The Tata Group, having chosen Cyrus Mistry as chairman Ratan Tata?s successor at holding company Tata Sons, has started hunting for a person to succeed Prakash Telang as MD of flagship Tata Motors.
One of the names the group has zeroed in on is Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of watch and gold retail chain Titan Industries, to play a crucial role in India?s largest truck and bus maker, a person familiar with the development said. Bhat, if chosen, will head the Indian operations, taking the reins from Telang, who retires at 65 in June.
The challenge for the new managing director is to drive cars sales, primarily the small car Nano, and launch new products.
Bhat, an engineer and a management grad, who is now selling watches and gold, may sell cars tomorrow. ?Tata Motors do not comment on speculation,? spokesperson Debasis Ray said in an email response.
The $83 billion salt-to-software group has a history of moving executives across companies. Prasad Menon, who headed fertiliser and soda ash maker Tata Chemicals, was shifted to Tata Power and Anil Sardana took over from Menon last year after his stint in mobile telephony company Tata Teleservices. Both were successful managers who grew their companies. Menon transformed Tata Chemicals into a global company by purchasing companies overseas and Sardana stabilised the mobile telephony company and partnered Japanese NTT DoCoMo.
?I think the fundamental reason could be to appoint executives to look at the company from totally different perspectives rather than in-breeding, which elevates people from within the company,? says RK Premarajan, who teaches organisational behaviour and human resources at management school XLRI Jamshedpur. ?Executives from the same company may not be able to look at the company from multiple perspectives.? His comments are not specific to this story.
Bhat, who rose within the ranks of Titan from 2002 after taking over from Xerxes Desai, is credited with turning around the watch-maker, diversifying into gold jewellery under the Tanishq brand, successfully launching watches and eyewear under the FastTrack brand to youth and Raga brand watches to women.
Titan has now crossed the billion-dollar turnover mark with debt less than $16 million. It has expanded into major cities with owned and franchised retail chains.
Tanishq earns three-fourth of the company’s revenues. Its scrip has risen by more than 100% in the past one year.
?Outsiders from within the group can give fresh perspective to the company without compromising the group culture and values,? says Premarajan of XLRI. ?The need of the hour is to think laterally and have radically different perspectives.?
Tata Motors, which earns substantial revenues from Jaguar-Land Rover, had hired laterals in the past. Its vice-chairman Ravi Kant, who steered the ship out of losses in mid-2005, was bought in from lamps and consumer goods maker Philips. Kant is credited with launching the country’s fastest selling Ace trucks, formed a venture with Fiat India and has created a
pipeline of trucks and buses linking to growth in India?s transport sector.