Who is Ratan Tata?
Entrepreneurial leader Ratan Tata celebrated his 86th birthday today. Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai to Naval Tata and Sooni Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons is renowned for his philanthropic engagements at both national and international levels.
Ratan Tata received two of India’s top civilian awards, the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and the Padma Bhushan in 2000. He was honored with these awards for his significant contributions to the development and progress of the nation.
Ratan Tata and the Men Who built the Tata Group
Let us delve into the Tata group of companies to see the men who built it and elevated it to these heights.
Take any aspect of your life, and you will come across products or services from the Tata group. Whether it’s Tata Motors, Vistara Airlines, Tata Tea, Taj Hotels, the fashion brand Westside, Tanishq, Tata salt, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, and the list goes on because there are more than 100 companies under the Tata group. Hence, the Tata group is recognized as one of the most successful companies of India. And it didn’t happen overnight. It took 200 years for the company to reach here and pioneer multiple industries in India.
Interestingly, it has been one of those companies that introduced the ‘number of firsts’ and has remained a leader in most of these. The first 8-hour pay, the first leave with pay, and many others. Adhering to the principle that business is about nation-building rather than just profits, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has now become the second-largest employer in the country, after the Indian Railways.
With these accolades in hand, the company is moving ahead and making significant strides.
Ratan Tata and the Liberalization since 1991
In 1991, Mr. Ratan Tata was declared the successor of JRD Tata and he became the chairperson of the Tata group. Fortunately, it was the year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the liberalization of India which meant that the Indian market had started opening for everyone around the world.
Observing this, Mr. Ratan Tata started raising Tata Sons’ ownership in all Tata group subsidiaries. He did this so that the Tata group could not be taken over by any international company. This decision proved to be immensely successful. In fact, the Tata group started acquiring foreign companies. The Tetley Tea company in England was acquired by Tata group for $12 billion. In another interesting case, Jaguar Land Rover, a car manufacturing company in UK, was in talks of being sold off. Interestingly, the employees of this company wanted that Tata group of company should take over their company. Hence this too, was taken over by the Tata group.
In 2008, Ratan Tata launched the Nana car, an affordable car for all those who wanted a four-wheeler, and it had fulfilled the dreams of many.
However, Tata’s intention was never focused on branding. This can be seen in many instances where the Tata group has never believed in giving its name to renowned institutions that are owned by the group, like, the Empress Mill of Nagpur, the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces and many more like the renowned Indian Institute of Sciences (IISC) that was started by the Tata group. However, the city Jamshedpur was not named by them, but by the British Viceroy because of the Tata Steel set up Jamshed ji Tata.
The core philosophy of Mr. Ratan Tata and his group of companies has always been social upliftment and one of his famous quotes aptly explains his philosophy of life, “Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.”
