Sudip Banerjee's Favourite Books

I read Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life of J.R.D. Tata, by R.M. Lala, in the early 1990s, when I was in middle management. The book talked of how you should conduct your business in terms of great purpose.

Also, it talked of how you could get past difficult periods, like when Tata Airlines was taken over by the government. Seeing how Air India functions today, it is a story of what not to do. If something is running well, you should not take it over and ruin it. It was such a wonderful organisation; now it is a pale shadow of itself. In 1979, the time of the License Raj, it was difficult to get around a controlled environment, to get permissions. As a businessman, you would feel like giving up, but this book inspires you to do otherwise. Then there is the aspect of the human touch, of learning to be a people leader. I have taken cues, reflected on how to deal with a senior team and how to deal with a very large team. You need to listen to people, empathise with them, be concerned. After reading this book, I became an HR leader. It was a role change, as we had a constant job rotation and the points from this book helped ease the transition to that role.

Full report here Forbes

'Tata's Value System Is It's Biggest Strength'

The over 140-year-old Tata group is special., The main mission of the company is not just money making but taking social responsibility as well. Beginning small in India, the company has become one of the biggest business groups in India drawing 65 per cent of its revenue from outside the country. The biggest strength of Tata Sons is its value system. The deep-rooted values have not only become the pride of the company but the entire nation which was reflected during the Mumbai attacks. Morgen Witzel, author and business historian with best selling titles such as Doing Business In China and Be Your Own Management Guru also fell for the 'special' business group. "When I was asked if I would be interested in writing about Tata as a corporate brand, I thought it was a marvellous chance to know more about them," says Witzel. And the result was Tata The Evolution Of A Corporate Brand. The book by Witzel is an intriguing and extended case study of the brand which explains what is Tata, how it was evolved and functions and how people perceive it as a brand. Witzel was recently in India for the launch of his book and spoke to Businessworld Online's Chetna Mehra about the book and the effect of recent developments including the search for new successor on Tata as a brand. Excerpts.

How was it to know and follow one of India's biggest brands closely?
Fascinating. I knew that it was an interesting business group even before I could start this project. The group is a really interesting subject, with interesting people, with whom I communicated during my research. (This book) gave me a chance to know them and travel around India as well. So, it has been a really positive journey so far.

We chose several companies within the Tata group and noted their profiles. A visit to these sites such as a couple of days in Jamshedpur, Bangalore and nearby places to see Tata Steel,  and a couple of estates of Tata Tea was a very fine experience.

Full report here Businessworld

‘The first thing a business leader should do after taking over is look for a successor

The tallest leader from the Tata Group for him is Jamsetji Tata. “JRD Tata is a legend, but the one who fascinates me is Jamsetji. His combination of influences, ideas and philosophies that he brought together and then made them work in practical terms, coupled with sheer single-minded commitment to India, at a time when the idea of India itself was emerging, is indeed special.” In his recent work, TATA The Evolution of a Corporate brand, Morgen Witzel, senior consultant with the Winthrop Group of Business Historians, unfolds the story of the Tata brand in 200-plus pages. Witzel tells Sarika Malhotra, as the group is expanding its global footprint, it is the very high level of self awareness in the group that is making all the difference. 

The group is aware of the challenges it faces very strongly. Throughout its history it believed in actions rather than words.” From a branding perspective, even as the Nano has done the Tata brand a whole deal of good in terms of exposing it to the world and making them aware of it, however, the key challenge Witzel points out is to get the Tata brand in the open and make the transition form an Indian brand to a global brand, “that purely in branding terms is a task of the next ten years”. Excerpts:

What makes for Tata’s success as a brand?
Every big successful business chooses its own way to success. What made the Tata brand so successful is that the fact that they started off with a very strong set of values which were embedded in the group from the very beginning right from the time when Empress Mills was founded by Jamsetji Tata. And which the group stayed very much true to, down to the decade that followed. Strong brands are always built on strong values, principles and ethos and then communicating and sharing them with stakeholders. The Tata group has been really successful in doing that over a long period of time, consistently well. And that also has to do with consistency of leadership—only five chairmen over a period of 140 years.

Full interview here Financial Express

Business returning to old world values, the Tata way

In the footsteps of India's Tata Group - which is hunting for a successor right now - business houses across the globe are resorting to old world values of community service to sustain themselves in the long run, says British business historian Morgen Witzel.

"The house has always believed in service to community since it was set up in the early 19th century," Witzel told IANS. "It is one of the biggest values that the Tatas have brought to the world."

He said the industrial revolution had changed the business environment into a "dominant form of capitalism". But now industrial houses are looking at business as a relationship, a relationship that goes beyond the financial achievements to its contributions to society at large.

"I think companies across the world at large are looking back at the values that existed before the industrial revolution when businesses saw communities that made up the workforce as stakeholders. Industry houses are gradually waking to the fact that they cannot do business without the involvement of communities," said Witzel. "It is a promising sign."

Witzel, however, has a different view on the current industry buzz on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

"Corporate Social Responsibility is a terribly overused term of expression. It is the kind of thing the company says when it wants to do something else. The concept of CSR is just an add-on," he said.

Full report here Economic Times

Explaining brand Tata

The much hyped launch of the book titled TATA: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand lived upto all the hype and hoopla. This iconic launch was followed by an interactive session between  B Muthuraman, Vice Chairman — Tata Steel Limited and Chairman — Tata International and the author, Morgen Witzel.

A series of high-profile acquisitions, including Jaguar Land Rover and Corus Steel, together with the launch of the world’s first Rs 1 Lakh car, has changed the perception of Tata, as the oldest and the most respected corporate brand, not just in India but also across the world.

In this absorbing and informed book Morgen Witzel digs into the heart of the Tata enterprise, describes its origins, how Tata’s reputation and image evolved, and how the group has worked to transform that image into a powerful and valuable brand.

The book goes to the core of the Tata ethos to explore the unique relationship between the Tata group and the Indian people, a relationship that goes beyond the achievements of a successful business to its social contributions for its employees and the society at large.

Full report here New Indian Express

Tata Group's focus on oneness gives it value: Muthuraman

The value of the Tata Group is its focus on the "oneness" of the organisation, Tata Steel Vice-Chairman and Tata International Chairman B Muthuraman on Tuesday, August 3 said.

"Only very few companies like Tata... which I have been working with for more than 45 years, focuses on the oneness of the organisation... and I believe this is the value of the (Tata) Group," he said. He said the Tata Group was one of the very few companies that believed in "oneness with society".

"An organisation's value conveys many things.. The number of products (it offers), the quality of people, but as a brand it must represent the soul of an organisation... the values of an organisation," he said.

Muthuraman said there are three types of organisations in the world -- the first focused only on development of their business and the second thinking beyond growth of business.

Muthuraman was speaking after releasing a book, Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand, penned by UK-based author Morgen Witzel.

Full report here Economic Times

Of Tata, Bhabha and good old dramatic tales

Some home truths about towering edifices and small pleasures of stories smartly told. The cache this week is a mix of serious non-fiction and fiction:

1. Book: 'Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand'; Written by Morgan Witzel; Published by Penguin Books India; Priced Rs.599

A series of high-profile acquisitions, together with the launch of the Nano, is set to change the perception of India's oldest and most respected corporate brand. With a major international presence in a variety of areas, including tea, chemicals, communications and software, Tata now stands on the threshold of becoming a global brand. But what is Tata all about? What are its values? How do people perceive it in India and around the world?

Morgan Witzel, a senior consultant at the Winthrop Group of Business Historians, tries to find out all about the company. Witzel has written 15 books.

2. Book: 'A Masterful Spirit: Homi J. Bhabha' (1909-1966); Written by Indira Chowdhury and Ananya Dasgupta; Published by Penguin Books India; Priced Rs.1,299

Homi Jahangir Bhabha, one of India's most outstanding scientists, shouldered the beginnings of India's nuclear programme. He was the first chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission; and the builder of two of India's most significant scientific institutions - the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Atomic Energy Establishment, renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research in 1996.

Full report here Sify

“Oneness with the society, fundamental to Tata Group”

The defining feature of the Tata Group has been the oneness with society that is fundamental to the philosophy of the organisation, according to speakers at the launch of a book that seeks to unearth the unique ethos of the company.

TATA: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand“ (Penguin Books) authored by management expert and business historian Morgen Witzel traces the origin and growth of a company that has now turned a global brand through a series of high-profile acquisitions straddling the automotive, steel and chemicals sectors.

The book, according to its author, seeks to discover what the Tata brand is all about, the values it upholds and how people perceive the brand in India and abroad. It also explores the relationship between the Tata group and the Indian people in the context of social contributions to employees and society as a whole.

Much more than calculating financial metrics, as many brand gurus are wont to, the success of Brand Tata has more to do with social values and the oneness with society that is the hallmark of its business, B. Muthuraman, Vice Chairman, Tata Steel Ltd. said. There are mainly three types of companies -the majority that believe that conducting business is the central idea, a smaller number of companies that go beyond business to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility and philanthropy and a select few like the Tata Group that achieve a symmetry between business and oneness with society, Mr. Muthuraman said.

“Putting society as a fundamental and integral part of their business is one of the biggest values that the Tatas have brought to the world,” he said.

Full report here Hindu

Book on brand Tata by academician Witzel released

Tata Sons Chairman, Ratan Tata, on  July 30 released a book on the evolution of brand Tata written by business and management academician, Morgen Witzel. The book - Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand - answers questions like what the brand is all about, its highly regarded values, its perceptions in India and globally.

"People outside India do not know much about the Tatas.They know the Corus and Jaguar deals but are surprised when I tell them that the Tetley (tea) brand is also theirs...this book is an attempt through which they will know it better," the author said after the release.

The book explores the "unique" relationship between the salt-to-steel Tata Group and the Indian people and the group's social contributions, he said. Tata group's official historian R M Lala was also present at the book release ceremony held at the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, built by the Tatas.

Full report here IBN Live

Canadian author pens Tatas’ story

Down on earth, corporate tycoon J.R.D. Tata is known for piloting the Tata group to success. But up in the air, the avid aviator enjoyed success of a different kind — Tata received the first pilot’s licence to be granted in India. When his baby, Air India International, was born, he chose to pilot its maiden flight from Karachi to Bombay.

There’s much to know about the Tatas and the mammoth brand they built, and these are some of the trivia that make Canadian author Morgen Witzel’s new book, Tata – The Evolution of a Corporate Brand, an interesting read.

Tata chairman Ratan Tata launched the book on Friday, July 30, but nobody from the group spoke at the function.

“It took me just 20 seconds to say 'yes' when Penguin asked me to author the book, because it’s the Tatas,” said Witzel at the launch.

Full report here Hindustan Times