Tatas are unhappy with the media house!
Yet, the unseemly fracas over land acquisition displays another less talked about side of the Tata group. In India, entrepreneurs, industrialists and business houses have been so accustomed to the business press lavishing unstinted praise on them that anything critical of their actions and strategies appears too heretical and hysterical. Most reports border on hagiography and paint a picture of entrepreneurs as demi-gods who simply cannot make a mistake.
In reality, entrepreneurs too are human beings and not infallible. The Singur saga is a reminder that entrepreneurs like Ratan Tata have feet of clay. The advertising world is agog with rumours about how the Tata group is not giving any ads to the Times of India group because the powers that be in Tatas are unhappy with the media house! Take the massive hype surrounding the Rs.1 lakh car project. Though most media reports breathlessly accept the claim made by Tata Motors that it will actually manufacture and sell a ‘car’ with a price tag of Rs.1 lakh, an overwhelming majority of experts in the automobile industry know that such a fantastic claim stretches the credulity of even the most credulous. Take out excise and other taxes and you reach a manufacturing cost of about Rs.65,000-70,000. Has Tata Motors discovered some revolutionary new technology that will lead to a miraculous reduction in costs? Quite clearly, the tag of Rs.1 lakh is mere hype and consumers will actually pay far more if it is actually a ‘car’ that will be sold – at least a car – the way the automobile industry defines it!
In reality, entrepreneurs too are human beings and not infallible. The Singur saga is a reminder that entrepreneurs like Ratan Tata have feet of clay. The advertising world is agog with rumours about how the Tata group is not giving any ads to the Times of India group because the powers that be in Tatas are unhappy with the media house! Take the massive hype surrounding the Rs.1 lakh car project. Though most media reports breathlessly accept the claim made by Tata Motors that it will actually manufacture and sell a ‘car’ with a price tag of Rs.1 lakh, an overwhelming majority of experts in the automobile industry know that such a fantastic claim stretches the credulity of even the most credulous. Take out excise and other taxes and you reach a manufacturing cost of about Rs.65,000-70,000. Has Tata Motors discovered some revolutionary new technology that will lead to a miraculous reduction in costs? Quite clearly, the tag of Rs.1 lakh is mere hype and consumers will actually pay far more if it is actually a ‘car’ that will be sold – at least a car – the way the automobile industry defines it!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2006
An IIPM and Management Guru Professor Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative
Labels: IIPM, The Indian Institute of Planning and Management
posted by Ravi RAWAT @ 4:53 PM
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