WELCOME TOThe contributor

RATAN TATA

RATANJI DADABHOY TATABorn :- 28 dec 1937 age (74)

Recidence :- colaba mumbai India

Nationality :- Indian

Ethnicity:- Parsi

Alma mater :- Cornell University, Harvard University

Occupation :- Chairman of Tata Group

Years active :- 1962-present

Spouse :- unmarried

Awards :- Padma Bhushan (2000) Padma Vibhushan (2008) KBE (2009)

Ratan Naval Tata is born 28 December 1937) is the present chairman of Tata Sons and therefore, Tata Group.

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.

HONOURS, AWARDS AND INTERNATIONAL 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. 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 program board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative.

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 Cornell University. He also serves as a board member on the Republic of South Africa's International Investment Council and is a member of the Asia-Pacific advisory committee for the New York Stock Exchange. In 2010, he joined BMB Group as an advisory board member

GROUP’S CONTRIBUTION

The group’s contributions were not confined to entrepreneurship; Jamsetji was the moving force behind the setting up of the Indian Institute of Science and, after independence, there came the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. There was no ulterior motive in establishing these institutions; the objective was to help further the skills and capabilities of India and Indians. We have never allowed our companies or the individuals in them, to become dealers or commission agents or profiteers.

Before independence, the Tatas had a big role to play in laying the ground for an industrialised India. That changed, to a certain extent, after freedom arrived and the country started pursuing the Soviet model of development, with the emphasis on the public sector. That’s when many private enterprises, the Tata group among them, became targets for nationalisation. We went through a phase when we became an endangered species. For a long period of time we stood still — because we were not allowed to expand, we were not allowed to enter any new businesses. That’s why the Tatas, bar a few exceptions, did not really grow between the 1950s and the 1970s.

HOW IS THE TATA BRAND PERCEIVED IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE? IS ENOUGH BEING DONE TO PROMOTE IT?

We are probably not doing enough to build the Tata brand globally, but we are one of the most recognisable corporate names coming out of India. Apart from size, market capitalisation and the rest, we are seen as a poster boy for ethical business, trustworthy and fair. That’s a model western companies feel comfortable with. We are also seen as a caring employer who understands its corporate and social responsibility, not just in the context of its own people but also the communities around our facilities and businesses.

Some foreign investors accuse us of being unfair to shareholders by using our resources for community development. Yes, this is money that could have made for dividend payouts, but it also is money that’s uplifting and improving the quality of life of people in the rural areas where we operate and work. We owe them that. By providing support in areas such as health and education, livelihoods and the environment, we are trying to — as much as we can — take the wellbeing that exists within our own plants and facilities to the world immediately outside them.

MANY PUNDITS PUT DOWN THE SUCCESS THE TATA GROUP IS ENJOYING TO RATAN TATA. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT? HOW DO YOU THINK HISTORY WILL RATE YOUR CONTRIBUTION?I do not know how history will judge me, but let me say that I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to transform the Tatas from a patriarchal concern to an institutional enterprise. It would, therefore, be a mark of failure on my part if it were perceived that Ratan Tata epitomises the group’s success. What I have done is establish growth mechanisms, play down individuals and play up the team that has made the companies what they are. I, for one, am not the kind who loves dwelling on the ‘I’. If history remembers me at all, I hope it will be for this transformation.