Business sectors

Information technology and communications The Tata group has well-established enterprises in the fields of software and other information systems, telecommunications and industrial automation Engineering products and services The Tata group has a robust presence in engineering, with operations in automobiles and auto components and a variety of other engineering products and services. Materials The Tata group is among the global leaders in this business sector, with operations in steel and composites Services The Tata group has widespread interests in the hospitality business, as also in insurance, realty and financial and other services. Energy The Tata group is a significant player in power generation and is also involved in the oil and gas segment. Consumer products The Tata group has a strong and longstanding business in watches and jewellery, and a growing presence in the retail industry. Chemicals The Tata group is one of the largest producers of soda ash in the world. Additionally, it has interests in fertilisers and in the pharmaceuticals business.

Tata companies have operations in every major international market

AFRICA ASIA PACIFIC CHINA EUROPE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM

Values and purpose

Purpose At the Tata group we are committed to improving the quality of life of the communities we serve. We do this by striving for leadership and global competitiveness in the business sectors in which we operate. Our practice of returning to society what we earn evokes trust among consumers, employees, shareholders and the community. We are committed to protecting this heritage of leadership with trust through the manner in which we conduct our business. Core values Tata has always been values-driven. These values continue to direct the growth and business of Tata companies. The five core Tata values underpinning the way we do business are: Integrity: We must conduct our business fairly, with honesty and transparency. Everything we do must stand the test of public scrutiny. Understanding: We must be caring, show respect, compassion and humanity for our colleagues and customers around the world, and always work for the benefit of the communities we serve. Excellence: We must constantly strive to achieve the highest possible standards in our day-to-day work and in the quality of the goods and services we provide. Unity: We must work cohesively with our colleagues across the group and with our customers and partners around the world, building strong relationships based on tolerance, understanding and mutual cooperation. Responsibility: We must continue to be responsible, sensitive to the countries, communities and environments in which we work, always ensuring that what comes from the people goes back to the people many times over.

At Tata, innovation is a critical vector for improving quality, performance and competitiveness
Tata companies look at innovation as a strategic approach to growth and leadership. The Tata group has adopted a threepronged strategy to encourage and enhance innovation across business sectors, companies and regions. The three key drivers are better communication and recognition of innovative ideas and efforts; facilities and initiatives that enable learning from other companies; and support for collaborative research and partnerships with academia. Over the last few years, the group has established a number of initiatives that encourage, enable and empower innovative measures within Tata companies. Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF): This initiative brings together a community of senior innovation enthusiasts from across Tata companies. The role of TGIF is to plan and roll out group-level initiatives, which help Tata companies establish a culture of innovation. Innovation workshops: Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS) invites experts to talk about various aspects of innovation and share best practices with Tata managers. Clayton Christensen, Prof Henry Chesbrough of the University of California, Berkeley, Dr James Canton, Prof Julian Birkinshaw of the London Business School, Langdon Morris, and David Wittenberg are among those who have held such workshops in the recent past. TQMS and Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC) regularly organise workshops and programmes on building an innovation culture and innovation metrics and tools. Tata Innovista: Instituted to encourage creative thinking, this annual event and contest recognises and awards innovation among group companies. Tata Innovation Mission: Under this programme, senior Tata executives visit companies across the world to study how they foster innovation. These missions have visited companies such as Microsoft, Intel, HP and 3M in the US; Nissan, Fuji, Ito En, Olympus, Toshiba and Hitachi in Japan; and Netafim, Teva and IDE Technologies in Israel. Tata executives also visited the University of Cambridge in the UK to understand their eco-system for innovation. Collaboration for innovation: The group has set up several platforms for collaboration on technology and innovation both within the Tata ecosystem and with external organisations such as DuPont. Research orientation and partnerships with academia The Tata group invests in building outstanding research facilities and forging partnerships with academic and research organisations in order to encourage creative thinking and find innovative solutions that improve our quality of life.

Business excellence
One of the initiatives in the business excellence movement is a framework known as the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM), which has been adapted from the renowned Malcolm Baldrige archetype. TBEM assesses core aspects of business operations: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, process management and business results. The model works under the aegis of Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), an in-house organisation mandated to help different Tata companies achieve their business excellence and improvement goals. In recent years, the TBEM framework has been adapted to include new business and societal initiatives such as governance, safety, climate change and innovation.

Business excellence
The other core elements of the Tata business excellence movement are the Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC), a mandatory pan-Tata policy that defines how Tata employees can conduct themselves, and the Management of Business Ethics, a programme that helps Tata companies drive ethics and values in the organisation.

Business excellence
TQMS Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), a division of Tata Sons (the principal promoter company of the Tata group of companies), is a trusted partner, working closely with Tata companies to achieve their business excellence and improvement goals. Through TBEM, TQMS helps Tata companies gain insights on their strengths and their opportunities for improvement. This is managed through an annual process of 'applications and assessments'. Each company writes an application wherein it describes, in the context of the TBEM matrix, what it does and how it does it. This submission is then gauged by trained assessors, who study the application, visit the company and interact with its people. The assessors map out the strengths and improvement opportunities existing in the company before providing their feedback to its leadership team.

Business excellence
TBEM The TBEM methodology has been moulded to deliver strategic direction and drive business improvement. It contains elements that enable companies following its directives to capture the best of global business processes and practices. The model has retained its relevance thanks to the dynamism built into its core. This translates into an ability to evolve and stay in step with ever-changing business performance parameters. The TBEM matrix is used for the organisational self-assessment of Tata companies, recognition and awards, and for providing feedback to applicants. In addition, TBEM plays three important supportive roles in strengthening the competitiveness of Tata companies:
It helps improve business excellence practices, capabilities and results. It facilitates communication and sharing of best practices among Tata companies. It serves as a working tool for understanding and managing performance, for providing planning guidance, and for identifying learning opportunities.

Business excellence
The TBEM methodology comprises a set of questions that applicant Tata companies have to answer. Its main objectives are to enhance value to customers and contribute to marketplace success; maximise enterprise-wide effectiveness and capabilities; and deliver organisational and personal learning. The core values and concepts of TBEM are embodied in seven categories: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and business results. The TBEM system focuses on certain key areas of business performance: customer-focused results; product and service results; financial and market results; human resource results; organisational effectiveness results; governance and social responsibility results.

 La empresa Tata Motors se centro en superar la Barrera financiera al observar cmo se desplazaban las familias en la India, para los que se plante producir un coche tan asequible de forma que se conviertiera en una alternativa viable para los consumidores indios que utilizan actualmente escteres para transportar familias enteras.

Para competir con las motocicletas, Tata necesita vender un coche por slo 2.000 dlares, lo que significa disear una forma de tener beneficios con unos mrgenes unitarios radicalmente ms bajos. El coche de Tata de $2.000, el Nano, que compensa los menores mrgenes mediante el acoplamiento de volmenes de ventas muy grandes y con una estructura de costes radicalmente inferior. Se ha guiado por algunas ideas creativas para disminuir los costes: reduccin del nmero de piezas del coche y externalizacin predominante en su fabricacin, lo que limita el nmero de proveedores, y experimentar con el envo de componentes modulares a sus distribuidores para su montaje final. El modelo de negocio necesita comprobar la viabilidad de una puesta en prctica exitosa, hacer un Prototipado rpido del modelo de negocio, tanto para verificar su viabilidad definitiva, como para perfeccionar su desempeo. Como muestra, una cita del prlogo, escrito por John Seeley Brown, del libro Innovacin Abierta de Henry Chesbrough: Por lo tanto, como un aspecto para innovar la innovacin, tenemos que encontrar maneras de experimentar no slo con la innovacin de producto en s misma, sino tambin con nuevos modelos de negocio. El prototipado rpido de modelos de negocio tiene una importancia crtica para el futuro de la innovacin tecnolgica, y Henry Chesbrough lo convierte en un elemento central de la estrategia de innovacin abierta de este libro. Experimentar con prototipos rpidos de modelo de negocio permitir el aprendizaje necesario en toda creacin de un nuevo negocio, avanzando en la cohesin del talento del equipo, para poder comprobar la capacidad de generar beneficios antes de enfocar los recursos en el crecimiento del negocio.