Tata And Other Multi-Business Conglomerates Case Studies Examples

There are several ways or mechanisms through which Tata Group is adding value to its group of companies. Some of these mechanisms include Tata’s business strategy of continual quest to be global and excellent organization in its operations (Witzel, 2010). Ideally, Tata uses its Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) to add value to its operations and bolster service delivery. The TBEM covers most of Tata’s operation mechanisms, including leadership, safety, strategies, and climatic changes. Additionally, the model encourages continuous improvements by enabling Tata to adopt formal systems in benchmarking and assessing vital company operations (Cavusgil, Knight, and Riesenberger, 2008). Additionally, Tata uses business excellence forums to bring together global business leaders to help address its challenges as well as identify new and emerging opportunities. Moreover, the company uses elaborate awards mechanism, for example, it uses the JRD QV award to improve its quality performance. Finally, the company uses the Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC) to define its policies as well as to elaborate on the conducts expected of its employees. Improved customer services definitely play a crucial role in improving the image of the company, thereby adding value to the company’s production and increasing sales (Wheelen et al., 2014).
Some of the strategies that Tata Group employs to add value to its products and services as well as those used by other multinational conglomerates to add value to their business differ slightly. For instance, Tata does not embrace full diversify in its production. Specifically, it has centralized its vital business operations and management processes. This strategy is usually effective in ensuring that goods produced are of high quality and meet the set standards. Ideally, excessive diversification might affect the desired quality due to environmental changes attributed by diversity. It should be noted that Tata has numerous outlets through which it sells its products (Witzel, 2010). However, Tata applies the same code of conduct, the TCoC in these areas as opposed to other multi-business conglomerates that diversity even their modes of operations in areas of their diversification. In other words, these multi-business conglomerates believe in political, economic, and cultural diversity. Therefore, their employees in different global regions are widely expected to apply ethical codes of conducts depending on their areas or countries of operation (Cavusgil, Knight, and Riesenberger, 2008). In most cases, these varied employees’ code of conducts may affect service delivery of these multi-business conglomerates thereby affecting their businesses. As opposed to different multi-business conglomerates, Tata’s leadership is centralized, thereby enabling it to detect any negative changes that might affect the business, both locally and globally from a central point (Wheelen et al., 2014). Other multi-business conglomerates are known to decentralize their operations, including their leadership structures where they assign each region its leaders and leadership structure. These are different means of adding value to the business; on the other hand, they pose different challenges to these business entities.
Tata’s levels of diversification differ significantly because of its differences in institutional environment in the country of origin. Tata mainly manufactures automobiles and its manufacturing processes are not diversified (Cavusgil, Knight, and Riesenberger, 2008). Notably, its manufacturing environment or country has hindered its diversification ambitions. Different research studies have indicated that the structure of Tata as well as its country of operation enables it to manage its financial portfolio well, as opposed to other multinational or multidivisional companies that adopt structures of countries they operate in (Witzel, 2010). Additionally, the business cultures adopted by Tata only promotes specific forms of company or business leaderships that cannot thrive in other countries. For example, Indians often rely on their family members to manage their business (Wheelen et al., 2014). This form of business management may hinder the diversity of Tata in different business environments, the family member who might be assigned to manage oversees business may not understand the environments that the business operates in, therefore, leading to the failure of the business.

References

Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G. A., & Riesenberger, J. R. (2008). International business: Strategy, management, and the new realities. Upper saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., & Bamford, C. E. (2014). Strategic management and business policy: Globalization, innovation, and sustainability.
Witzel, M. (2010). Tata: The evolution of a corporate brand. New Delhi: Penguin Portfolio.