secret of sucess

[meenakshisekar]

<DIV>Secret behind Ratan Tata's success</ARTTITLE></ARTTITLE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Strongly favouring opening up of retail sector to FDI, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata on Friday said any apprehension that multinational retailers will kill domestic ones was "not true".

Asking Indian business leaders to overcome their fears of foreign competition, Tata said: "There is there fear that if retail is opened up to the world, the Wal-Marts and Costcos will overrun us, and Indian retail industry will die. But its not true".

Competition was the most exhilarating force one could have, Tata, who heads the leading retail chain Trent Ltd with its Westside stores all over the country, said.

"If you succeed, you know you have succeeded against your competitor in a fair and just manner, he said pointing out that protectionist polices like licensing of businesses, which kept foreign investors out resulted in limited economic growth and encouraged corruption.

Indian Government has opened only single-brand retail to 51 per cent of FDI with prior approval even as the debate on opening up the multi-brand retail is hotting up.

Observing that Indian industry needs to be socially responsible, industrialist Ratan Tata has urged business leaders to create livelihood opportunities in rural areas as well as ensure jobs in the future for the country's growing young population.

"In addition to creating value for shareholders, industry has a responsibility to the 60 per cent of (India's)population that is not industrialised and is living in rural areas," Tata said while delivering the 2006 Robert S Hatfield Fellow lecture at Cornell University.

"We (businesses) need to operate with principles and values," he said adding that in a country like India with a large disadvantaged population, one "cannot create great wealth without making an effort to spread the wealth."

But whenever there was talk about social responsibility, "we've been told we're depriving our shareholders of something that belongs to them," he said.

According to Tata, while that might be true in the short term, the goodwill gained by bringing mobile medical units to rural communities in India and offering job training in South Africa has paid off for the Tata Group in the long term.

Asserting that India has tremendous human capital, he noted that one-fifth of India's billion-plus people is below 20 years of age and by 2040, the country will have the world's largest working-age population, surpassing even China's.

"These young Indians want a place in the sun, education, a job, the kind of life they know exists from television. Will there be jobs for them?" he asked.

If not, the country may see "the makings of a revolution," Tata added.

Tata pointed out that in the last few years, other countries have started to look at India with a great deal of interest, particularly in the IT industry.

As a result, India's economy is growing at a rate of 7 to 8 per cent a year, he said asserting that "it is not a bubble but is sustainable."

"We haven't had labour strife in 40 to 50 years," he said and new Tata enterprises are welcomed because of the group's reputation as a community builder.

"I go home at night thinking, 'we've done the right thing,'" Tata said adding that he wants others to share that approach.

He also asked India's business leaders to overcome their fears of foreign competition, break with tradition and abandon protectionist policies like licensing of businesses, which he said kept foreign investors out, resulted in limited economic growth and encouraged corruption. </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>"There is the fear that if retail is opened up to the world, the Wal-Marts and Costcos will overrun us, and Indian retail industry will die. But it's not true," the chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, said.

Tata cited the example of the country's first India-made car, launched by Tata Motors under his leadership. It prospered by competing effectively against the world's best automakers, he said.

"Competition is the most exhilarating force you can have. If you succeed, you know you have succeeded against your competitor in a fair and just manner," he said.

The Hatfield Fellowship is the highest honour that the Cornell University grants to business leaders.
</DIV>

[Spoorthi]

good one