Ratan Naval Tata: 21st Century and Beyond

Rata Tata - Toppest CEO in INDIAAt the helm of Tata Group since the retirement of JRD Tata in 1991, Mr. Ratan Naval Tata, the son of Naval H. Tata, has made the Tata Group a global player. The January 10, 2005 issue of Forbes Asia, named Ratan Tata as Asia's Businessman of the Year. Under Mr. Ratan Tata's guidance, the Tata Group has grown rapidly and made forays into new industries and areas of business. Mr. Ratan N. Tata is the Chairman of Tata Sons Limited, the holding company of the Tata Group, and the Chairman of major Tata operating companies. In addition, Mr. Tata serves on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India and is on the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. He also heads the Investment Commission, which he recently set up with the Government of India.

A leader in the worldwide business community, Mr. Tata serves on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz-Allen Hamilton Inc. He is also a member of the International Investment Council of the President of South Africa, the Asia Pacific Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange and chairs the Advisory Board of Rand's Center for Asia Pacific Policy.

Mr. Tata is a role model in both his personal life and professional career. He serves as the Chairman of two of the largest private-sector philanthropic undertakings in India: the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation and of the program board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's India Aids Initiative.

Naval Hormusji Tata: The People's Person

N H Tata - Leader as WorkerBorn in August 1904, Naval H. Tata joined the Tata Group in 1930, and by 1933 he was the secretary of the Group's Aviation division. In 1939 he was made the Managing Director of the Group's textile companies and in 1941 was made the Director of Tata Sons. Mr. Naval Tata was actively engaged with the Tata Charities and served as the Chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust from 1965 to the time of his passing. He was the founder President of the Indian Cancer Society and held the position from 1951 through 1989.

His most valuable contribution outside of business was in the domain of labor relations. He believed in responsible negotiations between employers, workers and governments in the search for equitable solutions to labor issues. For over four decades he provided a voice of reason, consideration and conciliation to national and international organizations working to minimize employer-employee friction. He was an employer who always regarded himself as a trustee of the rights and interests of workers. Mr. Naval Tata became part of Geneva-based International Labor Organisation governing body in 1951 and continued in the post till 1989. He was also a member of the International Organisation of Employers for 38 years and was the president of the Employers' Federation of India from 1959 to 1985. Naval Tata symbolized all that is best of the Tata spirit of giving back to society and the communities in which its enterprises grow.

He was also an avid sports lover and Indian field hockey was another beneficiary of his capabilities. He was the administrative head of the game in India when the country won gold in three successive Olympics. Mr. Naval Tata's caring and endearing nature, his abiding concern for the poor, his love of a good laugh and his instinct to trust even those not worthy of it, made him one of a kind. He married Simone in 1955. Mr. Naval Tata passed away in 1989.

Jehangir R. D. Tata: The Aviator

J.R.D. Tata - Moderator
The son of Mr. R.D. Tata and his French wife, Jehangir R.D. Tata was born in France in 1904 and educated at Janson Besailly, Paris. In 1925 he joined Tata and Sons, of which his father was a founding Director, together with Dorabji and Ratanji (R.J.) Tata. On his father's death in 1926, Mr. J. R. D. Tata became a director of Tata Sons. In 1932, at his initiative, the Airlines Division of Tata Sons was started. Tata Airlines marked the birth of regular air transportation in the Indian subcontinent. The airline finally evolved into Air India, of which, after nationalization, Mr. J. R. D. Tata remained Chairman till 1978. In 1938, the Directors of Tata Sons, all senior to him, elected him as the Chairman of the Tata Group - at that time, the largest industrial group of companies in India.

Jehangir R.D. Tata, affectionately known as "JRD," played a critical role in increasing India's scientific, medical and artistic quotient. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, The Tata Memorial Hospital, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, each an exemplar of excellence in its field, were projects that could not have come to fruition without the steadfast support of JRD. He was married to Thelma in 1930. When JRD died in Geneva on November 29, 1993, everyone agreed that a noble son of India had passed on.

Tata's Founder - jamshedji

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata: The Founder of the House of Tata






Jamshetji Nusserwanji TataBorn in Navasari, India, in 1839, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata is considered the Founder of the House of Tata. The son of a prosperous and widely traveled merchant, Jamsetji entered his father's business in 1859, and soon after, was made responsible for the setting up of an overseas office of his father's firm, first in Hong Kong, and a few years later in Shanghai. In 1869, he acquired the land and assets of an oil-mill in Chinchpokli and refurbished it to enable the production in India of cotton-cloth. This experiment led to the foundation of the successful Empress Mills in 1877. With this, the House of Tata formally set out to play a vital role in the industrialization of India.

In the mid 1880's, Mr. Jamsetji Tata selected two lieutenants from his own family: his cousin, Ratanji Dadabhai (R.D.) Tata, as well as his 25-year old elder son, Dorabji Jamsetji Tata. As a young lad Dorabji had been his father's constant companion, traveling with him to distant lands and had therefore profited by the wide reading and the intellectual conversation that came his way. A few years later, Mr. Jamsetji Tata's younger son, Ratanji Jamsetji (R.J.) Tata, was also brought into the family business. Together with R.D. Tata and his own two sons, Mr. Jamsetji Tata set into motion a series of projects that changed the face of India. Noteworthy projects included the Swadeshi and Advance Mills, the Indian Institute of Science, the legendary Taj Mahal Hotel, Tata Iron and Steel Company and the Tata Hydro-electric Project. Mr. Jamsetji Tata passed away in Bad Neuheim, Germany, on May 19, 1904.

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