Mumbai: Taking over the reins of USD 103 billion Tata Group, Natarajan Chandrasekaran today called for more rigour in capital allocation so as to enhance shareholder value as also individual businesses of the conglomerate topping in their sectors.
The 30-year company veteran, Chandrasekaran, or Chandra as he's known, listed "enabling higher shareholder value" and making a significant and lasting social impact as his priorities as the Chairman of Tata Sons.
Taking over after a very public 4-month long boardroom battle involving ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry, he said the 'Tata Code of Conduct' has always been the bedrock of his personal commitment to value system and will always remain at the core of his leadership.
"We need to work together to excel, and to be ranked among the top performers in our respective industries," Chandra, 53, wrote to the group employees on his first day in office.
"We will also bring more rigour to our capital allocation in order to consistently enhance stakeholder value."
Saying that it was humbling to lead the 150-year old Group, he said the Tata brand occupies a special place in people's hearts and minds as the flag bearers for trust and social responsibility.
"I have taken pride in our achievements as a group, in our ability to innovate and take risks in order to create pioneering and global businesses, and in our ongoing contribution to the communities that we work in," he wrote.
Credited with creating India's largest IT company TCS, Chandra said a key part of entrepreneurial DNA in Tata Group has always been its pioneering spirit and "ability to lead and not follow".
He said: "As a group, we have enormous collective strengths. Working together, our companies, Tata Sons and the Tata Trusts have been very successful in the past, and have created great value for all our stakeholders.
"Now, as we face the future, we have a huge opportunity to do so once again in terms of our business performance, by enabling higher shareholder value, as well as by making a significant and lasting social impact with a view to make a sustainable difference in communities."
To achieve this, he said, a relentless focus on the customer, gaining a deeper understanding of their aspirations, and by designing products and services to meet their needs is needed.
