Whats inside Telco?
Recently Ritz forwarded me this article to read. It is about the Tata Group and their methodologies and ideologies and how they are in the market while being truely "very different" from other companies. I have worked in organisations equally big if not bigger than the Tatas, but Tatas stand out among the crowd.
"Tata is unique even inside India, where its rigid ethical standards are so well known that corrupt officials typically don't even bother asking Tata employees for bribes..." says the article. True to every single word. I remember Pune RTO failing me in the drive test while lesser drivers got through easily. Typically eight out of ten who go through Telco Motor Driving school flunk the test in the first attempt. Unproved aneocdotals have it that there are "other" reasons behind this. And then there is that famous incident when Telco wanted to buy the piece of land for its car plant in Chikli and refused to "massage" the system. And there is the deal with Honda Motors in 1985 that did not happened for "interesting" reasons.
Tata's are a professional group with a distinct set of old-school values. I remember when the first batch of team-members were made permanent at the car plant. Telco addressed the confirmation letters to their parents. Each letter was custom written. Imagine someone in rural India getting a letter signed by the highest authority in Telco praising his ward, hightlighting his achievements and telling how valuable his ward has been to Telco. Some of the parents were not literate and others read them the letter. Can there be anything more fulfilling than this? I read the replies from some of the parents and it was simply amazing.
Telco has worked best with their back to the wall. In late '85 there was the 407 trucks that saved them, then there was the SUMO and then the revival of Indica. I happened to ask one executive about Telco and how he felt about those survivals. He told me that is couldn't have been just strategies, improvement or plain luck. It must be something bigger than that. And that "that" are the people who work there, the people who feel that there is some part of them in Telco, the people who make Telco. I am fortunate to have had the chance to be a part of their legacy.
Telco's plant in Pune, India (Satellite pic from Google Earth). Telco junta can clearly recognise the B,C,D,E,H,J blocks and the Car plant
"Tata is unique even inside India, where its rigid ethical standards are so well known that corrupt officials typically don't even bother asking Tata employees for bribes..." says the article. True to every single word. I remember Pune RTO failing me in the drive test while lesser drivers got through easily. Typically eight out of ten who go through Telco Motor Driving school flunk the test in the first attempt. Unproved aneocdotals have it that there are "other" reasons behind this. And then there is that famous incident when Telco wanted to buy the piece of land for its car plant in Chikli and refused to "massage" the system. And there is the deal with Honda Motors in 1985 that did not happened for "interesting" reasons.
Tata's are a professional group with a distinct set of old-school values. I remember when the first batch of team-members were made permanent at the car plant. Telco addressed the confirmation letters to their parents. Each letter was custom written. Imagine someone in rural India getting a letter signed by the highest authority in Telco praising his ward, hightlighting his achievements and telling how valuable his ward has been to Telco. Some of the parents were not literate and others read them the letter. Can there be anything more fulfilling than this? I read the replies from some of the parents and it was simply amazing.
Telco has worked best with their back to the wall. In late '85 there was the 407 trucks that saved them, then there was the SUMO and then the revival of Indica. I happened to ask one executive about Telco and how he felt about those survivals. He told me that is couldn't have been just strategies, improvement or plain luck. It must be something bigger than that. And that "that" are the people who work there, the people who feel that there is some part of them in Telco, the people who make Telco. I am fortunate to have had the chance to be a part of their legacy.
Telco's plant in Pune, India (Satellite pic from Google Earth). Telco junta can clearly recognise the B,C,D,E,H,J blocks and the Car plant
posted by Sachin Phadnis at 12:29 PM
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