A business model
FOR nearly a century and a quarter, the Tata group of companies was the flag-bearer of Indian entrepreneurship. Be it steel, hydro-electric power, aviation or education and research, the Tatas were there leading the way; often against the odds.
In The Creation of Wealth, Russi M. Lala charts the journey of the Tatas since 1868 to the present. Into its fourth edition, Lala this time round has re-worked the book rather extensively to incorporate the changes that have taken place in the economy and within the Tata group of companies since 1991 — a watershed year for India and the company.
In March 1991, Ratan Tata took over as chairman of Tata Sons from J.R.D. Tata and later that year the Congress returned to power with the "original reforms man", Manmohan Singh, as Finance Minister. Just four months into his new job when India's control-driven regime gave way to liberalisation, Tata Jr. did not have the luxury of steering his company through the demands of the new order at a pace of his choosing.
Tatas had to change — but without eroding its legacy in business ethics — and Lala devotes a sizable portion of this edition to developments within the group in the last decade. While Ratan Tata sums up the experience in the short epilogue, Lala gives a detailed account of how this "predominant business house of India" held its ground without, as Tata Jr. puts it, "partaking in corruption, bribery and/or political influence".
The Creation of Wealth, R.M. Lala, Penguin, Rs. 450.
ANITA JOSHUA
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