Case Study Analysis

By Sangeeta Sahoo (2023PGDM028)

INTODUCTION:
With a product line that includes both commercial and passenger vehicles, TATA Motors
Limited (TML) is today one of India's strongest market leaders in the car industry. In 1945, in
pre-independence India, they were founded under the name Tata Engineering and
Locomotive Company. Due to the firm's lengthy history and reputation, it is clear that the
organization values innovation and ongoing learning, both of which have helped the company
grow.

The case is concerned with the redesign of the human capital strategy in light of the VUCA
environment and the unstable profitability of the organization. Together, the organization's
L&D and HR professionals redesigned the learning and development program for all of the
company's workers. They took a number of actions to encourage a learning environment
inside the TML organization and to push the learning culture across the company. The launch
of Tata Motors Academy (TMA) by TML in 2011 was one of the largest milestones toward
achieving this objective. It primarily has six centers of excellence, including manufacturing,
excellence in innovation, operator, commercial, dealer, corporate, and behavior training,
where the study fields include functional and technical skills, management skills, required
training programmes, global leadership skills, etc. Around 61% of the training in TMA was
devoted to fostering functional and technical competencies, both of which were created and
tailored by the L&D team to address regional needs. However, the management and global
programmes were created centrally for the entire firm.

Problems Identified:
• TML always put a strong emphasis on regional expansion while maintaining a
diversified and sizable staff base. However, TML did have a defined process for
assessing the efficacy and calibre of the many trainings being provided across the
board at the company.

• The L&D team found it challenging to defend the future investments in learning and
development since the standards for monitoring and assessing the outcomes from the
training programmes were not specifically ruled out.

• TML was tasked with evaluating and gauge the merits of TMA initiatives in terms of
their potential to improve talent management at TML and foster a culture of learning.

• It was necessary to assess the effectiveness of the company's present training

activities in order to determine whether they were generating the intended ROI,
where they needed improvement, and how they were boosting sales.
Background of the case:
In order to implement the human capital strategy and meet the educational needs of all of
the company's workers and other significant stakeholders, Tata Motors Academy was created
as a corporate university. The business, not the HR division, was in charge of developing TML's
training initiatives. Although it is thought of as a tiresome effort to apply the learning
programmes consistently throughout the organization. Making an effect via training is like
attempting to boil the ocean with roughly 49,000 employees and thousands of salespeople
working for 2,000 dealers! TMA must continually reinvent its content and reach to align with
the always evolving learner profile as a result of the industry's fast change and the
introduction of increased levels of automation.

- The TMA's performance was judged mostly on the basis of arbitrary criteria.
Therefore, the system needs additional quantitative performance assessment targets.
- TML has a substantial geographic presence around the world, including the UK, Spain,
Thailand, and other nations, with a workforce of about 49,000 people. More than
3,500 distributors and service locations made up their extensive network.
- TML's business was expanding quickly in terms of its size, product line, and
geographical markets. They were able to compete on the global market by maintaining
the high standards of quality and technology. The ultimate effect was a rise in
organizational activity complexity, which forced them to reevaluate their talent
development plans.
- Through the ACES programme, the new human resources strategy aimed to establish
a high-performance culture. The three pillars of this plan were: Organizational
Renewal, Talent and Leadership & Organizational Enablers.

Evaluation:

It is noted in the case that the corporation has experienced difficult times since its start. TML
profitability fell precipitously in 2000/01 as a result of the Asian financial crisis and escalating
market rivalry. While the business recovered rapidly from the crisis and saw a strong increase
in earnings starting in 2001/02, the year 2006/07 would herald the start of another phase of
stagnation and decline, which had an influence on its financial performance. TML started a
disruptive innovation transformative approach to develop new markets with innovative
goods by anticipating future customer demand. The TATA Indica and TATA Ace were the
products that came from this strategy. They became a well-known TATA motors product,
which aided in their establishment on the local market. The entirety of the learning and
development programmes the organization is now promoting throughout the organization.
The company's belief that its people offer them an advantage over their rivals and are their
competitive advantage may be deduced from this, according to what we can deduce.

The firm benefited from TML's efforts in employee learning and development in the following
ways: Production costs decreased as staff members became more efficient in their roles. The
organization was successful in conveying to its staff the value of teamwork and the necessity
of accepting responsibility for their job. The employees' cross-functional expertise in several
fields was improved via training. This might aid in enhancing the organization's systems and
procedures. A committed and industrious workforce may increase an organization's earnings
and provide it a solid worldwide footing. Aided the employee in obtaining a higher salary by
enhancing and expanding their skill set. Gaining a competitive edge in the marketplace;
assisting the employee in receiving greater remuneration; making the employee more
competent and effective. Additionally, the staff members believe that the company cares
about their performance in their positions and is interested in their general welfare.

TATA Motors academy & their initiatives:

TATA Motors made a wise decision by treating TMA as a distinct organization. It was created
to meet the educational needs of its staff, shareholders, and dealers, and it was organized
into 6 COEs to concentrate on those objectives according to the demands of the staff. It
encompassed management programmes, global leadership programmes, and required
programmes in addition to the functional and technical parts of the work. As a result, TMA
received access to all of Tata Motors' training. In order to sustain training efficacy, it also
matched the training modules to the corporate strategy. In addition, they developed a strong
feedback system based on "Context, Input, Reaction, and Outcome." Through initiatives like
the "iteach" programme and the "Train the Trainer" programme, TMA also kept its leadership
active. TMA also used a decentralized method in addition to a centralized one, which was a
pretty intriguing strategy. They also have an offline and online academy to better adapt to
the changing times. TMA also frequently revised its programmes while bringing its in-house
knowledge to the table in order to adapt to the changing demands of the business. The
software lacked a "modular approach," nonetheless.

Recommendations:
o The L&D and HR teams should regularly examine and monitor the current training
materials and update them as needed to reflect the new abilities that employees will
need to do their jobs effectively. Outdated or unnecessary programmes should be
eliminated.

o To eliminate confusion among the workforce, it is important to make everyone aware

of the advantages and value addition at both the individual and organizational levels
by clearly conveying the updated vision and its relationship to the new L&D
programme.

o The company should put its efforts into creating an atmosphere through pre- and
post-classroom learning assessments in order to gauge the degree of effect of the
training and development programme, rather than just recommending the courses or
programmes that must be taken.

o Given that workers do not operate in silos and that the training programme should be
tailored to the skills, it is crucial to establish process-based capabilities as a whole
rather than just for specific individuals.
o Workers can get career planning and counselling sessions, where they will be
recommended learning programmes and modules based on their particular
requirements or the suggested training programmes by the L&D team and the way
the firm and they envisage the employees' career trajectories.

o Learning and development programmes should concentrate on the current gaps in a

person's capacity to execute their work and the job requirements after the company
strategy has been determined.