Tata has gained more global recognition for his contributions to the Tata Group. During his tenure as chairman, he increased the corporation’s market share in respective industry markets and its market capitalization to a combined $80 billion.

Tata Group is “pretty much in every industry,” says Rohit Deshpande, a professor of marketing at the Business School.

Tata Group, considered a crucial part of the development of the entire country, is the leading presence in various industries, such as steel, automobile, information technology, and hotels, according to Deshpande.

“It’s almost impossible to overestimate the economic footprint of the Tata companies in India,” Deshpande says, calling the Group “a huge global player.”

The Group is comprised of more than 100 companies, one of the oldest of which is Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, which recently bought the Ritz-Carlton Boston in 2006 and renamed it as the Taj Boston. Industrial giant Tata Motors recently bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008, and multinational Tata Steel purchased the large Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus in 2007.

“[Tata] was able to transform all these companies into becoming much larger institutions,” Zakaria says. “All these companies [within Tata Group] are becoming world-class companies.”

In particular, Tata won much praise for developing the Tato Nano, a car that costs $2,500 and is marketed for the “ordinary man,” according to Palepu, who says that this demonstration of empathy is unique at such a high executive level.

A HIGHER STANDARD

When Tata announced that he would market a car that would sell for under 100,000 rupees ($2,500), his mission was to manufacture an affordable car to sell to the lower classes in India.

“All you need to do is look at a family of four sitting dangerously on a two-wheeler as it drives through slippery roads flooded with rain to understand why this car is so significant,” Palepu says. “[Tata] is probably the simplest executive with the most amount of empathy that I have met—and that empathy is what allowed for this car to happen.”

In spite of its juggernaut size, Tata Group has been equated with commitment to service and integrity, many say.

“He cares about his country, his company, and his employees,” Nohria says. “And no organization in the world has a greater commitment to integrity and doing things ‘right.’”

The company is itself controlled by a collection of non-profit, charitable trusts, to which two-thirds of the profit of these companies contribute. This collection of trusts sponsors free cancer hospitals and education through grants and scholarships.

“This is a company that has a very solid reputation for doing good,” Ramanna says.

Professors note that this reputation is particularly noteworthy in a country that is riddled with high-profile corruption debacles.