Crying

But cryin is not for me, because i'll never stop the rain by complaining.

Tata Group

Tata is India's largest conglomerate, with revenues in 2005-06 of Rs 967,229 million (US $21.9 billion), the equivalent of about 2.8% of India's GDP, and a market capitalisation of US $57.6 billion now (only 28 of the 96 tata group companies are publicly listed). The Tata Group has operations in more than 40 countries across six continents and its companies export products and services to 140 nations. The group takes the name of its founder, Jamshedji Tata, a member of whose family has almost invariably been the chairman of the group.

A benign boss

According to Tata, the crux of any successful labour policy lay in making workers feel wanted. One of the inherent drawbacks of modern industry with its large and concentrated labour forces was that each man felt 'that instead of being a valued member of a friendly and human organisation, he was a mere cog in a soulless machine.' 'Because of this, a worker's attitude towards management becomes one of indifference, mistrust and coldness often tinged with hostility.

Quality first

According to JRD, quality had to match innovation. He intensely disliked the laid-back Indian attitude, and much of his fabled short temper was triggered by the carelessness of others. He stressed: 'If you want excellence, you must aim at perfection. I know that aiming at perfection has its drawbacks. It makes you go into detail that you can avoid. It takes a lot of energy out of you but that's the only way you finally actually achieve excellence. So in that sense, being finicky is essential. A company, which uses the name Tata, shares a tradition.

Professionalism

JRD's respect for his managers bound the group. 'I am a firm believer that the disintegration of the Tata Group is impossible,' he once declared. Most business groups have disintegrated or drifted apart because of family ownership and management, with rival family members wanting to go their own way. In contrast, the Tata Group companies are run by professionals who firmly believe in the trusteeship concept laid down by J N Tata as also by Mahatma Gandhi.

A Leader and Motivator

Leadership, according to JRD meant motivating others. 'As chairman, my main responsibility is to inspire respect.' Sometimes referred to as the 'chairmen's chairman,' JRD adopted a management by consensus style: 'When a number of persons are involved I am definitely a consensus man,' he once said, adding: 'but that does not mean that I do not disagree or that I do not express my views. Basically it is a question of having to deal with individual men heading different enterprises.