I would salute and remember Ratan Tata even for the last two years of his work. He has achieved some of the most unthinkable awesome things as an entrepreneur off India:
1. Delivered Tata Nano, an awesome product built ground up that just works.
2. The way they managed their injured employees, and even those not working for them, after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Indian Government did not provide any support to the small tea-stall vendors, beggars, railway employees and injured policemen. Ratan Tata did.
That is height of humanity shown by him, despite the urge to excel in business. Amazing stuff.
What he did after the Mumbai terrorist attacks was amazing, and not widely known outside of India (I only found out after an Indian colleague liked a comment about it on facebook). You can see the full list here: http://rummuser.com/?p=3182 but a few examples:
The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees translates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits:
a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents;
b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents anywhere in the world.
c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their lives.
Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility.
Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.
Relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station surroundings, just behind the Taj, including the “Pav- Bha jiâ” vendor and the paan shop owners.
1. Delivered Tata Nano, an awesome product built ground up that just works.
2. The way they managed their injured employees, and even those not working for them, after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Indian Government did not provide any support to the small tea-stall vendors, beggars, railway employees and injured policemen. Ratan Tata did.
That is height of humanity shown by him, despite the urge to excel in business. Amazing stuff.