Tata group: from respect to relevance to Ratan
The Financial Express— May 5, 2005

Last week, Horizons: The Tata- India Century: 1904 -2004 by Aman Nath and Jay Vithalani was released in Delhi: for those of you who read, this is a fascinating account into what just unarguably be India’s most revered brand name. What makes the book even more special is that it captures, parallely, the travails of a nation alongside that of a business house which did so much to make India what it is today. I read the book right through the night and in many parts, the sheer craft was overwhelming. The last time a book on the Tatas had moved me substantially was Frank Harris’ book on Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

The foreword of which was written by JRD Tata himself. Russi Lala has written several books on the House of Tatas as well but perhaps, Aman and Jay gave it wings that no book ever has. Helped in their task because the House of Tatas has travelled a long distance from where Frank Harris or for that matter Russi Lala left off. From an outsider’s perspective, I would imagine the best thing that has happened to the Tatas is Ratan.

He took over a group that was fractionalised; a group that was emerging from an old-economy mindset. Where the company was expected to dole out largesse. And was entering the brave new world of borderless economic frontiers. Frontiers, which unfortunately still had some corrupt rogues in government supervising the transition. And yet, Ratan to my mind did not play the game as he was expected to and in that stubbornness displayed a quality, which has today put the Tatas on the top of the league as far as respect is concerned.

Except that this time round, added to that dimension of respect, is admiration. Corporations must seek both: valuable corporations are those, which are respected and admired. However, my belief is that the single-biggest dimension added to the word Tata, has been that of relevance. Today whether it is Tata Steel or for that matter Tata Motors, be it TCS or Indian Hotels, there is a blaze that was the hallmark of the early years of the House of Tatas. For many years after that, there was a lull, which Ratan has successfully broken.

It is this recommencement of the journey that needs to be lauded and which the book aptly reflects. But where there is an embedded lesson is that many organisations are content with the attributes of respect and perhaps, admiration: which at times is a result of pedigree and longevity. It is this risk that Ratan took with not just re-inventing the value-pyramid of the House of Tatas but equally of each of its businesses; of its management depth and its continuing contribution to society.

The Tatas today are the economic brand ambassadors of India: be it a Nat Steel in Singapore or a Daewoo Motors in Korea or the plans that Mr RK Krishna Kumar must have about expanding the hotels business. These are reflections of restlessness mired in values and not in getting the job done without analysing the means.

Not that the Tatas have not had their share of worries. The Indica is yet to make a global mark; the Tatas were much maligned in the Tata Finance case and here, once again, rogue managers thought they could get away with whatever they liked. These crises could have been better handled and I guess learnings from these are already in place. Because as the Tatas expand and go global, the management of crises will be as critical as the management of the top-line and bottom-line.

In an environment, which has scant respect for meritocracy; which nurtures the corrupt and the evil, there is a refreshing wind blowing through the corridors of Bombay House. But a wind that was designed to blow since the values were never ever given up. Values that today make the company not just a respect icon but also, equally, a relevance icon.

I have always maintained that corporate India just doesn’t do enough for the real India. It is about inculcating values through demonstrable examples and not just about rural marketing! Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had said, “if you want to plan for thirty years, plant trees; if you want to plan for hundred years plant men. I think Ratan has added the third critical dimension. If you want to plan for the next Tata Century, plant values. And this to my mind is Ratan’s real contribution: values, which straddle both the economic and the individual belief systems. Something that corporate India can and must learn from!