Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran urged the group’s employees to remain focused to navigate the difficult times and work for long- term growth.
“Going ahead, 2019 will bring a number of macro challenges. As the economic cycle matures in developed economies, global growth will rely increasingly on momentum in the emerging markets,” wrote Mr. Chandrasekaran in a year-end letter to more than seven lakh employees.
“This heightens concerns around country risk, liquidity trends and trade-related shocks at a time when China’s growth impulse is slowing. Global liquidity is tighter going into 2019, while political uncertainty remains high with the upcoming elections in India,” he said.
Stating that the global shifts can be address by harnessing scale, synergy, digital depth, operational focus and agility, Mr. Chandrasekaran, who is a marathoner himself, said, “Our job is to run our marathon, not to be distracted by somebody else’s sprint.”
“We need to focus intently on what we can control, providing our customers with the best products and service, while managing our costs, strengthening the Tata brand driving long-term value creation,” he added.
He urged the employees to make strategic decision, factoring in both the ups and downs inherent in business cycles. “We should be prudent in good times while creating an operating and capital structure that will see us through difficult periods,” he added.
Focus on talent
He said talent will be a significant focus in 2019 and group remained ever-committed in creating work environments that are safe for women. “As a group, we have zero tolerance when it comes to harassment of any kind. Creating safe and dignified spaces for our people has been paramount to us since inception,” he said.
Reflecting on the year gone by, he said Tata Group would end 2018 on a stronger note. He said a process is on to simplify the group’s structure and build capital to navigate an unpredictable global environment characterised by “a new regime of trade tensions, geopolitical volatility and regulatory uncertainty.”
He said under the ‘OneTata’ strategy the group was simplifying, synergising and scaling (3S) to create an agile, powerful platform.
“Across the group, we made significant headway this year in strengthening balance sheets and building healthy cash flows. In total, we committed over ₹70,000 crore to deleverage and restructure Tata companies, consolidate cross holdings, acquire strategic assets and infuse much-needed capital for future growth,” he wrote. “At the same time, our collective market capitalisation crossed ₹10 trillion in 2018.” he added.
