TATA Makes Our Day
The IASAP group visited Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC), Tata Central Archives & Tata Motors
Ltd., Pune on Saturday, 18th February 2012. There are no words to express the memorable tour
organized by none other than our IASAP President, Mrs. Wilma D’costa to Tata’s Pune. Two buses were
arranged for 85 IASAP members and guests who travelled comfortably.
At TMTC, we were greeted by Mr. Chetan Tolia, Director and some of his colleagues who offered us
breakfast before the introduction session of the Institute. We were seated in the open lawns when
Wilma introduced Mr. Tolia who gave us a very interesting and informative talk and also interacted with
the gathering during his talk. He highlighted the functions of TMTC and various business activities of the
Tata Group Companies throughout India.
Over the next 20 minutes, Mr. Tolia introduced the Tata Group, its companies and the role of TMTC. He
said that the Tata group comprises over 100 operating companies in seven business sectors:
communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer
products and chemicals. The group has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents, and
its companies export products and services to 85 countries.
The total revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $83.3 billion (around Rs3,796.75 billion) in
2010-11, with 58 per cent of this coming from business outside India. Tata companies employ over
425,000 people worldwide. The Tata name has been respected in India for more than 140 years for its
adherence to strong values and business ethics.
Every Tata company or enterprise operates independently. Each of these companies has its own Board
of Directors and shareholders, to whom it is answerable. There are 31 publicly listed Tata enterprises
and they have a combined market capitalisation of about $95.09 billion (as on February 16, 2012), and a
shareholder base of 3.6 million. The major Tata companies are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata
Communications and Indian Hotels.
Tata Steel is among the top ten steelmakers, and Tata Motors is among the top five commercial vehicle
manufacturers, in the world. TCS is a leading global software company, with delivery centres in the US,
UK, Hungary, Brazil, Uruguay and China, besides India. Tata Global Beverages is the second-largest
player in tea in the world. Tata Chemicals is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of soda ash and
Tata Communications is one of the world’s largest wholesale voice carriers.
Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, Tata’s early years were inspired by the spirit of nationalism. It
pioneered several industries of national importance in India: steel, power, hospitality and airlines. In
more recent times, its pioneering spirit has been showcased by companies such as TCS, India’s first
software company, and Tata Motors, which made India’s first indigenously developed car, the Indica, in
1998 and recently unveiled the world’s lowest-cost car, the Tata Nano.
Tata companies have always believed in returning wealth to the society they serve. Two-thirds of the
equity of Tata Sons, the Tata promoter holding company, is held by philanthropic trusts that have
created national institutions for science and technology, medical research, social studies and the
performing arts. The trusts also provide aid and assistance to non-government organisations working in
the areas of education, healthcare and livelihoods. Tata companies also extend social welfare activities
to communities around their industrial units. The combined development-related expenditure of the
trusts and the companies amounts to around 3 per cent of the group's net profits in 2011.
Introducing TMTC, Mr. Tolia said that The Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC) was started in
1959, and this campus was inaugurated on January 6, 1966, by Mr. JRD Tata. This Institute is specially
designed for effective learning interactions in different business sectors with a well-stocked library of
management books and journals, and also has facilities for indoor and outdoor sports. TMTC’s mandate
was to serve as an educational institution that would assist, foster, cultivate and contribute to the
development of professional management for the economic development of the country. Since then, it
has developed into one of the leading management training institutes in the country having linkages
with renowned national and international institutions.
Over the years, TMTC has contributed to corporate, public and national growth through its planned
emphasis on all-round human resource development. The Centre endeavours to make the training both
issue and need based by encouraging participants to implement programme inputs in actual situations.
Mr. Tolia further shared with us the Centre’s training activities where they conduct senior level
management programmes with faculty coming from the world’s premier institutions and universities.
Therefore, the Institute is the learning arm of the Tata Group’s Human Resources function. It was indeed
a great learning experience for all of us present, in such beautiful surroundings. Even though most of us
have not attended any training programme at the Centre we could feel the Tata group’s values and got
inspired by the Tata culture.
Soon after the talk, we visited the Tata Central Archives where Mr.R.P. Narla and Ms. Freny Shroff,
Archivists gave us an insight into the working of the Archives and showed us around the premises
housing an exhibition and permanent exhibits. Ms. Freny Shroff who is very well versed, explained to us
the Tata Family Tree, kept at the entrance of the Archives. It is very interesting to learn about the Tata
family right from the time of its Founder, late Mr. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata
Thereafter we moved to a big hall where we viewed many documents which included Company
formation documents, biographies, history projects, the first agreement, business and trade and
accounting records, annual reports, balance sheet, board minutes, legal matters, labour welfare
measures, publications, speeches, in-house journals and the first advertisement. It was amazing to find
even the philanthropic activities of the Group right from 1892, which are very well documented. From
the images/pictures in the gallery, we conclude that the history of the Tata Group co-exists with the
story of India’s industrialisation. TATA Group has contributed tremendously to the country’s welfare by
giving the first steel plant, hydro-electric plant, inorganic chemistry plant and creating a reservoir of
scientific and technological manpower for the country. All these valuable records have been
meticulously preserved and the information is available to the researchers on the Tata history. These
exhibition galleries are also open to visitors.
On the first floor of the Tata Central Archives is the replication of the office of Mr. J.R.D. Tata. His office,
which was on the fourth floor of Bombay House, has been relocated at the Archives.
I quote below five guiding principles of Mr. J.R.D. Tata, late Chairman of Tata group:
1. Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work
2. One must think for oneself and never accept at their face value slogans and catch phrases to
which, unfortunately, our people are too easily susceptible
3. One must forever strive for excellence, or even perfection, in any task however small, and never
be satisfied with the second best
4. No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or
interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means
5. Good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but also are essential to the
success of any enterprise.
Maharukh F. Guard (Tata Sons Ltd)