The Last Rahaj: Retan Tata - Challenges Faced by Tata Group

Running head: THE LAST RAHAJ: RETAN TATA 1
The Last Rahaj: Retan Tata
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THE LAST RAHAJ: RETAN TATA 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Source problem..........................................................................................................3
2.0 Secondary problems...................................................................................................3
2.1 Emerging organization structure............................................................................3
2.2 Divergence of ventures and investments...............................................................4
2.3 Human resource - Tata Global Beverages.............................................................4
3.0 Analysis.....................................................................................................................4
3.1 Organization structure, the divergence of ventures and investments....................4
3.2 Human resource Tata Global Beverages...............................................................5
4.0 Alternatives................................................................................................................6
4.1 Tata group may consider employing development practitioner............................6
4.2 Ratan Tata will have to consider the successor Ratan...........................................6
4.3 Retaining older and experienced workers..............................................................6
4.4 Forming a team consisting of outside professionals..............................................7
5.0 Recommendations and justifications.........................................................................7
6.0 Implementation, control, and follow-up....................................................................7
7.0 References..................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX A................................................................................................................11

THE LAST RAHAJ: RETAN TATA 3
1.0 Source problem
Among the business titans in Asia, Ratan N. Tata stands out for his modesty. The Tata
group is a global enterprise that was found in 1868, by Jamsetji Tata (Sen, 1975). With their
headquarters based in India, the group operates in more than 100 countries worldwide with more
than 100 independent companies (Thomsen, 2011). The company is involved in goods and
services including; software, beverages, steel, cars, consulting services, hotels, and phones. As at
2015/2016, the revenue earned by Tata was $103.5 billion and the employee strength was of over
660,000 people ("Standalone Results", 2018)
The case explains the aggressive expansion implemented by Tata group in the last several
years under the leadership of Ratan Tata. This aggressiveness and diversification led to
challenges and issues that affected the company on a long term and short-term basis as discussed.
2.0 Secondary problems
The rapid growth of Tata group resulted in the emergence of 300 subsidiaries companies
in different 50 businesses ("Standalone Results", 2018). This aggressive growth resulted in
different problems, which were short-term and long-term. They included:
2.1 Emerging organization structure
According to Osagie (2012), the emergence of two different organizational structure in
different geographical location can represent a significant problem in productivity and quality
when the aggressive acquisition of business occurs. From the case study of Tata, the group tried
to trade their motors from their production under another company in Britain named “Rover,”
but the venture did not succeed as it lasted for only two years along with critics about quality
(Ramamurti and Sigh, 2009). Dailymail (2012), Listed the car as the least reliable car in the UK

THE LAST RAHAJ: RETAN TATA 4
with a failure rate of about 70%. It was followed by another affiliate of Tata jaguar with the
failure rate of 45% (Massey, 2012).
2.2 Divergence of ventures and investments
The aggressive growth of Tata led to the acquisition of several companies and other
companies merged such as the acquisition of Tata BP solar limited and Daewoo’s truck unit.
Therefore, in case of acquisition of merger, a process should be installed to manage cultural
differences between organizations. This created a long-term issue for Tata group since it is
almost impossible to create one strategy to serve more than 100 companies with 300 subsidiaries
(Taylor, 2000). A more aggressive risk deal is faced by Tata group at the global level where
some measures are being implemented by Tata to compensate for their global competitive
weakness.
2.3 Human resource - Tata Global Beverages
Due to complaints by workers against corporation concerning abuse and exploitation of
tea pickers, an investigation was launched against international Finance Corporation. The
workers were complaining about poor working conditions, long working hours with poor wages,
and being forced to buy shares without adequate information ("Standalone Results", 2018).
The investigations realized that ICFC could not address and identify some issues
regarding social, labor, and environment that could violate the international and India law.
3.0 Analysis
3.1 Organization structure, the divergence of ventures and investments.
Cross-Cultural management must be applied in MNC’s such as Tata Group to overcome
future obstacles that will create conflict within the organization, further insight whether the new