Three top personnel have resigned at Adidas India, subsidiary of German sports footwear makers Adidas Salomon AG.
Asia-Pacific spokesperson for the company, Cindy Ng, confirmed the resignations of managing director Tarun Kunzru, chief operating officer Harish Doraiswamy and chief financial officer Shriram Ranganathan. She refused to comment on the reasons for the resignations, only saying they were part of the ‘organisational restructuring that has been carried out in the Asia Pacific region in the past few months.’
However, according to industry sources, the three were asked to quit following ‘irregularities’ that were unearthed during a routine audit by an Adidas team from Hong Kong.
The official announcement on Kunzru’s resignation, states: ‘To ensure that Adidas is better positioned to meet future challenges in India, management restructuring has taken place in Adidas India, resulting in the resignation of Tarun Kunzru from the management team.’ This also indicated that the company was not happy with the functioning of the Indian subsidiary.
Adidas India, which has been claiming a share of 25-30% and an annual growth of 10-12%, in the premium footwear sector, had been targeting break-even by December 2003.
The company spokesperson refused to comment on whether the target had been met.