Number of words: 498

Each chairman of the Tata group has left his mark on the group, based on personal likes and dislikes. JRD’s contribution was Air India, while Ratan’s were notably the Indica, Nano and getting the Jaguar Land Rover deal. He gave the group a truly global standing. Getting a steel company like Corus merged into Tata Steel was a major achievement. Tata was earlier known as an Indian company, but during Ratan’s time more than 60 per cent of the group’s turnover came from businesses abroad. Ratan Tata’s rapid expansion into diversified areas had had a strong impact on its revenues. But, of the nearly 100-odd businesses with a workforce of more than 7 lakh, only two companies were formidable performers. One was Jaguar Land Rover and the other TCS.

The Tata group was known for thinking long-term and building businesses accordingly. It did not take decisions based on performance in a particular year. Integrity was the foundation on which the businesses were built. It did not try and influence government policies to help build its business. But some of the policies of the group had diluted its focus on revenue growth.

Cyrus was not comfortable with that approach. He was of a new generation and that too from outside the Tata family. He was most keenly interested in the numbers. He measured everything in terms of profit and loss. It was not a wrong approach in many ways as, when he took over, global conditions were not exactly favourable and the steel industry around the world was in trouble. And steel was the foundation on which the group was built. One of his first steps as chairman was to start identifying businesses that were not making profits and ordering their closure. He decided to sell off the steel business in England. He cancelled the deal which was meant to take over Orient Express, a hotel giant in the Bermudas, which had properties in forty-five locations in twenty-two countries. He closed down the urea importing division of Tata Chemicals as it was not generating any profits.

At the same time, he started investing and getting into new areas. He bought the power generation business of Welspun and merged it into Tata Power. The Singapore Airlines and Air Asia deals happened under his leadership. The Tata group was planning to enter the banking sector but Mistry was opposed to it from the start. He wanted to focus on the retail sector, financial services, leisure and tourism, and the defence sector. He believed that instead of being spread thin, the group should be focused, nimble and revenue generating. He would attend the annual general body meetings of all group companies to get a sense of their performance and future plans. He would answer questions raised by investors, giving everyone the confidence that he was firmly in charge.

Excerpted from Pg 206-207 of Tatas: How a family built a business and a nation by Girish Kuber