Tata fiasco
It was coming and the worst is yet to come
Is it a foreign hand or just a bad egg
The real world is far more complex than the reel world. In reality, the movie world depends on the real world for inspiration. Scientists on the other hand look at sci fi movies for ideas.
The real world is not so much about technology or innovation as it is about bribing and winning. It is very hard indeed to live up to values of any kind. India’s crown jewel was best placed to usher in a model code of governance but failed miserably. In the end, it was hiring super consultants like Nira Radia and its brightest and most sincere executives like Mr Pendse of Tata Finance were driven to suicide.
This is not a movie.
It is bad news in real life. What caused this ? Isn’t there a way to make a honest living in India.
Actually it is not that bad. Anyone with a respectable b2c business doesn’t need the government for anything. Consumer demand is sky rocketing and the market demands a price point that few global players can meet. But the problem is competition. It is hard to compete in the market. Tatas, Birlas, others all failed in the b2c market. Even if they had market share, they had little profits. So what is the way out.
The way out is govt contracts, govt subsidies, govt tenders …. all acronyms for rackets. These are not honest businesses which can be won with innovation. They are won with grease and bribes. And this requires a complete destruction of whatever value system you might think you have. The Tatas fell for this. Defence contracts, electric bus subsidies, production linked incentives, semiconductor subsidies, anything subsidy. This is the easy way out.
But then who does the bribing. Which country do you make payments in. Who manages havala. So you look for bankers who can do this. They are now called independent directors. And once you join that gang, it is a one way ticket.
The Tatas are not alone. There is a queue of business houses who are failing in the b2c space. And taking to govt business for survival. But then you can be blackmailed anytime. It becomes a point of no return.
It takes one wrong step to cross over to the dark side. No matter where this dispute goes, it is Tata to the old Tata.