Who can understand a businessman better than another businessman, and not only understand, but critically analyse his moves based on the successes achieved? Peter Casey has done just that in his new book, The Greatest Company in the World? The Story of Tata, to bring out the fact that Jamsetji Tata?s mission and desire?to uplift the people in his part of the world?were different from those of other businessmen.
Casey, the founder and executive chairman of Claddagh Resources, a global recruitment and search business that places high-level executives with many of the world?s Fortune 500 companies, compares and contrasts personalities like Steve Jobs of Apple, Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics, George Eastman of Kodak and several others like JP Morgan with Jamsetji to show the difference between their business models and ideas.
Casey goes on to explain that unlike most entrepreneurs, Jamsetji started a business as a way to make things possible, not because he was particularly inspired by cotton or textiles.
One excerpt of the book reads, ?It was a passion that drove him to build the best business possible, providing the best care and opportunities for employees and generating the most revenue possible?ultimately to benefit the surrounding community. The same level of passion was also evident in JRD Tata, who found a way to merge his love of flying with his family?s growing enterprise. Founding an airline that provided a mail service and then a passenger service connected India in a way that had not been possible before. His passion fuelled a new type of travel as well
as the expansion of the
Tata empire?.
The book explains how Tata transformed itself from a family-owned business to being one of the most professionally-managed enterprises in the world.
It answers questions like how the group became a world leader with an array of unrelated businesses, from steel and automobile manufacturing to hotels and IT consulting. It also talks about the ?Tata Way?, which has earned the company much admiration and respect.
The book gives an account of the contribution of every Tata chairman from Jamsetji, who set up the company in 1868, to Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry, and explores the values at the heart of the Tata Group, as well as the role played in its development by philanthropic trusts that own two-thirds of the company.
Talking about Sir Dorabji Tata, Casey explains
how Dorabji laid down the foundation for the Indian Olympics and Indian Institute of Science. He says love for the game of cricket made Dorabji a natural leader and aided him in making decisions for the company. He also jots down the story of how Dorabji sponsored a team from India to the Olympics.
Writing about Ratan Tata, Casey quotes Tata Sons executive director R Gopalakrishnan who says, ?Ratan Tata is passionate about what he believes in. Where previous leaders had outside interests, Ratan was more focused on doing what is best for the company. He was passionate about his work, reliant on his capable staff, and known for his decisiveness. According to his staff, few of his decisions ever required more than forty-eight hours to make.?
Casey paints Cyrus Mistry as a passionate man and says he has now begun making decisions on how to improve performance at some of the Tata units.
Casey?s admiration of the Tatas is such that the back
cover of the book carries a blurb that says, ?I am an unapologetic capitalist, but I have now realised that there is a different way for capitalism to succeed?The Tata Way?. This shows his deep conviction in the fact that he wants leaders and businessmen to learn from the Tata model and use it for the betterment of society at large.
At the start of the book, essentially in the preface, Casey gives a rundown of the Tata businesses and explains why he was so amazed by its business model. In the appendix, he has mentioned names of companies run by the Tata Group and also a letter from Jamsetji to Lord Reay, which carried Jamsetji?s vision to change India. He also has a chronological timeline and an index at the end to explain the history and other mentions in the book, which readers may find useful.
Otherwise, the book, plotted as a narrative timeline, is easy to read and explains the continued efforts by the Tata family to make India a better place to live in, as well as make the group a diversified conglomerate. Casey?s book shows how the Tatas changed the socio-economic balance while trying to run behind the
golden goose.
The verdict: For anyone curious to know about the Indian company that has become a leading global player, this book is the perfect introduction.
