THE RATAN TATA LEGACY LEADERSHIP

EARLY LIFE

Born 28th Dec,1937. Born to Naval Tata and his first wife Sooni. Separated in the mid-1940s when Ratan was seven years old. Later ,raised by their grandmother Lady Navajbai. Tata began his schooling in Bombay at the Campion School and the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. Finished his secondary education at the Cathedral and John Conon School.

He completed his B.S. in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962. Completed his Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975. Tata is a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

CAREER(Before being chairman)

December 1962 :- He joined the Tata Group, after turning down a job with IBM on the advice of JRD Tata. He was first sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. Began his career in the Tata group in 1962. Started as blue-collar worker in Tata steel, shoveling limestone and handling blast furnace. Gradually rose, in 1971 he was appointed as director of NELCO which was the weakest

In 1977, JRD Tata, then chairman of Tata sons entrusted Ratan tata with loss making textile mill Empress mills, which is finally wound up in 1986. In 1981,Ratan Tata named as chairman of Tata industries, the groups other holding company.

LIFE AS CHAIRMAN

In 1991,he takes over JRD Tata as group Chairman from. Pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata groups, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian stock market.

When Ratan Tata took charge of the Tata Group from the legendary JRD in 1991, critics did not give him much of a chance.

Tata had major challenges to contend with. The holdings of the Tatas in various group companies were rather low, the economy was liberalizing rapidly and new players from overseas were knocking on the doors. JRD was getting on in years and many key group companies were being run by chief executives who were heavyweights in their own right and were used to functioning almost independently. The task before Ratan Tata, to put it mildly, was daunting.

EARLY STAGES AS CHAIRMAN

The model at the group was of distributed entrepreneurship. JRD had got in several talented people during his time and having got them in, he had let them flourish. at the time Ratan Tata took charge, the group faced the distinct possibility of disintegration. Ratan Tatas initial stint who had to concentrate more on executing JRDs vision during his initial years. Ratan Tata came in as India threw its doors open to the world by way of economic liberalization. He came in with a modern mindset and had to confront a set of tough situations. The Cornelleducated Tata, known to be very American in his way of thinking, decided to bring the group

Dealing with the heavyweight CEOsDarbari Seth at Tata Tea, Russi Mody at Tata Steel and Ajit Kerkar at Indian Hotels, among otherswas important and necessary, and Tata did exactly that, though it did result in bitter face-offs with them. Ratan Tatas tenure into two phases1991 to 2001 and 20012011 If one went by the history of empires, the fifth generation is when the decline of an empire is supposed to begin. But Ratan Tata ensured this did not happen at the House of Tata. One of Ratan Tatas very big achievements has been to stem an imminent decline and renew the purpose and integrity of the group.

This took all of the first 10 years, he says. He prevented the place from falling apart. Its almost like the flight of a rocket. You first have to build a huge amount of energy to get it into space, and then need to have the energy to hold it at elevation, since the rocket starts to flag. You need booster rockets to ensure it does not flag off.

Ratan Tata came in as the booster to the Tata Group.

Having tackled the initial challenges in the first 10 years, He concentrated on nurturing the principles

He put in place the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) across the group, covering seven core aspects of business operations:

leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management and outcomes of financial and nonfinancial parameters; and business results.

He also got in senior people from other companies for an outside-in perspective on the businesses. While the first half of Tatas tenure was about reestablishing the groups credentials and its right to grow, the second half saw rapid and aggressive growth.

RNT Restructuring 1992

Enter
Potential biz Retail Telecom Biotech Technology

Build Core biz

Paints
Oil Soaps Pharma Cement

Steel
Motors Chemicals

Power

SKEPTICAL MOVES

In 93,when detergent wars were at the peak, Ratan sold 420 crores worth detergent & soap major, Tata Oil Mills Co to HLL. In 96,Tata pulled out from JV with HLL by selling Lakme brand to HLL. The biggest of all was Tatas exit from cement business, one of the core industry of any economy in the year of 1999. When New Tata group corporate mark & logo was unveiled. Group companies told to pay royalty fee to Tata sons for using the Tata brand name.

Ratan Tata was a 'terrific combination' of the four necessary leadership characteristics CHARACTER COMMITMENT COMPETENCE COURAGE

Deteriorating values impacting business: Ratan Tata

India's outlook not too bad but deteriorating values impacting business: Ratan Tata Expressing an optimistic attitude, Tata Group head Ratan Tata said India's outlook "might not be as bad" as one might think. However, India is facing a struggling phase cause of many changes of government.

"India (may have) had many changes of government, but the outlook 'might not be as bad as you might think...I would have hope," said Ratan Tata to media.
Meanwhile, despite the optimistic approach, the tycoon showed concerns over deteriorating Indian values and ethics which is impacting the business culture as well. "India was slowly deteriorating in the fabric of its values and ethics, especially in the business community," added Tata.

STEELY RESOLVE

Despite the successes the group has seen under Tata, he has his share of setbacks along the way like NELCO ,Empress Mills, both were stymied by political problems and the infamous Mumbai textile strike. As chairman, Tata had to contend with problems of varying degrees. Success was never easy, especially with regard to Tata Motors. Though Tata trucks were ubiquitous on Indian roads, the dream to make it a name in passenger cars faced several roadblocks. While his plan of launching a passenger car was severely criticized, Tata Motors went ahead and launched Indias first indigenously designed and manufactured car Indicain 1998.

The company also ran up hefty losses in the early 2000s and later again in 2009 after its ambitious acquisition of JLR, as the global economy went into a tailspin. The biggest challenge for Tata Motors came when Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee stoutly resisted his plan to set up the ambitious Nano Rs. 1 lakh car project in Bengal, arguing against the manner in which land had been acquired for it by the then Left Front government in Bengal. The opposition to the Nano project was so intense that Tata was forced to relocate it to Gujarat, leading to intense debate.

Other fronts threw challenges at Ratan Tata too. Tata Finance, the groups finance company was beset with massive governance issues which also tested his resolve to the hilt. Then there was the 2G scandal in the telecom industry which, at one point, threatened to envelope the group too in its wake. Tata Finance problem was also set right with a deft hand which is typical of the manner in which he handles crises.

When the Tata Finance crisis took place, he stood behind what was right and took a personal beating because of someone else. But he was rock solid. We havent done anything wrong. We will see it through, Ratan said. He told me, Kishor, for Gods sake, let us stand up for the truth. He has an almost workman-like approach to fixing problems. If there is a leak in the pipe, dont debate it and try to palm off responsibility. Fix the leak. Put a team together and set things rightthats his style.

HUMANE AND DIGNIFIED

Indeed, dignity in the manner in which he conducts himself is one of the key attributes of Tata as an entrepreneur. Tata hardly ever lets himself get involved in public spats. He knows such spats can get inelegant and thats never going to be an option with him

Various business houses were giving funds for Kargil martyrs and their families. What Tata decided to do was unusual. He convened a meeting of senior people in the group and asked them instead to find a way to ensure that the company could reach relief to the right people who were really in need of assistance. Around four to five meetings were held, a welfare trust was set up and Rs. 14 crore raised. The money was given also to next of kin of martyrs who died in the 1964 and 1971 wars. Funds were specified for education, prosthetics etc and reports sent every six months. To me, it was a moment of revelation. Tata defined the problem instead of blindly aping Corporate India.

This humane side of Tata captures the attention of anyone who has known him. When we closed some of our companies involved in floriculture and sericulture. I dont have any issues with closure but do it the Tata way. What he meant was that labor should never be short-changed. Every time you meet him, he is so affable, warm, friendly and down-to-earth. Its just so easy to talk to him,

Ratan Tata Opens Non-Profit Tata Cancer Treatment Centre

PIONEERS IN

Industrial 1912- 8 hour work day 1915- Free Medical Aid 1917- Free Schooling 1920- Paid Leave, PF

Educational Foreign scholarships IIS, Bangalore TISS, TIFR, NCPA Tata Memorial Hosp 2012 Trust Grants- 300 crores

Hungry for M&A

The rapidly growing pace of M&A in the second part of Ratan Tatas tenure left most in the corporate sector The group, once perceived as slow-moving and stodgy, began pulling off massive and bold acquisitions with the world as its playground. Tetley Group in the tea business in 2000, Tata Consultancy Services acquisition of Computer Maintenance Corporation (CMC) as part of the governments disinvestment process the very next year. Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), again by way of the government-sponsored disinvestment process in 2002, Tata Motors acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company in 2004

Indian Hotels buyout of Starwood Group of Australia (2005) and Tata Steels purchase of NatSteel Asia of Singapore the same year. But the biggest and boldest came in 2007, when Tata Steel gobbled up Anglo-Dutch Corus Plc for $12 billion (6.1 billion) in a nail-biting bidding war with CSN of Brazil, which finally proved to the world that Tata was now a truly global name. But this wasnt enough. Ratan Tata followed this up quickly with another awe-inspiring acquisition, this time of iconic British auto company Jaguar Land Rover for $2.3 billion.

Though some of his bold acquisitions were initially panned by critics and analysts, Tata did not fail his stakeholders despite tough global conditions. Says Prashant Sawant, Convertible Bond Specialist, KNG Securities LLP, London, While many Indian companies either defaulted or deferred payments on FCCB obligations citing the impact of the slowdown, Tata Motors and Tata Steel have never defaulted on FCCB repayments. Their commitment to stakeholders remains unquestioned.

BLAKE & MOUTONS MANAGERIAL GRID THEORY:

CONCERN FOR PEOPLE

LOW LOW CONCERN FOR PRODUCTION HIGH

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Ratan Tata has recently talked about two major disappointments as he steps down. Tata was candid in admitting that internally, he had not been able to create an open, flat and transparent organization. He also said the group hadnt been able to succeed in embracing the customers as it could have, although it had moved in that direction from being a manufacturing company in a sellers market. Tata also lamented that the group had not been able to touch the levels of the population as it had hoped. The Nano is one example but serving the bottom of the pyramid for India and thinking of making products.. affordable to that segment of the population. I think thats a real challenge. We havent.. succeeded in being

PRINCIPLES OF RATAN TATA

What Ratan Tata did for the Mumbai Terrorist Attack Victims

All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed. Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the Pav- Bhaji vendor and the pan shop owners. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.

The thoughts and anxieties going on peoples mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that persons responsibility to act as a single window clearance for any help that the person required. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner either through injury or getting killed were affected. The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents as to what they wanted him to do.

In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees. What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months. A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts. Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.

This was the most trying period in the life of the organization. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible. The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees tranlates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits: a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents. b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents anywhere in the world. c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life. d. All loans and advances were waived off irrespective of the amount. e. Counselor for life for each person.

When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan he said do you think we are doing enough? The whole approach was that the organization would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life? Unfortunately, This is not covered by any news channel! Ratan Tata has been a true inspiration!!!.