The board of governors-consisting of, among others, Videocon International (VIL) president PN Dhoot and director CP Jagei will give the company a broad sense of direc-tion.

Global consultancy firm McKinsey & Co is believed to have drawn up the blue print for the recast exercise. The Dhoots had hired McKinsey & Co mid-last year with two key objectives-recommending a more efficient cost structure and identifying a global sourcing agent for Videocon's products.

Confirming the latest development, a senior Videocon executive said: "The idea is to induce more accountability and direction in the day-to-day functioning of the group. With this, we intend to devote focused attention on individual brands and product segments." The objective behind setting up the SBUs is also to streamline the cost structure.

Besides manufacturing, after-sales service, and three brands-Akai, Sansui, and Videocon-the list of eight SBUs includes three group product TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines.

The group's e-business may be spun off into an independent profit centre in the days to come, another Videocon official said.

On the restructuring exercise, a VIL source said: "The focus is now on the bottomline. With the SBUs in place, individual brands and segments will no longer be the `top management's baby' alone. The responsibility and accountability will now spread over a larger cross-section of the group employees.''

Earlier, the Dhoots had chalked out a plan to cut costs by eliminating product overlaps within the group. This was done partly by swapping manufacturing assets to end the practice of two or three companies making and marketing the same products.

The Videocon group consists of the flagship Videocon Ltd-which manufacturers TVs and audio products under the Videocon, Toshiba, and Kenwood brand names-the washing machine and air-conditioner manufacturer Videocon Appliances, the VCR and VCP manufacturer Videocon VCR, Videocon Petroleum, and Videocon Power.

N Gupta quits
Videocon International director, marketing, N Gupta has quit to join Raymonds Ltd for a senior position, even as senior company officials said he was part of the newly constituted board of governors. Gupta, however, could not be contacted. Gupta was instrumental in Videocon International's global forays. He is also the architect of the company's multi-brand strategy in the consumer electronics market.