in new technologies and implementing Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management

Total quality management or TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes....

 practices. He also brought in Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya of the University of Warwick

University of Warwick

The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...

 as a
consultant to provide guidance.In 2001, TVS Motor Company split with Suzuki and started manufacturing on its own. TVS Motor Company re-entered contention by successfully launching Victor, India’s first indigenously built four stroke motorcycle. The slew of launches that followed propelled TVS Motor Company to become the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India.

Srinivasan later brought in Professor Yasutoshi Washio of Japan, a Deming Application Prize Winner and globally renowned expert in Total Quality Management and Japanese Quality Management Guru Prof Yoshikazu Tsuda as mentors to strengthen the TQM processes within the company.

Under his leadership as the Managing Director, Sundaram Clayton's brakes division won the Deming Prize

Deming Prize

The Deming prize, established in December 1950 in honor of W. Edwards Deming, was originally designed to reward Japanese companies for major advances in quality improvement...

 in 1998 for having "achieved distinctive performance improvements through application of company-wide quality control". In 2004, TVS Motor Company also won the Deming Prize, becoming the first two-wheeler company in the world to do so.

Srinivasan holds several other positions:

• Director, Lucas-TVS
• Director, T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons Limited
• Director, Southern Roadways Limited
• Director, Sundram Fasteners Limited
• Director, Cummins India Limited
• Director, TATA Coffee Limited
• Director, Oriental Hotels Limited
• Director, TVS Energy Limited
• Chairman, TVS Credit Services Limited

Awards and Honours

Year	Name	Awarding organization	Ref.
2003	Star of Asia	Businessweek
2004	Honorary Doctorate in Science for Excellence in Manufacturing	University of Warwick University of Warwick The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
2004	Jamsetji Tata Lifetime Achievement Award	Indian Society for Quality
2005	J R D Tata Corporate Leadership Award	All India Management Association
2010	Padma Shri Padma Shri Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...	Government of India Government of India The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
2010	Order of Diplomatic Service Merit	Government of South Korea Government of South Korea The Government of South Korea is divided into executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The executive and judicial branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and...