Abstract
Tata Group is an Indian conglomerate that throughout its history has combined business success with a positive model of “philanthropy with a purpose.” That purpose has evolved from seeking to assist India’s masses in overcoming centuries of foreign domination and colonialism, to supporting various efforts in social uplift during the contemporary period of rapid economic and social development. Under the leadership of Ratan Tata, the Group has attempted to remain faithful to its legacy of familial and cultural values, while also globalizing the scope of its business activities. Crucial to that attempt are the JN Tata Endowment and related Trusts, which control 66 % of the shares in the Tata Sons holding company. These institutions embody the Tata Group’s continuing commitment to philanthropy. With the appointment of Cyrus Mistry to succeed Ratan Tata upon his retirement, the Tata Group is now faced with the challenging prospect of a change in leadership. As the Group charts a new course for the future, the question is whether the Tata family’s reputation for doing well while doing good, including its strong commitment to philanthropy, can be maintained in the years ahead. Is “philanthropy with a purpose” still possible, when the Group is no longer to be managed by a member of the founders’ family, when its businesses are rapidly evolving to seize the opportunities afforded by globalization?
“Care for your Business by Caring for Society” (Stephan Rothlin, Eighteen Rules for Becoming a Top Notch Player, 2004)
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Notes
- 1.
At this time (2014), it is clear that Ratan Tata himself blames Mamata Banerjee, the opposition leader in West Bengal, for the failure of the Nano. The farmers’ agitation aided and abetted by Banerjee and other politicians forced the shift to a site at Sanand in Gujarat. The subsequent delay, in Tata’s opinion, meant that all the hopes generated by the Nano’s launch have evaporated. His anger over the declining fortunes of the Nano is one thing that apparently has not evaporated in the years since then (Moitra 2014).
- 2.
The Annual Reports of the Tata Trusts are well worth further study, since they are publicly available for a number of years starting in 2006–2007 for the SDTT reports (SDTT 2013) and 1999–2000 for the SRTT and NRTT reports (SRTT 2014), and quite detailed in their assessments of all aspects of their operations. The annual reports allow observers to study how the Trusts have developed, particularly during the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, under whose leadership these annual reports were developed (SRTT 2014).
- 3.
For useful background study of the Parsis and the cultural assumptions governing the Tata family’s business philosophy, see The Good Parsi: The Fate of a Colonial Elite in a Postcolonial Society (Luhrmann 1996).
- 4.
One telling example of what he had in mind was his offer to donate US$20 million to the Philippines in order to prevent its annexation by the USA as a result of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War of 1898. The USA had agreed to pay Spain the US$20 million to compensate for its loss of the Philippines, and to vindicate its own occupation of the islands. Carnegie was a strong supporter of the American Anti-Imperialist League that lobbied Congress against the annexation (Carnegie 1920).
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Rothlin, S., McCann, D. (2016). The Social Environment: Philanthropy. In: International Business Ethics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47434-1_17
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