1RD TATA

A life extraordinary





"1he wealth gathered by 1amsetji 1ata and his sons
in half a century of industrial pioneering formed but
a minute fraction of the amount by which they
enriched the nation. 1he whole of that wealth is held
in trust for the people and used exclusively for their
benefit. 1he cycle is thus complete; what came from
the people has gone back to the people many times
over." -- 1

JRD's liIe has shaped Indian history in a way that no one has. He
was the visionary who introduced civil aviation to India, thus
launching this country's Iuture and placing it on the world map
solidly.
His contribution to the growth oI the Indian industry earned him
the title oI "GrandIather oI Indian Industry." For his contribution,
JRD Tata was awarded the country's highest civilian honour, the
Bharat Ratna, in 1992
Born in Paris on July 29, 1904, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata
was the second child oI Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French
wiIe Sooni.
He did his schooling in Paris, Bombay and Yokohama, Japan. But
most oI his education was in France. As a result, JRD`s French was
impeccable, but his Iluency in English had to be polished.
For this, he joined an English Grammar School beIore he was
supposed to go to Cambridge University.
Young JRD used to see airplanes and was awed with the
prospect oI being airborne. Louis Bleriot, the Iirst man to Ily across
the English Channel, had a house on the coast oI France near the
Tata's country home.
Bleriot's pilot, who used to land a small plane on the beach, once
gave JRD a joyride. It was young JRD's moment oI truth. On that
day he decided that he would Ily an airplane someday, and make a
mark in the aviation industry.
JRD admired his mother, who single handedly managed the
intricacies oI bringing up Iive children, and shuttling between India
and France every year. As a result oI this, JRD's education was
regularly disrupted. He never managed to go to University Ior a
Iormal education.
This was also because oI the Iact that he joined the Iamily
business immediately aIter his stint in the French Army. His Iather,
R.D. Tata was among the senior management team in Tata Sons,
and wanted JRD on board as soon as possible.

The business was growing at a rapid Pace, and there was a
requirement oI mature and rust worthy people running it. JRD
returned Irom France and joined Tata Sons, skipping his ambition
oI studying at Cambridge. The lack oI a Iormal education annoyed
JRD Ior a long time, but he did not let it aIIect his liIe.
He was a voracious reader, and studied many books on
management and business aIter oIIice hours.
Once when he was recovering Irom typhoid, he came back to his
room and started studying. His sister Rodabeh saw this and begged
him to stop, 'Why don't you rest Jeh, you are tired and unwell.
JRD replied, "I want to be worthy oI the Tatas." Throughout his
liIe, JRD never stopped learning.
Established in 1859, the Tata Group was already India's biggest
business conglomerate when Tata became its Iourth chairman in
1938.
JRD had begun establishing himselI in the Iamily business. His
Iather's untimely death had already put him at the helm oI aIIairs.
And in 1938 when Sir Nowroji Saklatvala, the Chairman oI Tata
Sons expired, JRD was made the head oI India's largest industrial
empire. He was just 34 Years old.
Under his leadership, the Tata assets climbed Irom Rs 62 crore (Rs
620 million) in 1939 to over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in
1990.
In an interview, he was asked about his appointment at such a
young age as chairman oI Tata Sons. There were senior and
distinguished men like Sir Homi Mody and SIr Ardeshir Dalal on
the board, he shrugged it oII and said, "Perhaps, because I am
hardworking."
When asked about his management style, JRD spoke about how
he dealt with each man in his own way and brought out the best in
people. He said, 'At times, it involved suppressing yourselI. It is
painIul but necessary.. To lead men, you have to lead them with
aIIection."
The group had promoted Tata Engineering and Locomotive
Company (TELCO) in 1945 Ior the production oI locomotives Ior
the Indian Railways. This was a huge success Ior the Tata Group,
and under JRD's management, TELCO had grown to become the
country's largest commercial vehicle manuIacturer.
While JRD was busy with building his business, his passion Ior
Ilying never waned. He natured his passion oI Ilying and
eventually became the Iirst licensed pilot in India.
Once, he was asked about the greatest adventure in his liIe. JRD
replied, "The Ilying experience. None can equal that. When you are
on your own in that little plane-at the control without an instructor,
and the plane speeds on the runway and Iinally takes oII- you know
you are in the air on your own."
JRD also carries the distinction oI starting the Iirst oIIicial
airline in India. In 1932, the maiden Ilight oI Tata Airlines happen
when a small single engine aircraIt carried the mail service Irom
Karachi to Bombay.
This was the birth oI civil aviation in India. In 1948, JRD went
on to start Air-India International. Within ten years, he was
nominated to be President oI International Air Transport
Association (IATA), which is the Apex body oI the Air Travel
Industry.
Though Air India was nationalized in 1953, he remained at the
helm oI Air India till 1978, making it one oI the most eIIicient
airlines in the world.
For decades, J.R.D. Tata directed the Tata Group oI companies,
with major interests in many industries in India, including steel,
engineering and electrical companies. He was Iamous Ior
succeeding in business while maintaining high ethical standards
reIusing to bribe politicians or use the black market.
In one oI his Iamous interviews, he was asked whether he
believed in excellence. He retorted sharply, 'Not excellence.
PerIection. You aim Ior perIection, you will attain excellence. II
you aim Ior excellence, you will go lower.

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1992. JRD died 1n 1993,
but his legacy lives on in each oI the myriad Tata Group
companies. The Ioundation that he laid has been build upon.
Today, the Tata Group is one oI the most remarkable and proIitable
business groups in the world. .



O Tatas: A Century of Trust
In 1939 the group included Iourteen companies with sales oI Rs
280 crore (Rs 2.80 billion); in 1993, the year oI his death, sales
were Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) contributed by over IiIty
large manuIacturing companies, besides innumerable holding,
investment, subsidiaries and associate concerns, making it India's biggest
business group.
Diversification
During the last halI oI the twentieth century Tata entered several
new businesses, many oI them unconventional, and produced a
vast range oI products -- Irom airlines to hotels, trucks to
locomotives, soda ash and other heavy chemicals to
pharmaceuticals and Iinancial services, tea and air conditioning to
lipsticks and cologne.
The group seemed to make everything and do everything. One oI
Tata's earliest achievements was to cajole ten rival cement
companies to merge and Iorm the Associated Cement Companies,
run by the Tatas.
JRD strengthened existing businesses such as steel, power and
hotels. At the same time, the group lost interest in some oI its older
core businesses.
As an industrialist, JRD Tata is credited with placing the Tata
Group on the international map. As an aviator and pioneer Ilier, he
brought commercial aviation to India.
As a patron oI the arts, he was revered by India's artists, sculptors
and perIorming artists; under JRD's tutelage, the Tatas became the
biggest buyers, promoters and supporters oI the art world in India.
And as a philanthropist, he was respected Ior keeping alive and
building up the tremendously active Tata charitable trusts.
Against all odds
His achievements have to be seen through the lens oI India's
economic and political history. Under British colonial rule until
1947, India was strait-jacketed by a Ioreign exchange crunch Ior
almost Iorty years aIter independence, which gravely limited
industrial entrepreneurship.
From 1964 to 1991 severe government controls on big business
Iurther curbed the growth oI the Tata Group.
Analysing his own perIormance, JRD Tata insisted that his only
real contribution to the group's smorgasbord oI companies was Air-
India. For the rest, he generously gave credit to his executives.
Any chronicle oI the Tata Group's growth thereIore has to take the
contribution oI these larger than liIe men into account. JRD's story
is, in many ways, as much theirs as his own. Yet, it would be a
mistake to under-assess JRD's role. As one oI the senior Tata
executives, Darbari Seth, once said, 'Mr Tata was able to harness a
team oI individualistic executives, capitalizing upon their
strengths, downplaying their diIIerences and deIiciencies; all by
the sheer weight oI his leadership.'
The leader and the motivator
Leadership, according to JRD meant motivating others. 'As
chairman, my main responsibility is to inspire respect.'
Sometimes reIerred to as the 'chairmen's chairman,' JRD adopted a
management by consensus style: 'When a number oI persons are
involved I am deIinitely 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 oI having to deal with
individual men heading diIIerent enterprises. You have to adapt
yourselI to their ways and deal accordingly and draw out the best
in each man. II I have any merit it is getting on with individuals
according to their ways and characteristics. In IiIty years I have
dealt with a hundred top directors and I have got on with all oI
them. At times it involves suppressing yourselI. It is painIul but
necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with
aIIection.'
Be that as it may, Tata spotted talent easily. And once he was
conIident that a manager would perIorm, he gave him (alas, no
women) a long rope. II they wanted to be on their own, like
Sumant Moolgaokar, he leIt them to it. II they occasionally wanted
a shoulder to cry on, like Darbari Seth, JRD was there.
The supportive climate he built developed entrepreneurs such as
Sir Homi Mody, Sir Ardeshir Dalal, Sir Jehangir Ghandy, Russi
Mody, Sumant Moolgaokar and Darbari Seth, and others who
created billions in wealth Ior the group and the country.
It was an environment where scientists oI international repute such
as Homi Bhabha, leading lawyers such as J D Choksi and Nani
Palkhivala, and economists such as John Matthai, A D ShroII, D R
Pendse and Freddie Mehta could Ilourish.
This attitude contrasted sharply with the prevailing management
styles oI other Indian business leaders. Large Indian companies
tend to Iall into three categories: public sector ones run by the
government, multinational aIIiliates, and those promoted by Iamily
dynasties. While the Tata Group Iirmly remained a Iamily concern
-- to date, Iour out oI its Iive chairman have been Tatas -- JRD's
proIessionalism stood out Irom the crowd.
Moreover, in most oI the Iamily Iirms, the top management tended
to belong to the same community as the promoter Iamily. With the
Tatas, it was diIIerent: only merit counted.
Tata's role model in management was the British civil service.
How was it, he wondered 'that a young Briton straight Irom
college, could come to a Ioreign country and administer various
departments with such distinction?'
The Tata Group Iaced a constant shortage oI managers, and JRD
carried out many experiments to expand and improve the pool oI
talent. His Iirst attempt -- the Iormation oI the Superior StaII
Recruiting Committee -- Iailed when none oI the recruits stayed
with the corporation.
Eventually he Iormed the Tata Administrative Service and the Tata
Management Training Centre at Pune. This commitment to
proIessionalism served the group well. In 1971, Ior example, when
the coal industry was nationalised, Mohan Kumaramangalam the
then industry minister, leIt Tata Steel's coal mines untouched on
the ground that these eIIiciently run mines would provide a model
Ior the nationalised mines.
!rofessionalism
JRD's respect Ior his managers bound the group. 'I am a Iirm
believer that the disintegration oI the Tata Group is impossible,' he
once declared.
Most business groups have disintegrated or driIted apart because oI
Iamily ownership and management, with rival Iamily members
wanting to go their own way. In contrast, the Tata Group
companies are run by proIessionals who Iirmly believe in the
trusteeship concept laid down by J N Tata as also by Mahatma
Gandhi.
A university dropout, JRD was something oI a selI-taught
technocrat, and died long beIore the phrase 'war Ior talent' was
coined. Yet, almost every senior Tata director Irom the 1930s
onwards held a degree Irom a Ioreign university. Tata willingly
Iinanced bright young boys who wanted to go abroad Ior Iurther
education.
He was also a vital bridge between the scientiIic establishment and
the government through his Iounding oI the Tata Institute oI
Fundamental Research, and as the longest serving member oI the
Atomic Energy Commission.
Tata's personal interest in technology, combined with India's
isolation in the 1950s and 1960s, spurred several group companies,
particularly Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals to innovate in their
Iields. At Tata Steel, a Research and Control Laboratory had been
opened in 1937, and its researchers developed an extensive variety
oI special steels Ior applications as varied as parachute harnesses
and razor blades.
The lab also developed a high-tensile alloy steel -- Tiscrom --
which made it possible Ior the Howrah Bridge in Calcutta to be
built entirely Irom Indian materials. Another corrosion resistant,
low-alloy high-yield strength steel -- Tiscor -- was used Ior the
manuIacture oI all-metal steel coaches on the Indian railways.

Quality first
According to JRD, quality had to match innovation. He intensely
disliked the laid-back Indian attitude, and much oI his Iabled short
temper was triggered by the carelessness oI others. He stressed: 'II
you want excellence, you must aim at perIection. I know that
aiming at perIection has its drawbacks. It makes you go into detail
that you can avoid. It takes a lot oI energy out oI you but that's the
only way you Iinally actually achieve excellence. So in that sense,
being Iinicky is essential. A company, which uses the name Tata,
shares a tradition. The symbol 'T' has to be a symbol oI quality.'
The achievements oI the Tata Group would not have been possible
without the support oI its workIorce. BeIore JRD took over, the
labour situation at key Tata plants was Irequently tense despite the
Iact that management had poured millions into subsidised housing
Ior workers, oIIered Iree medical and hospital treatment, as well as
Iree education and was miles ahead oI government legislation in
terms oI labour practices.
For example, Tata Steel pioneered the eight-hour day in 1912, long
beIore the principle had been accepted in the United States or
Europe (Britain introduced the twelve-hour day in 1911).
Tata Steel introduced leave with pay in 1920, and in India this was
established by law in 1945. Tata Steel set up a provident Iund in
1920, which was not legalised until 1952.
Tata asked the question: iI the workers were being treated
exceptionally well, why were they Irequently discontented and
mistrustIul and hostile towards the company?
A benign boss
According to Tata, the crux oI any successIul labour policy lay in
making workers Ieel wanted. One oI the inherent drawbacks oI
modern industry with its large and concentrated labour Iorces was
that each man Ielt 'that instead oI being a valued member oI a
Iriendly and human organisation, he was a mere cog in a soulless
machine.'
'Because oI this, a worker's attitude towards management becomes
one oI indiIIerence, mistrust and coldness oIten tinged with
hostility. He is easily led to Ieeling himselI the victim oI callous
and unIair treatment and little is needed to make him look upon his
employers as his enemies and break out into open conIlict.'
Tata Steel became one oI the earliest companies in India to have a
dedicated human resources department. Expressing surprise that
the company had Iunctioned Ior so long without one, Tata
commented: 'II our operations required the employment oI, say,
30,000 machine tools, we would undoubtedly have a special staII
or department to look aIter them, to keep them in repair, replace
them when necessary, maintain their eIIiciency, protect them Irom
damage, etc.'
'But when employing 30,000 human beings each with a mind and
soul oI his own, we seem to have assumed that they would look
aIter themselves and that there was no need Ior a separate
organisation to deal with the human problems involved.'
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata died in Geneva on November 29,
1993, and made his money in India. Few addressed him with the
Iull pomposity oI the name with which he was born; he was simply
'JRD' to the world, and Jeh to his Iriends.
JRD was India's most well known industrialist, widely respected
Ior his enormous contribution to the development oI Indian
industry and aviation in particular.
Tata headed India's largest industrial conglomerate with
uncommon success. But this was only one aspect oI his liIe. He
was also a man oI great sensitivity and was pained by the poverty
he saw around him and sought vigorously to alleviate it.
He also was a philanthropist who wanted India to be a happy
country and did all he could to make it so; a patron oI the sciences
and the arts; and a man with a passion Ior literature, Iast cars,
skiing, and Ilying.
Courtesy : Tata Central Archives,
www.purpleopurple.com,www.biography.com