PCBL Limited: Business Growth Strategies

In 2023, Kaushik Roy, the managing director of PCBL (formerly, Phillips Carbon Black Limited), unveiled an ambitious plan to propel the company’s profit before tax to ₹20 billion in Indian rupees by 2029, a more-than-threefold level of growth. Emphasizing capacity-expansion and strategic-rebranding initiatives, PCBL aimed to fortify its status as a global industry leader and as India’s largest carbon black manufacturer. Despite global economic uncertainties, the company’s robust financial performance and strategic dividend declaration underscored its resilience and market dominance. Central to its strategy were innovative product development and enhanced customer engagement, which were crucial for penetrating new markets and sustaining its growth momentum. However, with the company’s focus on high-margin specialty chemicals, Roy pondered the alignment of this strategy with its broader branding efforts and the potential impact of the strategy on both domestic and international markets. As PCBL navigated these challenges, agility and strategic alignment were identified as pivotal for achieving its ambitious growth targets.

This case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate marketing courses that explore the growth strategies of B2B companies. It offers insights into transitioning from a product-focused to a brand-focused approach. It provides frameworks for analyzing business-to-business (B2B) markets, marketing planning, and strategies for long-term growth in domestic and global markets. In reviewing this case, students are going to explore the turnaround of a large carbon black manufacturer in a competitive global industry and analyze strategic and operational factors to understand how global firms in emerging markets make impactful long-term decisions. After working through the case and assignment questions, students are going to be able to do the following:<br><br><ul><li>Evaluate an organization’s turnaround in a highly competitive global industry.</li><li>Conduct a business audit using a 5Cs (company, context, consumers, competitors and collaborators) analysis.</li><li>Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of PCBL’s current marketing strategy.</li><li>Understand possible growth strategies available to a company as well as the possible obstacles to achieving them.</li></ul>

• growth of PCBL
• carbon black
• marketing strategies
• B2B branding
• B2B markets
• capacity expansion
• strategic rebranding
• financial performance
• market dominance
• product development
• customer engagement
• high-margin chemicals
• specialty chemicals
• global industries
• domestic markets
• emerging markets
• growth strategies
• competitive industries
• turnaround strategy
• long-term growth.