Here’s What I Learned From Reading About The Greatest Business Family In India
I started reading The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a Nation approximately two weeks ago.
(I am not reviewing the book. This article is my impression of the story of The Tata Family. If I am talking about the book, it’s merely to state facts)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, not because it’s well written by Girish Kuber and brilliantly translated by Vikrant Pande, but because it talks about the visionary mindset of four generations that helped build a whole nation.
The book talks about the human side of the business conglomerate. How values and understanding shaped decisions. You read about their decisions everyday in the news but rarely you see the motives behind it.
Why People Matter?
The first generation started with Jamsetji Tata when he sowed the seeds of Tata values in every business he grew.
J.R.D Tata, who later took the big responsibility of the empire, paid keen interest in the welfare of workers. He believed that people ran the business and we were mere decision takers. His office doors were open to everyone, even a janitor, as he considered every person working in the organization as equal. He didn’t consider anyone special.
Due to these values, a business became an empire and the empire took care of more than 13 lakh families around the country.
No Business Is Beyond Saving
When Cyrus Mistry was given hold of the empire for a short span, he overlooked the idea of saving a business, however it performed.
He started closing shops of every business under Tata that either didn’t show promise in the future or lacked profit. Before him, Ratan Tata showed determination in spreading the business around the world by either joining hands with local lords or extracting funds from trusts and other businesses that showed profit.
He didn’t let businesses die just because they weren’t performing at their best for a short period. He believed in nurturing a business similarly like a child. So the child grows up to be a fine gentleman in the future.
Focused On Building A Nation
If you look at the projects, undertaken by Tata, you’d see that projects such as hydroelectric power generation plant, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Air India, Nano were all a part of a solution to major problems back in the day.
Tatas have been problem solvers since their inception. If they wanted they could’ve invested in money making businesses. But, they chose a different path that built a nation and helped many families thrive during the independence fight of India.
