Veterans Unpacked | "Digitalisation has overtaken the world. This is a huge change": B. Muthuraman, former vice-chairman, Tata Steel

Balasubramanian Muthuraman, former vice-chairman, Tata Steel.

Note to readers: How ​do corporate leaders surf life after hanging up their boots? What do they do next? What are the lessons they learned in their eventful journeys? What advice do they have for the current crop of leaders? Veterans Unpacked is a series of interviews aimed to offer readers lessons from retired bosses on life outside the corner office.

Hailing from Madras (now Chennai), Balasubramanian Muthuraman is a metallurgical engineer who studied at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) and XLRI Jamshedpur, before he went on to join the Tata Group.

At Tata, he worked across a variety of leadership positions before becoming the managing director of Tata Steel,  then India's largest steel player, in 2001, and later its vice-chairman.

While Muthuraman also served on the boards of Tata Industries, it was under his leadership that Tata Steel became a global player with the multi-billion dollar acquisition of steel company Corus (UK, Netherlands) in 2007, and demonstrated the Tata Group's rising presence worldwide.

He was  awarded the Padma Bhushan award by the government of India in 2012.

Edited excerpts:

What have you been up to since hanging up your boots/ stepping away from active duty?

I am now involved in other forms of active engagement—more wholesome, more diversified, and in some ways, even more satisfying. I am on three different corporate boards, as well as different management schools and two NGOs as well. The involvement and engagement with all the above gives me a great deal of satisfaction and fulfilment.

 What keeps you busy now?

Apart from my formal engagements as detailed above, I have now found new space and time to connect with my IIT-Madras classmates, my batch mates from Tata Steel (with both these groups I have regular virtual calls/ meets), my wonderful grandchildren, play golf, watch some good movies, do a bit of social work, and most of all, spend more quality time with my wife, Sumathi. Forty-eight years of corporate life rarely gave me the opportunity to enjoy these pleasures. I am also privileged to be associated with Sadhguru's Rally for Rivers Movement.

 Looking back, can you tell us about three interesting events or anything that has stayed with you since?

Actually, I recall several of them. However, I will narrate three here. In 1966, when I finished from IIT-Madras, I had two offers. One was from Tata Steel, as a graduate trainee with a starting salary of Rs 400 a month; the other was from the University College of Los Angeles for an MS degree in Material Science with a scholarship of USD 400 a month. The decision looked simple to me. I chose the $400 opportunity rather than sweat with the Rs 400 offer. I met my teacher, Professor E.G. Ramachandran, primarily to inform him of my decision to join UCLA and also to thank him since it was he who recommended me to UCLA. Over a two-hour conversation that followed, the professor changed my mind. The things he said, the way he said them, the arguments he put forward, all these convinced me to join Tata Steel. This is the most important conversation of my life and a life-changing one. But for EGR’s sage advice I would have missed working for Tata Steel, one of the finest institutions in the world. This incident and EGR’s persuasive ability will forever remain etched in my memory.

The second was in 1986. I was Marketing Manager (special steels) posted in Jamshedpur. Special steels constituted only 15% of the total production/ sales of Tata Steel. One evening around 7 pm, Russi Mody, our Managing Director, dropped into my office, completely unannounced. What he told me shocked me. He said he was going to send me to Delhi as Regional Manager , a position hierarchically one level below my present position. I was taken aback. I told Mr Mody that my ratings have been consistently excellent for the last several years, and that I will have to resign if I am demoted. I was almost crying. Mody left my room without saying anything more. I was crestfallen. I rang up my wife and told her I have no option but to resign. Within ten minutes, Mody’s executive assistant came into my room and asked me “Did Russi rag you sufficiently?" He then went on to explain that the top management thought highly of me but there were gaps in my experience and exposure. My posting to Delhi was to be seen in the light of making me fit to handle senior positions rather than as a demotion. I went to Delhi much to the surprise of my colleagues but emerged much better in two years. This incident taught me several dimensions of leadership and was another major turning point in my career.

The third was in 2002. I was making a presentation on Tata Steel’s long-term strategy to the Business Review Committee. My colleagues and I had prepared well, or so I thought. The presentation was seen as a disaster. The disappointment on our chairman’s face was all too clear. We went back to the drawing board. We took major inputs and help from a well-known international consultant. I was sure that this time we would impress the committee. At the end of the presentation, the chairman said “this does not look like your presentation". Two down. Third time, we really thought it through and came up with what I thought was a brilliant presentation. Surely, this will go through, I thought. At the end, the chairman remarked, “I think we have not entirely wasted our last 3 hours." I was disappointed and angry. I went back to my room and in a fit of fury, took out the famous Alice in Wonderland cartoon and wrote that “ Mr. Chairman, we are not as rudderless and directionless as Alice, here”. That piece of paper came back to me within 15 minutes with a scribble, “Muthu, if I have managed to serve as the Cheshire Cat during our discussion, I would get a sense of fulfilment." It opened my eyes and my mind. We went back to the drawing board and restarted the exercise with ‘where do we want to go?' Finally, in our fourth attempt our strategy paper got the chairman’s nod, and I realised the value of methodical strategic thinking.

Our society is not merely an integral part of the business, it is the prime reason for the business.

What do you miss the most about the C suite ?

I don’t really miss much. Maybe the public appreciation. Maybe being in the limelight. But we all know that these are transient. When you are a CEO in a small town like Jamshedpur, people around you make you believe that you are God. If you fall for it, you are finished. Honestly, I don’t miss much. But I must say that I miss Jamshedpur as a place to live. It is outstanding - the best place to live in India.

If you had to relive your corporate career, what would you do differently ?

I think I would do two things differently. One is that I would have managed our acquisitions much better. I now know how, and what we could have done better in this area. Secondly, I would have liked to have been much more digital than I was. This would have helped me as well as the company to be more efficient.

What are the changes in the corporate world that you see now that are vastly different from your time ?

My “time” was as recent as eight years back. In such a short period of time digitalisation has overtaken the world. This is a huge change. I see more entrepreneurial spirit among the current generation than in my times.

Which business leader among the current crop impresses you ?

I would not like to mention names, but Ratan Tata continues to be my benchmark for corporate leadership.

 How did you plan for life after retirement?

I did not plan. I had no time to plan for my retired life. In fact, I don’t like the word ‘retirement’. It is not in my dictionary. I have just moved from one phase of life to another phase—one that is even more fulfilling and even more enjoyable than the earlier phase.

 Is there anything you would tell your younger self ?

Yes, very much. In fact, many things—take interest in fine arts, music, painting; try and be more Indian, understand India’s rich cultural heritage, learn Sanskrit, don’t forget your mother tongue, Tamil; spend more time with family; don’t become a unidimensional personality.

What is your advice to the next cadre of corporate leaders?

My advice would be the same as what Jamsetji Tata said more than 160 years ago: “The purpose of a business corporation is to improve the quality of life of people all around." Our society is not merely an integral part of the business, it is the prime reason for the business. “Social welfare, environmental sustainability and the well being of all should be the core of the business, with profits providing the necessary incentive. This philosophy needs to be stressed again and again, in the current day's world.