DAIKIN 2019

Abstract

Daikin from Japan entered Indian air-conditioning market in 2000 by forming a joint venture with Usha Shriram Company. Daikin came out of the Joint Venture and became wholly owned subsidiary in 2004. Having success in Europe and China, but by 2009 Daikin was still lagging behind in the Indian market at number 7 spot in market share. Daikin than hired Kanwaljeet Jawa in 2009 who had an experience of 30 years in the Airconditioning industry at different multinationals and Indian companies. He quickly identified various issues with the Daikin and made a 5-point plan for Daikin India. Jawa switched the strategy of Daikin from targeting the niche customers to the middle-class Indians. He went for product cost reductions, higher R&D spend, more focus on marketing, better distribution channels and Localization. With these steps and his dynamic leadership Mr. Jawa was able to turnaround Daikin in a span of 4-5 years to become India’s top company in terms of turnover. This was a big feat considering the fact that Japanese air-conditioning companies had not succeeded in the Indian market and there were already big international and Indian companies like LG, Voltas, Samsung present in India. Competing in emerging markets like India require different plans compared to conventional markets like Europe and Japan. The company plans to double its sales in India, its sixth-largest market, to ¥100bn by 2020 under the Vision-20 by Daikin global CEO. In 2018 Kanwaljeet Jawa has been assigned added responsibility of expanding into East Africa. Facing current competitors in India and forming a future strategy for Africa are the few key challenges faced by Mr. Jawa in 2019. This case looks back at his leadership role in International Business expansion of Daikin, Change Management and analyze AC industry with focus on Indian and future African AC market.

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