According to a release, Shaw Wallace has formed six strategic groups to concentrate in corporate and business related matters. The groups are corporate affairs, corporate finance, legal and information technology group, liquor group, beer group, non-core business group and international business development group.

The release said the decisions were taken earlier this week at a board meeting in Dubai, the base of Shaw Wallace promoter and chairman Manu R Chhabria.

"It is necessary to make investment in human resources. This requires review of organisation structure to strengthen the same to meet the new challenges," the release quoted Manu Chhabria as saying.

Komal Chhabria Wazir, the chairman's daughter, will be responsible for HRD, IR and administration, corporate affairsand corporate communications, as well as the newly-created central purchase department. She had been appointed a director on December 28 last year, to fill the vacancy created by the exit of PJ Rao.

PK Narsimhan will be in charge of the corporate finance group, looking after finance, taxation, strategic planning and restructuring, legal, budget-MIS and information technology.

Chairman Chhabria is quoted as saying that the whole exercise will help managing director Ravi Jain focus more on business development.

Meanwhile, the new central purchase department will help the company further its cost-cutting drive to give an edge to its products.

The focus will be on purchases and divestments. The company had earlier formed a divestment committee with chartered accountant Bansi Mehta, advocate RA Shah, managing director Jain and Komal Chhabria as its members.