The House of Tata - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... Keeping this in mind, it was obvious for Tata to take certain new initiatives such as promoting Tata brand collectively for all group companies; find a strong partner for joint ventures; groom young leaders in-house and so on. Creating a unified brand by Tata Sons is certainly a strategic move with long-term ramifications. It is true that Tata name itself is a guarantee of quality among Indian consumers but in a free market regime, Tata group of companies will have to compete with formidable international brands in several segments of the businesses that include automobiles, chemicals, domestic appliance business, and many more. Promoting Tata brand will consolidate brand equity not only in the national but also international market too. It is true that certain companies in the Tata fold such as Indian Hotels does not use Tata name because ‘Taj Group of Hotels’ (the way it is known as) has itself become a name to reckon with in the hotel business in India; however, while raising money from abroad, the Indian Hotel did exploit Tata name while conveying to international community and that itself is a proof that Tata is a brand that each group company would always like to identify with at some point of time. The cost that each company will have to pay to Holding company, Tata Sons, is certainly a fraction of the benefits that they will derive nationally and internationally in the long run. This is a much required initiative on part of Tata Sons unifying all the companies with a common brand. Similarly, divesting a 20 percent stake in Tata Industries Limited to the Jardine Matheson of Hong Kong is another bold and strategic move. With the economic liberalization, Tata knew that retailing and distribution, financial services businesses in India would grow at a rapid pace and they would need a partner that possessed not only rich experience in such businesses but also ready to invest substantial sums in new ventures. Jardine group of Hong Kong was certainly a perfect choice as a partner for many new ventures that Tata Industries was contemplating to embark on with the long term view of strengthening the corporate portfolio. While India moved decisively to a free market economy, the bountiful of opportunities emerged for large houses. The house of Tata was no exception to it. Ratan Tata was quick to realize that they would need a plenty of young talents if they needed to grow at fast pace taking advantage of the numerous opportunities that were lurking ahead. Keeping this perspective in mind, Ratan Tata launched Tata Administrative Services (TAS). The sole purpose was to groom future leaders hiring them young rather than recruiting people tainted with ‘outside culture’, it was a much better foresight to train and nurture young talents in-house. TAS was designed such that young management graduate “would gain exposure to three different industries through planned job rotation within the Tata companies" (Khanna, Palepu and Wu, 8). The program was designed to "foster leadership, teamwork and group values" (Khanna, Palepu and Wu, 8). This way, not only young management recruits will be nurtured with required management skills but also be groomed with proper leadership qualities imbibing the spirit of 'Tata culture' at a fairly young age. After all, Tatas have been hugely popular in India because of their good quality products and ethical business practices for last several decades and that spirit must continue in ...Download file to see next pagesRead More