Ratan Tata: Leading the Tata Group into the 21st Century
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Case Code: BSTR284 Case Length: 19 Pages Period: 1991-2008 Pub Date: 2008 Teaching Note: Not Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization: Tata Group Industry: Conglomerate Countries: India Themes: International Business Strategy, Restructuring, Leadership |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
"He [Ratan Tata] comes across as an individual with clarity and conviction, a business leader with vision. Ratan Tata has steered the Tata ship in turbulent times. ...above all, I have an immense admiration for Ratan Tata, the man, for his unassuming and warm nature, an outstanding business leader imbued with social concerns and committed to uphold ethics and values."
- Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, December 29, 2001.
"[Ratan] Tata understood what needed to be done and how it needed to be done."
- Henry Schacht, former chairman of Cummins Engine, USA.
Introduction
On January 10, 2008, Tata Motors, a Tata Group company, unveiled the Nano, an entry-level small car, at the 9th Auto Expo held in New Delhi. The Nano, expected to be commercially launched in late 2008, was to be priced at around Rs. 100,000 (ex-factory) (around US$ 2,500) making it the cheapest car in the world. The car was the dream project of Ratan Naval Tata (Ratan Tata), the chairman of Tata Sons (Refer Exhibit I for the businesses of the Tata Group). According to Ratan Tata, the inspiration for developing the Nano had come to him on a rainy day when he had seen a family of four traveling precariously perched on a two-wheeler. This gave him the idea of creating a vehicle for the masses that would make travel for the middle class less dangerous.
The Nano was not the only reason why Ratan Tata was in the news. He was also instrumental in Tata Motors acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover, from Ford. And under his leadership, Tata Steel acquired the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus in 2007. The Corus deal, valued at $ 12 billion, was reported to be the largest takeover of a foreign company by an Indian company. Ratan Tata took over the reins of the Tata Group from JRD Tata in 1991 (Refer Exhibit II for information on JRD Tata and Exhibit III for the Pioneers of the Tata Group).
It was around this time that the Indian government had begun to initiate a series of reforms to open up the economy. However, for the Tata Group companies, like for most other Indian companies, it was a testing time as economic liberalization also increased the threat of competition from multinational companies. Having operated in a protected environment for decades, the Tata Group companies were not globally competitive. Also, the Group lacked focus, being present in several unrelated businesses. Ratan Tata was responsible for overseeing a transformation of the Tata Group to prepare the conglomerate to face the pressures of globalization...
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