TATA Group

TATA Group has announced that 73 year old Mr.Ratan Tata will handover the Chairmanship of the Group to 43 year old Mr.Cyrus Mistry. It is a very good and revolutionary move. The Group is a USD 83 billion Conglomerate.

I have done an audit assignment in Tata Oil Mills Factory in Tiruvottiyur, Chennai in 1986. I have first come to know about the TATA Group in 1980. I had desired to join the TATA Group as a young Chartered Accountant in 1987 and applied for a job in TCS. I tried again after a gap of one year but in vain. As has always been the case in my life it was “apply, apply no reply”.

I have always admired the TATA Group and in those days there were two very popular Groups in India the TATA Group and the Birla Group. Shri.J.R.D. Tata was managing the Group in those days and followed a de-centralised approach. After JRD the Group’s reins were taken over by Mr.Ratan Tata and he followed a Centralised approach and showed tremendous growth in all the business segments of the TATA Group.

Mr.Ratan Tata has now chosen Mr.Cyrus Mistry to succeed him as the Chairman of the Group. This move has come as a big surprise as it was least expected. As a futuristic approach I would say this is the best decision made by Mr.Ratan Tata.

Mr.Cyrus Mistry has spent the prime time of his life over the last twenty years in various capacities and is now Managing Director of Shapoorji Pallonji. The last twenty years has seen some of the greatest inventions including the Internet. The last twenty years has also seen Corporate Boom in India after India opened up in 1991 and allowed Foreign Direct Investments.

Mr.Ratan Tata has set a new example and showed the way for the Corporate World that the person at the helm of affairs in a Corporate Group should ideally be a person in his early forties so that the person can drive the business into the next level. The younger generation has the requisite skills, maturity and exposure to handle complex business models. In the global environment it is extremely important for having a young mind at the helm of affairs.

Ideally the older generation (those who are more than 60 years old) should step aside and take on the role of an advisor to the Board of Directors. This would help the younger generation to take on the reigns and run the Corporate World in a dynamic way. It is ideal that someone takes over the reigns of the business at 40 -45 and stays at the top for about 10 years. The Succession Planning should be done in a structured manner so that the baton can be passed on in a planned manner over a period of two to three years under the guidance of the existing leader.

I appreciate and Congratulate Mr.Ratan Tata for taking this revolutionary and trend setting route and sincerely hope that people at the helm of affairs at various Corporate Groups take a cue and follow this path.

T.P.Anand
26th November 2011, Dubai, U.A.E.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change is inevitable in life and “Change is the only thing that is Constant”. Managing Change is not an easy task whether the change happens in our personal life or at work. Human beings are very much used to repetitive tasks and comforts in life and hence whenever we are encountered with a Change our mind immediately thinks of resistance and not acceptance.

As human beings we have to constantly keep exploring new ideas and when the new idea leads to a change in the way a particular aspect is viewed or done in life we should then move on to the next stage of encouraging such new thinking. Once the change is viewed as beneficial then we should go ahead and enable the implementation of the change. This process is easily said than done.

It is the fear of failure that makes us think of resistance whenever we are encountered with a change. In NASA, I am told, “failure is never an option”. If we look at the change with a positive frame of mind then we can definitely adopt the change without any resistance. I have encountered change at various stages in life both in my personal life as well as at work. In my experience change has brought about furtherance and development.

If the need for the change is felt then one should go ahead with the change process. More than implementing the change process it is also important for us to review the results of such change to convince ourselves that the change has brought in the desired results.

While change is inevitable under certain circumstances one should also be very careful in not making frequent changes as that could be unsettling and disturbing. Striking a proper balance and adopting changes as and when needed is the key to success in business and in life in general.

T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
21st November 2011

7,000,000,000

On 31st October 2011 when I saw the newspaper in the morning the headline on page 1 had a huge number 7,000,000,000. The world population has reached that magical number of 7 billion and is expected to reach the next billion by 2025.

While the number is a staggering number and does pose a lot of questions in our mind I thought it is time for all of us to ponder over the Opportunities and Threats that this huge number will pose over the coming years.

There was a followup article in Gulf News on 1st November 2011 which gave more data and interesting information on the population growth over the years and how the trend will be over the next several decades. The most interesting information was the annual growth in population which has been the highest in 1963 at 2.2% (the year in which I was born in this world).

It took 122 years from 1805 to 1927 for the world population to grow from 1 Billion to 2 Billion. The last One Billion was added in only 12 years. Now to grow from 7 Billion to 8 Billion it is estimated to take only 14 years.

The opportunities that are coming our way is huge as we need to provide for Water, Food, Clothing and Shelter for additional 1 Billion people worldwide within the next 14 years. The infrastructure needs of the world particularly in under developed and developing nations poses a huge opportunity.

China and India contribute 37% of the world’s population and 60% of the global population is in Asia. Over the last 10 years the focus has been on Asia and it will continue to be the major attraction as it poses huge opportunities.

There is an existing gap in the developing and under developed countries as regards infrastructure. This gap will widen with the rapid growth in population if the infrastructure development is not taken up at rapid pace.

Apart from providing infrastructure (Housing, Healthcare, Education, Airports, Roads, etc.) there is also huge opportunities for the companies that are manufacturing commodities. We should all be happy that there are plenty of opportunities that are available for us over the next several years.

While the opportunities are very exciting and interesting we need to also look at the threats. The increase in population poses threats that are seemingly insurmountable. We are having depleting water table and trees are being felled whereby forests are becoming deserts. The environmental changes over the last 10 years have posed severe threat to the living beings in the world. We need to create better awareness globally and at the same time use the technological advancements to maintain the ecological balance. It is entirely in our hands to make this a livable and lovable globe.

T.P.Anand
5th November 2011, Dubai, U.A.E.