Ratan Naval Tata- A Force of Corporate Good
My pending appointment with RNT, as Ratan Naval Tata was popularly known, will never come through. The doyen of Indian industry suddenly passed away last month in Mumbai after a brief illness, before my planned return from Melbourne to a ground swell of grief and emotions across India and parts of the world, unseen and unheard of for any corporate leader.
He was a reserved person, cherished his privacy and avoided the limelight as best as he could given his public standing. Valuing his sentiments, I have rarely spoken in public about my privileged association with him over the nearly four decades that I had known him, both professionally and personally. So, when the Australia India Institute requested me to write on him, given my TATA background and my recent association with the Institute, it took me a while to agree. I eventually gave in to the consideration that this part of the world for which he had a soft corner, might benefit in knowing him and the TATAs through him, a little better. It’s not known widely that very early in his working life in 1969, RNT spent time in Australia developing a fondness for the nation continent, which became a harbinger of the sizeable economic footprint that the TATA group has in the country today.
TATA is India’s largest global conglomerate. Over 156 years old, with revenues of A$ 250 BN, it operates in over 100 countries across 6 continents with a workforce of over a million people and has a market capitalization of over A$ 600 BN through its 26 listed companies. A unique corporate structure, wherein the holding company Tata Sons has a 66% shareholding of the charitable TATA Trusts embodying the philosophy of ‘what comes from the people should go back to the people, many times over”. Touching households in India in so many myriad ways through its brands and offerings, world over it is the name behind the likes of TCS, Air India, Jaguar LandRover, British Steel (Corus) and Tetley tea. It was a much smaller, India-focused Group in 1991 when RNT took over as its 5th Chairman, in the same year that India’s economic liberalisation began-and the year in which my professional relationship with him took form.
At close quarters, I saw him lay out the blueprint for transforming TATA for a new world order, for expanding its footprint beyond the shores of India, bringing the world to India through several joint ventures and pioneering new businesses -carrying forth the nation-building ethos of the Group. What was good for India was good for TATA. While he grew up in then Bombay, he spent much of his early adult life in the US acquiring a degree in Architecture from Cornell and brought back his view of the world to his stint with TATAs. Much of his early career was fraught with difficulties, being tasked to lead businesses and companies that were struggling to survive, leading many to question whether he was the right choice for the Chairmanship when it happened. Through that extremely challenging phase, he displayed his tenacity and perseverance and his ability to create a vision for the future which must have been key considerations in him being chosen. As well as his strategic mindset when he crafted the first-ever Strategic Plan for TATAs in 1983. Though it was applauded by the Group leadership then, it didn’t make much headway until he became the Chairman himself. Never one to be daunted by adversity or challenges, he faced one of the worst industrial actions in India with dignity and grace, eventually winning the workers over with his authentic approach for their welfare.
A passionate aviator, he was technology-driven and had a penchant for electronic gadgets- his overseas trips yielding ever so often new tools for a more productive him and his office. He brought that perspective into the businesses that he led directly- wanting them to be at the forefront of technology, curious about all things new. He loved cars and the auto business was closest to his heart. He inherited a commercial vehicle company that he wanted to transform into a comprehensive automobile company. Prior to him, the Group’s attempts to get into cars were thwarted by a restrictive licensing regime in India. When the Indian economy was liberalized in the 1990s, it gave him the opportunity to venture into unchartered territory, much against the normal grain of wisdom and the advice of his well-wishers. Believing in the capability of India’s engineering capabilities, he set about developing a grounds-up, completely indigenous car to take head on global car makers, some with a century of car-making history, that had begun to enter India. India’s first homegrown car “Indica” was launched in 1998 and went on to sell more than 1.2 million units over its life cycle, proving his naysayers wrong. The name was coined by RNT himself- coming from the words “India’s car”- capturing the pride he wanted to invoke in the nation’s industrial enterprise. That Australia figured in the making of the car is a buried fact in history. In order to keep investment costs low, TATAs bought a moth-balled Nissan car plant in Clayton in Melbourne, dismantled it piece by piece, labelled the pieces and shipped it all the way to Pune in India. The youngest car maker in the world then, TATA Motors went on to acquire Jaguar LandRover within a decade of its existence in 2008- an unstated recognition by seller Ford of TATA’s success as a car maker in its young history- and launched the breakthrough concept car Nano in 2009. Though Nano didn’t have a successful run, TATA Motors today is an A$ 80 BN company and amongst the 10 most valued automobile companies in the world. An architect with a flair for design, his touch is visible in many of their models that rolled off the assembly lines. I cherish with immense pride, the privilege of that phase of being able to support RNT in creating India’s first car brand in TATA.
TCS, which was just a division of TATA Sons when RNT took over, came into its own when it was listed under him, unlocking value to be amongst the most prized software services companies in the world. Corus (British Steel) remains the biggest overseas acquisition ever made by an Indian company. His international forays and perspective made Indian industry sit up and take notice and many thereafter followed in his footsteps to expand beyond the shores of India.
RNT laid the highest emphasis on integrity and ethics in business. While that was always the unwritten standard for the Group, he formalised it in a code of conduct for the TATA Group amongst the first things in his Chairmanship. He walked away from business opportunities that required any compromise to the Group’s ethical standards. He would say that it is paramount for him and TATA employees to sleep easy each night and he could do without short-term gains in the interests of an ethical long-term future. Any action that could not stand public scrutiny was not what he espoused for himself and the Group. He believed that an institution cannot fail its individuals. A business excellence model along the lines of the Malcolm Baldrige Program was created for TATA companies to measure themselves against and the right to don the TATA name by businesses came with a minimum set of standards that had to be adhered to. The brand identity wore a new look that even exists today, defined by the values of integrity, responsibility, excellence, pioneering and unity. A predominantly manufacturing-centric Group that was inward-focused, he transformed it into a more outward-looking, customer-oriented entity inclusive of services. He never hesitated to question past practices for their relevance- “Question the Unquestioned “as he would say. He prioritized talent over seniority and many young leaders got the opportunity to lead challenging assignments under his leadership. For him, the stated word was more valuable than the written word. A promise was a promise.
Since he retired from executive life in 2012 when he stepped down as the Chairman of Tata Sons, as the continuing Chairman of the TATA Trusts, he gave it his all in making them become a cause of greater good by touching the lives of communities in areas such as health, education, livelihood, environment and arts and culture. Each year the Trusts disburse A$ 100-150 MN towards grants to improve the lives of communities in India and around the world, essentially from the dividends that they receive from TATA Sons.
He lived by himself with his dogs whom he loved like family and one of his last endeavours was the establishment of a first-of-its-kind animal hospital in India in Mumbai. Despite the wealth he was born in and the standing that he had worldwide, his greatest assets were his humility and his ability to relate to the vulnerable and the less privileged in a down-to-earth manner. ‘He could move amongst kings and yet not lose the common touch’. His only indulgence was the fleet of cars he owned and his immaculate dressing. His home that bore his architectural stamp, reflected his life’s philosophy- simple, clean lines all of which looked as if they belonged and a minimalistic look, spartan in its furnishing. In private, he was as human as any- movies, books, gadgets, laughs, jokes, prankster and a good imitator. He came into his own when he travelled overseas in relative anonymity, shedding the weight of the corporate titan that he was seen as in India.
A larger-than-life image, he was only human in his biggest failing- his error of judgment in choosing his immediate successor. Always open to step back and reflect, he made amends aiming for an amicable way forward but was left with no choice in having his successor’s acrimonious departure play out in public, much to his great anguish and personal torment. He always wished it could have been otherwise.
RNT was feted the world over by governments, institutions, kings and queens. A recipient of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023, he last visited the country in 2012 when he voiced his belief in the economic potential of the India-Australia relationship. TATA Steel sources nearly A$ 3 bn worth of raw materials from Australia and TCS Australia alone is an A$ 1 BN subsidiary of its parent.
He carried forward the TATA ethos of “responsible capitalism” embodied in the TATA mission statement of “improving the quality of life of communities that we serve globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on leadership with trust”. TATA is amongst the most trusted brands worldwide and Ratan Tata, in his lifetime and beyond, amongst the most respected.
Vale Ratan Tata.
This opinion piece was written by Rajiv Dube, Australia India Institute Board member and Independent Director at Tata International Limited.