On the completion of ten years of the Society for Promotion of Professional Excellence (SPPE), B. Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel and president, SPPE said, "In ten years, SPPE has moved away from being just a coordinating body and has created a brand that pursues excellence in event management across the spectrum."

In the last ten years, the Society has grown and transformed itself from being a mere care-taker of the Centre for Excellence(CFE) and its member institutions, to using its vast infrastructure, facilities and resources to better the lives of all those it touches. The Society believes that the success of an organisation is not only measured by its achievement in material terms but also by its commitment to the needs and interest of the community.

The industrial town of Jamshedpur supports activities in various fields of professional management that are related to industry through autonomous registered bodies. In the year 1986, several of these professional organisations, which were scattered all over the city, approached Tata Steel with the request to provide them with a central facility. Tata Steel felt the need to bring these organisations under a common roof to felicitate their professional development as well as to encourage them to work together towards a synergy between diverse management disciplines. Thus the concept of a Centre for Excellence came into being. The Centre, an architectural wonder with its gigantic pyramids, pillars and large water bodies owes its genesis to the vision of JRD Tata who conceptualised and dedicated it to the citizens of Jamshedpur.

"In today's fast changing business environment, human relations not only brings personal rewards but is essential to the success of any enterprise." said JRD Tata. It was therefore to give shape to his vision that luminaries like Dr J. J. Irani and S. Sabavala promoted the SPPE and extended membership to these professional bodies to enable them to utilise the facilities at CFE. The registration of the SPPE as a society was formalised in 1993 when the member organisations moved into the CFE campus.

While eminent personalities such as F. A. Vandrevala and A. N. Singh have served as presidents, nurturing and guiding the SPPE through its nascent years, the Society has heralded the beginning of a new chapter when B. Muthuraman, donned the  mantle of president of the Society by choice. It speaks volumes for SPPE's standing in the scheme of things as it strives to align its activities with Tata Steel's focus on 'modernisation of the mind'.

The SPPE today has two value-based missions. Firstly to help member institutions achieve their objectives by providing them with best-in-class infrastructure and services and secondly to give environment the most favoured status at the Centre. The SPPE has made environment its thrust area and the agents of change, school children, the target participants.

One of the most prestigious programmes organised by the SPPE was an interactive session with Bharat Ratna, professor A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and a 1,500-strong gathering of school children and dignitaries. The SPPE proved its ability to coordinate and manage a mega-event. The sprawling XLRI ground was dressed in white for the occasion. A white shamiana, neatly named rows for various schools, the white stalls for catering, a medical unit standing by, proved that meticulous attention to detail is the secret of active pursuit of excellence.

On another occasion, the SPPE grabbed a rare opportunity and took advantage of ecologist, sociologist and activist, Dr Ramchandra Guha's visit to the city to organise a lively interactive session with students at the TMDC auditorium, where he traced the genesis of the environment movement in India. Another innovative programme 'Painting with Computers' was organised by the SPPE, where Moumita Ghosh conducted a workshop to popularise the concept of generating graphic designs with the help of the mouse on the computer. The SPPE organises a variety of quiz programmes at the Centre. The commerce quiz for students from the commerce stream, the home quiz for the utility staff and office attendants of the SPPE and the environment quiz, 'Mind Blaster', which is organised every year to celebrate Children's Day.

The SPPE's effort recently received a boost when B. L. Raina, MD, Tinplate Company of India, joined hands with the SPPE to sponsor a mega inter-school painting competition, 'Color Splash'. The theme 'Think Tin' emphasised the eco-friendly nature of tin over plastic and complimented the environment awareness theme of the SPPE. 

The SPPE's capacity to expand and connect with the student community of Jamashedpur was the reason B. Muthuraman entrusted it with the task of launching the programme, 'Apna Sapna'. It was one of the biggest public relation exercise undertaken by the SPPE which resulted in tremendous intangible benefits. The Society got the opportunity to interact with thousands of students across the city while the students acquired a sense of identity, pride and participation in co-creating "Ideas-2007". 

The SPPE helps to encourage the continuous learning process at the Centre, where thousands of students and trainees are taken on a structured visit to the galleries and the archives at the Centre. In order to quantify the merits of the visit, a special quiz is conducted at the end of each visit and prizes are distributed to meritorious students. The Centre also arranges for the families, friends and relatives of employees to visit the Centre and the Tata Steel works every Saturday in a well-organised and structured manner.

The SPPE is known to organise exhibitions, music concerts, poetry reading and ghazal nights. The Centre hosted a photography exhibition 'After September 11: Images from Ground Zero'.  The Centre has always been the venue for Tata Steel's star event 'Art-in-industry'. The seventh art camp proved to be different because for the first time local artists were given an opportunity to participate and learn from their more eminent contemporaries. To mark the 164th birth anniversary of the founder, the Centre oragnised the "Sir Dorab Tata and his Philantrophic Trusts" exhibition.

The SPPE wishes to change its brand image and be recognised as an event manager par excellence. While the year 2004 and the decade following it, will be momentous for Tata Steel as it celebrates two important centenaries, the SPPE will seize these opportunities to leverage and pilot significant events and happenings. 

Through these eventful years SPPE has found an identity and a voice of its own. It has created a niche for itself by its commitment to serve the needs of the community at large.