Being a finance enthusiast and now that I am pursuing my Masters in Business Administration, reading about the corporate world is but natural. Reading pink papers gave me more thrill than going through sports other than cricket since a very young age. Even though I consider the Ambanis as my favourite, one of the captains of India Inc who I consider in high regards is Ratan Tata who completes 76 today. Its been 1 year since he demitted office from Bombay House but he is heard more than his successor. Some reports even suggest that he has been working even harder on his personal interests now that he no longer has to run the array of companies under the Tata fold.
Born on the same day as Dhirubhai Ambani, the two people are by far the best to take the country on the global business map. But their working styles were poles apart. While Dhirubhai Ambani was an excellent "environment manager", Tata played with utmost honesty even if it meant losing an opportunity. The opportunity loss was huge when he refused to bribe the Aviation Minister to enter in the late 90s. But then aviation was in his blood. He co-piloted a Boeing fighter a couple of years ago and now has piloted not one but two JVs to start an LCC with Air Asia and a full service carrier with Singapore Airlines. Both are expected to create ripples in the industry with their arrival. Its sheer conviction that distinguishes him from the rest.
Having studied architecture with structural engineering and later at Harvard he had all the ingredients to make a successful entrepreneur. The Tata group had sales of roughly $5bn in 1991 when he became chairman and India was just freeing from the shackles of licence raj. What more would a CMD want? He had loads of cash for expansion and the timing couldn't be right. But he had to go through an ugly spat with the mighty Russi Mody. In his fight he showed that though he was silent and not the original choice he would have the last word. In his quest to unify the loosely bound Tata group and change its image from a construction and truck company to a conglomerate he also lost Ajit Kerkar and Darbari Seth. But he was not the one to give into others wishes. He had a vision for the group and he achieved it. It was his dream to expand into telecom and others. Immediately after assuming the chairmanship he cut costs, introduced VRS and turned around Telco. He was an expert at it.
By his own admission he loves cars. And there have been a number of instances when it has been displayed. The Indica was his creation and so was Nano. While the former was a success, the second failed. But even then he did not shy away from accepting the mistake of marketing Nano wrongly. He always thought for the greater good of the people which led to creation of products like Nano and the Swach purifier. It is this selfless thinking that makes him such an admirable person the world over. His decisions are more from gut and less from business sense. He takes decisions and then makes them right as he puts it.
It was his ambition to grow the Tata group and for that he did not rely on organic growth alone. He took some bold decisions for inorganic growth. The Tetley, JLR, Corus acquisitions are fine examples while the failed bid to buy Orient Express hotels shows his hunger for growth. Though criticized for overpaying for his acquisitions, he proved each one wrong. The JLR contributes all the profit for the parent Tata Motors at present.
But more than his business decisions, it is his personality that charms people including me. He is a very humble man. And that is one thing that sets him apart. I still remember the gestures after the Taj attack. He didn't wait for the government to take action post the rescue operation. The same can be said about his refusal to ship a single Sumo to Pakistan. After all the nation comes first for him. No other businessman at his level would do that. He was driven more by values and less by profits. A colleague at Reliance who formerly worked with Tata motors often told stories about how he used to visit the factory workshop and interact with all the employees to boost their morale. Such was his persona. I have not heard any CMD do that. Even the otherwise angry Raj Thackeray spared him of speaking Marathi when he launched an attack on businessmen saying they should speak Marathi in Maharashtra. And his response on being asked about Ratan Tata was " Please don't drag Ratan Tata into this. He is a global man and above all this". Only Ratan Tata could have charmed Raj Thackeray so much.
He never resorted to manipulations and managing the people in Delhi. He was given unequal treatment while applying for dual technology in Telecom and even today in spite of being the first applicant has not received GSM spectrum for Delhi. But that has not deterred him and bribe still remains a big NO. Such values formed the base of the group he headed for 21 years and which has a history of more than a century. Very few conglomerates survive for so long without values and a strong tradition like Tata.
At present, he is a part of PM council on trade and industry and Carnegie Endowment for International peace apart from being the chairman of Tata trusts which is the major stakeholder of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata companies, and has his own venture, RNT Associates. He is deeply involved in philanthropy and loves playing golf. But given the amount of work he has and being most sought after for his experience and his nature to help anyone I assume he might not have the time to play his favourite sport. And so he reigns our hearts. A very happy birthday Sir!!
No comments:
Post a Comment