Excerpts from Mr. B. Muthuraman, Vice Chairman of Tata Steel, convocation address to
MBA students at SDM College, Mysore

Why are convocation speeches important even if most of them are boring? Convocations are meant to help students reflect and introspect as they begin their journey into the real world.

Most life or business lessons don’t come from books – they can also come from music; fine arts, yoga, and introspection. It is necessary for all of you to spend a bit of time by yourselves. Learn this habit, ask yourself questions.

I recall a management course that I attended many years ago which was jointly designed by Government of India and the Tatas. It’s housed in Bangalore. It was a six week management program and in those six weeks what we had was philosophy, sociology, interpretation of history, meaning of mathematics and music. Dr. Raja Ramannna who was the first director of National Institute of Advanced Studies used to play piano for us. We forget that these are not merely entertainment, it’s a great learning program and we need to find a way to learn from the softer aspects outside conventional knowledge.

What kind of corporations do you want to join? It is understood in many management institutions, we are often told that the prime purpose of a business organization is profits. Executives get rewarded for it, companies get measured on market capitalization, size, and profit after tax but it is important for all of us to remember that an industrial corporation is also an integral part of the society.

The problem is we think that companies are meant for the owners of the company, they are meant to make profits. We must remember that society even if it hasn’t put in finance into the company is actually the owner of the company and we must treat them like that. Only when we start measuring industrial corporations not on the basis of profits and start measuring companies on returns to the society then you will see that they will start behaving differently. If you attach an incentive to this, behavioural change will take place and that is the change we would like to see in the world.

The Tata group companies, I am proud talking about it , started the IISC in Bangalore in the early part of the last century , the Tata memorial hospital in Bombay , cancer hospital in Calcutta , several scholarships they give to students to study abroad. Tata Steel has adopted 650 villages around the city of Jamshedpur where our people go and work. All the companies put together we spend Rs. 1,000 crores a year.

Chose your corporations carefully. Salary package or first job, these are not of relevant in the long run. The company that you join, and what it stands for, is more important. You will see that pay off after some time.

You must remember that life is a marathon; it’s not a 100 meters race. I have seen too many 100 meters runners’ just fall flat. They start at great speed and want to do a lot of things but you need to remember it’s a marathon and you need a lot of patience, tenacity, defining your journey and undertaking it.

Calvin Coolidge former President of America said: “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Equality issue will determine India’s future All of you are entering into careers at a much better time for India than the 60s and 70s when the economy wasn’t growing in a high speed. Today India is growing and in the next 30 or 40 years India will become the third or the fourth largest economy in the world. So there are plenty of opportunities. But just because there are opportunities there is no guarantee for success, that’s not a guarantee for outcome.

India has several challenges to overcome, corruption, governance, infrastructure creation and plenty others and all of us are aware of them. But I believe the single most important challenge and if that challenge isn’t tackled well it is going to be a big deterrent for India’s growth, human growth, industrial growth etc and that is equality. I don’t mean equality of outcomes, they can never be equal, it depends on how hard he works, how intelligent he is. I am talking about equality of opportunities. In India, equality of opportunities doesn’t exist.

Many of us think everything must be decided on merit, we must also remember that merit is also governed by social circumstances.

Please build an Indian management institution because India has plenty to offer in management science and education. Please ensure that our culture is retained; social responsibility, ethics and governance are enshrined in you before you become a business manager. A good business manager isn’t a whiz kid in finance or management, he is a whiz kid in his mind and value system.