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Suresh Krishna, the dynamic
chairman and managing director of Sundram Fasteners,
India’s leading maker of high tensile fasteners,
is an independent director on the board of Tata Steel.
Honoured by the central government with the prestigious
Padma Shri last year, Krishna was also a director of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 2000 to 2006. He
has also been a member of the advisory council to the
prime minister on trade and industry. Krishna was the
sheriff of Chennai in 1992 and 1993.
Born in Madurai, the 70-year-old
Krishna graduated in science from Madras Christian College
in 1955, did an MA in literature from the University
of Wisconsin in 1959, and post-graduate work in literature
at the University of Munich, Germany. He has won a number
of awards, including the All India Management Association’s
JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award for the year 2000
and the Ernst & Young ‘Entrepreneur of the
Year’ Award for 2001.
He spoke at length with Christabelle
Noronha about his decade-long
association with Tata Steel. Excerpts from the interview:
Jamsetji Tata envisioned Tata
Steel 100 years ago as a critical input for building
a strong and self-reliant India. Do you think his dream
is realised?
Definitely. At that time, most things were imported,
and now to a large extent India has become self-reliant.
However, I would like to point out that if everyone
becomes self-reliant, there won’t be any more world
trade. But I think he achieved whatever he set out to,
not only for Tata Steel but for India as well.
As a director on the Board
of Tata Steel for a decade now, would you say the company
has evolved into a global company?
Becoming global is also a function of how much the government
and RBI agree to loosen the purse strings; 15 to 20
years ago, if you had to pay $2 billion for Corus, there
was no way you could get the nod. It was called ‘precious’
and ‘scarce’ foreign exchange, adjectives
that have thankfully disappeared now. After liberalisation,
policies have evolved and though it may have started
very late, Tata Steel has caught up very quickly.
It’s not only a global company,
but a true Indian multinational. One thing I’ve
always held is that you have to be 100 per cent Indian
to become an Indian multinational.
What are the qualities and
the attributes that contributed to the exponential growth
of Tata Steel?
First, Tata Steel has been a leader in the domestic
market; it has a brand name and a substantial market
share domestically. It has developed skills to manage
its people. The company has realised that you cannot
manage Indians using Japanese methods or vice versa.
They have learnt to manage an Indian mind with an Indian
mind. That is why it has had no industrial relations
problems at all.
All this gives you the confidence
to say, if I can do it here, I can do it elsewhere.
Only then can a company become a multinational. It’s
a very logical progression going from a strong position
of a domestic market leader to aspiring to become a
global market leader.
What do you see as the challenges
that lie ahead for Tata Steel?
Operating a multinational, multicultural, multiracial
company requires time, and a great deal of competence.
It’s a matter of learning — going from one
level to another level of learning. But the Tata Group
itself — through not just Tata Steel but Tata Tea,
Indian Hotels and others — has a lot of capabilities.
The second is integration; however
well it is worked out, integration requires time, and
a lot of energy input; thinking about where one is going
right or wrong. It is a continuous exercise. Each country
has its cultural strengths and weaknesses.
Have you at any point in time
felt that Tata Steel was making a wrong move in trying
to go global through the acquisition route?
If you have aspirations then the domestic market is
only a start, the world is your market. When Tata Steel
spoke about wanting to be in the global market, I thought
it was a very logical step — I am a very strong
proponent for such decisions. I think India is in the
take-off stage of becoming global.
How involved are you with
the company as a member of the board?
I’m involved in whatever comes before the board.
Tata Steel Board meetings are very lively. It’s
a very transparent board. Everything is logically presented
and discussed, and we come to logical conclusions. Over
a period of time, one develops trust in the facts and
figures presented by the management, and when you see
the company going in the right direction, it becomes
easy to contribute.
What is your dream for Tata
Steel?
It must be among the first three steel companies in
the world, not only in revenue but in technical skills
and competence, as well as new product development and
customer acceptance. The power to shape the world steel
industry: that is my dream for Tata Steel.
What do you think is lacking?
We are too young. We haven’t had time. It’s
been only 14 years since India opened its markets to
the world. As far as M&As and going global is concerned,
we’re only five years into the game, and I think
we’ve done fantastically well.
The Corus acquisition puts
Tata Steel in a different league altogether. Do you
think it has bitten off more than it can chew?
I don’t think Tata Steel has bitten off more than
it can chew. I’m not a
proponent of incremental growth; your aspirations should
be much greater than your resources, and that is exactly
what Tata Steel has done. Only when you have a problem
can you find solutions. If you don’t create problems
for yourself, there is no great compulsion to look for
solutions.
Is there something you would
like to say to the stakeholders of Tata Steel?
I think they are extraordinarily competent people. I’ve
been going to
Jamshedpur since the early ’60s — mostly as
a customer but sometimes as a supplier to Tata Motors
— and I’ve seen many managements. I’ve
always admired the way Tata Steel runs its plants at
Jamshedpur; the way they manage the townships. There
is a lot of deep-rooted Indian-ness in Tata Steel that
is extraordinarily good.
The management has indigenously
evolved its competencies — in
marketing, steel making, repair, etc. I have a lot of
respect for its technical abilities and productivity
and its other competencies in running a township, schools
and medical facilities, among other things. The company
has a lot of disciplined and capable people and an array
of skills which normal companies do not have.
Tata Steel’s balance of
giving back to society is fantastic. I’m a great
believer in giving back, because the only way you can
earn respect is when society perceives you as someone
who gives back. No less important is the high sense
of ethics and integrity. It may not give quick results,
but there is a saying: “Satyameva Jayate”
(Truth alone shall triumph.)
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Uploaded
in August, 2007
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