Tata LOG by Harish Bhat

I remember studying about Tata in school, how during the British era J R D Tata had a vision to see India flourish in the coming decades. From being a steel company in the colonial period to the multinational business conglomerate it is now, Tata’s legacy and story would always be one to remember and learn from. The book, written by Harish Bhat, beautifully culminates the company’s journey into 8 different stories, with each story highlighting the four P’s which marked the ‘Tata way’ of doing business - Pioneering, Purposive, Principled and what the Tata way isn’t – Perfect. Ranging from how Tanishq entered the otherwise prominent family jewellers filled industry to the way that company decided to built India’s first supercomputer EKA, the book is truly a wonderful read!

One of the chapters narrates the story of how Tata Finance got entangled in accusations against it due to certain wrongdoings of the people working there. The incident had challenged the very values and principles the Tata Company stood for. The entire process of how they dealt with the profound issue and impact imparts life lessons to companies, employees, working professionals, students – everyone alike. To strengthen corporate governance, they installed several processes to strengthen the systems of governance. To prevent insider trading, they had put in a written code. To encourage whistle-blowers to report ethical or vital concerns, they have established policies. For every obstacle, they came up with a way to overcome and deal with it in a transparent manner.

When I read about the beautiful SCIP (Second Career Internship Programme) initiative which the company launched, it made me reflect on how it provides an upliftment to a woman in her career. Many mothers, including mine, take a break and step back from their careers in order to look after their kids. They believe that until the child reaches a certain age where he is capable enough of handling himself and forms a personality, he needs the care, love and nourishment which no one can provide apart from his mother. The break results in a huge drawback in their otherwise flourishing careers. A team led by Satish Pradhan and Rajesh Dahiya talked to women who left their jobs, to find that the majority of them were not able to come back to work full time, under the impression that no company would hire them. The book includes experiences penned down by SCIP Interns. They came from different backgrounds, each of them with different stories of their own. Careers were an integral part of their identities, and were passionate about their jobs.

Reading their experiences made me realise how impactful the initiative was. There’s always a certain level of risk behind every new venture or action undertaken. But what matters, or is the deciding factor between success and failure, is to take a leap ahead, as without, it, we would never have known what might have happened had we not done the same. And that’s what the 8 stories of Tata are about – to take a leap of faith. As with that leap, no matter what, we would always be left with the satisfaction of trying.