Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Orient-Express' quasi-racism

M.V.Muthu, Bangalore,says: Even in a re-birth, one would like to see Ratan Tata as he is. His deftness in global acquisitions and take-overs not withstanding, it will be ages before Lakshmi Mittal can build the brand and image of "TATA". The comparison of the two is best left apart. (19 Dec, 2007 2249 hrs IST)
Ratish Sharma,Shimla,says: Rattan Tata will ultimately get what he wants. He has an iron hand inside velvet gloves. He smiles and is very polished. A man of strong ethics and taste. He runs his business fairly, and treats his workers and share holders with respect and profit. He is the kind of person who will win in the end. The Mittals and Ambanis of this world will come and go, but the Tatas are forever. Rattan Tata should be conferred the Bharat Rattan. (19 Dec, 2007 2321 hrs IST)
Puneet Chopra, N. Delhi, says: I am a big fan of Mr. Aiyer & his opinions but this time I disagree to some extent. Mittals are a new generation as compared to TATAs and newer generations are aggressive in all aspects. Yes, aggresssion is needed specially in case of M&A business but you need to have different weapons in your armory than just aggression which TATAs play with & have proved while taking over Tetley & Corus and now being the frontrunner for Jaguar/Landrover. I would say, the Mittals will become like TATAs over a period of time. (17 Dec, 2007 1203 hrs IST)
subramanian, minneapolis, says: Let us wait for some time before we declare judgement in Ratan's declaration on hostile bid. Indians slowly built their strength over a period of time . I still remember a day when our NRIs will talk hours about the foreign supremacy .Similarly, Tatas will make it happen. Who knows Orient Express will be Tata Orient express or Orient omitted again. Kindly look at Maruti Suzuki. Gone are the days when the government begged them for investment. Today no more hostile takeover but India has overtaken Suzuki and their global car will roll out of India since they struggle everywhere except India .As an Indian living in USA I hardly see Jaguar for which the dealers in USA seem to claim objections .Unfortunately if they had their way, Japanese as well as Korean cars will not rule the market. Still your article makes sense and it attracted me. Thanks. (16 Dec, 2007 2051 hrs IST)
Anil Agashe, Pune, says: In the end even the Corus deal was fought out like a hostile takeover. Mr Tata was only speaking about his preferences.If Tatas come to a situation when hostile takeovers are required, then they will go for it. One will have to wait and see how well Mittals build their first plant in India. (16 Dec, 2007 1211 hrs IST)
Ashutosh, Bangalore, says: Comparing a 100-year-old brand with a relative newcomer like Mittal may not be all that fair. There has been an inherent wisdom in the way the TATAs have conducted themeselves and in spite of not producing the stellar growth of some of the other corporations, they have been very successful by taking an almost contrarian approach in Indian business. In that process they have won many and lost some times. But, to my mind, a hostile takeover is not just a question of being nice. More importantly, it is a question of being true to yourself. It is like asking someone who is a recluse to go out and socialise or someone who wears sober clothes to dress flashily. Will they be able to pull it off? Will they be able to conduct themesleves with dignity in a agme that they are historically not used to playing? Tata is Tata and Mittal is Mittal and they are unique in their own right and in the long-run i.e. at least a generation or so will tell us which way is a wiser one... (16 Dec, 2007 1146 hrs IST)

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