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8/12/2019 Tata Motors V01

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Considering the span of control a flat organizational structure benefits Tata Motors because it has some

very experienced team of leaders who can provide a strategic direction to the management working

under their supervision. The organization is focused towards achieving the goals and visions set by Mr.

Ratan Tata, thus there is a visible need for autonomy which is well supported by a flatter structure.

Lesser levels in the organization

structure provide a better platform for innovation and customization of products.

ORGANIZATION CULTURE

An indistinguishable feature of organizational structure is the flow of information; the employees follow

a formalized pattern of reporting. Tata Motors follows a code of conduct that helps in deciding on and

assigning responsibilities to promote group working. One of the biggest benefits of such a structure is

the accessibility of top management to the middle and lower management level employees. This is

extremely critical in building a culture that is positive and productive. Tata Motors Ltd links all its

functional departments through Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It promotes easy sharing of

important information between its different departments. The various divisions and departments are

interconnected through intranet; thus promoting instant information sharing among the employees and

management. This is especially helpful in keeping the organizations human resources connected atevery level.

The current focus of Tata Motors is on revolutionizing the car business. This means the strategic focus in

on innovating and developing the domestic and international market. The two recent examples

supporting the rationale are the launch of Tatas worlds cheapest car- NANO and acquisition of Jaguar

and Land Rover brands (JLR). During the phase of Nano development and launch the whole organization


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took it as their personal achievement. All these factors are strengthening the organizations culture

along with its organizational design by implementing the right business strategy.

Tata Motors works towards developing leaders keeping in view the context and culture in which they

are developed.

Elements of Organizational Culture at Tata Motors Ltd

The organizational culture of Tata Motors is understandable as the task culture. Tata Motors believes

in providing complete customer satisfaction and follows strict safety related measures and guidelines.

To provide a rich customer service experience it undertakes effective and efficient networking of sales

and service networking. It performs in concord with its customer requirements and expected levels of

performance and service. It also adapts itself to the various competitor strategies and upcoming rules

and regulations. Thus the culture within the organization is focused on dealing dynamic and challenging

forces of business environment and is very well complemented by its matrix and flat organization

structure.The culture at Tata encompasses:

Accountability

Customer and product focus

Speed

Excellence

LEADERSHIP

Tata Motors scale of operations is extremely huge and varied and has a matrix structure. This provides

it with an opportunity to cut costs and sustain its cost based competitive advantage and follow cost

leadership. In case of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Tata has followed special breakeven strategy where it has

concentrated on the factors such as material cost and manufacturing, warranties, selling and

administrative expenses, product development expenditure and human resource management. Also

TATA launched NANO at Rs 1lac to take over Indian personal car market through cost leadership.

TATAS CURRENT STRATEGIES

Tatas current focus is on leveraging its capabilities in the automobile sector and expanding its market

and distribution network with a focus on understanding the preferences of local consumers and

developing in-house engineering capabilities.

Since the automobile industry is significantly affected by cyclicality. To reduce its impact, Tata Motors is

continuously expanding its operations in different varied segments by manufacturing wide range of

products across distant geographies.

Tata Motors is expanding internationally on the concept of two-fold strategy. Firstly it is expanding

across geographies through strategic acquisitions. Latest examples are acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover

(JLR) and Daewoo Motors Ltd. Secondly it is expanding its current product range into chosen countries,

such as expansion of its Indica brand of cars in UK.


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INNOVATION

Innovation in Tata Motors is not a recent phenomenon, but is a part of its legacy. The Companys culture

of perpetual search for excellence is highly attributed to the Tatas ethos and incessant efforts of its

employees in the past several decades to serve the customers by bringing continuous innovation in its

products and processes.

PRODUCTS:

Tata Motors created several breakthrough products in the past which changed the market dynamics and

helped in providing a new customer experience.

1. 407 platform in 1980s: Tata Motors came out with its innovative 407 platform which was designed to

suit the Indian conditions. It quickly became the bestseller in LCVs and the platform still continues

control 2/3rd of the market even in the third decade of its existence.

2. Indica in the late 90s.More Car per car: This was the first indigenously designed passenger car in

India and it was innovative in the sense that it provided more value for money in terms of internal

space, contemporary features and all that at a very competitive price.

3. ACELast mile distribution vehicle: Ace was Indias first mini-truck launched in 2005.The Ace helped

in meeting that last mile distribution need with emergence of Hub and spoke transportation model in

India.

4. NANOthe Peoples car/ Rupees 1 lakh car : The target price itself became the source of innovation,

the big names in the industry just rubbished it as false claims and commented that it was impossible to

make a CAR at that price.

5. WORLD TRUCK - a new era in the Indian automobile industry : The new generation range of trucks

which would match with the best in the world in performance at a lower life-cycle cost . It will create a

new benchmark in India in terms of power, speed, carrying capacity, operating economy and trims and a

new experience for the drivers in terms of drivability and comfort.

PROCESS:

Sustainability of innovation in products needed to be complemented with innovative changes in the

organizational processes too. Some examples are:

Adoption of the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM)

Use of IT systems has been a benchmark and highly leveraged in the organization throughout the

VALUE CHAIN.

Product Development Process. Institutionalized Stage Gate process in the organization is a benchmark

in itself.


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Internalization philosophy : Tata Motors made some major global acquisitions like TDCV, JLR , Hispano,

etc. Unlike many other Japanese / US players, TATA followed an innovative approach to be seen as a

local company in the country of operation.

PEOPLE:

Identifying leaders through assessment centers.

Putting them into challenging assignments and giving them International exposure .

Breaking the functional silos by shifting from a hierarchical organization to a more CFT approach.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Mar 2004: Acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle company(Korea)

Feb 2005: 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera (Spain)

Apr 2005: Merger with Tata Finance

Mar 2008: Acquisition of Jaguar & Land Rover (UK)

Oct 2009: Remaining 79% stake in Hispano Carrocera (Spain)

tata motors v01

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