Change is often the only constant in business, but sometimes, change isn’t just about moving furniture around—it’s about resetting the foundation for something much bigger.
As company stepped into the third quarter of the Financial Year 2025-26, Greaves Cotton Limited (GCL) announced a significant restructuring of its organization. For outside observers, organizational charts can sometimes look like boring boxes and lines. But for those of us who understand the heartbeat of this legacy company, this shift is genuinely exciting. It represents a pivot from "managing operations" to "mastering synergy."
If you’ve been following the company, you know that Greaves has always been a powerhouse. But even strong engines need a tune-up to run at maximum efficiency. The recent changes are exactly that—a strategic tune-up designed to break down walls, speed up decisions, and, most importantly, put the customer right in the center of the frame.
Here is a deep dive into what has changed, why it matters, and why this new structure is a massive win for the organization.
The "Power of Three": Unifying Sales, Service, and Spares- More Smartly
To understand the beauty of the new structure, we have to honestly look at how things used to work.
Previously, the domestic business had a bit of a divide. Imagine you were a customer. You bought an engine or a piece of equipment through the Greaves Engineering vertical. The sales team did a great job, you signed the papers, and you were happy.
But a few months later, when you needed a spare part or a service technician, you were suddenly dealing with a completely different vertical—Greaves Retail. These two entities—Engineering (Sales) and Retail (Service/Parts)—had different Business Unit Heads. They were like two siblings living in the same house but rarely talking to each other.
While both teams worked hard, this separation often created a "synergy gap." If a customer had a service issue, the sales team might not have had the authority to fix it quickly because it wasn't "their department." It created friction.
The New Change:
The organization has moved to a SMARTER & MODIFIED 3S Model (Sales, Service, and Spares).
Under the new structure, these artificial walls have been knocked down. Now, a single Department Head is responsible for the entire lifecycle of the customer relationship. The person who sells you the product is ultimately part of the same team that ensures it keeps running and that you get the parts you need.
Why this is a game-changer:
Accountability: There is no more passing the buck. If a customer is unhappy with service, the leadership knows exactly where the responsibility lies.
Feedback Loops: When service teams see a recurring issue, they can instantly tell the sales and engineering teams under the same umbrella. This means products get better, faster.
Customer Peace of Mind: For the client, Greaves is now one unified face. They don’t care about internal verticals; they just want their problems solved. This structure ensures that happens.
Going Global: One Leader, One Vision
The second major shift is happening in the international arena.
Greaves has a footprint that goes well beyond India, but previously, the export strategy was a little fragmented. They had International Sales for Greaves Engineering handled by one group, and International Sales for Greaves Retail handled by another. There were even a few other sub-verticals involved in exports.
While this ensured that every specific product had a seller, it lacked a cohesive "Global Strategy." It meant that a partner in Africa or Southeast Asia might be talking to three different people from Greaves, all of whom reported to different leaders. It was confusing for international partners and often led to the same after-sales service issues we saw in the domestic market.
The New Change:
All international operations have been brought under One Umbrella Leadership.
They now all roll up to a single International Leadership figure.
Why this is a game-changer:
This is about presenting a united front to the world. When Greaves enters a new market now, it enters as a single, powerful entity.
Streamlined Logistics: Moving parts and products across borders is difficult. Doing it under one leader allows for better shipping rates, better warehousing decisions, and smoother customs processes.
Consistent Service: Just like in the domestic market, international customers need to know that if they buy a product, the service support is guaranteed. A unified leadership ensures that the "Sell" and the "Support" go hand-in-hand, regardless of the country.
Sharpening the Focus: Geographies and Departments
The restructuring didn't just stop at the top-level management; it went down to the ground level—literally.
The organization has taken a hard look at its geographical spread and restructured how territories and departments are managed. In the past, territories might have been drawn up based on legacy divisions.
The New Change:
Functions & Geographies have been restructured for Better Reach and Focus.
The reorganisation clusters operations into three customer-centric business pillars: Energy Solutions, Mobility Solutions and Industrial Solutions. Each pillar is expected to function as a focused business with its own growth agenda, operating metrics and leadership, while leveraging shared engineering, manufacturing and digital strengths at Group level
Energy Solutions concentrates on power generation and genset‑linked services, with emphasis on aftermarket, distribution reach and lifecycle value for customers. Mobility Solutions brings together fuel‑agnostic powertrains, automotive aftermarket, components and close collaboration with OEMs, including synergies with Greaves Electric Mobility in electric 2‑ and 3‑wheelers. Industrial Solutions focuses on compact platforms and customised engineering for emerging applications, backed by strong OEM and dealer networks in niches like firefighting and specialised machinery.
Why this is a game-changer:
Speed: By optimizing departments and geographies, decision-making power is pushed closer to the customer. Field teams can react faster to local market trends without waiting for a long chain of command.
Resource Allocation: The company can now put its best people exactly where the biggest opportunities are, rather than spreading them thin across less critical regions.
The Big Picture: Why all Should Be Optimistic
Change can feel unsettling at first. People get used to their reporting managers; they get used to their specific workflows. But looking at this restructuring from a macro perspective, the benefits far outweigh the temporary adjustment period.
1. Faster Decision Making
In the old model, if a decision required input from both Sales (Engineering) and Parts (Retail), it required meetings between two different business heads who might have had different KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Now, with the 3S model, those decisions happen instantly within the same team. Speed is a currency in business, and Greaves just got richer.
2. The "Customer First" Reality
Every company says they put the customer first, but your organizational structure proves if you actually mean it. By combining Sales, Service, and Spares, Greaves has structurally proven that they care about the entire customer journey, not just the moment the invoice is signed. This will inevitably lead to higher Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
3. Synergy is Real
"Synergy" is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot, but here it is tangible. The left hand finally knows what the right hand is doing. The data from the parts department will help the sales team forecast better. The feedback from the international team will help the domestic team improve product quality. It connects the dots.
Overall, the new organisation structure aims to create a leaner, high‑accountability set‑up that can capture growth in clean energy, last‑mile mobility and industrial applications while generating sustainable value for shareholders and customers
About the author: Devendra K Jha is a former employee of Greaves Cotton Limited. He most recently held the position of Senior General Manager, where he was working in Farm Equipment Business vertical until his departure in September 2025.
