|
|
|
Student
Corner - Values & Culture |
|
|
|
|
|
Leadership
with trust - Chairman Ratan Tata's Message |
Purpose
At the Tata Group our purpose
is to improve the quality of life of the communities
we serve. We do this through leadership in sectors
of national economic significance, to which the
group brings a unique set of capabilities. This
requires us to grow aggressively in focussed areas
of business. Our heritage of returning to society
what we earn evokes trust among consumers, employees,
shareholders and the community. This heritage will
be continuously enriched by formalising the high
standards of behaviour expected from employees and
companies.The Tata name is a unique asset representing
leadership with trust. Leveraging this asset to
enhance group synergy and becoming globally competitive
is the route to sustained growth and long-term success. |
Five
core values
The Tata Group has always sought to be a
value-driven organisation. These values continue
to direct the group's growth and businesses. The
five core Tata values underpinning the way we do
business are: Integrity
- we must conduct our business fairly, with honesty
and transparency. Everything we do must stand the
test of public scrutiny. Understanding
- we must be caring, show respect, compassion and
humanity for our colleagues and customers around
the world and always work for the benefit of India.
Excellence
- we must constantly strive to achieve the highest
possible standards in our day-to-day work and in
the quality of the goods and services we provide.
Unity
- we must work cohesively with our colleagues across
the group and with our customers and partners around
the world, building strong relationships based on
tolerance, understanding and mutual cooperation.
Responsibility
- we must continue to be responsible, sensitive
to the countries, communities and environments in
which we work, always ensuring that what comes from
the people goes back to the people many times over. |
|
|
|
The
Tata Code of Conduct
> National interest
> Financial reporting and
records
> Competition
> Equal opportunities employer
> Gifts and donations
> Government agencies
> Political non-alignment
> Health, safety and environment
> Quality of products and
services
> Corporate citizenship
> Co-operation of Tata
companies
> Public representation of
the company and the group
> Third party representation
> Use of the Tata brand
> Group policies
> Shareholders
> Ethical conduct
> Regulatory compliance
> Concurrent employment
> Conflict of interest
> Securities transactions
and confidential information
> Protecting company assets
> Citizenship
> Integrity of data furnished
> Reporting concerns |
|
|
|
|
|
National
interest
A Tata company shall be committed in all its actions
to benefit the economic development of the countries
in which it operates and shall not engage in any
activity that would adversely affect such objective.
It shall not undertake any project or activity
to the detriment of the Nation's interests or
those that will have any adverse impact on the
social and cultural life patterns of its citizens.
A Tata company shall conduct its business affairs
in accordance with the economic, development and
foreign policies, objectives and priorities of
the Nation's government and shall strive to make
a positive contribution to the achievement of
such goals at the international, national and
regional level as appropriate.
Financial reporting
and records
A Tata company shall prepare and maintain
its accounts fairly and accurately in accordance
with the accounting and financial reporting standards
that represent the generally accepted guidelines,
principles, standards, laws and regulations of
the country in which the company conducts its
business affairs.
Internal accounting and audit procedures shall
fairly and accurately reflect all of the company's
business transactions and disposition of assets.
All required information shall be accessible to
company auditors and other authorised parties
and government agencies. There shall be no wilful
omissions of any company transactions from the
books and records, no advance income recognition
and no hidden bank account and funds.
Any wilful material misrepresentation
of and/or misinformation on the financial accounts
and reports shall be regarded as a violation of
the code, apart from inviting appropriate civil
or criminal action under the relevant laws. |
|
|
|
Competition
A Tata company shall fully strive for the
establishment and support of a competitive open
market economy in India and abroad and shall co-operate
in the efforts to promote the progressive and
judicious liberalisation of trade and investment
by a country.
Specifically, a Tata company
shall not engage in activities which generate
or support the formation of monopolies, dominant
market positions, cartels and similar unfair trade
practices.
A Tata company shall market its products and services
on its own merits and shall not make unfair and
misleading statements about competitors' products
and services. Any collection of competitive information
shall be made only in the normal course of business
and shall be obtained only through legally permitted
sources and means.
Equal opportunities
employer
A Tata company shall provide equal opportunities
to all its employees and all qualified applicants
for employment, without regard to their race,
caste, religion, colour, ancestry, marital status,
sex, age, nationality, disability and veteran
status. Employees of a Tata company shall be treated
with dignity and in accordance with the Tata policy
to maintain a work environment free of sexual
harassment, whether physical, verbal or psychological.
Employee policies and practices shall be administered
in a manner that would ensure that in all matters
equal opportunity is provided to those eligible
and the decisions are merit-based. |
|
|
|
Gifts
and donations
A Tata company and its employees shall neither
receive nor offer or make, directly or indirectly,
any illegal payments, remuneration, gifts, donations
or comparable benefits that are intended to, or
perceived to obtain business or uncompetitive favours
for the conduct of its business. However, a Tata
company and its employees may accept and offer nominal
gifts which are customarily given and are of commemorative
nature for special events. Government
agencies
A Tata company and its employees shall not
offer or give any company funds or property as donation
to any government agencies or their representatives,
directly or through intermediaries, in order to
obtain any favourable performance of official duties.
Political non-alignment
A Tata company shall be committed to and
support a functioning democratic constitution and
system with a transparent and fair electoral system
in India. A Tata company shall not support directly
or indirectly any specific political party or candidate
for political office. The company shall not offer
or give any company funds or property as donations,
directly or indirectly, to any specific political
party, candidate or campaign. |
|
|
|
Health,
safety and environment
A Tata company shall strive to provide a
safe and healthy working environment and comply,
in the conduct of its business affairs, with all
regulations regarding the preservation of the environment
of the territory it operates in. A Tata company
shall be committed to prevent the wasteful use of
natural resources and minimise any hazardous impact
of the development, production, use and disposal
of any of its products and services on the ecological
environment. Quality
of products and services
A Tata company shall be committed to supply goods
and services of the highest quality standards backed
by efficient after-sales service consistent with
the requirements of the customers to ensure their
total satisfaction. The quality standards of the
company's goods and services should at least meet
the required national standards and the company
should endeavour to achieve international standards.
Corporate citizenship
A Tata company shall be committed to be a
good corporate citizen not only in compliance with
all relevant laws and regulations but also by actively
assisting in the improvement of the quality of life
of the people in the communities in which it operates
with the objective of making them self-reliant.
Such social responsibility would comprise: to initiate
and support community initiatives in the field of
community health and family welfare, water management,
vocational training, education and literacy, and
encourage application of modern scientific and managerial
techniques and expertise. This will be reviewed
periodically in consonance with national and regional
priorities. The company would also not treat these
activities as optional ones, but would strive to
incorporate them as an integral part of its business
plan. The company would also encourage volunteering
amongst its employees and help them to work in the
communities. Tata companies are encouraged to develop
social accounting systems and to carry out.
Co-operation
of Tata companies
A Tata company shall co-operate with other
Tata companies by sharing physical, human and management
resources as long as this does not adversely affect
its business interests and shareholder value.
In the procurement of products and services, a Tata
company shall give preference to another Tata company
as long as it can provide these on competitive terms
relative to third parties. |
|
|
|
Public
representation of the company and the group
A Tata company honours the information requirements
of the public and its stakeholders. In all its public
appearance, with respect to disclosing company and
business information to public constituencies such
as the media, the financial community, employees
and shareholders, a TATA company or the Tata Group
shall be represented only by specifically authorised
directors and employees. It will be the sole responsibility
of these authorised representatives to disclose
information on the company.
Third-party representation
Parties that have business dealings with
the Tata Group but are not members of the group
such as consultants, agents, sales representatives,
distributors, contractors, suppliers, etc. shall
not be authorised to represent a Tata company if
their business conduct and ethics are known to be
inconsistent with the code. Use
of the Tata brand
The use of the Tata name and trademark owned
by Tata Sons shall be governed by manuals, codes
and agreements to be issued by Tata Sons. The use
of the Tata brand is defined in and regulated by
the Tata Brand Equity & Business Promotion Agreement.
Group policies
A Tata company shall recommend to its board of directors
the adoption of policies and guidelines periodically
formulated by Tata Sons. Shareholders
A Tata company shall be committed to enhance shareholder
value and comply with all regulations and laws that
govern shareholders' rights. The board of directors
of a Tata company shall duly and fairly inform its
shareholders about all relevant aspects of the company's
business and disclose such information in accordance
with the respective regulations and agreements. |
|
|
|
Ethical
conduct
Every employee of a Tata company, which shall include
whole-time directors and the managing director,
shall deal on behalf of the company with professionalism,
honesty, integrity as well as high moral and ethical
standards. Such conduct shall be fair and transparent
and be perceived to be such by third parties.
Every employee shall be responsible for the implementation
of and compliance with the code in his professional
environment. Failure to adhere to the code could
attract the most severe consequences including termination
of employment. Regulatory
compliance
Every employee of a Tata company shall, in his business
conduct, comply with all applicable laws and regulations,
both in letter and in spirit, in all the territories
in which he operates. If the ethical and professional
standards set out in the applicable laws and regulations
are below that of the code, then the standards of
the code shall prevail. Concurrent
employment
An employee of a Tata company shall not,
without the prior approval of the managing director
of the company, accept employment or a position
of responsibility (such as a consultant or a director)
with any other company, nor provide "freelance"
services to anyone. In the case of a whole-time
director or the managing director, such prior approval
must be obtained from the board of directors of
the company. |
|
|
|
Conflict
of interest
An employees of
a Tata company shall not engage in any business,
relationship or activity, which might detrimentally
conflict with the interest of his company or the
Group. A conflict of interest, actual or potential,
may arise where, directly or indirectly,
(a) an employee of a Tata company engages
in a business, relationship or activity with anyone
who is party to a transaction with his company,
(b) an employee is in a position to derive a personal
benefit or a benefit to any of his relatives by
making or influencing decisions relating to any
transaction, and
(c) an independent judgement
of the company's or group's best interest cannot
be exercised.
The main areas of such actual or potential conflicts
of interest would include the following:
Financial interest of an employee of a Tata company
or his relatives including the holding of an investment
in the subscribed share capital of any company
or a share in any firm which is an actual or potential
competitor, supplier, customer, distributor, joint
venture or other alliance partner of the Tata
company. (The ownership of upto 1% of the subscribed
share capital of a publicly held company shall
not ordinarily constitute a financial interest
for this purpose.)
An employee of a Tata company conducting business
on behalf of his company or being in a position
to influence a decision with regard to his company's
business with a supplier or customer of which
his relative is a principal, officer or representative,
resulting in a benefit to him or his relative. |
|
|
|
Award of benefits such as
increase in salary or other remuneration, posting,
promotion or recruitment of a relative of an employee
of a Tata company where such an individual is in
a position to influence the decision with regard
to such benefits. Acceptance
of gifts, donations, hospitality and/or entertainment
beyond the customary level from existing or potential
suppliers, customers or other third parties which
have business dealings with the company.
Notwithstanding that such or other instances of
conflict of interest exist due to any historical
reasons, adequate and full disclosure by the interested
employees should be made to the company's management.
It is also incumbent upon every employee to make
a full disclosure of any interest which the employee
or the employee's immediate family, which would
include parents, spouse and children, may have in
a company or firm which is a supplier, customer,
distributor of or has other business dealings with
his company.
Every employee who is required to make a disclosure
as mentioned above shall do so, in writing, to his
immediate superior who shall forward the information
along with his comments to the person designated
for this purpose by the MD/CEO who in turn will
place it before the MD/CEO and/or the coard of directors
/ executive committee appointed by the board and,
upon a decision being taken in the matter, the employee
concerned will be required to take necessary action
as advised to resolve / avoid the conflict.
If an employee fails to make a disclosure as required
herein and the management of its own accord becomes
aware of an instance of conflict of interest that
ought to have been disclosed by the employee, the
management would take a serious view of the matter
and consider suitable disciplinary action against
the employee. |
|
|
|
Securities
transactions and confidential information
An employee of a Tata
company and his immediate family shall not derive
any benefit or assist others to derive any benefit
from the access to and possession of information
about the company or the group which is not in the
public domain and thus constitutes insider information.
An employee of a Tata company shall not use or proliferate
information which is not available to the investing
public and which therefore constitutes insider information
for making or giving advice on investment decisions
on the securities of the respective Tata company
on which such insider information has been obtained.
Such insider information might include the following:
- acquisition and divestiture
of businesses or business units
- financial information such as profits, earnings
and dividends
- announcement of new product introductions or developments
- asset revaluations
- investment decisions / plans
- restructuring plans
- major supply and delivery agreements
- raising finances Protecting
company assets
The assets of a Tata company should not be
misused but employed for the purpose of conducting
the business for which they are duly authorised.
These include tangible assets such as equipment
and machinery, systems, facilities, materials, resources
as well as intangible assets such as proprietary
information, relationships with customers and suppliers,
etc. |
|
|
|
Citizenship
An employee of a Tata company shall, in his private
life, be free to pursue an active role in civic
or political affairs as long as it does not adversely
affect the business or interests of the company
or the group. Integrity
of data furnished
Every employee of a Tata company shall ensure, at
all times, the integrity of data or information
furnished by him to the company.
Reporting concerns
Every employee of a Tata company shall promptly
report to the management any actual or possible
violation of the code or an event he becomes aware
of that could affect the business or reputation
of his or any other Tata company. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|