RATAN TATA- A BORN LEADER

Born: December 28, 1937

Achievement: Honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest

Civilian awards in 2000.

Present Chairman OF TATA Group

He taken TATA Group to new heights and under his Leadership, Group’s revenues

have grown manifold.

Early life

Ratan Tata is the son of Naval Tata, who had been adopted from the family of a

distant relative by Navajbai Tata after the death of her husband, Ratanji Tata. Ratan

Tata's parents Naval and Sonoo separated in the mid-1940s when Ratan was ten and

his younger brother, Jimmy, was seven years old. Both he and his brother were raised

by their grandmother Navajbai Tata. Ratan also has a step brother Noel Tata from

Naval Tata's second marriage to Simone Tata.Ratan began his schooling in Mumbai

at the Campion School and finished his secondary education at the Cathedral and

John Connon School. He completed his B.S.in architecture with structural

engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management

Program from Harvard Business School in 1975. Tata is a member of the Alpha

Sigma Phi fraternity.

Career

Tata began his career in the Tata group in 1961. He initially started on the shop floor

of Tata Steel, shovelling limestone and handling the blast furnace. In 1991, J. R. D.

Tata stepped down as Chairman of Tata Sons, naming Ratan as his successor.

Under his stewardship, Tata Tea acquired Tetley, Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land

Rover and Tata Steel acquired Corus, which have turned Tata from a largely India-

centric company into a global business, with 65% revenues coming from abroad. He

was instrumental in the development of Tata Nano, largely dubbed as the world's

cheapest passenger car.

Ratan Tata retired from all executive responsibility in the Tata group on 28

December 2012 which is also his 75th birthday and he was succeeded by Cyrus

Mistry, the 44-year-old son of Pallonji Mistry and managing director of Shapoorji

Pallonji Group.

Ratan Tata has retired but he is still seen working. Recently, he invested his personal

savings in Snapdeal- one of India's leading e-commerce website. Another company

that caught his interest is BlueStone. Mr Tata is working closely with Jaguar Land

Rover and some of the new models launched by the British marquee have several

inputs from Mr Tata.

Board Memberships and Affiliations

He is currently the chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. He continues to serve as the

chairman of the main two Tata trusts Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata

Trust and their allied Trusts, which together hold 66% of shares in the group holding

company Tata Sons.

Ratan Tata has served in various capacities in organizations in India and abroad. He

is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry and the National

Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He is on the jury panel of Pritzker

Architecture Prize– considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes.

Ratan Tata is a director on the boards of Alcoa Inc., Mondelelz International and

Board of Governors of the East-West Center. He is also a member of the Board of

Trustees of University of Southern California, Harvard Business School Board of

Dean's Advisors, X Prize and Cornell University.

Ratan Tata is also a member of the Harvard Business School India Advisory Board

(IAB) since 2006, and previously a member of the Harvard Business School Asia-

Pacific Advisory Board (APAB) 2001-2006.

Personality: Very dignified

Ethical

Dependable

Believes in keeping promises

Loyal and believes in relationship

Questioning the unquestionable

Risk taker not speculator

Exemplary leadership qualities and a Motivator

SWOT Analysis of Ratan Tata:

Strength:

Visionary

Strategist

Initiator

Weakness:

Less Autocratic

Successors

Ownership

Dependable

Opportunities:

Adaptability

Changing Champions

Business Ethics

Threats:

Perfectionists

Question the unquestionable

Leadership Qualities:

Visionary

Passionate

Creative

Flexible

Inspiring

Innovative

Courageous

Imaginative

Experimental

Initiate change

Personal Power

Leadership Style:

Democratic

According to path goal theory- Achievement style

Principles of TATA:

Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work.

Good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but are essential

to the success of many enterprise.