Management Lessons from the Masters (Succeed to Inspire Like The Tatas)

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A trading company begun in 1868 is now a global enterprise that operates in a hundred countries across six continents, with a revenue of over $110.7 billion!

In Succeed to Inspire Like the Tatas, Rajiv Agarwal describes the vision and founding philosophy that has helped the Tata Group become India's foremost value-based corporation. Unlike most corporates, their aim has always been to improve the quality of life of communities, and most importantly, build India as a nation. Be it their philanthropic Trusts that support education, health, livelihood generation, art and culture, or their contribution in industries such as IT, steel and automobile, the Tatas have proved that the secret to strong leadership is long-term stakeholder value creation.

The book offers a riveting account of how some of the best-known products and services, including the Nano, came about. It also shows how some of Tata's best acquisitions, including Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, were a result of seeing takeovers as partnerships.

Like the previous two books in the series, this book also offers lessons taken from the successes as well as mistakes made by its leaders, to further inspire the reader into taking effective management decisions.

The Tatas are an institution, and not just an illustrious family whose immense contribution to nation-building helped lay 170 down the foundation of modern-day India. Penning down 172 this book has been a humbling journey for me. I believe 173 that one cannot do justice—in such a compact book—to the achievements of the Group over time, many of which have been the springboard for economic and social development in the country.

This book studies the Tata Group with the intention of bringing forth valuable management lessons for business leaders, entrepreneurs and students. In writing this book, I have carefully handpicked those instances from the workings of the Tata Group that I thought to be the most educational. In selectively addressing a few issues from a wide gamut of subjects, I have assumed certain creative liberties. There are, of course, several subjects I haven't been able to touch upon for various reasons. Readers would be advised not to treat this book as a comprehensive and conclusive record of the achievements of the Tata Group but the subjective interpretation of one author designed specifically for use in an educational environment.

Additionally, since the sources for all the materials in this book are published media sources, there are possibilities of this book suffering inaccuracies due to this reason. Readers are advised to keep this in mind while reading this book.

Hence, in this context, I have attempted to consolidate some of the vital management lessons from the Tata Group—lessons that I consider as the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I hope this book will serve as a primer to understand the workings of a business empire that has established itself as the forerunner of positive change. Having said that, I also realize that the Tata's journey yet has a long way to go.