Tata - Taking Another Look

February 23, 2008

We’ve all known for some time that Tata will be moving into the old James River facility in Clermont County. The non-verified understanding is that Tata will hire 1,000 new workers, a mixture of software engineers and developers as well as sales and administrative staff. Tata has been talking with the local colleges to create curriculum and programs to churn out new IT workers. And that was my perspective at first - churn. Like a Pepsi bottling plant churns out cola-filled aluminum cans.

For me, personally, I saw this as a good thing, as all the run of the mill, average software developers could find themselves good, steady jobs that could keep them gainfully employed and out of the way of the creative and driven developers that really want to make a difference. Those 1,000 software professionals could go on supporting Citi and Neilsen and the cream of the crop would flock to the smaller consulting firms and the more creative applications that come their way.

I read something this week that doesn’t necessarily change my mind about how I see Tata finding their employee base and where they fit into the community, but did cause me to see some very positive aspects of having Tata in our community. BusinessWeek explains that Tata “in all its deals…has been careful to signal its respect for workers,” and “buys companies overseas not to reduce costs but to improve [its own] capabilities.”

When Korean Daewoo’s truck division was on the auction block, Tata explained “it would preserve jobs, build Daewoo into a major exporter, and blend the outfit seamlessly with the parent company.” Tata Daweoo chief Chae Kwang Ok said that “Tata had done its homework in everything needed to do business here.”

Apparently charitable trusts hold 66% of Tata Sons’ shares, and these trusts are not “as focused on short-term gains as most investors” and “have long insulated employees ‘from the greed that is sweeping the corporate world.’” If this philosophy permeates the Cincinnati organization, the Cincinnati IT community may find a very good neighbor helping drive growth in the region.

- Andy

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