Title: Jamsetji Tata: Powerful Learnings For Corporate Success
Authors: R Gopalakrishnan, Harish Bhat
Genre: Business/Self-Help
Publisher: Penguin Business
Format: Hard Copy
Price: Rs 599
No of Pages: 221
Link for Purchase: Amazon
My Take:
The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate that the philosophy and the principles laid down by the founder of the Tata empire, Jamsetji Tata, are the bedrock on which the Tata group flourishes even today and those principles have percolated right down to modern times. In this respect, the authors have succeeded to a considerable extent and we can see that Jamsetji was a man of great vision and foresight.
The book’s narrative is fluent and it reads like a story. Come to think of it, it is indeed a story of determined men who sowed a seed and grew it into the mighty tree that is the Tata business empire today. The book is divided into ten chapters detailing the ten P’s laid down by the founding fathers. These stand for Philosophy, Purpose, Progress, People, Pioneering, Persistence, Principles, Profit, Perspectives and finally a Postscript containing an imagined conversation. Instead of reading like a dry book on business ideas, the authors have infused each chapter with warmth and a humane touch that makes the book a very interesting read even to a person like me who isn’t very sound on business ideas. Each chapter narrates three stories that are picked from the long 150-year History of the Tatas and demonstrate the solid principles that Jamsetji laid down.
The book takes us through the germination and growth of the Tata industrial empire from the times of Jamsedji Tata when he began the Empress mills in Nagpur to modern times when Tata Consultancy Services is a global leader in information technology. We learn about the path-breaking initiatives taken by Jamsetji Tata who ventured into several new areas like Hydropower, Tata Steel and Tata Electric which were a monopoly of the British during his times.
The book is peppered with anecdotes from the times of the chairmanship of the group by men of the stature of Jamsetji himself, his son Dorabji, Sumant Moolgaokar, JRD Tata and several others. I was greatly impressed by the story of Dorabji and his wife Meherbai who used their personal wealth when there were no funds to pay the workers of Tata Steel and it looked like the magnificent steel plant which provided livelihood to so many people would shut down.
Under pioneering we learn of JRD Tata who was an Aviator himself and who ventured into the aviation industry despite strong opposition from Dorabji Tata and how Air India was born. The story demonstrates the persistence JRD Tata showed. Under the chapter titled people I was very impressed by the trust JRD Tata placed on a young Chemical engineer by the name of Darbari Seth and how this trust resulted in the birth of Tata Chemicals and the indigenous manufacture of Soda ash in India.
The authors also demonstrate that in business one has to cut losses sometimes and Jamsetji wisely decided to call it quits and shut down the Tata Shipping Line or Tata Line when faced with unfair trade practices from a British company. Similarly Tata Telecom did not work out. Under principles we are told of the prompt action taken by the Tatas when it was reported that there were some fraudulent practices reported in Tata finance.
The establishment of the Tata jewellery brand Tanishq is of particular interest. There are a lot of other stories in the book and it makes extremely interesting reading. The authors have set out to demonstrate that when it comes to the Tata empire it is the society which is the stakeholder and profit is a byproduct of industry. In other words the Tatas practice ‘socialist capitalism’. This is something that they have accomplished with great aplomb. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Do pick this book if you want to learn about how the Tata empire was built and the solid philosophy and principles that govern it even today.
Conclusion: This is a fabulous read demonstrating the rise of the Tata empire from a textile industry to a global business conglomerate over a period of 150 years. Do pick it up.
Rating: I am going with a 5/5 for this book. It is indeed an outstanding read.
Rating Scale:
1 Poor
2 Fair
3 Good
4 Excellent
5 Outstanding The review has been written as part of the Blogchatter Book Review Program.