1. Which, if any, of the following initiatives undertaken by Ratan Tata do you think were good ideas?
a) Creation of a Group Brand
b) Building of equity interlocks among the Tata companies
c) Sale of a part of Tata Industries Limited to the Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson group
d) Revitalisation of Tata Administrative Services

2. What do you think of some critics’ opinion that Ratan Tata was moving the group of companies in exactly the opposite direction from where it should be going?
The Indian economy following the 1991 crisis swiftly moved away from central planning economy towards market-based economy with the government having less intervention and control. As a result, companies were operating in what is called emerging markets.
Khanna & Palepu (1997, pp.41-2) describe emerging markets as hardly uniform that lack in providing the institutions vital for basic business operations. Companies that operate in such environment must adapt their strategies to fit their institutional context.
Appendix 1 of the case study clearly shows market failures of Indian economy in mid 1990s compared to the UK and US. Some of the market failures include:
 information problems (e.g. limited phone lines, TVs, newspapers)
 capital markets problems (e.g. low bank assets, limited watchdog bodies, limited access to local capital markets and market information asymmetries)
 political and risk factors problems (e.g. corruption, low efficiency of judicial system, state intervention – institutional voids)
1. a) Ratan’s strategic focus on creating a strong Tata group brand has a valid point. Except for the culture and name, the company has weaknesses in its structure (e.g. companies such as ACC, Tisco and Tata Chemicals setting up its own cement plants and competing with each other).
Benefits of creating a strong Tata brand name include:
 Compensating for a poor