[speedzak]

I think this thread was started to appreciate the achievements of Tata. Well, should we disgrace/pull in somebody else for that?
I don't think so.

[rkg]

Originally Posted by agentsmith2

No, I don't compare them at all. Please review my previous comment. Appreciation of Tata doesn't mean you have to denigrate other Entrepreneurs.

On comparison itself, 150 years can't compare with the 18 Infy has.

Give Infy 150 years please to value their contribution akin to Tatas. They've made good millionaires. Let's see if they can own and build a few cities as well.

Just trying to be fact-based and objective. NRN may be a whiner but he's an Entrepreneur who started from scratch - so if I HAVE to, I'll compare him to Jamsetji Tata. I do know he wasn't percieved that well - in british circuits. So can't compare Apples with Oranges.

Having said that I'll not pull any Entrepreneur/Business Person down to contrast his/her achievements with other's - not until my contribution to the economy is atleast equal to the business person I wish to pull down.

TATA's can not be compared with any other. the role of TATA in Indian nation building is uncomparable. their work ethics, employee welfare measures beat even GOI and world's best corporates.
Just check with VRS staff of TISCO and TELCO at Jamshedpur

Few Examples where TATA contributed and doing so even today without any returns to them.
1. IISC
2.TIFR( TATA insitutte of Fundemental Research)
3. TISSR( Tata Institute of Social Science Research)
4.NCBS at Bangalore ( National Center for Biological Sciences)
Apart from these they started
AIR India

What TATA is doing even today to Jamshedpur city( they built it form scratch in a Jungle) ask current day media made greats to do that now in this age not in 1900-1910

[Nikhilb2008]

their work ethics, employee welfare measures beat even GOI and world's best corporates.

Government of India? You gotta be kidding me!!

Heck, even a small company 3 yrs old will be better than them. Please dont insult business houses like Tata by comparing them to GOI.

[GTO]

Guys, let the discussion stick to Ratan Tata or the Tata Group only.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

I wonder if you guys know this incident that happened in Calcutta about ten years ago that proves how humble Mr Tata is. While going from the Oberoi Grand (where he had a meeting) to the Tata Centre, Ratan Tata was caught in a terrible traffic jam. He stepped out of the car and was looking around to see how he could go (possibly on foot) - a Reuter reporter (he used to be a friend of mine) spotted him and offered him a lift in his Maruti 800. Mr Tata most graciously accepted the lift and thanked the reporter profusely for helping him reach Tata Centre on time for the next meeting.
During the trip he told my friend that indeed that was his first time in a Maruti 800 but on the roads of Calcutta it was the most sensible car to have.

[YaeJay]

Originally Posted by GTO

Ratan Tata is the business leader I respect the most amongst his Indian peers, and Tata is the Indian company that I hold the highest regard for. I have to admit, my choice of the Tata Indigo was partly influenced by these two factors. And I always insist on staying at the Taj. The level of ethics and service standards of a Tata Group company are unparalleled.

I hope Ratan Tata finds a suitable successor who has a value system as high as his. He won't admit it, but I am sure he has a succession plan in place; all great leaders do atleast 10 years prior to their retirement.

My views exactly. To the man who has values even at these times. I hope TATA stays the same. Guess I respect him a lot! not that he does'nt deserve every bit of it!

[heavy_foot]

I respect Ratan Tata and TATA as a company a lot. They have truly be built this nation and things would have been quite different without their contribution. Not only this i get to hear about how the company values ethics from some of my friends who are TATA employees. The respect for Ratan Tata increased manyfold when i hear stories about his taste and love for his cars.
I have tried applying for jobs at TATA but could never quailfy as they have policies like no acedemic gaps for 2 yrs etc. Hope to join a TATA company one day or atleast an organization which values ethics are tries to drive it throughout the organization.

[chennai-indian]

Since we are talking about Tata group and especially about Ratan Tata, let me narrate an incident here (I have already quoted this in another thread). I was in Detroit in 2008 on a visit to meet Ford IT guys and one day were standing in the lobby of the hotel and we see Ratan Tata walking out from the elevator. Seeing a bunch of us Indian's standing there, he walks over and asks what we are doing in Detroit. We reply that we are in town to meet with Ford IT management. He says he also is in town to meet with Ford management. Little did we realize that he was there to meet Bill Ford and the Ford board to discuss the takeover of Land Rover & Jaguar !!

I was floored by his simplicity and humbleness in talking to us.

[ampere]

JRD's letters have been published in a separate book. Its an amazing read. I would sincerely suggest folks to buy and read. Tell how succinct were JRD's thoughts. After reading that what I have realized is that greatly ideas or their proponents at basically very simple un-complicated people.

@CI That was a nice catch of Ratan Tata at Ford! A real cherished moment!

[bj96]

Originally Posted by rkg

1. IISC
2.TIFR( TATA insitutte of Fundemental Research)
...

Adding, Tata Memorial Hospital at Parel in Mumbai, for cancer research and treatment.

-BJ

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by bj96

Adding, Tata Memorial Hospital at Parel in Mumbai, for cancer research and treatment.

-BJ

+ Tata memorial hospital kharghar, Navi Mumbai

[lsp]

I work in one of the companies under the TATA group umbrella and admire Ratan Tata a lot. I remember reading first about him in a book called Business Maharajas among leaders like Dhirubhai Ambani, Rahul Bajaj, Khaitan, Aditya Birla et al.

As a person, what Ive heard about him through the 'stories' that have been passed down in the organization is that, he is a very humble and respecting man who is sans any kind of 'airs', but then... is that really a secret? Working under the TATA badge is one of an experience and I can say that I never regretted that. Sure, company bashing is a favorite sport but only the employees are allowed to participate.

Often while passing through immigration the officer asks where I work. I tell him I work in TATA and usually thats the end of the conversation.

During my stint in UK, some of the clients had Jags and LRs. One of them with whom I was more acquainted had a Jag and whenever I used to see him pull in to the parking or pull out I used to say 'Nice ride!!' and he used to come back n say 'TATA .. I know!!' That was a running joke between us for a long time.

We at TATA follow the TATA Code of Conduct which basically governs the way in which TATA employees have to conduct themselves and describes the values, ethics and business principles. The first clause in the code is National Interest.

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Ratan Tata has been getting the work done from the govt by just following the rule book and its quite magnificient

[Indian Ranger]

Some time in 2006, When I was still associated with Tata's that I received this article as a forward from a colleague of mine. This is written by Lakshmi Mittal, CEO Arcelor Mittal and one of the richest person in the world. Its apt to put it here.

-----
I visited Jamshedpur over the weekend to see for myself an India that is fast disappearing despite all the wolf-cries of people like Narayanamurthy and his ilk.

It is one thing to talk and quite another to do and I am delighted to tell you that Ratan Tata has kept alive the legacy of perhaps India's finest industrialist J.N. Tata. Something that some people doubted when Ratan took over the House of the Tatas but in hindsight, the best thing to have happened to the Tatas is unquestionably Ratan. I was amazed to see the extent of corporate philanthropy and this is no exaggeration.

For the breed that talks about corporate social responsibility and talks about the role of corporate India, a visit to Jamshedpur is a must. Go there and see the amount of money they pump into keeping the town going; see the smiling faces of workers in a region known for industrial unrest; see the standard of living in a city that is almost isolated from the mess in the rest of the country.

This is not meant to be a puff piece. I have nothing to do with Tata Steel,but I strongly believe the message of hope and the message of goodness that they are spreading is worth sharing. The fact that you do have companies in India which look at workers as human beings and who do not blow their software trumpet of having changed lives. In fact, I asked Mr Muthurman, the managing director, as to why he was so quiet about all they had done and all he could offer in return was a smile wrapped in humility, which said it all. They have done so much more since I last visited Jamshedpur, which was in 1992. The town has obviously got busier but the values thankfully haven't changed.

The food is still as amazing as it always was and I gorged, as I would normally do. I visited the plant and the last time I did that was with Russi Mody.

But the plant this time was gleaming and far from what it used to be.

Greener and cleaner and a tribute to environment management. You could have been in the mountains. Such was the quality of air I inhaled! There was no belching smoke; no tired faces and so many more women workers, even on the shop floor. This is true gender equality and not the kind that is often espoused at seminars organised by angry activists. I met so many old friends. Most of them have aged but not grown old. There was a spring in the air which came from ascertain calmness which has always been the hallmark of Jamshedpur and something I savored for a full two days in between receiving messages of how boring and decrepit the Lacklustre Fashion Weak was.

Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata had created an edifice that is today a robust company and it is not about profits and about valuation. It is not about who becomes a millionaire and who doesn't'. It is about getting the job done with dignity and respect keeping the age-old values intact and this is what I learnt.

I jokingly asked someone as to whether they ever thought of joining an Infosys or a Wipro and pat came the reply: "We are not interested in becoming crorepatis but in making others crorepatis."

Which is exactly what the Tatas have done for years in and around Jamshedpur. Very few people know that Jamshedpur has been selected as a UN Global Compact City, edging out the other nominee from India, Bangalore.

Selected because of the quality of life, because of the conditions of sanitation and roads and welfare. If this is not a tribute to industrial India, then what is? Today, Indian needs several Jamshedpurs but it also needs this Jamshedpurto be given its fair due, its recognition. I am tired of campus visits being publicised to the Infosys and the Wipros of the world.

Modern India is being built in Jamshedpuras we speak.

An India built on the strength of core convictions and nothing was more apparent about that than the experiment with truth and reality that Tata Steel is conducting at Pipla.

Forty-eight tribal girls (yes, tribal girls who these corrupt and evil politicians only talk about but do nothing for) are being educated through a residential program over nine months. I went to visit them and I spoke to them in a language that they have just
learnt: Bengali. Eight weeks ago, they could only speak in Sainthali, their local dialect. But today, they are brimming with a confidence that will bring tears to your eyes. It did to mine.

One of them has just been selected to represent Jharkand in the state archery competition. They have their own womens football team and whats more they are now fond of education. It is a passion and not a burden.

This was possible because I guess people like Ratan Tata and Muthurman havent sold their souls to some business management drivel, which tells us that we must only do business and nothing else. The fact that not one Tata executive has been touched by the Naxalites in that area talks about the social respect that the Tatas have earned.

The Tatas do not need this piece to be praised and lauded. My intent is to share the larger picture that we so often miss in the haze of the slime and sleaze that politics imparts. My submission to those who use phrases such as "feel-good" and "India Shining" is first visit Jamshedpur to understand what it all means.

See Tata Steel in action to know what companies can do if they wish to. And what corporate India needs to do. Murli Manohar Joshi would be better off seeing what Tata Steel has done by creating the Xavier Institute of Tribal Education rather than by proffering excuses for the imbroglio in the IIMs. This is where the Advanis and Vajpayees need to pay homage. Not to all the Sai Babas and the Hugging saints that they are so busy with. India is changing inspite of them and they need to realise that.

I couldn't have spent a more humane and wonderful weekend.

Jamshedpur is an eye-opener and a role model, which should be made mandatory for replication. I saw corporate India actually participate in basic nation-building, for when these tribal girls go back to their villages, they will return with knowledge that will truly be life-altering. Corporate India can do it but most of the time is willing to shy away.

For those corporate leaders who are happier winning awards and being interviewed on their choice of clothes, my advise is visit Tata Steel, spend some days at Jamshedpur and see a nation's transformation.

That is true service and true nationalism.

Tata Steel will celebrate 100 years of existence in 2007. It won't be just a milestone in this company's history. It will be a milestone, to my mind of corporate transparency and generosity in this country. It is indeed fitting that Ratan Tata today heads a group which has people who are committed to nation-building than just building inflluence and power.

JRD must be smiling wherever he is. And so must Jamshedji Nusserwanji. These people today, have literally climbed every last blue mountain. And continue to do so with vigour and passion. Thank god for the Tatas!

[download2live]

Have nothing much to add here other than that Ratan Tata has been able to do what others thought impossible. When he embarked on Indica project many dismissed the entire project. It was doomed to fail. That was the verdict. Not that Indica had a smooth sailing intially also. There were problems with the car. But Tata's persisted and the results are there to be seen.

Then Nano happened. World was shocked when it was displayed.Tata's did it again.

I wish him all the best in finding a worthy successor.

OT info : Heard from friends that he is a Bachelor.

[ajay2233]

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