The clash of titans, MSN India's initiative to catch the pulse of readers and get them to vote business leader of the year, showed up an outright winner.
Nearly 60 per cent of MSN viewers voted for Ratan Naval Tata, followed by a tie between Anand Mahindra and Nandan Nilekani, both scoring 10% each. Next on our readers' preference are Vijay Mallya and N R Narayana Murthy.
A quick glance at what makes Tata, the audacious visionary, our readers' favourite:
That Ratan Naval Tata, the current chairman of India's largest conglomerate Tata Group, is a true visionary emerged even before the onset of 2009. Tata's daring double acquisition -- first steel maker Corus in 2007 and later luxury car marquees Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 -- provided the perfect background for 2009 to unfold and become the year when the name Tata would be the most spoken about Indian business group world over.
Known for several similar audacious acquisitions, Tata's panache for remarkable product launches within India, earned him a reputation of price-sensitive and quality-conscious business strategist.
Adversity is an opportunity for Ratan Tata
Voted as the Business Leader of the Year by MSN India readers and rightly so, Ratan Tata is never one to be bogged down by criticism and the recessionary market. In fact, he has always set his eyes on opportunities within any adversity.
Be it the Singur controversy surrounding the building of a manufacturing unit for Nano or the burning down of the Taj Mahal hotel during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Tata never spared a moment to reconstruct his plans and shift strategies. His aggressive overseas expansion plan and selective domestic launches targeting the entry segment in markets have made Tata Group an irresistible attraction for any wallet-conscious consumer.
Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, Tata became the chairman of the Tata Group in 1991 after serving in various capacities in different companies of the Group. Despite it being the family business, Tata had to work hard to earn his stripes.
He joined the Group, founded by great grandfather Jamshedji Tata, in December 1962, after turning down a job with IBM, on the advice of J R D Tata, Jamshedji's first cousin.
The Humble Beginning
Tata is a science graduate, with a structural engineering degree from Cornell University, New York. He also underwent the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School. He began his career in the family business at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, on the floor along with other blue-collar employees, digging up limestone and working at the blast furnaces.
His first major assignment at the Group was as director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO) in 1971. When he took over charge of the Tata Group from J R D Tata in 1991, his first task was to move out the old guard and replace them with younger managers.
Under him, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors came up with the Tata Indica, the first truly Indian car, and Ratan's brainchild.
Today, under his dynamic leadership, the Tata Group has the largest market capitalisation of any business house on the Indian stock market.
Kingsize Leaps: Corus, Jaguar and Nano
Ratan Tata was also responsible for possibly two of the Group's biggest business deal coups in the recent past. In 2007, Tata Sons acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminium producer. Last year, Tata Motors fought of hard competition to buy iconic British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for 1.15 billion pounds ($2.3 billion).
But his biggest achievement is undoubtedly the Tata Nano, marketed as the world's cheapest car. Fighting off intense hurdles, including a racing deadline, his commitment to deliver the car at the record-low pricing of Rs.1 lakh (with his 'a promise is a promise' declaration ringing in the background) and a belligerent Mamata Banerjee, Tata eventually succeeded in launching the Nano at the New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008.
The price of the Nano might have gone up slightly since then, but nobody seems to mind that too much. Especially Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who successfully invited the Nano project to Sanand near Ahmedabad, at an investment of Rs.2000 crore. The corporate world also hailed the Nano's exit from its troubled nesting grounds of West Bengal, as it finally got Mamata out of the way of Ratan Tata's dream project.
The Game Changer: DoCoMo
Tata's recent joint venture with the Japanese firm DoCoMo Inc has created a revolution of sorts in the telecom sector, what with call tariffs of 1 paisa per second charged for calls anywhere in India. The new network forced other players, right from Airtel down, to reduce their call-charge rates.
Only on December 30 this year, Ratan Tata succeeded with another dream project, a Nano of sorts in water purifiers. Marketed on similar lines, as a water purifier of the masses, Swach (which is Hindi for 'clean'), is a two-foot-high affair that promises to deliver safe, clean drinking water to millions of Indians. The purifier is also sold at competitive prices, in two variants of Rs.749 and Rs.999.
The launch of the water purifier was a low-key affair as compared to that of the Nano, but it appears set to emerge from the shadows of its more popular cousin and serve the masses.
Power Lists and more
Ratan Tata has also received several honours during his career, including the Padma Vibhushan last year and an appointment as an honorary 'Knight Commander of the British Empire' this year.
He was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business by Fortune magazine in 2007, and has also made it to Time magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 most influential people.
Tata, who is due for retirement as chairman of the Tata Group by 2012, has indicated that an expat might lead the group as chairman. But it remains to be seen who will take over at the helm, as there is a lot of time yet left for Ratan Tata to continue doing what he does best. In any case, his retirement will undoubtedly leave huge shoes to fill.
Source: India Syndicate
Nearly 60 per cent of MSN viewers voted for Ratan Naval Tata, followed by a tie between Anand Mahindra and Nandan Nilekani, both scoring 10% each. Next on our readers' preference are Vijay Mallya and N R Narayana Murthy.
A quick glance at what makes Tata, the audacious visionary, our readers' favourite:
That Ratan Naval Tata, the current chairman of India's largest conglomerate Tata Group, is a true visionary emerged even before the onset of 2009. Tata's daring double acquisition -- first steel maker Corus in 2007 and later luxury car marquees Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 -- provided the perfect background for 2009 to unfold and become the year when the name Tata would be the most spoken about Indian business group world over.
Known for several similar audacious acquisitions, Tata's panache for remarkable product launches within India, earned him a reputation of price-sensitive and quality-conscious business strategist.
Adversity is an opportunity for Ratan Tata
Voted as the Business Leader of the Year by MSN India readers and rightly so, Ratan Tata is never one to be bogged down by criticism and the recessionary market. In fact, he has always set his eyes on opportunities within any adversity.
Be it the Singur controversy surrounding the building of a manufacturing unit for Nano or the burning down of the Taj Mahal hotel during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Tata never spared a moment to reconstruct his plans and shift strategies. His aggressive overseas expansion plan and selective domestic launches targeting the entry segment in markets have made Tata Group an irresistible attraction for any wallet-conscious consumer.
Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, Tata became the chairman of the Tata Group in 1991 after serving in various capacities in different companies of the Group. Despite it being the family business, Tata had to work hard to earn his stripes.
He joined the Group, founded by great grandfather Jamshedji Tata, in December 1962, after turning down a job with IBM, on the advice of J R D Tata, Jamshedji's first cousin.
The Humble Beginning
Tata is a science graduate, with a structural engineering degree from Cornell University, New York. He also underwent the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School. He began his career in the family business at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, on the floor along with other blue-collar employees, digging up limestone and working at the blast furnaces.
His first major assignment at the Group was as director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO) in 1971. When he took over charge of the Tata Group from J R D Tata in 1991, his first task was to move out the old guard and replace them with younger managers.
Under him, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors came up with the Tata Indica, the first truly Indian car, and Ratan's brainchild.
Today, under his dynamic leadership, the Tata Group has the largest market capitalisation of any business house on the Indian stock market.
Kingsize Leaps: Corus, Jaguar and Nano
Ratan Tata was also responsible for possibly two of the Group's biggest business deal coups in the recent past. In 2007, Tata Sons acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminium producer. Last year, Tata Motors fought of hard competition to buy iconic British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for 1.15 billion pounds ($2.3 billion).
But his biggest achievement is undoubtedly the Tata Nano, marketed as the world's cheapest car. Fighting off intense hurdles, including a racing deadline, his commitment to deliver the car at the record-low pricing of Rs.1 lakh (with his 'a promise is a promise' declaration ringing in the background) and a belligerent Mamata Banerjee, Tata eventually succeeded in launching the Nano at the New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008.
The price of the Nano might have gone up slightly since then, but nobody seems to mind that too much. Especially Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who successfully invited the Nano project to Sanand near Ahmedabad, at an investment of Rs.2000 crore. The corporate world also hailed the Nano's exit from its troubled nesting grounds of West Bengal, as it finally got Mamata out of the way of Ratan Tata's dream project.
The Game Changer: DoCoMo
Tata's recent joint venture with the Japanese firm DoCoMo Inc has created a revolution of sorts in the telecom sector, what with call tariffs of 1 paisa per second charged for calls anywhere in India. The new network forced other players, right from Airtel down, to reduce their call-charge rates.
Only on December 30 this year, Ratan Tata succeeded with another dream project, a Nano of sorts in water purifiers. Marketed on similar lines, as a water purifier of the masses, Swach (which is Hindi for 'clean'), is a two-foot-high affair that promises to deliver safe, clean drinking water to millions of Indians. The purifier is also sold at competitive prices, in two variants of Rs.749 and Rs.999.
The launch of the water purifier was a low-key affair as compared to that of the Nano, but it appears set to emerge from the shadows of its more popular cousin and serve the masses.
Power Lists and more
Ratan Tata has also received several honours during his career, including the Padma Vibhushan last year and an appointment as an honorary 'Knight Commander of the British Empire' this year.
He was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business by Fortune magazine in 2007, and has also made it to Time magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 most influential people.
Tata, who is due for retirement as chairman of the Tata Group by 2012, has indicated that an expat might lead the group as chairman. But it remains to be seen who will take over at the helm, as there is a lot of time yet left for Ratan Tata to continue doing what he does best. In any case, his retirement will undoubtedly leave huge shoes to fill.
Source: India Syndicate
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