Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has said that he has not been able to
make the conglomerate a “truly open, flat, transparent organisation”.
“Perhaps internally, I have not been able to create the truly open,
flat, transparent organisation that I had hoped we could do,” Tata said
when asked what he could not do that he wanted to during his tenure as
the head of the Tata Group.
Tata said his Group, which was “a traditionally manufacturing
company in a sellers market”, did not succeed in “really embracing the
customers’ values”.
The Tata Group was dragged into the 2G spectrum allocation
controversy after the tapes of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were
leaked to the media. The three licences of Tata Teleservices were among
the 122 licences cancelled by the Supreme Court earlier this year. Tata,
however, hoped that he would be able to pass on the legacy to
successfully move ahead without compromising value system and ethics.
“I think what I want the legacy to be would be to say that we
achieved the growth and the prosperity that the Group has had with the
value system and ethical standards that we have tried to retain and not
succumb to the pressures of, the subjective pressures that exit to get
things done,” Tata told Bloomberg UTV.
Dwelling further on inability to achieve his goals, Tata said:
“...I think we haven’t as a Group been able to touch the levels of the
population that I had hoped, the Nano is one example.”
Serving the bottom of the pyramid in India with affordable
products is a real and ongoing challenge and the Tata Group has not
succeeded in being innovative enough, he said.
I couldn’t create an open, flat & transparent group: Tata
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said he has not been able to make the
conglomerate a “truly open, flat and transparent organisation”.
“Perhaps internally, I have not been able to create the truly
open, flat, transparent organisation that I had hoped we could do,” Tata
said when asked what he could not do that he wanted to during his
tenure as the head of the Tata Group.
Tata said his group, which was “traditionally manufacturing
company in a sellers market”, did not succeed in “really embracing the
customers’ values”.
The group was dragged into the 2G spectrum controversy after
tapes of corporate lobbyist Nira Radia were leaked to the media. Three
TataTele licenses were among the 122 licences cancelled by the Supreme
Court earlier in 2012.
Tata, however, hoped that he would be able to pass on the legacy
to successfully move ahead without compromising value system and ethics.
“I think what I want the legacy to be would be to say that we
achieved the growth and the prosperity that the group has had with the
value system and ethical standards that we have tried to retain and not
succumb to the pressures of, the subjective pressures that exit to get
things done,” Tata told Bloomberg UTV.
Dwelling further on the inability to achieve his goals, Tata
said: “...I think we haven't as a group been able to touch the levels of
the population that I had hoped, the Nano is one example.”
Serving the bottom of the pyramid in India with affordable
products is a real and ongoing challenge and the Tata Group has not
succeeded in being innovative enough, he said.
Tata, who is set to step down in December from the helm of the
$100-billion conglomerate, said that after his retirement he would spent
time on philanthropic activities related to rural development, water
conservation and nutrition for children and pregnant women.
“I am going to continue to be the chairman of the foundation. I
will focus on rural development, conservation of water and my most
visible goal is to do something in nutrition to children in India and
pregnant mothers. Because that would change the mental and physical
health of our population in years to come,” he added.
Tata Group, through its various charitable initiatives, spends
about 4.5% of its net profit on philanthropic activities, Tata said.
Tata said India has two to three major social challenges such as
energy and infrastructure, which were going to be stumbling blocks of
progress if not dealt with. “...And the other is going to be water. We
have inadequate system of conserving rain water...four-fifth of our rain
water runs off into the sea,” he added.
Tata said with consumption of underground water for agriculture,
the country is going to have serious water issues sooner or later.
Amid the challenges, Tata said India's ever-growing population,
which was once considered to be a problem, is turning out to be an
advantage for the country.
“Population is said to be a problem. Today it seems to be a
bonus... Earlier over-population was considered to be a curse, it's not
so today,” he said, however, adding it was a double-edged sword.
Tata said by 2035, India would have the largest working-class population that would be an asset.
“At the same time you have to feed, you have to educate and you
have to give jobs to all these people,” he said, adding if it were to be
done, it would become a major challenge and catastrophe. “So it's a
two-edged sword. If it is pursued correctly and dealt with correctly, is
an issue with tremendous power,” Tata said.
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