Khasim Saheb: Leading Business Transformations & Strategic Turnaround In The Glass & Pharma Packaging Organizations
Khasim Saheb
Managing Director
Khasim has completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Ceramic Sciences Engineering from the Indian Institute of Ceramics. He has also completed his General Management Program and Senior Leadership Program from IIM Lucknow and a Certification course in Business Management from IIT Delhi. He has worked with multinational companies like Owens Corning, SCHOTT, Nipro Pharma Packaging, and currently, he is working with Gerresheimer as Managing Director of India and South East Asia region.
Khasim Saheb engages in an exclusive interaction with CEO Insight.
Tell us about your professional background and your journey so far with Gerresheimer.
I have been in Glass and Pharma Packaging industry for past 25 years with Multinationals organizations headquartered in US, Japan, and Germany. I started as trainee engineer and grew up as Lead manager responsible for plant operations & later as Technical Director. For past 11 years, I have been in General Management/ Managing Director role responsible for Overall Business in India.
Currently I am working with Gerresheimer for last 4.5 years as a Managing Director for Primary Packaging Glass Business responsible for India and South East Asia. My journey at Gerresheimer has been a great learning experience. Being a part of Strategic
Management we are executing agenda on building stronger coverage and product improvement that can help us in stepping stone of implementing long term growth strategy. That can further help us in establishing several product lines as solution provider for Pharma packaging for Indian / SEA Pharmaceutical companies.
Talk about the learnings and experience that you acquired from IIT Delhi and how you apply them in your current role.
With this excellent opportunity of attending certificate course in Business Management from IIT Delhi, got great chance to furnish and excel with interactive learning experience about Sales, Marketing, Strategic Planning and Financial Management. Coming from Intense technical and operations background, I did face difficulties in understanding the commercial processes and financial statements during the early stages of my general management role but learning at IIT Delhi DMS helped me to shape my career in the management role and helped me acquiring skill headway that has helped in real life application.
Define Gerresheimer as an organization and where is it positioned in the industry. What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to clients?
Gerresheimer is a German Multinational Company and world leader in Primary packaging and healthcare solutions business, serving customers worldwide for more than 150 years. It has the broadest product portfolio of Primary Packaging Glass, Plastic Packaging, and Medical Devices. Footprints are across the globe with worldwide presence in Europe, US, and Asia. Gerresheimer is helping Pharma companies globally by providing one-stop solutions and serving for the health and well being of society.
Tell us about some major business challenges that you have faced so far in your journey. How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
With my vast experience in multinational companies, handling cross-cultural understanding is the key to managing the expectations of
Doing hard work and having the right attitude with positive Intent makes everything possible
Talk about the learnings and experience that you acquired from IIT Delhi and how you apply them in your current role.
With this excellent opportunity of attending certificate course in Business Management from IIT Delhi, got great chance to furnish and excel with interactive learning experience about Sales, Marketing, Strategic Planning and Financial Management. Coming from Intense technical and operations background, I did face difficulties in understanding the commercial processes and financial statements during the early stages of my general management role but learning at IIT Delhi DMS helped me to shape my career in the management role and helped me acquiring skill headway that has helped in real life application.
Define Gerresheimer as an organization and where is it positioned in the industry. What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to clients?
Gerresheimer is a German Multinational Company and world leader in Primary packaging and healthcare solutions business, serving customers worldwide for more than 150 years. It has the broadest product portfolio of Primary Packaging Glass, Plastic Packaging, and Medical Devices. Footprints are across the globe with worldwide presence in Europe, US, and Asia. Gerresheimer is helping Pharma companies globally by providing one-stop solutions and serving for the health and well being of society.
Tell us about some major business challenges that you have faced so far in your journey. How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
With my vast experience in multinational companies, handling cross-cultural understanding is the key to managing the expectations of
stakeholders. Most of the MNC companies In India fail due to a lack of right human resources with cross cultural understanding.
The matrix organizational approach is widespread nowadays and most MNCs follow it to form a strong collaborative team working transparently for a common goal. Understanding correctly the essence of matrix reporting structure is key for any management professional to be successful in India.
Establishing MNC companies in a particular country is always a challenge due to geo-political and cross-cultural challenges. Having a competent management team and empowerment is the key for establishing the company successfully.
What I learned from my challenges is that openness, transparency and a proactive approach help business leaders to be successful in a competitive business environment.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life? What are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Coming from a humble background, maintaining a balance between personal and professional life is always a challenge for me. Health is wealth where one should focus on Individual health, that's why I take proper 6-8 hours of sleep and I do sufficient exercise needed for keeping my fitness on track. My family has been supportive throughout my career and that's why I always try to spend quality time with them, sometimes we plan for family holidays as well.
Continuous learning is the key to staying updated and I would like to invest in that. There are online learning platforms available nowadays and with the help of that, one shoWWuld always upgrade their knowledge time-to-time to cope with the challenges of this VUCA world.
Khasim Saheb, Managing Director, Gerresheimer
Khasim has working experience of more than 25 years in the Glass and Pharma Packaging industry. He is Strategic, Innovative, and Passionate leader with a demonstrated successful track record in Pharmaceutical Packaging and Glass Manufacturing Industry. Currently, he is working with Gerresheimer as a Managing Director of India and the South East Asia region.
The matrix organizational approach is widespread nowadays and most MNCs follow it to form a strong collaborative team working transparently for a common goal. Understanding correctly the essence of matrix reporting structure is key for any management professional to be successful in India.
Establishing MNC companies in a particular country is always a challenge due to geo-political and cross-cultural challenges. Having a competent management team and empowerment is the key for establishing the company successfully.
What I learned from my challenges is that openness, transparency and a proactive approach help business leaders to be successful in a competitive business environment.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life? What are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Coming from a humble background, maintaining a balance between personal and professional life is always a challenge for me. Health is wealth where one should focus on Individual health, that's why I take proper 6-8 hours of sleep and I do sufficient exercise needed for keeping my fitness on track. My family has been supportive throughout my career and that's why I always try to spend quality time with them, sometimes we plan for family holidays as well.
Continuous learning is the key to staying updated and I would like to invest in that. There are online learning platforms available nowadays and with the help of that, one shoWWuld always upgrade their knowledge time-to-time to cope with the challenges of this VUCA world.
Khasim Saheb, Managing Director, Gerresheimer
Khasim has working experience of more than 25 years in the Glass and Pharma Packaging industry. He is Strategic, Innovative, and Passionate leader with a demonstrated successful track record in Pharmaceutical Packaging and Glass Manufacturing Industry. Currently, he is working with Gerresheimer as a Managing Director of India and the South East Asia region.