Cross Cultural & Strategic Management
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Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Humanistic Leadership in the Tata Group: The Synergy in Personal Values, National Cultural Ethos, and Organizational Strategy Journal: Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Manuscript ID CCSM-01-2020-0025 Manuscript Type: Research Paper Keywords: Leadership, Culture, Strategy http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsm Page 1 of 25 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 1 1 2 3 4 Abstract 5 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 6 7 Humanistic leadership with its emphasis on greater good of employees and communities is 8 9 highly relevant to modern world. Present research is an attempt at unravelling the 10 11 characteristic features of humanistic leadership in the Tata group in India, and to explicate the 12 13 14 key facilitating factors. In-depth interviews with four top leaders of the Tata companies 15 16 revealed the emphasis on the following qualities: 1) Adherence to basic core values with 17 18 flexibility to add more, 2) Means take priority over the ends, 3) Familial orientation, 4) 19 20 21 Community and employee-oriented practices, 5) Alignment with Indian cultural values. 22 23 These resonated with the humanistic leadership tenets. We also identified that in Tata 24 25 leadership, there is an amalgamation of personal values (good thought, word, and deed) and 26 27 national cultural ethos (dharma, karma, and jnana). These leadership values are conveyed and 28 29 30 institutionalised in the organisation via strategic initiatives such as the Tata Business 31 32 Excellence Model and Tata Code of Conduct. This synergy of personal values, national 33 34 cultural ethos and organisational strategy makes Tata group realise the humanistic leadership 35 36 37 objectives, while achieving success as a business also. By unpacking the factors that facilitate 38 39 the realisation of humanistic leadership in the Tata group, we provide an exemplar for other 40 41 organisations and business leaders to draw insights from. 42 43 44 Keywords: Humanistic Leadership, Indian culture, Tata 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsm Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Page 2 of 25 2 1 2 3 Humanistic Leadership in the Tata Group: 4 5 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 6 The Synergy in Personal Values, National Cultural Ethos, and Organizational Strategy 7 8 9 10 “In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in business, but is 11 12 in fact the very purpose of its existence.” 13 14 15 -Jamset ji Tata, Founder Chairman,1868-1904 16 17 “To be a leader, you have got to lead human beings with affection.” 18 19 JRD Tata, Chairman,1938-1991 20 21 22 “One hundred years from now, I expect the Tatas to be much bigger, of course, than it 23 24 is now. More importantly, I hope the group comes to be regarded as being the best in 25 26 India — best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and 27 28 29 best in our value system and ethics” 30 31 -Ratan Tata, Chairman,1991-2012; Chairman Emeritus, 2012-present 32 33 The three most iconic leaders of the Tata group, in their own words, underscore 34 35 adherence to human values as their core leadership philosophy. This is second only in 36 37 38 importance to the giant strides that Tata group has made in the business world. Started in the 39 40 pre-independence India in 1868 with the vision of Jamsetji Tata, Tata is now a global 41 42 business group with products and services in over 100 countries, employing 700,000 people. 43 44 45 The ‘Tata’ brand continues to be India's most valuable brand according to the annual 46 47 assessment by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation and strategy. Often 48 49 referred to as the “Salt-to-software conglomerate” this $100-billion-plus business group is 50 51 52 one of the forerunners in the current global business economy and is a name to reckon with 53 54 (Shah, 2018). The Tata group has transformed itself from an approximately $5.8-billion 55 56 domestic company in 1992 to a global player, with more than 65% revenues coming from 57 58 outside India (Mithas, 2015). 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsm Page 3 of 25 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 3 1 2 3 Structurally, Tata group consists of diverse business units—30 companies under 10 4 5 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 6 business sectors; these include Tata Consultancy Services (information technology), Tata 7 8 Motors (automotive), Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals (consumer and retail), Titan (consumer and 9 10 retail), Tata Capital (trading and investment). These business units function as separate legal 11 12 entities, each with its own set of shareholders, board of directors, and top management teams. 13 14 15 Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. 16 17 Sixty-six percent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, 18 19 which support education, health, livelihood generation and art and culture. The Chairman of 20 21 22 the Tata Sons, therefore, plays the key leadership role in the Tata group. 23 24 In present paper, we attempt to unravel the top leadership in the Tata group from the 25 26 humanistic perspective. Through interview insights and archival sources, we identify the key 27 28 29 elements in Tata leadership that align with the humanistic values. We further explore the 30 31 points of intersection in the national cultural ethos, personal values, and strategic initiatives 32 33 that contribute to realising the goals of humanistic leadership. Based on these insights, we 34 35 propose that Tata—with its synergy in the three realms can serve as an exemplar case of 36 37 38 sustaining and scaling up the humanistic leadership values for persons and organizations in 39 40 contemporary business scenario (see Fig, 1). 41 42 ----------------------------- 43 44 Insert Fig.1 about here 45 ------------------------------ 46 47 48 Tata Group and Humanistic Leadership: A Case for Theoretical Convergence 49 50 Contemporary leadership literature is advancing in multiple directions to keep up with 51 52 53 changing business scenarios, workplace demands, as well as generational shifts (Anderson, 54 55 Baur, Griffith, & Buckley, 2017; Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009; Dinh, Lord, Gardner, 56 57 Meuser, Liden, & Hu, 2014). While concepts such as ‘transformational leadership,’ ‘e- 58 59 60 leadership’, ‘servant leadership’ dot the emerging leadership literature, one theme that has http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsm Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Page 4 of 25 4 1 2 3 remained as pervasive and fundamental to the leadership as well as to management in general 4 5 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 6 is the importance of a human values and virtues ( Davila & Elvira, 2012; Melé, 2016). In 7 8 contrast to the ‘economistic’, the ‘humanistic’ orientation is directed towards social 9 10 community and stakeholders rather than profit maximization and shareholder margins 11 12 (Pirson, & Lawrence, 2010). 13 14 15 Based on the extant literature, the working definition proposed by the Editors (Fu, 16 17 Kimakowitz,. Lemanski, & Liu, 2019). serves as a good starting point to look at Tata 18 19 leadership from the humanistic perspective: “Humanistic leaders are those who: 1) respect 20 21 22 people as holistic human beings by taking care of himself/herself as well as the followers’ 23 24 multiple needs and motives; 2) they constantly improve themselves while developing the 25 26 followers to unleash their full potential; and 3) they recognize and try to take into account all 27 28 29 stakeholders’ interests while striving to pursue the common good.” (Fu, Kimakowitz,. 30 31 Lemanski, & Liu, 2019). 32 33 It is no coincidence that the Tata Group converges with the humanistic leadership 34 35 tenets in its mission statement and core values. As stated at the outset, the adherence to 36 37 38 humanistic values has been a core defining feature of the leadership philosophy. The mission 39 40 statement of the Tata group is: “To improve the quality of life of the communities we serve 41 42 globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust.” The 43 44 45 core values of the Tata Group, often referred to as I-PURE, are considered to be the 46 47 foundation of all benchmarks for business. They are, Integrity, Pioneering, Unity, 48 49 Responsibility and Excellence 50 51 52 Integrity: We will be fair, honest, transparent and ethical in our conduct; 53 54 everything we do must stand the test of public scrutiny, 55 56 Pioneering: We will be bold and agile, courageously take on challenges, using 57 58 deep customer insight to develop innovative solutions, 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ccsm Page 5 of 25 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 5 1 2 3 Unity: We will invest in our people and partners, enable continuous learning, 4 5 Cross Cultural & Strategic Management 6 and build caring and collaborative relationships based on trust and mutual 7 8 respect, 9 10 Responsibility: we will integrate environmental and social principles in our 11 12 businesses, ensuring that what comes from the people goes back to the people 13 14 15 many times over, and 16 17 Excellence: we will be passionate about achieving the highest standards of 18 19 quality, always promoting meritocracy. 20 21 22 (retrieved from www.tata.com) 23 24 The question that arises is how do these values translate to practice? 25 26 Primary Insights from Interviews of Top Management Leaders of Business Units 27 28 29 In order to get first hand insights on Tata’s culture and values, especially how the 30 31 values get translated on the ground, we conducted in-depth interviews with four top 32 33 management leaders in different Tata companies.