Ratan Tata bags award from The Economist

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London September 29, 2009

UK-based news magazine, The Economist, today named Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata as the winner of the eighth edition of its annual ‘Business Process Innovation Award’ for the successful development and launch of the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano. In a statement, the magazine said Tata was selected for “...forging a company that is shaping businesses across the globe and changing the way Indian companies conduct business. The company is also responsible for inventing the Tata Nano, the world’s lowest-cost car. Innovative methods through which the car is designed and manufactured enable Tata Motors to offer a more affordable, safe and efficient form of mobility to families in emerging markets.”

“Innovative ideas are everywhere,” said Mark Langley, executive vice-president and COO of the Project Management Institute. “What we salute with the Business Process Award is rarer: The implementation, through effective projects and programmes that translate ideas into lasting change. Tata Motors’ Nano challenges the way automobiles have been made and marketed for a hundred years. The application of project management is testimony to Tata Group’s record of refining its processes, from boardroom to manufacturing floor, and promises transformation of an industry facing a billion new customers over the next generation.”

This award from a prestigious UK-based magazine comes at a time when Tata’s acquisition of British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover is being severely criticised, for reporting big losses after the take-over and also the most recent decision to rationalise one of its plants in the Midlands.