Friction #8: Why family businesses still don’t trust women

Vinoo Hinduja isn’t a current favourite with her uncles, G.P. Hinduja, P.P. Hinduja and A.P. Hinduja, and many of her eight cousins. After all, she dared to challenge the collective wisdom of the Hinduja men. This is a family whose corporate site has this line about Gopichand, the co-chairman of the group: “He is married to Sunita and has two sons, Sanjay and Dheeraj, both actively involved in Hinduja Group businesses and a daughter, Rita.”

That addendum defines the role of women in most Indian business families. 

Take Valli Arunachalam. With a doctorate in nuclear engineering and advisory roles on …

Author

Sundeep Khanna

Sundeep Khanna has, in a career spanning three decades, donned multiple hats across corporate and editorial roles, and is one of the foremost chroniclers of business in India. In his last assignment, he was executive editor of the financial daily Mint; for The Morning Context, he will write on corporate governance in India every fortnight in his newsletter, Friction.

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