INSPIRING STORY- RATAN TATA

MR. RATAN TATA BIOGRAPHY - INSPIRING STORY:

" TAKE A STONES PEOPLE THROW AT YOU. AND USE THEM TO BUILD A MONUMENT"

                                                       - RATAN TATA.

EARLY LIFE:

 HE WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 28,1937 IN SURAT, INDIA TO NAVAL TATA AND SONOO. NAVAL TATA WAS THE ADOPTED SON OF THE JAMSETJI TATA'S YOUNGER SON RATANJI TATA.

JAMSHEDJI TATA WAS THE FOUNDER OF TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES. RATAN TATA HAS A BROTHER, JIMMY AND A STEP-BROTHER, NOEL TATA.

WHEN HE WAS TEN, HIS PARENTS, GOT SEPARATED AND THERE AFTER, HE AND HIS BROTHER WERE BROUGHT UP BY HIS GRANDMOTHER, NAVAJBAI TATA.

EDUCATION:

RATAN TATA STARTED HIS SCHOOLING AT CAMPION SCHOOL AND FINISHED UP AT CATHEDRAL AND JOHN CONNON SCHOOL.

AFTER THAT HE WENT ON TO STUDY IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY WHERE HE GOT A B.S. DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING IN 1962.

HE THEN WENT TO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL FOR A DEGREE IN THE ADVANCED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN 1975. HE WAS IN THE ALPHA SIGMA PHI FRATERNITY WHILST ATTENDING COLLEGE.

CAREER:

IN 1971, HE WAS APPOINTED AS THE DIRECTOR-IN-CHARGE OF THE NATIONAL RADIO AND ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED (NELCO) IN ORDER TO HELP ITS STRUGGLING FINANCES.

HE WORKED TOWARDS BUILDING A BETTER CONSUMER ELECTRONICS DIVISION BUT THE ECONOMIC RECESSION AND UNION STRIKES PREVENTED HIM FROM ACHIEVING SUCCESS.

IN 1991, J.R.D TATA APPOINTED HIM AS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES. THIS DECISION CAME UNDER SCRUTINY FOLLOWING OBJECTIONS FROM OTHER EXECUTIVES OF THE COMPANY.

CHAIRMAN:

BUT HE SUCCEEDED IN IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL SUCCESS OF THE INDUSTRIES AND EXPANDED THE GROWTH OF THE ORGANIZATION UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP. HE TRANSFORMED THE MANAGEMENT AND VISION OF THE DIVISION AND MANAGED TO BRING IN SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER DIVIDENDS.

DURING THE 21 YEARS HE LED THE TATA GROUP, REVENUES GREW OVER 40 TIMES AND PROFIT OVER 50 TIMES.

HE BOLDLY GOT TATA TEA TO ACQUIRE TETLEY. TATA MOTORS TO ACQUIRE JAGUAR LAND ROVER AND TATA STEEL TO ACQUIRE CORUS. ALL THIS TURNED TATA FROM A LARGELY INDIA-CENTRIC GROUP INTO A GLOBAL BUSINESS WITH OVER 65% REVENUES COMING FROM  OPERATIONS AND SALES IN OVER 100 COUNTRIES.

HE CONCEPTUALIZED THE TATA NANO CAR. RATAN TATA RESIGNED HIS EXECUTIVE POWERS IN THE TATA GROUP ON 28 DECEMBER 2012, UPON TURNING 75, APPOINTMENT AS HIS SUCCESSOR, CYRUS MISTRY.

ON 12 JANUARY 2017, NATARAJAN CHANDRASEKARAN WAS NAMED AS THE CHAIRMAN OF TATA SONS, A ROLE HE ASSUMED IN FEBRUARY 2017.

ACHIEVMENTS:

1998: THE TATA INDICA, THE CONGLOMERATE'S FIRST PASSENGER  CAR, WAS LAUNCHED THIS YEAR. THE CAR WENT ON TO BECOME THE NO. 1 BRAND IN ITS SEGMENT WITHIN TWO YEARS.

2000: TATA TEA, NOW TATA GLOBAL BEVERAGES, ACQUIRED THE TETLEY GROUP, THE WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST MANUFACTURER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF TEA. TETLEY IS THE LARGEST TEA COMPANY IN THE UK.

2001: TATA AIG, A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN THE TATA GROUP AND AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC. (AIG), MARKS THE RE-ENTRY OF THE TATA GROUP INTO THE INSURANCE SECTOR.

2003: TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES BECAME THE FIRST INDIAN SOFTWARE COMPANY TO CROSS $ 1 BILLION IN REVENUE. THE COMPANY WENT PUBLIC A YEAR LATER.

2008: TATA MOTORS ACQUIRES THE JAGUAR AND LAND ROVER BUSINESSES FROM FORD AND FORMS A NEW COMPANY JAGUAR LAND ROVER.

What do you do when you have a role model to look up to and then, you are asked to fill the role model's shoes? When Ratan Tata became the chairman in 1991, he had a mammoth task set before him. His futuristic views and liberal attitude did not go well with some of the top honchos at Tata which resulted in a tussle at the management level. At the very start of his career as chairman, two companies under him faced bankruptcy and his employees faith in him dwindled as he brought down the retirement age from 70 to 65, leading to an ouster of some of the oldest employees of the organisation. Despite the many failures he has seen, Tata Nano being the latest, Ratan Tata did not give up and continues to be a global figure even today.