Regarded as a successful industrialist of India, Ratan Tata is also well-acknowledged for his philanthropic contributions. There isn’t a single person in India who is not acquainted with his unique individuality, and many entrepreneurs not only draw inspirations from him but also look up to him as an example. The former chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata has earned several awards and recognition on national and international level including two of the highest civilian awards of India, the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Padma Bhushan in 2000 for his immeasurable contributions towards nation building. There are many success lessons to learn from Ratan Tata and these lessons are not for business professionals only.
Students also can learn a great deal from the adventurous and inspiring life led by the visionary industrialist Ratan Tata. Few of them are mentioned below:
Early Life
Born in 1937, Ratan Tata’s father Naval Tata was the adopted son of Ratanji Tata - son of Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata group. Although adopted, Naval Tata was a blood-relative of the Tata family as his biological maternal grandmother was the sister of Hirabai Tata. Hirabai Tata was the wife of Jamshedji Tata. Ratan Tata’s biological grandfather Hormusji Tata was also a part of the extensive Tata family. After his parent’s separation in 1948 when he was just 10 years old, Ratan Tata was looked after by his grandmother Navajbai Tata, wife of Ratanji Tata.
Education
Ratan Tata started the preliminary days of his education with Campion School, Mumbai and continued there till the 8th class. He later joined Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai and at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. After graduating from Riverdale Country School of New York City in 1955, Ratan Tata joined Cornell University in 1959 to study architecture and structural engineering. Later in 1975, he joined Harvard Business School to pursue a management course.
Career
Ratan Tata commenced his professional journey with Tata group in 1961 and his first job was handling operations on the shop floor of Tata Steel which was to manage the blast furnace and shovel limestone. This was before he went to Harvard Business School to complete his studies.
Family Values
Ratan Tata has allegedly rejected a job opportunity from IBM and choose to join his family business. Though he started his career on the shop floor of Tata Steel, he has managed to make Tata group a global phenomenon.
Tata Group
Ratan Tata became the Chairman of the Tata Group in 1991, and played a crucial role in taking the conglomerate to greater heights. Tata Group gained a lot of international recognition under the strategic and pragmatic business skills of Ratan Tata.
Under his prolific guidance, the revenues of the Tata Group hiked more than 40 times and the profits thrived by over 50 times. According to research, the company that made only $5.7 billion in 1991 made a massive profit of around $103 billion in 2016.
Historical Mergers and Acquisitions
During his highly successful professional tenure, Ratan Tata made some historical mergers for Tata Group which includes the merger of Corus with Tata Steel, Land Rover Jaguar with Tata Motors, and Tetly with Tata Tea. All these mergers and acquisitions played a momentous role in the upsurge of Tata Group as a global brand.
TATA Nano
In 2009, Ratan Tata undertook a resolution to make the cheapest car that can be afforded by the middle-class mass of the country can afford. He delivered according to his promise and Indian roads witnessed the arrival of Tata Nano of Rs 1 lakh price value. Despite of not receiving profitable returns from Tata Nano like his other Tata Motor vehicles, Ratan Tata is continuing the production of Tata Nano because of his promise to the Indian middle class.
Philanthropic Activities
Under the guidance of Ratan Tata, Tata Education and Development Trust - a charitable affiliate of Tata group, gifted a $28 million Tata Scholarship Fund to enable Ratan Tata’s alma mater Cornell University. The aim of this scholarship is to provide financial aid to undergraduate Indian students. In 2010, Tata group of companies and Tata charities came into limelight for donating a sum of $50 million for the construction of an administrative centre at another alma mater of Ratan Tata - Harvard Business School (HBS). The centre has been named as Tata Hall.
In 2014, Tata group contributed Rs 95 crore to IIT Bombay to form the Tata Center for Technology and Design (TCTD). The major notion behind this grant was to nurture design and engineering ideologies suitable to the needs of people with limited resources. This is believed to be the largest-ever donation received by IIT Bombay in its history of functioning since its inception.
An adherent Dog Lover
Ratan Tata is exclusively known for his love for canines. The Bombay House, which is the Headquarters of Tata Sons has an impeccable custom of allowing stray dogs in during rains, ever since the days of Jamsetji Tata. After its current renovation, the Bombay house has now a kennel equipped with toys, play area, water and food, for the comfortable stay of stray dogs.
A pilot having unmatched passion for cars
Ratan Tata enjoys flying and owns the reputation of being a skilled pilot. In 2007, he was one of the foremost Indian to fly a F-16 Falcon. Apart from that, the industrialist is also known for his excessive inclination towards cars. He owns a variety of cars including Cadillac XLR, Ferrari California, Land Rover Freelander, Jaguar CFTR, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Maserati Quattroporte, Chrysler Sebring, Jaguar F-Type, Honda Civic, Mercedes Benz 500 SL, and many more.
