Jyoti Narang, the former chief operating officer of the Taj Hotels, looks back at her journey working with the then chairman of Indian Hotels Company Limited
My interactions with Ratan Tata began when I moved to Mumbai to head marketing for the Taj Group of Hotels in 1996 when he was the chairman of the Indian Hotels Company Limited. I got more opportunities to speak to him when I became the chief operating officer in 2003.
I will always remember Ratan Tata to be a person with a global mindset.
For instance, after acquiring Tetley, Jaguar, and Corus, it became much easier for us to make presentations on the Taj Group of Hotels abroad. Before the acquisition, there wasn’t enough visibility, but soon there was an immediate recognition of the Tata brand.
I also remember him for his contribution—Rs220 crore—to build a hall, named the Tata Hall, at the Harvard Business School campus. It is the largest international donation in the school’s history. He did his advanced management program from there in 1975, and I did it in 2010. I was there when he came to inaugurate it. It showed the world that India has a global reach.
He wasn’t narrow in his thinking. I’ll give you another example of his global thinking.