BOOK REVIEW: TATA LOG, By Harish Bhat

                

TATA LOG is a stellar book written by Harish Bhat, the CEO and MD of Tata Global Beverages Ltd. A master storyteller cum business manager, Mr. Bhat has perfectly mastered both his identities in concocting a book about the India’s largest conglomerate. The book retraces the eventful journey of Tata Groups and puts in plain sight the subtlety that is often missed. As the author unfurls the multi-layered Tata Way of doing business, the underlying values come up. Keeping these values as cornerstones, Mr. Bhat talks about how the company remains a source of trust and inspiration for both its employees and customers. Being one among the Tata Log (People) himself, his personal pride in working for one of the oldest industrial families of India is resonated throughout the book and adds an emotional tinge to it.

What the book talks about??

          About the Company: Having charted a cosmic and proud growth through numerous decades, Tata has never been one to walk alone on the paths of glory. It has always been intent on engendering a progress that brings together and elevates its employees, the community and the nation as a whole. Taking eight anecdotes from the corridors of the 150 year old Tata Group, the author has excellently brewed them together to draft the ‘TATA LOG’, thereby underpinning the claimed existence of the famous Tata Way. Tata Way is the unique style with which the 90 odd businesses of the group are managed successfully with values and standards maintained on a pedestal.

Employee Pride: As we read through, we can observe stark evidences of pride and contentment that the employees get by being a Tata person. Inclusion of quotes and testimonies from numerous employees working at different levels in various businesses of the group also throw light on the delightful Tata life. The Leadership front of the group is beautifully portrayed in every narrative and it is absolutely clear that social innovations are welcomed in the C-Suite with equal zeal. The stories of the Okhai and SCIP support the proposition even more. On the other hand, the author’s recounting of the inception of Tanishq amidst challenges outlines the empowerment and leeway provided to employees.

        TATA VALUES: To quote JRD Tata - 'I have often come to the conclusion that if we were like other groups, we would be twice as big as we are today. What we have sacrificed is a 100 per cent growth, but we wouldn't want it any other way.' These words are a standing proof for how ethicality and values win over profits on any given day in a Tata-owned corporate. The author elaborates on this value part and goes on to explain the four magical P’s of Tata: PIONEERING, PURPOSIVE, PRINCIPLED, and NOT PERFECT.

         Pioneering is a quality that comes naturally to the Tata generation. They have always been at the helm of affairs aiming for upliftment and empowerment. Such is this contagious spirit, that the TATA managers can be seen spearheading every kind of innovations and materialising new ideas all around. “History may say we failed, or History may even say that it succeeded; All we know is that we thought of it and we did it. We produced India’s first car” – Ratan Tata. It is the company that made the first Indian car; that effected the first-ever acquisition of an iconic global brand by an Indian company; that built India’s first supercomputer ‘EKA’; whose steel business was the only company outside Japan to win the Deming Prize in 2009. The author’s tone is deeply motivated as he narrates his own experiences under the herculean effort of corporatizing the Indian Jewellery market and conceiving Tanishq in the process.

Purposive: That which has a purpose finds a perennial place for itself. With such a purpose in hand, Tata embraced longevity and has become a timeless institution as termed by the author. The fundamental purpose was Jamshetji Tata’s dream of an industrialized and prosperous India. Purposiveness still remains a sturdy hallmark of the Tata Group in modern times. This is marked by an unwavering approach of putting the nation and the community at the heart of its activities. In every story, there is an essence of purpose.

Principled: The author believes that companies earn a right to call themselves PRINCIPLED when they act in accordance with morality, and show a clear recognition of right and wrong in everything that they do. By the simple yardstick, the Tata Group has done well. Some of these facets of a principled character are illustrated through the story of Tata Finance.

Not Perfect: Mr. Bhat has made sure in strongly communicating the 4^th P of his employer: NOT PERFECT. He says there is an expectation from the world that the Tata Group is perfect and infallible. But, the author stresses on the fact that the group does make errors and loses its way at times. In the story of Tata Indica, there were early errors of product quality that were nearly fatal to the project. Similarly, in the story of Tanishq, there were once again early but extended errors in reading the consumer and the market, which led to prolonged losses. What the author does emphasize is that the group is a learning organization and strives continuously to set right the deviations and glitches that it tackles on the way.

CONCLUSION: In short, Tata Log is a book that encapsulates the integral spirit of the Tata Way in an enchanting manner with great examples. Though one would feel missing the stories of the terrorist attack on Taj or the TCS success or the Tata Airlines issue, it does bring down the impact the book has on its reader. By the time the reader reaches the last page of Tata Log, there is sure to be a kindling of desire inside the reader’s mind to experience life as a Tata Log (People). As such, the book in itself is a great tool for employer branding and the stories depict the fulfilling life on all fronts that the company promises to its employees. The book further is a manual of how the brand promise can be successfully delivered through various fronts like leadership, Work-Life, Job Challenges and Employee Engagement.