Noel N. Tata has been one of the most reclusive business honchos in India. And he insists that it's his nature that makes him that way-and not a desire to keep a low profile. To our pleasant surprise, we found Tata an extremely engaging conversationalist, as he went about debunking common theories and wisdom about organised retail- a business he lives and breathes. Excerpts from his first full-length interview:
BT: So, do you feel you have done enough with Trent or you could have moved faster?
NT: Our aim has always been profitable growth. We have pursued growth with profits rather than growth for the sake of it. You must also remember that we were a publicly listed company when we started, compared to many others who were or still are private companies in their growth phase. We had thousands of shareholders. We have never missed a dividend in all these years.
BT: Do you think some of the first movers have inherent advantages because they built their stores when real estate prices were really low?
NT: I think on that particular point, in terms of real estate prices, you are right. Having said that, our view is that if you are in fashion, you are only as good as your last collection. You have to be constantly delivering the right fashion. Being first and then not keeping it up in terms of collections won't keep you in business for a long time. On the hypermarkets side, if you are not first and if you are coming second or third or fourth, you have the ability to see what the competition has done, analyse their weaknesses and develop stores that are superior. I am not so fussed about first mover advantage.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Something about Tata
Noel N. Tata has been one of the most reclusive business honchos in India. And he insists that it's his nature that makes him that way-and not a desire to keep a low profile. To our pleasant surprise, we found Tata an extremely engaging conversationalist, as he went about debunking common theories and wisdom about organised retail- a business he lives and breathes. Excerpts from his first full-length interview:
BT: It's 10 years now that you have been with Trent. What do you see yourself doing in the future?
NT: There is so much more to do now at Trent that there is little time to think about anything else. Usually, I am on a six-and-a-half-day week. The rest is time left for family and often if I have to visit a place like Nashik or Pune to look at a store, a Sunday is the best day to go for it. So, I have little time left after that. And retail is a detailed business-you cannot get away from it. You have to keep revisiting your stores. Even on a holiday I might see a little shop somewhere doing something special and I start thinking-now we can do that, too. This is a business I have a passion for and I feel I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work in this business. Each of the top five players in hypermarkets can build a business worth more than Rs 20,000 crore in the next 20 years.
BT: It's 10 years now that you have been with Trent. What do you see yourself doing in the future?
NT: There is so much more to do now at Trent that there is little time to think about anything else. Usually, I am on a six-and-a-half-day week. The rest is time left for family and often if I have to visit a place like Nashik or Pune to look at a store, a Sunday is the best day to go for it. So, I have little time left after that. And retail is a detailed business-you cannot get away from it. You have to keep revisiting your stores. Even on a holiday I might see a little shop somewhere doing something special and I start thinking-now we can do that, too. This is a business I have a passion for and I feel I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work in this business. Each of the top five players in hypermarkets can build a business worth more than Rs 20,000 crore in the next 20 years.
Something about Tata
Ernest Hemingway famously bestowed the honour of the ugliest word in the language to "retirement." At the House of Tatas, however, retirement has few connotations of revulsion; rather it is being greeted with a well-thoughtout big-picture strategy for succession planning. Ratan N. Tata (72) is slated to hang up his boots in three years but, before that, a clutch of his trusted lieutenants at Tata Sons will be calling it a day. Syamal Gupta (75), RNT's close friend and a Director on Tata Sons (who joined Tata Steel -then Tisco-as a trainee engineer at 21) retired in August 2009. Also likely to take his final bow soon at Tata Sons-the key promoter company of the group-is Vice Chairman N.A. Soonawala (73), one of the most visible faces in the larger Tata companies, as Director on various boards. If two other Tata Sons stalwarts, J.J. Irani (73) and R.K. Krishnakumar (71) also step down by 2011 and 2013, respectively, it would complete a generational shift at Tata Sons.
Something about Tata
Unassuming, minimally-dressed, soft-spoken, and notoriously lowprofile, it's easy for Noel Tata to get lost in a crowd. If you had to do a SWOT on the Trent CEO, count such anonymity as his biggest strength. He can stroll into his retailing formats, take in customer behaviour and accordingly make changes in his merchandising strategy. More excitingly, he can stride into rivals' retailing formats, figure what they're doing right, what they're doing wrong, and accordingly get back to his drawing board.
Year: 2008. Trent decides to flag off its first hypermarket in Bangalore, in Koramangala. The location: Some 500 yards away from where a competitor has set up a similar format. This, according to the industry buzz, is one of the rival's star performers. Noel decides to pay a visit. He walks in and quickly soaks up its advantages-the location is immaculate, and every product is stacked in a manner that pleases the eye.
Year: 2008. Trent decides to flag off its first hypermarket in Bangalore, in Koramangala. The location: Some 500 yards away from where a competitor has set up a similar format. This, according to the industry buzz, is one of the rival's star performers. Noel decides to pay a visit. He walks in and quickly soaks up its advantages-the location is immaculate, and every product is stacked in a manner that pleases the eye.
Something about Tata
You're more likely to see him in the driver's seat of a Tata Safari than being driven around in a fancy sedan. Noel loves driving-fast-but, perhaps, the only time he gets to indulge is once his six-and-a-half-day week is done. Don't be surprised to see him, along with a couple of his Trent colleagues, driving out of Mumbai early morning to neighbouring Pune or Nashik on "site visits" as they look around for potential locations to put up their stores.
Himanshu Chakrawarti, COO of Landmark, Trent's books and music subsidiary, says that it is immensely possible to catch Noel in the corridor to bounce a few ideas off him. K.M. Bharuka, Managing Director of Kansai Nerolac, on whose Board Noel is an Independent Director, adds: "He is very approachable by nature, not just for me, but also for junior members of our team who feel they can seek advice from him.
For a man who's the only Tata (apart from RNT) in the close-to-100-company Tata Group at a director level, such unfussiness is remarkable (RNT's younger brother by two years, Jimmy Tata, had worked in various Tata companies; he retired in the '90s). Also, at 53, Tata is now one of the more senior CEOs in the Group after a recent spate of retirements (see The Bombay House Shuffle, page 54). And if you consider that he is the son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, who owns roughly 18 per cent in Tata Sons, making him a larger shareholder than RNT himself, Noel should be blazing a trail at Bombay House.
Himanshu Chakrawarti, COO of Landmark, Trent's books and music subsidiary, says that it is immensely possible to catch Noel in the corridor to bounce a few ideas off him. K.M. Bharuka, Managing Director of Kansai Nerolac, on whose Board Noel is an Independent Director, adds: "He is very approachable by nature, not just for me, but also for junior members of our team who feel they can seek advice from him.
For a man who's the only Tata (apart from RNT) in the close-to-100-company Tata Group at a director level, such unfussiness is remarkable (RNT's younger brother by two years, Jimmy Tata, had worked in various Tata companies; he retired in the '90s). Also, at 53, Tata is now one of the more senior CEOs in the Group after a recent spate of retirements (see The Bombay House Shuffle, page 54). And if you consider that he is the son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, who owns roughly 18 per cent in Tata Sons, making him a larger shareholder than RNT himself, Noel should be blazing a trail at Bombay House.
Something about Tata
A fan club for an incredibly low-profile and selfconfessed introvert may seem as improbable as the US President winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but then even that's happened now. A fan club is also embarrassing for the 53-year-old Tata ("if it flatters, that's the end of me," he quips), who defies the image of the conventional corporate honcho in pinstripes. For starters, he avoids suits, blazers and even ties (he reluctantly agrees to knot one for photographs for BT, even as he lets on that he's more at ease in half sleeves).
Then, he shuns the CEO cocktail circuit, is quick with his "regrets" on RSVPs to corporate dos, is usually last-in-firstout at any group shindig that calls for the presence of Tata company CEOs (like the launch of the Tata Nano car, for instance)-and, best of all, for a head of a close to Rs 1,000-crore company, he's refreshingly downto-earth. Those who know him well say he is happy to stay at company guest houses when on office tour and, according to one friend, "he will always look to spend less if it is possible."
Then, he shuns the CEO cocktail circuit, is quick with his "regrets" on RSVPs to corporate dos, is usually last-in-firstout at any group shindig that calls for the presence of Tata company CEOs (like the launch of the Tata Nano car, for instance)-and, best of all, for a head of a close to Rs 1,000-crore company, he's refreshingly downto-earth. Those who know him well say he is happy to stay at company guest houses when on office tour and, according to one friend, "he will always look to spend less if it is possible."
Something about Tata
These aren't the results of a dipstick survey conducted by Business Today when writing this feature on Noel Naval Tata, whose prominence is inversely proportionate to the expectations riding on him. Rather, this is an opinion poll on a web page that proclaims to be "the unofficial website of Noel Tata by fans".
At the time of writing, the number of viewers who had taken the poll was a little over 200, more than three-fourths of whom clearly see Noel as a logical heir to Ratan Naval Tata, whose tenure as Chairman comes to an end once he turns 75 in 2012 (there is a slim chance of RNT still being the man calling the shots after that by virtue of his control of the trusts that control Tata Sons). Along with the poll, the website carries links to a biography of Noel, as well as a profile and news on the company he runs-organised retailing major Trent Ltd.
At the time of writing, the number of viewers who had taken the poll was a little over 200, more than three-fourths of whom clearly see Noel as a logical heir to Ratan Naval Tata, whose tenure as Chairman comes to an end once he turns 75 in 2012 (there is a slim chance of RNT still being the man calling the shots after that by virtue of his control of the trusts that control Tata Sons). Along with the poll, the website carries links to a biography of Noel, as well as a profile and news on the company he runs-organised retailing major Trent Ltd.
Today's Business (CNBC Europe)
The programme was renamed from "Today's Business Europe" in May 2003. While the title was only slightly altered, the programme was reduced from two hours to one (with the then-titled CNBC Europe Squawk Box gaining an hour). While Today's Business Europe had been presented in front of CNBC Europe's video wall, the new programme (initially co-anchored by Guy Johnson and Serena Al-Awa, who has since left CNBC Europe) was presented from behind a desk.
The programme ended its run on March 23, 2007 and was replaced on March 26 by a new show, Capital Connection, co-anchored by Maura Fogarty at CNBC Asia in Singapore and Sedgwick in London.
The programme ended its run on March 23, 2007 and was replaced on March 26 by a new show, Capital Connection, co-anchored by Maura Fogarty at CNBC Asia in Singapore and Sedgwick in London.
Today's Business (CNBC Europe)
Today's Business was a business news programme aired on CNBC Europe from 6-7am CET (5-6am WET) between January 2001 and March 2007. The programme was originally based on the CNBC U.S. morning programme Today's Business, which was later replaced by the programme Wake Up Call. The European Today's Business was presented by Steve Sedgwick.
The programme, affectionately referred to by presenters as "TBiz", featured a look ahead to the day. Segments included a review of yesterday's business, a news headlines round-up, as well as early results. The programme also linked up with CNBC Asia for continuing coverage of the Asian session
The programme, affectionately referred to by presenters as "TBiz", featured a look ahead to the day. Segments included a review of yesterday's business, a news headlines round-up, as well as early results. The programme also linked up with CNBC Asia for continuing coverage of the Asian session
Today's Business
In 1999, there was once Today's Business: Early Edition weekdays 4-5 am ET on CNBC, hosted by Bob Sellers and Bonnie Behrand, made the whole Today's Business expand to 3 hours.
Today's Business: Early Edition provides frequent round-ups of key business and general news stories, along with sports updates. Regular segments include "Wake Up with Jay," highlights from Jay Leno’s "Tonight Show" monologue; and live weather reports from Chief Meteorologist Joe Witte.
Today's Business: Early Edition provides frequent round-ups of key business and general news stories, along with sports updates. Regular segments include "Wake Up with Jay," highlights from Jay Leno’s "Tonight Show" monologue; and live weather reports from Chief Meteorologist Joe Witte.
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