Portfolio pruning
The chairman told Fortune magazine that "one of my key messages is that we’re going to look at performance for every operating company (within the Group) — growth rates, profitability, return on capital.” Emphasizing that the Group needs top companies, the chairman is reported to have said: "To get to the next level, we need scale… we can’t do it with multiple small companies.”
The report said much of the House of Tata is in "urgent need” of changes, with some of its biggest businesses growing sluggish and vulnerable to smaller, nimbler rivals. "Chandra has vowed to reorganize the Group to focus on growth and scale. Tata’s corporate roster is rife with opportunities for consolidation, with multiple companies competing in the same segment,” the report continued.
Bombay House: undergoing extensive renovations
Not only the Group but even Bombay House, the iconic headquarters of the business house is undergoing renovations. The building will be closed for business for about a year — its first such closure in 93 years, reported the Business Standard (BS) of August 7. Approximately 600 employees who work in the building will be housed in other Tata offices, while Chandrasekaran and his team will move to hired offices in South Bombay. "The renovation will create space for collaboration among group companies, a point Chandra has been highlighting a lot, lately,” according to the report, quoting an unnamed insider.
The Rs 80-crore ($ 12.5 million) makeover, with a digital lobby that will showcase the Group’s legacy is being handled by conservation architect Brinda Somaya, according to the BS report. The façade of the structure, however, would remain the same, as external changes are restricted in heritage buildings, said the report. When the Group, under the chairmanship of Sir Dorab Tata, purchased the 21,285 sq ft plot in 1921, its portfolio consisted of six businesses — textiles, steel, power, hotel, cement and a bank, detailed the report. The three-storey structure designed by architect George Wittet was inaugurated in 1924. The fourth floor was added in 1942.