"This was an amazing experience. Tata made it
a point for us to gain knowledge about globalisation in general,
not keeping it to IT only. I loved the fact they work in teams,
rather than just as individuals. As an economics student, I've come
to realise that working at a global level entails a lot of
responibilities which aren't mentioned in classes, such as social
responsibility. I was truly fascinated by how much Tata does for
the communities it operates in"
Fellows spent two weeks with Tata Consultancy
Services in China and India. Below are some of their
thoughts and experiences.
Aseem
I learnt that a global business needs to make changes in
each region it operates, and cannot use the same rules and customs
in each global office.
I also learnt that about the competition people face in the
global job market. Especially in times like these, when jobs are
becoming scarcer, it is even more important to develop your
education and experience to get ahead of the competition.
Finally I learnt about the importance of striking a balance
between work and fun. Many of the people we talked to said
sometimes work took so much time it was hard to spend time with
friends and family, so it was important to manage time
effectively.
Sarwar
I loved the fact that we were given the real picture of
working for a global company e.g. long meetings, sometimes late
nights, early mornings etc. I have learned so much about how an
international business operates e.g. through its Global Network
Delivery Model, Tata can ensure that its services, whether
delivered in India, China or anywhere else in the world, are
consistent through this model.
3 main things learned;
(1) That getting a foothold into different companies,
especially in emerging economies such as China, is often done
through mergers and acquisition.
(2) Although businesses primarily exist for profit, much is
done to give back to the community.
(3) Today we essentially live in a totally integated system
e.g. if the currency rate/ share prices of an institution changes
in the London Stock Exchange it can have a positive/negative impact
upon businesses and markets in e.g. Asia and
America.
Eric
When I first found out I was going to be
working at TATA I was excited. I knew it as a household name
and happened to have studied the iron and steel arm of the firm for
my 'A' levels. Having the opportunity to see it in the flesh
was a prospect I was looking forward to.
We got to the offices at the Shanghai
Industrial Park. Many of the staff we met were Indian, although
there were of course plenty of Chinese employees who we could
also speak to - and practice our Mandarin. All of them
were welcoming, especially with the management team who we
interacted with most.
The consultancy services arm of TATA had
recently undergone various changes and makeovers which have driven
them to be in the top three IT consultancy firms
globally. The seven of us assigned to TCS were all given
desks and we were designated roles within our group. Once we
had worked together for the two weeks we were asked to pitch our
image of the firm in 2020. We were also given the opportunity
to pose questions to the global CEO of TCS.
The experience gave me an invaluable insight
into the workings of a global firm. We had interesting
sessions with security, operations, finance and R&D where we
posed questions on life in China, the I.T. department and global
businesses in general. One of the highlights was a session
with the China branch CEO who drew on contrasts between British,
Chinese and Indian ways of doing business. This session
provided us with lifetime lessons on business etiquette and
practices.