“He didn't try to fix anything that was not broken”: A tale of Ratan Tata’s business legacy

New Delhi: A venture capitalist, a philanthropist, and an astute businessman, Ratan Tata, former Chairman of the Tata Group, bid the world goodbye on October 9, 2024, at the age of 86.

Be it the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) or Tetley, Ratan Tata took Indian entrepreneurship to the world stage.

Speaking of his legacy, Shivaji Dasgupta, a brand consultant, said, “Ratan Tata's legacy should not be seen in terms of revenue growth or acquisitions. That is a valuable but not defining view. Even the Ambanis are significant value creators from scratch. But Ratan Tata's uniqueness lay in his cultural halo. He upheld the values of the group and demonstrated the highest form of corporate statesmanship.

The deepest respect for people, an active stakeholder in integrated nation-building, transitioning philanthropy to CSR, a serious contribution to sport ( Hockey being the latest), representing the highest levels of ethical values. These are the unique, unmatched highlights of his illustrious reign. Acquisitions and expansions do not adequately amplify his astounding integrity.”

Hamsini Shivakumar, Co-Founder, Leapfrog Strategy Consulting, said, “His understanding of the importance of the TATA name as a brand and its value to business and society is profound. Thirty to thirty-five years ago, he directed a team to establish the processes and guardrails for managing the TATA brand.

His commitment to the practice of compassionate capitalism, not rapacious capitalism (value extraction to the max in the name of business efficiency) has ensured that within India, the TATA name is deeply trusted by the ordinary Indian.”

Walking along similar lines, Nisha Sampath, Managing Partner at Bright Angles Consulting LLP said, “While all businesses aspire to have a purpose, Ratan Tata’s achievement was demonstrating how a vastly diversified conglomerate could actually live a purpose, through their actions and words.

Mr Tata inherited the values and culture of the Tata Group but his contribution was to implement it and embed the essence into the organisation, so deeply, that the Tata Group scaled without compromising values. And it could carry the values across different price points, from luxury to mass, and across sectors from services to manufacturing.”

Speaking of how Ratan Tata took the brand global, Vikas Mehta, an independent marketing consultant and visiting faculty, said, “One of the best tributes to Ratan Tata is recognising how he put India on the global map by acquiring Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley. At the time, Jaguar Land Rover was about twice the size of Tata Motors India.”

Adding to Mehta’s words, Shivakumar said, “His forays into the international arena through a focus on brands, not just a trading empire, was an early signal of India's growing ambition for presence and impact on the global stage.

From the perspective of business culture, Ratan Tata as a brand represents the idealised industrialist - entrepreneurial vision, risk-taking, and ambition, growing a business empire while still staying committed to the values of compassion and integrity.”

Commenting on Ratan Tata’s brand-building abilities, Shivakumar went on to say, “As a powerful contributor to the value of brands and brand building through his emphasis on building the TATA brand, realising and accepting that the TATA brand will outlive him by many decades.”

Praising how Ratan Tata positioned the TATA Group, Sampath shared a personal example and said, “A Tata Sky engineer came home to fix my dish and charged me Rs. 40 to replace a component. A day later, I received a call from the Tata Sky office, apologising for wrongly charging me and refunding the amount. It made me feel that the company really watched out for consumer interests rather than just talking about it. This is why, if you ask any consumer, they will trust the Tata Group.”

Defining Ratan Tata’s business acumen, Mehta said, “He didn't try to fix anything that was not broken. To add, Ratan Tata allowed companies like TCS to flourish without interference, recognising their potential. TCS contributes 22% of the total income to Tata Sons but accounts for 50% of the group’s profitability, compared to Tata Motors’ 35%. One significant move he made was implementing a retirement policy, setting the age at 70 or 75, to ensure leadership adapted to the changing landscape, especially with India’s liberalisation.”

Be it brands or people, everything and everyone is a sum total of the stories that go out in the world. Commenting on how the Tata Group narrated its story, Sampath said, “Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate brand values, and the Tata Group has been fantastic at leveraging its legacy and its actions—from philanthropy to Ratan Tata’s advocacy of animal rights, to global mergers and acquisitions. The stories portray a rounded picture of the group, capturing their achievements and ambitions as well as their service to the community.

The man has shown us an alternate model to build a powerful brand and a business—a different way to be a leader. He has helped us to see that the blend of idealism and pragmatism, in the best Indian tradition, can show a path to growth in modern materialistic times.” 

No matter how far and wide the legacy of a person goes, humans are not flawless by design and Ratan Tata was no exception to it. His pet project to build the Nano did not taste the success that he wanted but Ratan Tata did not let a setback define him.

Sharing his perspective on the same Mehta said, “Nobody wants to be told they can’t afford something expensive and be offered a cheap alternative instead. Describing it as a “scooter with a roof” comes across as condescending. The issue was with the positioning, not the price. Regardless of the cost, the product’s positioning must be appropriate. What’s good to know is that Tata Motors emerged as a stronger brand after its failure with the Nano.”

Although his legacy can not be pronounced just felt, Sampath summed up his life by saying, “Values are sometimes nothing more than words on a website, but Tata demonstrated that values are a growth lever for both businesses and individuals. So many organisations struggle to draw from the power of their legacy, turning it into a liability. Ratan Tata showed how legacy, instead of being baggage, can be a fuel for growth.”