How Indian Industry is managing quality? The journey leading to the launch of the Nano, or the Rs 1-lakh car, as it has come to be known, perhaps best defines what a "visionary leader" can achieve, if he sets his eyes on a goal.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has epitomised the ideal of a visionary leader. Such a leader is one who observes and understands societal needs and then offers products and services to meet those needs. He stands up to criticism, treads a difficult, and often lonely, path, creates a dream team and delivers his promise. Tata has done all this and perhaps more "" he has been sensitive to the environment.
Consider the inspiration behind the Nano. Tata observed that average Indian middle-class families used two-wheelers as a family vehicle. It's easy enough to picture a family of four on a scooter "" the man at the steering, the older child standing in front of him, the wife at the back with another child on her lap or sitting between the two parents "" a highly uncomfortable and unsafe way to travel.
And, given the vagaries of nature in India, a safe, affordable, quality mode of transport was really what the society needed. Tata's answer to this was the decision to build a four-wheeler that observed stringent safety norms and was yet affordable.
A breakthrough idea always seems crazy to start with and most people abandon the leader whose idea it is. Not only is there resistance from outside, the project faces resistance internally as well.
Tata's case was no different: 18 months after he had announced his intention to come out with a car priced at Rs 1 lakh, the team that had been assigned the project had not presented even a single concept for the car.
In such a case, a dream team needs to be created to ensure that the project goes on stream "" and it requires the inclusion of people who have proven themselves. Girish Wagh, the man behind the small truck Ace, must thus have been the obvious choice to lead the Nano dream team.
It is also important that the chosen leader believes in the idea, and given his background, it seems likely that Wagh must have believed in the Nano.
Not only does the visionary leader pick up his dream team, he also spends a large proportion of his time on the project. Tata used to hold weekly review meetings to start with, and he worked personally on many parts of the car. He further disrupted the way his organisation was known to function by dealing directly with
Wagh and his core team "" thus bypassing the existing organisation hierarchies where there might have been resistance to the idea. In doing so, he successfully created an ambidextrous organisation "" which again is a must for a "crazy" idea such as the Nano.
The making of the Nano has not only led to a breakthrough at the Tata Group, but also amongst the component manufacturers who have supplied various parts that have gone into the making of the Nano. They, on their part, have had to show leadership in developing parts that met the cost and quality criterion of the Nano.
In a sense, the making of the Nano has stirred up a nationwide movement in innovation and has urged a significant section of the auto components manufacturers industry also moving on the path to innovation.
I believe that the Nano is not only a dream come true for Tata but for millions of Indians who had aspired to own a car and could not do so because of the exorbitant costs "" both capital and running. The Nano is not only priced affordably, it is also affordable to run "" 20 kms to a litre is perhaps more efficient than any other small car the world may have seen.
And, so it is the world that is now looking to learn from the experiences of the small car.
The car is expected to follow the route from meeting the needs of the bottom of the pyramid in the domestic market and then meet the needs of similar markets across the globe. From India, the market for the Nano is expected to expand to Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Malaysia.
Ratan Tata created history on January 10, while the world watched. The unveiling of the Nano to a packed hall was a moment that made us proud to be Indians and proud to be in India today.
Dr Surinder Kapur is chairman, CII Mission for Manufacturing Innovation, and chairman and managing director, Sona Koyo Steering Systems. DISCLAIMER: Sona Koyo is a component supplier to Tata Motors. These are the author's personal views
