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     Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Indian Journal of Industrial Relations.

    http://www.jstor.org

    Modernization of Mind at Tata SteelAuthor(s): Mirza S. SaiyadainSource: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jan., 2001), pp. 363-375Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human ResourcesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27767731Accessed: 26-01-2016 18:27 UTC

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    IJIR,

    Vol.

    36,

    No.

    3,

    January

    2001

    CASE

    STUDY

    MODERNIZATION OF

    MIND

    AT TATA

    STEEL

    Mirza

    S.

    Saiyadain

    INTRODUCTION

    TATA STEEL

    enters

    the

    ew

    millennium

    with the

    confidence

    f

    learning,

    knowledge

    based

    and

    a

    happy

    organisation.

    We

    will

    establish urselves

    s

    the

    supplier

    f

    choice

    by

    delighting

    ur cus

    tomers

    with

    our

    services

    and

    our

    products.

    In

    the

    coming

    decade,

    we

    will become the

    most cost

    competitive

    steel

    plant

    and

    so serve

    the

    community

    and

    the

    nation.

    Where

    Tata

    Steel ventures.others will

    follow.

    So

    goes

    the

    vision

    statement

    of

    Tata

    Steel;

    a

    vision

    that

    took

    its

    roots

    in

    the

    year

    1839

    when

    a

    boy

    was

    bom

    in

    the

    priestly

    Parsee

    family

    at

    Navsari,

    a

    small

    town

    in

    Gujarat.

    On

    his

    birth

    the

    sooth

    sayer

    predicted

    that

    ome

    day

    he would be well known

    and

    famous.

    And

    so

    it

    ame

    to

    pass.

    This

    was

    the

    time

    in

    the

    history

    when British

    government

    had

    initiated

    a

    number

    of

    reforms

    to

    provide

    a

    climate

    of industrialisation

    in

    India.

    Those

    days

    the

    mining

    rules

    were

    sim

    ply

    a

    fair

    illustration of the normal demeanour of the

    government

    towards

    businessmen

    in

    India

    (Harris 1958).

    In

    1899

    Lord

    Curzon,

    the

    Viceroy,

    liberalized the mineral concession

    policy

    and

    opened

    doors for Indians

    to

    venture into

    the

    industrialisation

    of

    India

    (Lala,

    1981).

    However,

    much

    before this

    n

    1882

    the

    boy,

    born

    43

    years

    ago,

    Dr. Mirza

    S.

    Saiyadain

    is

    FORE

    Chair

    Professor,

    FORE

    School of

    Management.

    Case

    material

    of FORE

    School

    of

    Management,

    New

    Delhi is

    prepared

    as a

    basis

    for class discussion. Cases are not designed to present illustrations of either correct

    or

    incorrect

    handling

    of administrative

    problems.

    Copy right

    2001,

    FORE School

    of

    Management,

    New Delhi.

    The

    author

    is

    grateful

    to

    FORE

    School

    of

    Management

    for

    providing

    financial

    support

    in

    the

    preparation

    of

    this

    case.

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    364

    Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrialRelations

    read

    a

    report

    by

    German

    geologist,

    Ritter Von

    Setriwartz

    on

    the avail

    ability

    of

    iron

    ore

    in

    Chanda

    district

    in

    the

    Central Province

    (now

    Madhya

    Pradesh)

    which

    gave

    him

    the

    idea of

    giving

    India

    a

    Steel

    plant.

    The

    boy

    was

    Jamsetji

    usserwanji

    Tata

    and

    the

    plant

    Tata

    Steel.

    J.N.

    Tata's

    incessant

    efforts

    got

    Charles

    Page

    Perin,

    a

    consulting

    engineer

    from

    New

    York,

    to

    conduct

    a

    survey

    of the

    availability

    of

    raw

    material and

    Julian

    Kennedy

    of

    Pittsburg

    to

    build

    the

    plant.

    The site

    chosen

    was

    the

    village

    of

    Sakchi,

    the

    meeting point

    of

    two

    riversKhorkai and Subernareka which

    provided

    themuch needed

    water.

    The

    required

    capital

    came

    from

    8,000

    investors who sub

    scribed

    to

    the

    shares

    floated

    in

    Indian market.

    The actual

    construc

    tion

    of

    plant

    began

    in

    autumn

    of

    1908 and

    it

    poured

    its

    first teel

    on

    February

    16,1912.

    The steel

    plant

    did

    not

    develop

    around

    a

    town

    but

    brought

    along

    a

    town

    in

    its

    wake. On

    January

    2,

    1919

    Lord

    Chelmsford visited

    iron and

    steel

    works.

    He

    renamed the

    town

    of

    Sakchi

    as

    Jamshedpur

    in

    honour

    of the

    man

    who

    gave

    India its

    first

    integrated

    ironmill

    (Pandey, 1989).

    Tata

    Steel,

    India's

    largest fully integrated

    private

    steel

    plant

    is

    comparable

    with

    any

    integrated

    steel

    plants

    in

    the

    world.

    Today

    the

    House of

    Tatas

    owns

    close

    to

    25

    per

    cent

    of

    its

    equity

    and

    the

    company

    has

    an

    asset

    base of

    over

    9000

    crores.

    Export

    volume

    is

    about 0.426

    million

    tonnes

    equivalent

    to

    US$

    170

    million.

    It

    grew

    from nitial

    capacity

    of

    0.1

    million

    tons

    in

    1912 to

    3.89

    million

    tons

    by

    year

    1990-2000.

    Besides

    going

    through

    theusual

    teething

    prob

    lems,

    Tata

    Steel

    experienced

    a

    number of

    more

    serious

    problems.

    It

    went

    through

    a

    13

    month strike:

    making

    steel

    became

    less

    cost

    ef

    fective,

    competition

    with

    foreign

    and

    local steel manufacturers

    be

    came

    severe

    and

    consumers

    started

    shifting

    their

    loyalty

    to

    local

    manufacturers of

    recycled products.

    TECHNICAL

    MODERNIZATION

    For

    Tata

    Steel

    it

    became

    necessary

    to

    reorient

    itself

    to

    new

    think

    ing

    and

    approach.

    Modernization became the

    guiding principle.

    Tata Steel started theprocess of

    closing

    down old units and

    setting

    up

    new

    ones

    in

    4

    phases

    of technical modernization.

    The

    process

    of

    modernization started

    in

    1980

    and

    went

    on

    till 1997.

    The four

    phases

    varied

    in

    terms

    of time

    period

    as seen

    below:

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    366

    Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrial

    Relations

    way

    employees

    think.All thiswas done to

    bring

    about customer

    sensitivity,

    cost

    consciousness,

    improve productivity

    and

    create

    better

    working

    and

    living

    conditions.

    The

    new

    HR

    policy

    aims

    at

    ensuring

    transparency,

    fairness,

    and

    equity

    in all

    its

    dealings

    with

    its

    employees.

    ?Tata

    Steel

    will strive

    continuously

    to

    foster

    a

    cli

    mate

    of

    openness,

    mutual

    trust

    and

    team

    work.

    ?-

    Tata

    Steel

    recog

    nizes

    that

    its

    people

    are

    the

    primary

    source

    of

    its

    competitiveness.

    Steel is

    an

    extremely

    protected,

    capital-intensive

    industry.

    It

    was

    becoming

    a sunset

    industry

    and hence

    capital

    investment was made

    in

    modernizing

    the

    plant.

    While

    Tata

    Steel,

    as

    a

    company,

    is

    very

    old

    its

    plants

    have become

    very

    modern. To be able

    to

    work

    on

    the

    modern

    plants

    it

    was

    necessary

    to create

    a

    knowledge

    based

    learn

    ing organisation,

    which

    is

    possible

    if

    the

    minds

    are

    open.

    There

    was

    a

    need

    to

    create

    a

    will

    to

    work

    and

    will

    towin.

    While the

    formal

    Phase

    V,

    'Modernization

    of

    Mind'

    started

    on

    April

    1,1999

    work

    had

    already

    been

    underway.

    Long

    before

    Tata

    Steel

    had

    recognized

    the

    need

    to

    make

    change

    in

    their

    way

    of

    thinking,

    nvestment

    in

    chang

    ing

    their attitude and culture was

    already

    initiated. We have been

    very

    successful. However continued

    success

    is the

    greatest

    enemy

    of

    change.

    Change

    had

    been

    accepted

    but

    the

    pace

    of

    change

    had

    to

    be

    improved.

    Hence

    an

    on-going

    non-time

    bound

    change

    process

    must

    go

    on

    all

    the

    time.

    Wedded

    to

    Steel

    industry

    we

    did

    not

    want

    to

    die

    with it

    so

    change

    became

    a

    part

    of

    our

    thinking

    articularly

    in

    the

    light

    f

    changes takingplace

    in

    the

    environment because of

    glo

    balization,

    liberalization

    and

    opening

    of

    Indian

    economy.

    The

    proc

    ess

    of

    acceptance

    of

    change

    was

    initiated

    through

    a

    variety

    of

    pro

    grammes,

    significant

    among themare

    briefly

    described below.

    CUSTOMER

    ORIENTATION

    If

    we

    do

    not

    take

    care

    of

    our

    customers?some

    one

    else

    will .

    This

    declaration

    aptly

    summarises

    the

    feeling

    that shift

    ust

    take

    place

    in

    making

    customer

    delight

    as

    the

    major

    focus

    of

    all

    its

    en

    deavours. The

    shift

    became

    imperative

    because

    the

    environment

    (pre-1992)

    was

    predictable,

    concessional

    finance

    in

    close

    markets

    was available and the focus was on

    promoter's

    wealth and social

    objectives.

    Post

    1992,

    this

    changed

    to

    uncertain

    environment,

    mar

    ket

    based

    finances

    in

    globally integrated

    markets

    and

    focus

    on

    share

    holders value.

    Similarly, pre-1992

    there

    was

    a

    virtual

    SAIL,

    TISCO

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    Case

    Study

    367

    duopoly

    ina sellersmarketwith no

    emphasis

    on

    quality,

    customer

    service

    and

    cost

    reduction.

    Post-1992

    over

    capacity

    was

    generated

    because of

    the

    entry

    of

    new

    players

    (Essar,

    Jindal,

    spat, Lloyds)

    cre

    ating

    a

    buyers

    market,

    players

    competing

    on

    price

    and hence focus

    shifting

    to

    cost

    reduction

    and

    quality

    improvement.

    Tata

    Steel has

    a

    customer

    base of

    over

    5000

    customers out

    of

    which 158 have been identified

    s

    key

    customers

    accounting

    for

    1

    per

    cent

    of the total

    business. One

    per

    cent

    increase

    in

    sale

    to

    key

    customers contributes Rs. 1.8 crores. Tata Steel ensures

    preferential

    treatment

    to

    these

    key

    customers

    in

    the

    area

    of

    redressai

    of

    com

    plaints

    and

    quick handling

    of accounts.

    An

    Enterprise

    Resource

    Planning

    System

    has been

    implemented

    to

    improve

    availability

    and

    analysis

    of

    customer

    needs and

    other market

    demands,

    stock

    man

    agement,

    quality

    assurance

    and accounts

    management.

    Tata

    Steel

    has

    wholeheartedly

    accepted

    Mahatma

    Gandhi's

    ob

    servations

    on

    customers.

    A

    customer

    is themost

    important

    visitor

    on our

    premises.

    He is not

    dependent

    on us. We are

    depended

    on

    him. He is

    not

    an

    interrupter

    on

    our

    work.

    He

    is the

    purpose

    of

    it.

    We

    are

    not

    doing

    a

    favour

    by

    serving-him.

    He

    is

    doing

    us a

    favour

    by

    giving

    us

    an

    opportunity

    to

    do so.

    Tata

    Steel has issued

    several

    posters

    to

    bring

    about

    customers

    consciousness

    as

    a

    means

    of

    change.

    However,

    a

    large

    international market still awaits

    and

    so

    does

    tough

    competition.

    PERFORMANCE ETHICS

    PROGRAMME

    Performance Ethics

    Programme

    for executive

    category

    came

    into

    being

    as

    a

    follow

    up

    on

    Mckinsey

    report

    on

    transformational

    exer

    cise and

    restructuring

    of the

    organisation

    to

    convert Tata

    Steel

    into

    a

    high performing

    organisation.

    The

    process

    requires identifying

    igh

    impact positions

    and

    staff

    the

    positions

    with

    best suited

    persons.

    All

    these

    positions

    would

    have

    greater

    accountability,

    autonomy

    and

    higher profit

    and

    loss

    responsibility.

    The

    move

    is

    to

    break

    away

    from

    functionally organised

    system

    with

    individuals

    reporting

    to

    their functional

    superiors

    to

    designing

    structure based on business

    units

    as

    profit

    centres.

    Each

    business

    unit

    has

    its

    own

    autonomous

    set

    up

    and

    greater

    freedom

    to

    develop

    its

    own

    agenda

    and

    targets

    keeping

    in

    mind

    the

    customers

    and

    business orientation.

    The choice

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    368

    Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrial

    Relations

    of staff is

    based

    on

    objective

    and

    merit-based

    assessment

    process

    with

    the

    support

    from

    a

    qualified

    external

    agency.

    While

    the

    new

    structure

    ould

    come

    into

    effect

    from

    April

    1,

    2001

    staffing

    ould

    be

    done

    in

    three

    cycles.

    Cycle

    1

    for

    the

    first

    00

    positions

    has

    been

    completed by

    November

    2000.

    Cycle

    2

    for

    next

    250-300

    positions

    will

    take

    place

    during

    November-January

    2001

    and

    cycle

    3

    in

    the

    second

    half

    of 2001.

    In

    terms

    of the

    actual

    mechanics,

    each

    department

    head

    signs

    an internalMoU with theCEO as a

    promise

    todeliver. In

    addition,

    internal MoUs within

    the

    department,

    across

    departments

    and

    with

    customers

    for

    compliance

    on

    efficiency

    nd

    quality

    and with

    provi

    sion

    of

    constant

    review and

    continuous

    monitoring

    are

    to

    be

    signed.

    The

    focus

    is

    to

    give

    what

    was

    not

    given

    last

    year.

    All executives

    are

    given

    KRAs

    and balance

    code

    cards for

    people

    upto

    divisional head

    quarters

    are

    to

    be maintained.1

    No value

    or

    low

    value

    items would

    be

    reduced

    in

    future

    and

    eventually

    eliminated. Since

    all

    this

    is

    done

    to

    help employees

    to

    make best

    use

    of

    operating

    units,

    which

    are

    young

    both

    in

    terms

    of

    age

    and

    facilities,

    incentives

    are

    to

    be

    given

    on

    the basis

    of

    performance.

    Keeping

    the focus

    on

    demand,

    competition

    and

    cost

    conscious

    ness

    at

    the

    level

    of

    workers cluster

    manning

    is introduced. This

    is

    to

    help

    control

    overtime

    and

    acting

    allowance

    and

    to correct

    soul

    destroying job

    without much

    challenge .

    These

    are

    self-managed

    teams

    loaded with

    empowerment,

    discretion,

    and

    room

    for

    innovativeness.

    In

    all

    cases

    Tata

    Steel standards

    (JRQM),

    same

    as

    ISO,

    are tobe

    applied.

    A fall-outeffect f the

    restructuring

    as led

    to

    debureaucratization

    process.

    Number

    of

    positions

    is

    reduced,

    decision

    making

    is

    pushed

    down

    to

    lowest level

    and

    paper

    move

    ment

    has been

    minimized.

    RIGHTSIZING

    As

    on

    January

    1,1994

    Tata

    Steel

    had

    78,276

    employees

    on

    its

    pay

    roll.

    In

    order

    to

    best

    fit

    the

    number of

    employees

    with the

    require

    ments of

    jobs,

    Tata Steel startedtheprocess of

    right izing

    eventually

    bringing

    down the

    workforce

    to

    50,910

    as

    on

    October

    1,

    2000.

    The

    attempt

    is

    to

    further

    reduce

    it

    to

    48,000

    level

    in

    near

    future. How

    were

    they

    able

    to

    downsize

    given

    a

    very

    strong

    workers

    union

    on

    the

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    Case

    Study

    369

    one

    hand,

    and

    a

    tradition f

    guaranteed

    employment

    to

    thewards of

    the

    employees

    on

    the

    other?2

    According

    to

    the

    General

    Secretary

    of

    Tata

    Workers'

    Union,

    the

    dissociation

    was

    not

    painful

    because

    through

    negotiations

    the

    union

    got

    a

    good

    deal

    for

    its

    members.

    The

    good

    deal

    basically

    refers

    o

    Early

    Separation

    Scheme

    pro

    posed

    by

    Tata

    Management. According

    to

    this scheme

    employees

    who

    became

    surplus

    as

    a

    result of

    restructuring

    exercise

    were

    given

    the

    option

    to

    performany duty

    not

    necessarily

    that

    for hich

    they

    were

    hired

    or

    take

    a

    pension.

    The

    pension

    amount

    varied with the

    age

    of

    the

    employee

    and

    the

    years

    of

    service.

    But all

    of

    them

    were

    assured

    the

    pension

    upto

    the

    age

    of

    sixty.

    Thus those

    with

    less

    than

    40

    years

    of

    age

    and

    less

    than

    10

    years

    of service

    were

    offered

    a

    monthly

    pension equivalent

    to

    thebasic

    and

    DA

    of

    last

    drawn

    sal

    ary,

    those

    upto

    the

    age

    of

    45

    years

    got

    1.25 times and

    those

    crossing

    the

    age

    of 45

    years

    received 1.50

    times

    the last

    drawn basic and

    DA.

    In

    addition,

    they

    ere

    provided

    medical

    facilities

    t

    company's

    hos

    pital/dispensary,

    loan

    of

    Rs.

    2

    lakhs

    to

    start

    a

    business,

    and

    prefer

    ence

    in

    assigning

    a

    kiosk

    in

    Jamshedpur

    area.

    ROAD THROUGH

    EDUCATION/TRAINING

    The

    road

    to

    change

    and

    to

    make Tata

    Steel

    a

    knowledge

    based

    learning

    organisation

    took

    many

    shapes

    and

    terms.

    Perhaps

    one

    of

    the

    more

    significant

    endeavours

    to

    change

    came

    from education

    and

    training

    perpetuated

    by

    three

    agencies.

    One of themost influential

    attempts

    tomodernize was fostered

    through

    an

    exposure

    to Tata

    Heritage,

    Technology

    and

    Community

    Centre

    housed

    in

    Russi

    Mody

    Centre

    forExcellence.

    It

    provides

    consolidated

    information

    on

    the

    House

    of

    Tata. In

    addition

    it

    has

    the first

    business archive

    in

    India and

    16

    professional

    associations

    housed under

    a

    single

    roof

    in

    an

    ambience of

    ancient

    civilizations

    of

    Egypt,

    Greece

    and

    Babylon.

    The

    Centre

    is

    journey throughhistory

    of

    the

    achievement

    of

    House of Tatas

    and

    a

    learning

    experience

    of

    how

    dreams

    got

    converted

    to

    realities.

    It

    has

    tremendous

    educa

    tional value for all interested in

    change.

    The

    second

    agency

    is the Information

    Department.

    It

    was

    set

    up

    in

    1955with the

    principle

    objective

    of

    keeping

    the

    technical,

    re

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    370 Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrial

    Relations

    search and

    managerial

    personnel

    abreast in theirfieldof

    knowledge

    through

    its

    libraries

    and

    publications.

    Information

    Department

    runs

    96

    libraries

    in

    Jamshedpur

    and 51 libraries

    outside

    Jamshedpur.

    It

    collects,

    processes

    and

    disseminates

    information

    in

    the field of

    iron

    and

    steel

    and

    allied

    subjects.

    It

    has

    over

    2.5 lakh

    books,

    subscribes

    to

    large

    number

    of

    technical

    journals,

    has

    inter

    and

    intranet

    facility,

    on-line

    catalogue

    for

    books,

    videos

    cassettes,

    CD

    Roms

    and music

    CDs.

    It

    also

    has

    a

    book

    bank scheme for

    employees'

    children

    of

    2nd

    standard

    and

    above,

    and

    a

    kid's

    corner

    for

    showing

    them

    educa

    tional films.Since

    knowledge

    is the

    greatest

    driver for

    change

    ithas

    a

    budget

    of

    Rs. 1.6

    crores.

    The

    third

    agency

    of

    knowledge

    dissemination

    is

    TISCO

    Man

    agement

    Development

    Centre,

    which

    arranges

    training

    programmes

    for

    Tata

    Steel

    employees.

    In

    a

    given

    year

    it

    organises

    more

    than

    70

    programmes

    on

    different

    aspects

    of

    management

    and

    each

    of these

    programmes

    is

    offered

    several

    times

    in

    the

    year.

    Since

    the focus

    of

    management

    has

    shifted

    to

    change, special one-day

    programmes

    on 'Modernization ofMind:

    Thinking

    Away

    fromMindset' are or

    ganised.

    Many

    of

    the

    training

    rogrammes

    listed

    in

    their

    directory

    have been

    conceived

    to

    respond

    to

    new

    ways

    of

    thinking

    hich have

    emerged

    as a

    result

    of

    dialogue

    and

    discussions

    among

    the

    Tata

    Steel

    employees

    in

    various fonims

    referred

    to

    in

    the section

    on

    reaching

    out.

    CO-DETERMINATION

    Tata Workers' union is one of the earliest trade unions in India.

    It's

    history

    dates back

    to

    1920.

    Over

    the

    years

    it

    has

    seen

    the

    in

    volvement of

    political

    stalwarts

    (e.g.

    C.

    F.

    Andrews,

    CR. Das and

    Motilal

    Nehru)

    and

    office

    earers of

    such

    calibre

    as

    Subhash Chandra

    Bose,

    Prof.

    Abdul Bari and

    Mr.

    Michael

    John.

    Except

    for

    13

    month

    long

    strike

    during

    1928

    there

    has

    been

    no

    major

    industrial strife

    t

    Tata

    Steel

    during

    the

    last

    70

    years.

    While

    there

    re

    many

    registered

    unions

    in

    Tata

    Steel,

    Tata

    Workers'

    Union

    is

    the

    sole

    bargaining

    agent.

    The Union

    has

    been

    able

    to

    get

    some

    visible

    benefits

    for the

    workers

    (e.g. Joint Councils,

    recognised

    grievance

    procedure,

    higher wages

    and

    better

    community

    and

    social

    life).

    The

    management

    has

    al

    ways

    been

    enlightened

    and

    has been

    able

    to

    provide

    many

    labour

    welfare

    measure

    much before

    they

    were

    enforced

    by

    law

    (See

    Ex

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    Case

    Study

    371

    hibit

    1).

    Community

    and health facilitiesare

    way

    above those of

    fered

    by

    any

    comparable

    organisation.

    Yet

    there is

    some concern

    about the

    quality

    and

    cost

    of these

    services.

    The

    proactive

    attitude

    of

    management

    is

    visible

    in

    open

    sharing

    of

    information

    with

    the elected

    members

    of

    the

    Union,

    6 times

    a

    year

    followed

    by

    lunch.

    Union

    leadership

    is

    so

    impressed

    by

    man

    agement

    transparency

    that its

    secretary,

    while

    talking

    about

    Dr.

    Irani,

    said Yeh Shaks Imandari

    Se

    Sach BoltaHai

    (This

    man

    honestly

    talks

    the truth).

    When themodernization

    plan

    started

    in

    1980 both

    union and

    management

    agreed

    on

    no

    retrenchment,

    redundant

    labour

    to

    be

    retrained

    and

    redeployed

    in

    suitable

    jobs.

    Talking

    aboutmoderni

    zation,

    Mr. D.K.

    Singh,

    General

    Secretary

    said that

    Union

    agreed

    to

    bring

    new

    technology

    because

    it

    was

    consulted. We

    co-operated

    because

    we

    wanted

    to

    serve

    the

    company

    and

    we

    got

    a

    good

    deal.

    There

    was

    continuous

    dialogue,

    openness

    and

    transparency

    and

    schemes

    suggested by

    management

    were not very

    painful

    towork

    ers.

    We

    found

    a

    common

    path by

    joint

    consultationwhich

    has

    been

    a

    culture

    in Tata

    Steel. The

    relationship

    between

    union

    and

    man

    agement

    is

    best

    vocalized

    by

    Mr.

    Singh

    when he

    said

    we

    have dif

    ferent

    paths

    but

    our

    destiny

    is

    same.

    REACHING OUT

    Consistent

    with

    the

    policy

    of

    openness,

    trust

    and

    transparency

    as a vehicle of

    change,

    Tata Steel introduced several programmes of

    sharing

    information ith the

    employees

    and

    the

    community

    with

    the

    intention

    f

    sharing

    truth

    nothing

    but

    the truth.Somewhere

    around

    themiddle

    of

    1994

    the

    idea of

    organising

    Employee

    Aware

    ness

    Programme

    (EAP)

    was

    initiated.

    In

    May

    1995

    the

    first

    ormal

    EAP

    was

    launched

    in

    Medium

    and

    Light

    Structure

    Mill.

    The

    topics

    covered dealt

    with

    such

    themes

    as

    personnel

    policies,

    safe

    habits,

    training

    and

    career

    development,

    health

    and

    healthy

    life,

    occupa

    tional

    health,

    welfare

    amenities,

    work

    discipline, suggestion

    system

    andworking towardshigherproductivity.

    Wife ?f

    MD

    initiated

    omestic

    Management Programme

    where

    wives

    of

    the

    employees

    go

    through

    three nd

    half-days

    programme

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    372

    Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrial

    Relations

    with

    inputs

    provided

    on

    such themes

    as

    budget,

    safety, ygiene

    and

    child welfare.

    In

    addition,

    wives

    of

    the

    employees

    are

    invited

    to

    visit husbands' work

    place

    and

    have lunch

    with them

    in

    company

    cafeteria.

    They

    are

    informed

    abut

    safety

    and

    productivity

    by

    ex

    perts.

    The

    aim is to

    involve families of

    the

    employees

    in

    affecting

    change.

    This

    programme goes

    on

    every

    day

    and

    the

    attempt

    is

    to

    cover

    all

    50,000

    employees'

    wives

    in

    the

    next

    2-3

    years.

    The

    specific

    purpose

    is

    to

    inspire

    their

    role

    and

    integrate

    them into the

    change

    takingplace

    in

    company

    and

    society.

    Tata

    Steel's

    endeavour

    is

    to create

    awareness

    at

    the lowest

    level

    in

    the

    company

    and

    community

    at

    large

    because

    'Modernization

    of

    Mind'

    as

    a

    concept

    must

    reach

    to

    a

    substantial

    segment

    of

    commu

    nity.

    In

    addition

    to

    the

    above-mentioned

    programmes,

    the

    MD

    has

    regular

    meetings

    with

    the

    female

    employees,

    dialogue

    with senior

    citizens

    in

    the

    city

    of

    Jamshedpur.

    It

    has also

    started

    the

    practice

    of

    naming

    'Person of theMonth'.

    Respect

    is

    given

    to

    the

    union and

    regular meetings

    with the elected members

    of the

    union

    are

    organ

    ised.

    Mr. Ratan

    Tata

    goes

    to

    the

    union

    instead

    of

    calling

    them

    to

    his

    office

    during

    his visits

    to

    Jamshedpur.

    SUCCESS

    INDICATORS

    Phase

    5,

    Modernization of

    Mind,

    formally

    egan

    on

    April

    1,1999.

    During

    the

    year

    and

    a

    half

    the

    picture

    has

    drastically changed.

    Cus

    tomer

    awareness

    is

    great,

    decision

    making

    has

    been

    pushed

    to

    the

    lowest

    level,

    bureaucracy

    has been

    demolished,

    levels

    are

    reduced

    from13 to4

    among

    officers,

    level

    reports

    toE level

    despite

    the

    fact

    that

    there

    re

    5 levels

    within O

    Category. Employment

    of

    chil

    dren

    has been

    stopped

    and thanks

    to

    ESS

    work

    force

    s

    reduced

    to

    50,910

    without

    any

    ripple.

    Seven

    to ten

    percent

    of the

    profit

    goes

    to

    township

    and

    community

    development;

    38

    per

    cent

    of

    all

    employ

    ees

    are

    covered

    in

    improvement

    projects

    and all

    departments

    are

    getting

    ISO

    ratings.

    There has been

    no

    major

    disruption

    by

    way

    of

    strike

    or

    gherao

    during

    the last

    70

    years.

    There

    is

    a

    general

    accept

    ance

    of

    change

    among

    the

    employees

    and

    they

    demand

    and

    desire

    to

    learn

    beyond

    their

    regular

    jobs.

    There is

    greater

    transparency

    in

    the

    system.

    Emphasis

    has shifted

    to

    productivity,

    profit

    and

    cus

    tomer

    instead of

    products

    and

    opportunity

    for

    experimentation

    and

    openness

    to

    accept

    ideas

    (learning humility).

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    Case

    Study

    373

    The concrete indicators and their

    growth

    over the 4 years pe

    riod

    as

    reported

    in

    Annual

    Report

    1999-2000

    are

    presented

    below:

    Indicators

    qf

    Growth

    _1997-98

    1998-99

    1999-2000

    Overall

    output

    (million

    tonnes)

    1.Hot

    metal_351_^63_3.89

    2.

    Crude

    Steel_^_323_3?6_3.43

    3. Works Saleable Steel

    3.01

    _311_3.29

    Works Saleable Steel

    (million

    tonnes)

    1.

    Production

    _

    3.01

    _3.11

    3.29

    2.

    Despatch_^_3?l_^09_3.30

    Sinter Production

    3.373.45 3.69

    (million tonnes)

    Coke Production

    1.83

    .96

    2.12

    (million tonnes)

    Specific

    Lubrication 1.08

    .88

    0.70

    Consumption (Kg/tss)

    Water

    Pollution

    0.27

    0.30 0.21

    (Kg/tss)

    _._

    Inventory

    Turnover

    Ratio

    (%)_16.45_16.55_14.70

    Solid

    Waste

    Utilization

    (%)

    66.08

    67.00

    8.24

    In

    addition,

    savings

    through suggestions

    improved

    from523

    lakh

    in

    1997

    to

    Rs. 720

    lakh

    in

    1998

    and Rs.

    865

    lakh

    in

    1999.

    During

    1999-2000

    rolling

    mill

    No.2

    was

    phased

    out and

    Tata

    Steel

    achieved

    full

    capacity

    utilisation

    in

    all

    new

    production

    units

    such

    as

    coke

    plant

    No.2,

    hot

    strip

    mill,

    L.D.

    shop

    No.

    2

    and Slab Caster

    in

    the

    very

    first

    year

    after

    modernization. Cluster

    manning

    has

    been

    introduced

    in

    13

    departments

    covering

    5147

    employees.

    To

    tal operation performance programme covered all major produc

    tion and

    services

    department

    in

    the

    norms

    during

    1999-2000.

    Coke

    quality

    in

    terms

    of

    strength

    is

    best

    in

    the

    world,

    it has

    achieved

    lowest

    cost

    in

    steel

    production

    in

    the

    world,

    and

    it

    pro

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    374 Indian

    Journal

    f

    ndustrialRelations

    duces

    the

    fastestmillion

    tonnes

    of

    iron in

    the

    new

    plant

    in

    the

    world.

    The

    largest

    private

    steel

    producer

    in

    the

    country,

    ata

    Steel

    is

    the

    lowest

    cost

    producer

    or

    Steel. The

    company

    may

    not

    be

    making

    as

    much

    profit today

    as

    it

    hoped

    to

    but

    the

    real

    test

    would

    come

    later

    when

    it

    would have international

    competition.

    There

    is

    also

    a

    lurk

    ing

    doubt

    in

    theminds of

    some

    executives

    whether

    the

    attempts

    to

    modernize

    mind

    would sustain

    over

    a

    longperiod

    of

    time.

    The

    spirit

    and

    direction

    of

    Modernization

    of

    Mind

    is

    best

    sum

    marized

    in

    the

    Tata

    Steel Information

    Bulletin,

    January-March

    2000

    which

    claims

    that

    Perfection

    in

    any

    endeavour is

    an

    aiming

    point,

    not

    a

    starting

    oint.

    Let

    thedesire for

    t

    push

    you

    but

    don't

    let

    the

    absence

    of

    it

    stop

    you.

    If

    you

    are

    going

    to

    get

    any

    thing

    done

    you

    must start

    some

    where. More

    specifically,

    you

    must

    start where

    you

    are. For Tata

    Steel

    the

    journey

    has

    begun

    but

    the

    road

    is

    long

    and

    winding

    and

    the

    destination

    is far

    away.

    NOTES

    1.

    All executives

    at

    Tata

    Steel

    have

    been recommended

    to

    read

    a

    book

    Who

    Moved

    My

    Cheese

    by

    Spencer

    Johnson.

    The book deals

    in

    a

    parable

    fashion

    on

    how

    to

    anticipate

    change,

    adapt

    to

    change quickly,

    enjoy change

    and

    be

    ready

    to

    change

    quickly

    again

    and

    again.

    2.

    There

    are

    instances in

    Tata

    Steel

    of

    having

    fourth

    generation

    workers

    employed.

    However,

    this is

    changing

    now. Merit instead of

    kinship

    is

    given

    weightage

    in

    employment.

    REFERENCES

    Harris,

    Frank,

    (1958),

    Jamsetji

    usserwanji

    Tata:A

    Chronicle

    of

    His

    Life,

    Blackie and

    Sons

    Limited,

    Bombay.

    Lala,

    R.

    M.

    (1981),

    The Creation

    of

    Wealth,

    IBH

    Publishers Pvt.

    Ltd.,

    Bombay.

    Pandey,

    S. N.

    (1989),

    Human

    Side

    of

    Tata

    Steel,

    Tata McGraw

    Hill,

    New

    Delhi.

    This content downloaded from 103.36.84.65 on Tue, 26 Jan 2016 18:27:49 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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    Case

    Study

    375

    EXHIBIT

    1

    :

    Labour Welfare

    Measures

    in Tata

    Steel

    Welfare

    measures-

    Tisco Intro. Enforced

    Legal

    Measures

    by

    Law

    Eight

    hour

    Working

    Day_1912_1948

    Factories

    Act

    Free M?dical Aid

    1915 948

    Employees

    State

    Insurance

    Act

    Establishment ofWelfare 1917 948 FactoriesAct

    Department

    Schooling

    facilities for 1917

    Children

    Formation

    of

    Works

    Committee for

    handling

    complaints,

    service

    conditions

    and

    grievances

    Leave with

    pay

    1920

    948

    Factories Act

    Workers

    Provident Fund 1920

    1952

    Employees'

    Scheme Provident Fund

    Workmen's Accident

    1920 1924

    Workmen's

    Compensation

    Scheme

    Compensation

    Act

    Technical

    Institute

    for

    1921

    1961

    Apprentices

    Act

    Training

    of

    Apprentices,

    Craftsmen

    &

    Engineering

    Graduates

    Maternity

    Benefit 1928946

    Bihar

    Maternity

    BenefitAct

    Profit

    Sharing

    Bonus_1934_1965

    Bonus

    Act_.

    Retiring

    Gratuity

    1937

    1972

    Payment

    of

    Gratuity

    _Act_

    Ex-gratia

    Payment

    for

    Road

    1979

    accident while

    coming

    to

    or

    returning

    from

    duty

    Social

    Audit

    _1980_-_First

    in

    India

    Pension

    Scheme

    1989

    Social

    Responsibility

    as

    a

    1988

    Key

    Business

    Process

    1919 1947

    Industrial

    Disputes

    Act