Ratan Tata

Ratan tata One of the most well-known and respected industrialists in India, Ratan Tata, is the Chairman of the Tata Group. Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, he suffered as a child because his parents separated when he was very young. He was brought up by his grandmother Lady Navajbai and did his schooling in Mumbai. He graduated with a degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering from Cornell University and joined his family business. He was sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco) in 1971 and was successful in turning Nelco around. In 1981, he became the Chairman of Tata Industries and was instrumental in ushering in a wide array of reforms. It was under his stewardship that Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in January 2000. He serves on the boards of several leading organizations, both in the public as well as the private sector in India. He is a member of the International Investment Council set up by the President of South Africa and serves on the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative. He is credited with leading the Tatas' successful bid for Corus- an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer, which was acquired by Tata Sons for an estimated £6.7 billion in January 200

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Ratan Naval Tata December 28, 1937 (1937-12-28) Born

(age 71) Bombay Presidency, British India

Residence

Mumbai, India

Nationality

India

Ethnicity

Parsi

Citizenship

India

Alma mater

Cornell University

Harvard University Occupation

Chairman of Tata Group

Home town

Mumbai, India

Religious beliefs

Zoroastrianism

Spouse(s)

Never married

Children

2 Girls (adopted)

Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Mumbai) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate founded by Jamsedji Tata and consolidated and expanded by later generations of his family. He is also the chairman of major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, The Indian Hotels Company and Tata Teleservices.

Early life Ratan Tata was born into the wealthy and famous Tata family of Mumbai. He was born to Soonoo and Naval Hormusji Tata. Ratan is the great grandson of Tata group founder Jamsetji Tata. Ratan's childhood was troubled, his parents separating in the mid-1940s, when he was about seven and his younger brother Jimmy was five. His mother moved out and both Ratan and his brother were raised by their grandmother Lady Navajbai.

[edit] Early career Ratan Tata completed a BSc degree in engineering with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.[1] He joined the Tata Group in December 1962, after turning down a job with IBM on the advice of JRD Tata. He was first sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He worked on the floor along with other blue-collar employees, shoveling limestone and handling the blast furnaces.[2] Ratan Tata, a shy man, rarely features in the society glossies, has lived for years in a book-crammed, dog-filled bachelor flat in Mumbai's Colaba district and is considered to be a gentleman extraordinaire.[3][4]

[edit] Career In 1971, Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty. Ratan suggested that the company invest in developing high-technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. J.R.D. was reluctant due to the historical financial performance of Nelco which had never even paid regular dividends. Further, Nelco had 2% market share in the consumer electronics market and a loss margin of 40% of sales when Ratan took over. Nonetheless, J. R. D. followed Ratan's suggestions. From 1972 to 1975, Nelco eventually grew to have a market share of 20%, and recovered its losses. In 1975 however, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, which led to an economic recession. This was followed by union problems in 1977, so even after demand improved, production did not keep up. Finally, the Tatas confronted the unions and, following a strike, a lockout was imposed for seven months. Ratan continued to believe in the fundamental soundness of Nelco, but the venture did not survive.

In 1977, Ratan was entrusted with Empress Mills, a textile mill controlled by the Tatas. When he took charge of the company, it was one of the few sick units in the Tata group. Ratan managed to turn it around and even declared a dividend. However, competition from less labour-intensive enterprises had made a number of companies unviable, including those like the Empress which had large labour contingents and had spent too little on modernisation. On Ratan's insistence, some investment was made, but it did not suffice. As the market for coarse and medium cotton cloth (which was all that the Empress produced) turned adverse, the Empress began to accumulate heavier losses. Bombay House, the Tata headquarters, was unwilling to divert funds from other group companies into an undertaking which would need to be nursed for a long time. So, some Tata directors, chiefly Nani Palkhivala, took the line that the Tatas should liquidate the mill, which was finally closed down in 1986. Ratan was severely disappointed with the decision, and in a later interview with the Hindustan Times would claim that the Empress had needed just Rs 50 lakhs to turn it around. In 1981, Ratan was named director of Tata Industries, the Group's other holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses. In 1991, he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock Market. Under Ratan's guidance, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica. On January 31, 2007, under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, Tata Sons successfully acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminium producer. With the acquisition, Ratan Tata became a celebrated personality in Indian corporate business culture. The merger created the fifth largest steel producing entity in the world. On March 26, 2008, Tata Motors, under Ratan Tata, bought Jaguar & Land Rover from Ford Motor Company. The two iconic British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, were acquired for £1.15 billion ($2.3 billion).

Tata Nano car, 2008

Ratan Tata's dream was to manufacture a car costing Rs 100,000 (1998: approx. US$2,200; today US$2,000 US$2,528). He realized his dream by launching the car in New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008. Three models of the Tata Nano were announced, and Ratan Tata delivered

on his commitment to developing a car costing only 1 lakh rupees, adding that "a promise is a promise," referring to his earlier promise to deliver this car at the said cost. However, the price of the car has since been raised. Recently when his plant for Nano production in Singur, West Bengal, was obstructed by Mamta Banerjee, his decision of going out of the state was warmly welcomed by the Indian corporate media and the English-speaking middle class. Banerjee had the support of the people of Singur, where the Nano plant was being constructed, and many social movements. They criticised Ratan Tata for forcing people out of their land in collusion with the Left Front government in the state, which is headed by Budhadeb Bhattacharjee. On October 7, 2008, after a controversial stay in West Bengal, Ratan Tata and his team shifted their Rs 1-lakh car Nano project to Sanand near Ahmedabad at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), declaring that efforts will be made to roll out the world's cheapest car from a make-shift plant to meet the deadline. The Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who is accused of masterminding the Gujarat riots of 2002, granted him huge subsidy for building the facility, including free land. Praising Modi for speedy allocation of about 1,100 acres (4.5 km2) of centrally located land, Ratan Tata said that the company had a great deal of urgency in having a new location and was driven by the reputation of the state. The car was launched on March 23, 2009, amid much fanfare with advance bookings that preceded its launch by months.

[edit] Personal life Mr. Ratan Tata has a metallic blue Maserati and Ferrari California but prefers to drive himself in an old model mercedes sedan much like JRD who seldom used a chauffeur and drove his own Fiat to and from work.[5] He sometimes likes to fly his private jet himself. He has an outdated Falcon Jet, which is no longer used for commercial aviation.[6] He has never been married.[7] Ratan Tata is largely an employee Chairman / CEO of the group and most his own holding in Tata Sons., the holding company of the group, is a result of inherited family shareholding. His share is or a little less than 1%, valuing his personal holding at approximately US$ 1 Billion, if encashed.[citation needed] About 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the original Jameshedji family and the largest share is with the Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry family aligned originally to Jamshetji's brother in law. The biggest two of the owning trusts are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (different Ratan Tata), which were created by the families of the sons of Jamshedji Tata. Ratan Tata is on the board of trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, giving him significant influence on the board of Tata Sons, despite his minority personal shareholding. Tata sons have never has a shareholders dispute or a written shareholder agreement.[original research?]

[edit] Quotes "Question the unquestionable" & "a promise is a promise," [8]

[edit] Awards and Recognition Ratan Tata serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and he is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. After the 26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Forbes opined Ratan Tata be brought into politics, calling him India's most respected business leader.[9]

Ratan Tata's foreign affiliations include membership of the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz Allen Hamilton. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, University of Southern California and of his alma mater, Cornell University.[10][11] He also serves as a board member on the Republic of South Africa's International Investment Council and is an AsiaPacific advisory committee member for the New York Stock Exchange. Tata is on the board of governors of the East-West Center, the advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy and serves on the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative.[12] •

On the occasion of India's 58th Republic Day on 26 January 2000, Ratan Tata was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration that may be awarded to a civilian.[12]

•

In February 2004, Ratan Tata was conferred the title of honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of China.[13]

•

On August 30, 2005, it was announced that Ratan Tata was elected to the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, one of the leading resaerch universities in the United States.

•

In 2006 he received the FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism.[14]

•

In March 2006 Tata was honoured by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, considered the highest honor the university awards to distinguished individuals from the corporate sector.[15]

•

He was one of the recipients of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards 2008, given at a ceremony on February 14th, 2008 in Mumbai. Ratan Tata accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata family.[16][17]

•

He was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business named by Fortune magazine in November 2007.

•

In May 2008 Mr Tata made it to the Time magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 most influential people. Tata was hailed for unveiling his tiny Rs. one lakh car 'Nano'.[18]

•

On 26 January 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration.[12]

•

On 29 August 2008, the Government of Singapore conferred honorary citizenship on Ratan Tata, in recognition of his abiding business relationship with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors in Singapore. Ratan Tata is the first Indian to receive this honour.[19]

•

In 2009 he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire[20].

•

He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics.

How successful is ratan tata

It was a ritual at Mumbai's [ Images ] Taj Mahal Hotel [ Images ]. Two months ago, Ratan Naval Tata, 67, non-executive chairman of the Rs 79,000 crore (Rs 790 billion) Tata group was presiding over the annual group management meeting for 200 of his senior managers, including Tata Sons' directors. For the past six years, this has been Tata's way of reaching out to his people, telling them where the group is headed, what needs to be done and how they can do it. This year's theme was the global story. And the punch line? Be bold; think big; lead, never follow. "It is Tata's State of the Union address to us," says a manager who has been attending these dos. Such exhortations are heard more often these days at Bombay House, the Tata group headquarters. It's a decade since McKinsey & Co offered its blueprint for ushering in change. And next year, it will be 15 years since Tata, who is low profile almost to the point of reclusiveness, was made chairman, when his legendary predecessor J R D stepped aside in 1991. Tata's game plan, according to his managers, was simple -- rationalise the group's business portfolio; deliver a return on investment that exceeded the cost of capital; have a symbolically and emotionally unified brand; and grab new opportunities. Surely, after taking over, Tata's first job was to see that many of the group stalwarts, who were well past their retirement age, hung up their boots. He brought in new people to strengthen the parent company Tata Sons Ltd, where Tata trusts continue to hold a 66 per cent stake. FULL HOUSE Tata company

Acquired company

Tata Tea [ Get Quote ]

Tetley, UK

Tata Sons (TCS [ Get Quote ])

CMC Ltd [ Get Quote ]

Tata Group

VSNL [ Get Quote ]

Tata Teleservices Hughes Telecom India [ Get Quote ] Indian Hotels Regent Hotel

Acquisitio n value Year (Rs crore) 1,870 Feb-00

157

Nov01

1,439 Feb-02 undisclose Jun-02 d 415

Sep02

TCS

Airline Financial Support Services

undisclose d

May03

VSNL

Gemplex

undisclose d

Jul-03

465

Mar-

Tata Motors Daewoo [ Get Quote ] [ Get Quote ] Commercial Vehicle,

Korea

04

VSNL

Dishnet DSL's ISP division

270

Mar04

TCS

Aviation Software Development Consultancy

4.02

Mar04

TCS

Phoenix Global Solutions

undisclose d

May04

Tata Steel [ Get Quote ]

Steel business of NatSteel

1,313

Aug04

VSNL

Tyco Global Network

13

Nov04

Tata Motors Hispano Carrocera VSNL

Teleglobe International

70 Feb-05 1,040 Jul-05

He then went about making control secure from raiders. Today, TSL has a 26 per cent stake in most of the group's 32 listed companies, up from 3 per cent during JRD's days. Today, Tata's empire is still unwieldy. With seven business sectors and an official list of 91 operating companies (a group insider put the total at 300), Tata still employs around 220,000 people. "We have too many companies and focus is necessary," says a senior Tata manager. But what Tata has already done is hauled his heavy engineering-to-services conglomerate into newer businesses (telecom, passenger cars, retail, biotech); turned around and restructured flagships (Tata Steel, Tata Motors) that once operated in protected regimes; and shed some businesses that no longer fit into the corporate vision or failed to yield requisite results (Merind, Goodlass Nerolac, ACC, Lakmé, Tomco). Besides, he took crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) public last year when the group obtained SEBI nod for the TCS IPO. The Tata group is going global with a vengeance and acquiring businesses as if there's no tomorrow -- half its 14 acquisitions were in the past year. How successful has Tata been in implementing his strategy? How do you measure the results of a process imbued with many qualitative characteristics? Figure it out Consultants and managers within the group and outside believe Tata has done a decent job. "The group is more aggressive today than it was a decade ago," says a merchant banker. Adds Ishaat Hussain, finance director, TSL, "There is a certain electricity in the group." In cold numbers, the results are telling. A study by Business Standard's Research Bureau of the top six Tata companies shows they account for 85 per cent of the group's revenues and 90 per cent of the profits. Also, new technology businesses notch up 50 per cent of the group's Rs 145,579 crore (Rs 1,455.79 billion) market capitalisation on July 19.

In the past five years, the cumulative investments in the Big Six touched Rs 22,776.12 crore (Rs 227.76 billion), with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.49 per cent. Add to this the upturn in many of its businesses like steel and auto in the same period, and both the return on capital employed (ROCE) and return on net worth (RONW) for many of the companies impacted positively. Take two of the group's most capital intensive businesses -- auto and steel. Since 2002, Tata Steel's ROCE galloped from 2.51 per cent to 22.13 per cent in 2004. Its RONW jumped seven fold to 38.67 per cent. Tata Motors' negative 1.13 per cent ROCE in 2002 sped to 16.71 per cent last year with its RONW tipping at 22.57 per cent. Says Sanjiv Anand, regional director, Asia/Middle East, Cedar Consulting, "The primary responsibility of a CEO is to deliver on the financial performance of the company. The nonfinancials become important in order to achieve and sustain the financial parameters." Hussain says today, Tata Steel and Tata Motors along with TCS chip in 75 per cent of the group's revenues and profits. What brought about these results? "Many of its flagships slugged it out with competition admirably," says a consultant. Tata Steel has become the world's lowest-cost producer. Tata Motors virtually breasted the tape with its indigenously produced Indica and Indigo [ Images ] cars. The TCS scrip closed last Wednesday at Rs 1,308. Today, passenger cars drive 52.5 per cent of Tata Motors' revenues, up from 49.5 per cent three years ago. Its market share in commercial vehicles has gone up from 31.98 per cent in FY04 to 34.59 per cent last year. In comparison, competitor Ashok Leyland [ Get Quote ] saw its market share skid from 17.47 per cent to 15.19 per cent. Granted, there are laggards. Indian Hotels saw its ROCE plunge from 8.31 per cent five years ago to 2.68 per cent last year. Tata Tea is down from 11.32 per cent to 7.97 per cent. Does this mean that the group's success is due to the cyclical upturn that coincided for its firms? Perhaps. "That's all part of being in business," says an investment banker. Seize the world In fact, to hedge the cyclical nature of some of his flagships, and with growing competition in the domestic market, most of the Tata companies are going global. Apart from bagging orders from overseas, they are acquiring foreign companies. "Globalisation is the way to go for us," Tata said recently. "A global footprint is very important for the group to remain competitive," adds J J Irani, the erstwhile managing director of Tata Steel. So even as it picked up Tetley, UK, five years ago, it has accelerated its shopping spree in the past one year. In March 2004, Tata Motors acquired the heavy commercial vehicle business of Daewoo Motors in Korea and followed it up with design house Hispano Carrocera. Six months later, Tata Steel acquired Singapore's NatSteel, and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited picked up the world's most extensive submarine cable systems company Tyco Global Network in the US. TCS acquired Phoenix Global Solutions and more recently, Indian Hotels extended its footprint in the US by bagging a management contract for the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan.

There have been misses as well, like the more recent Tata Chemicals' [ Get Quote ] bid for Egyptian Fertilisers. Or Tata Motors' Rover deal in Europe, which fell through. But these efforts, according to industry experts, still do not single out the group as being aggressive. "Despite incumbency, it is not able to make the best of opportunities. Look at telecom. An unknown Mittal comes and grabs the market," says the head of a leading consulting firm. He also points out to the group's late start into biotech. Adds a senior Tata manager, "Our decision-making is loose. Everyone is not progressing on the front equally." Hussain, however, concedes that telecom is a bigger challenge. "Just don't go by the numbers. We believe that in the long term the quality of service and customer care will be the key to survival," he says. The people paradox Human resource is another issue. That Tata has personally led the company for almost 15 years and set up the Tata Business Excellence Model to trade best practices, hasn't improved his reputation. It is felt that the leadership at most of the Tata companies lacks the dynamism of many of its competitors and is not demanding of its managers. "We are organised more like a telephony model system, which is not one of command-andcontrol, but one where multiple activities are happening," says a Tata manager. Could it be its unusual group structure, where the parent company (TSL) is unlisted while its offspring are? Perhaps, say consultants. But some Tata managers are candid about what needs to be done. "Building a future cadre of leadership is necessary for us. But, until now, job rotation was unheard of in the company," reveals a Tata manager. So where does the group go from here? "We have a solid middle class that gives us longevity and staying power. Everybody is being challenged. We want to be a truly international company," says a Tata Sons director. Nandini Lakshman & Gouri Shukla Source: Biography – Ratan…. Ratan Tata became the Chairman of the Tata Group in 1981 after serving as Chairman in charge of the Nelco division of the group. Tata is India's largest conglomerate and includes the brands Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Indian Hotels, as well as other brands labeled under the Tata name. Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937 in Mumbai, India in one of the richest families in the country. His great grandfather, Jamsedji Tata, was the founder of the Tata group and passed the power and inheritance down to his family. Ratan Tata grew up in a broken household, however, after his parents split in the mid-1940s and he and his brother were raised by their grandmother, Lady Navajbai. Tata was a good student and studied hard at the Campion School in Mumbai followed by studies in architecture and structural engineering at Cornell University. He graduated with his bachelors degree in 1962 and joined the Tata Group in December of that same year. Tata's first job with the Group involved working with the Tata Steel division where he worked with the blue-collar employees shoveling stone and working with the furnaces. Although this original job was physically difficult, it helped Ratan Tata gain a better understanding and

appreciation for the business and he gradually began taking on more responsibility. In 1971, Tata became Director-in-Charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco) in order to help its struggling finances. Ratan Tata helped build a better consumer electronics division but the economic recession and union strikes prevented his vision from taking hold. Tata was eventually moved to Empress Mills in 1977, a struggling textile mill within the Tata Group. Ratan Tata renewed the vision for the mill but the larger Tata Group was not in agreement with his advice. Instead, the mill was shut down and liquidated in 1986, to Tata's disappointment, and he was moved to the Tata Industries, another holding company. With Tata Industries, Ratan Tata was able to transform the management and vision of the division and bring in significantly larger dividends. This renewed financial success helped bring the Tata Group to the New York Stock Exchange and gave the company even more international power and prestige. Ratan Tata continued to acquire different industries for the Tata Group, eventually purchasing the steel an aluminum producer, Corus Group as well as Jaguar and Land Rover brands from the Ford Company. Ratan Tata lives a very private life in Mumbai, India.

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Ratan Tata Quotes One hundred years from now, I expect the Tatas to be much bigger than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India.. best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value systems and ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India. Ratan Tata - India - Best - Products - Ethics - Growth - Inspirational I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism. We need to build India into a land of equal opportunity for all. We can be a truly great nation if we set our sights high and deliver to the people the fruits of continued growth, prosperity and equal opportunity. Ratan Tata - India - Growth - Proud - Opportunity - Great - Wealth