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In a candid flashback, B Muthuraman reflects
on the highs and the lows of his journey from ‘assistant
blower’ to MD, Tata Steel, with a charming sidelight
on the role played by golf
Sometime
in early 1966, while still in my final year at IIT Madras,
I had two career options — to either go for a Masters
at the University College of Los Angeles, or to join
Tata Steel. My professor, Dr EG Ramachandran, persuaded
me to choose the latter. He said Tata is a great group,
and that India needs metallurgists for its growing steel
industry.
One
of my other teachers, Professor Srikanta Kumaraswamy,
an outstanding teacher of his time, who had come to
teach after running blast furnaces at Bhadravati, had
created a passion in me for iron-making and blast furnaces.
That passion remains with me even today. It was
because of him that I joined the blast furnace department
at Tata Steel as an assistant blower.
In those days, blast furnaces
were run with more ‘brawn’ and much less ‘metallurgy
and analysis’. I quickly got bored. So I moved
to the engineering division to work alongside engineers
from Nippon Steel, who were doing a feasibility study
for a capacity expansion by a million tonnes. It was
a good experience.
One day in 1976, I was called
by the then managing director, Russi Mody. I had never
met him before, and hence was understandably nervous.
He told me, “I am selecting some youngsters for
our marketing division. Would you join?” I replied
that I needed some time to think about it. He said,
“Yes, you are right, and you have exactly one minute
to think about it and tell me yes or no.” I took
less than a couple of seconds and said yes.
My job, as an application engineer,
was absolutely thrilling — meeting
customers, getting to know people, understanding their
needs and working out solutions to their problems. Tata
Steel had no marketing orientation at that time and
many of the customers were being met for the first time
by anyone from the company. We were breaking new ground.
It was exciting.
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When I was in Jamshedpur in 1985,
looking after the all-India sales of special steels,
I was asked to go to New Delhi as regional manager for
the northern region. I was very upset because it was
a demotion. The then managing director took the trouble
of dropping into my room one day to explain that once
in a while, a demotion, which helped you gain wider
experience is actually a positive thing for career progression.
I was not convinced, and reluctantly accepted the change.
I soon found out that nothing could have been better
for me from a learning perspective. While I did descend
one step in the hierarchy, I went several steps ahead
in terms of exposure and experience. With that realisation,
I learnt something about organisational change. I also
learnt how to persuade a person to take up something
that he is reluctant to do!
By 1992, at the dawn of the liberalised
Indian economy, Tata Steel was in a very bad shape —
an old plant with obsolete technology, poor operating
practices, little market and customer orientation, poor
business processes and poor profitability. Experts and
consultants wrote us off. They said we would not survive
in the open and competitive global economy.
It was at that time that I had
the opportunity to see Mr Ratan Tata at work. His thinking
and approach were all very new to us. He made us question
the unquestionable; he made us think of the impossible,
and brought pride back to our hearts. He brought out
the team spirit in us.
Mr Tata made several visits to
Jamshedpur during those dark days, and encouraged, enthused
and energised us. Dr JJ Irani had just taken over as
managing director. Under his leadership and Mr Tata’s
guidance, the company took several initiatives and bold
steps, and slowly but surely, came back from the brink
of disaster. Watching Dr Irani from close quarters was
a terrific lesson in managing difficult and tough situations.
In the mid ’90s, Tata Steel
was in a position to think about its future. I was put
in charge of implementing the greenfield project at
Gopalpur.
Unfortunately, the project did not materialise; a big
personal disappointment and setback for me. It was,
however, a tremendous learning experience — of
dealing with a population to be displaced, of dealing
with anti-social elements, and of dealing with government
agencies. The three years I spent on the Gopalpur project
taught me more than I have learnt in the rest of my
life. On February 8, 2001, when I was told that I would
succeed Dr Irani as the MD of Tata Steel, I could not
believe it. I had not expected it. Soon I realised that
many people in Tata Steel were not expecting it either.
Of the several congratulatory messages I received, most
were from our customers and my erstwhile colleagues
in marketing. Very few were from colleagues in Jamshedpur,
and even fewer from the citizens of Jamshedpur. It was
deeply disappointing. Soon, disappointment gave way
to a fierce resolve — to prove myself, and to make
a difference.
The achievements of the last
six years — Tata Steel turning EVA positive, strategising
and thinking big, our growth and our acquisitions, the
heightened status and image of Tata Steel in the global
steel industry, and the empowerment and innovative spirit
of the people of Tata Steel — have been thrilling
and greatly satisfying. The people of Tata Steel are
exceptional. There are several outstanding executives
in the senior management team. Many in the age group
of 35 to 45 are capable of taking senior leadership
positions.
At present, my thoughts are on
creating synergies with Corus. There is much work to
do, and there is great excitement and experiences to
be gone through. With our other projects and plans,
I see a new Tata Steel growing to become a world-class
steel company in every respect.
A fitting finale to this piece
can only be one thing — my passion for golf! My
four-ball, comprising Ravi Sharma, Hindi Grewal, Dr
CD Singh and I, play a highly competitive game. These
golfers keep me on my toes on the course, and help me
to relax and take my mind off the pressures of work.
They have contributed significantly, albeit indirectly,
to whatever I have achieved off the golf course. I will
remember them, as I will the many who have shaped my
thinking and influenced my actions throughout these
past 40 years.
Aslo see:
Uploaded
in August, 2007
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