The story of IBM was always considered to be the greatest turnaround stories of all times but wait, have you heard how an Indian MNC Tata has turned it around for itself through its acquisition and revival of the global luxury brand , Jaguar-Land Rover(JLR).
In the past few years, Tata motors have gone from a sheen losing family business to a global profitable brand. In April 2012 share price of Tata motors surged 90 % (6 months data) when the BSE rose 10% and the BSE auto Index rose 21% in the 6 month period.
What caused this turnaround?
The beginning was not smooth, TATA acquired JLR from Ford Motors, when world was entering recession and the worst recession of them all. There was a bad sentiment everywhere. JLR was a failing brand and TATA paid $2.3 billion. Business Analysts feared that TATA has made a mistake and that they will not be able to handle what they have entered.
Also, JLR being a British powerhouse brand, the deal was not very well perceived due to the coming Indian ownership and the fears of outsourcing of jobs, technology and the brand to India. On the other hand, Indian analysts feared that this whole acquisition may bring the almighty TATAs down.
But that was 2008 and today JLR is contributing 50% of the overall profits of TATA Motors. All the stories and rumors were put to rest when the £400m engine plant in the Midlands was announced that would potentially create up to 2,000 jobs in England and not India as feared.
The most important things which TATA prioritize to start the change were:
1) Cost Management: The most important task on hand for TATAs was the reduction in the costs. Consultants from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and KPMG were hired for this. Strategy plans were made for cross functional teams and the management was shaken at the top.
Also one major cut down was done on the IT front. The systems and software for managing operations were now handled by Tata’s own IT firm