Mumbai, Dec 24: As Ratan Tata steps down and Cyrus Mistry steps in at Bombay House Friday, top CEOs of the world have said the $100-billion Tata Group isIndia's best-known global brand within and outside the country.
“Ratan Tata occupies the well-deserved iconic status who has taken the group from largely an Indian family-owned business house into a professionally managed global conglomerate,” a survey by Assocham said.
About 77% of those who participated in the survey said they are confident Mistry will be able to steer the group well, it said.
Assocham said it has surveyed about 78 top CEOs and heads of both domestic and foreign companies in the first fortnight of December.
The survey, it said, was conducted not only in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, but also in London, New York and Singapore.
However, the respondents said the biggest challenge for Mistry would be to ensure that the Tata companies are able to sail through the global slowdown, since the group operates in some 80 countries, several of which are in the grip of difficult times.
The group has interests in steel, automobile, chemicals, telecommunication, information technology, beverages and hospitality, among other areas.
“The Tata story which began in 1868 by Jamsetji N Tata has been the most successful among India Inc. The role played by Ratan Tata and J R D Tata in making the group truly global has been deservedly recognised all over the world,” Assocham President Rajkumar N Dhoot said.
Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group were the other major Indian corporate houses listed to have made their mark on the global business landscape, the survey said.
However, it said the brand Tata stood out among all the top Indian corporates and perceived as the truly international brand.
It said while the change of guard at the Bombay House, the headquarters of the Tatas later this month, is on the corporate calendar and the event would go down as a landmark occasion among the most watched for several years.
Ratan Tata, after being at the helms of affairs for 21 years at Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, will be retiring on December 28.
