Cyrus Mistry says sustainable profitable growth, agility key to Tata's Vision 2025

Cyrus P. Mistry, the chairman of Tata Sons, has asked Tata companies to ensure sustainable profitable growth and to develop agile businesses amidst a changing and volatile world business environment.

Addressing the group's leadership and senior management at the Tata group's Annual Group Leadership Conference (AGLC), Mistry outlined critical enablers for sustainable profitable growth, which would help the group achieve its Vision 2025, of a quarter of the world's population experiencing the Tata commitment to improving the quality of life of communities and customers.

Some of these enablers are: developing unique consumer insights, diversification of profit pools, creation of intellectual property rights, deployment of robust risk management processes, creation of financial flexibility to seize opportunities and minimising impact on the environment.

"Sustainable profitable growth is the key building block for long term stakeholder value creation," he said.

Mistry said that the Tata group would need to maintain its success in a changing world marked by global volatility and an inexorable shift towards a digital future.

He also highlighted the opportunities all across the globe and those presented by a rapidly growing Indian market whose relative importance in the global economy would substantially increase by 2030.

To steer through this rapid rate of change, Mistry asked Tata companies to build strategic and organisational agility. He stressed the importance of "open strategy processes" the need for "a sense of urgency" to identify new opportunities in the face of discontinuity "entrepreneurial people" and "leadership that fosters experimentation and accepts risks in the pursuit of new capabilities and next generation businesses".

Mistry struck a note of caution on the impact of global uncertainties on market movements through the year.

Sharing the group's financial performance in 2014-15, Mistry disclosed that revenues had grown from USD 103.27 billion in the previous year to USD 108.78 billion. International revenues constituted 68 percent of the group's revenues.

The group invested about USD 10 billion worldwide during the year and closed the financial year with a market capitalisation of USD 134 billion, up 17 percent over the previous year.

In his address, the chairman paid his respects to former president late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and described him as "a great visionary and patriot who always believed in India's potential".

Mistry mentioned that over 70,000 Tata group employees volunteered in the year past. He encouraged them to continue to make a "real and huge difference to the world".

At the conference, over 35 examples from across 19 Tata companies that are successfully harnessing digital capabilities in their strategies were showcased.

Several digital businesses and enablers were also presented by the teams concerned. These include an omni-channel market place which will seamlessly integrate store shopping and online buying. Offering renowned brands, both Tata and non-Tata, across lifestyle and electronics categories, it will be powered by technology platforms, systems and processes managed through collaboration of the relevant Tata companies.

Another initiative will be a digital health and wellness platform for providers and consumers enabling preventive and predictive healthcare. The platform will connect retail clinics, multi-speciality clinics, pharmacies and laboratories with individual consumers, healthcare providers and wellness centres.

A third digital initiative, based on analytics, is aimed at arming Tata companies with sharp and comprehensive consumer insights. The newly formed Consumer Analytics Division at Tata Industries will create a holistic view of the customer, unveiling new business opportunities at the company, cluster and group level.