Tata Sons Appoints HBS Dean to its Board: MBA News

Tata Sons announced the appointment of HBS dean, Nitin Nohria, to its board as a non-executive director last week.

It is the latest in a series of links between Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Mumbai-based Indian conglomerate, comprising the Tata Group of companies. These links have thus far centered on Ratan Tata – the former chairman of Tata Sons who retired in 2012.

The relationship between the two began back in 1975, when Ratan Tata attended HBS’ Advanced Management Program. Twenty years later, in 1995, he received the business school’s highest accolade, the ‘Alumni Achievement Award’.

Fast-forward to 2010 and Harvard business school was the recipient of a whopping US$50m donation from the Tata Sons chairman. It was in this same year that Indian-born Nitin Nohria was appointed as the new Harvard dean.

At the time, Nohria praised a, “historic gift from a renowned organization revered for its significant economic, civic and philanthropic impact.” However, according to the ‘The Hindu Business Line’, the donation had been mooted as early 2008 before being, “finally agreed upon over a light lunch of tuna sandwiches.”

Nitin Nohria’s appointment likely to benefit both HBS and Tata Sons

Having a business school dean on a company’s board of directors in this way offers clear benefits to all parties involved.

For example, the opportunity to gain an exclusive insight into the way a company, such as Tata Sons, and its leaders operate in the business world can only aid Nitin Nohria in his future research as well as allowing him to assess how HBS’ teaching methods square up to reality. 

Conversely, the company should be able to gain the Harvard dean’s research in advance of publication as a result. Having the chance to relate to its own business challenges before anyone else could really provide an advantage. Nohria’s appointment at Tata prompted BusinessWeek to discuss this general concept in more detail.  

Tata Sons and the Tata Group have an extensive portfolio of major companies. One example being Tata Motors – India’s largest automobile company and the owners of Jaguar Land Rover – which yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to keep its base of operations in the UK. Tata Motors was also responsible for the launch of what was proclaimed to be the world's most affordable car, the Nano (pictured), in 2009.

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