Early Life and Background of Ratan Tata

Ratan Naval Tata was born on the 28 of December, 1937, at Surat, in the State of Gujarat, whose ancestors were of the Parsi community. Naval Tata the father of Ratan Tata was the adopted son of the first Tata industrialist Jamsetji Tata. Ratan Tata was born and brought up in Mumbai, he studied in the Campion School in Mumbai. He then continued and obtained his B.S in architecture from Cornell University in 1962. From the beginning, Ratan Tata was trained in the shop floor of the Tata Steel Company at Jamshedpur. This led to his hands on_verbose management style that takes into consideration details. 

Ratan Tata started his term as the chairman of the Tata Group in 1991, the post was vacated by J.R.D Tata. He took over a virtual ‘ shop’ from tea to automobiles. Back then, the total revenue of the whole Tata group was recording about $ 5.7 billion. Ratan Tata tenaciously pursued a strategy of expansion of the group into new horizons of international operation. He was instrumental in the expansion the Tata Group’s operation in areas such as telecommunications and small cars. The Tata Group revenues under his leadership increased over 40 times to $ 100 billion by 2011 over more than over two and half decade. His strategies remained strategic as the foundation to the growth and global expansion of the Tata group.

Strategic Acquisitions

The process of M&As caused the Tata group to expand its range globally through establishing presence. Some key deals masterminded by Tata include:

Tata Candidates Tata Tea Bought Tetley the British tea brand for $430 million in 2000. This provided Tata with international exposure, the same exposure that is a key benefit of going global.  

Tata Motors Ltd: >1998 – Tata acquires stake of complement in Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, South Korea >2004 – Tata Motors buys Daewoo’s truck marketing JV for $102 million. This enabled Tata another strategic move of developing and entering into the heavy automotive segment.

– 2007 – The Indian Tata Steel buys British Skilled Steel firm Corus for $11.3 billion. This was a major cash and stock deal that put Tata Steel in the global rank of the fifth largest steel company.

– 2008 – Tata Motors buys the British icons of Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion. It was a tribute to the Tata group’s competence in procuring brands and reviving these in other countries.

Nano – The People’s Car

An obvious success of Ratan Tata is Laying of Tata Nano in year 2009 The Tata Nano is a city car produced by Tata Motors. Launched at Rs. 1 lakh to begin with, the Tata Nano was marketed as the world’s lowest priced car. Ratan Tata ultimately wanted to build a safe, affordable car for millions of two-wheeler-riding middle-class families in India. The Nano fitted well into the Tata group strategy of providing customers with power products to consumer across the world. However, the Nano did not sell very well, and worse, did not turn out profitable for Tata Motors. However, it is still one of the great engineering achievements embodying the idea of innovation which Ratan Tata promotes.

Philanthropists as agents of change: principles of philanthropy and nation building

Besides business acumen, Ratan Tata is also credited with managing the philanthropy endeavours of the Tata group. In 1994 he founded the Tata Education and Development Trust, and has been funding many causes pertaining to education. He also started UC San Diego’s Tata Scholarship fund for Indian graduate students in 2010. Most recently in 2015, Tata Trusts under his reign invested $ 750 million to fund scientific research and innovation in India. These massive contributions towards academic and national concerns underscore Tata’s social responsibility to the nation as well as business mission . 

Values-driven Leadership of Ratan Tata

Principled and values, these two are the key characteristics that define Ratan Tata. His leadership stands by principles of civilized customer services, community welfare and business sustainability. During his formative years at Tata Motors he once reacted very seriously and personally to a customer complaint on faulty brakes in Indica hatch back and recalled the entire fleet. His decision was another example of the fact that customer safety comes before any revenues or the company’s image. This, to my mind, tells volumes about the standards that Ratan Tata always aimed at attaining no matter the odds. We see that in this approach the Tata group positioned the company and its brands as being trustworthy globally.  

Legacy and Current Role  

Ratan Tata ceased to be the Tata Sons chairman in 2012 but he remains a trustee of this company. During his leadership the Tata empire trebled; driven by Ratan Tata’s international vision for what today is the largest Indian business conglomerate. As of now worth approximately $160bn, Tata Sons is still a holding company boasting IT, automobile makers, steel producers, and hotels. Ratan Tata has got a formidable program as is seen from his statement made in 1991 in which he said that he had lined up the change in the group from an ‘’old creaking wheelchair’’ into a ‘high tech athlete.’ Of course, Tatan Tata not only spoke those words, but also really set an example for future generations of business managers and heads with his honesty, foresight and example.

This paper discusses the most strategic themes of Ratan Tata, which include his background, leadership style, milestones and the legacy he left behind for the Tata Group. Feel free to ask me to change or extend this 2000 word article in anyway you want. It can be better enhanced depending on what feedback I receive.

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