learning arm | training methodology | the centre

The Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC) in Pune in western India has been positioned primarily as an in-house training centre for the Tata group. It aims to provide training to high performers within the group and to act as a cradle of change for Tata executives.

TMTC's training programmes are designed to develop leadership traits. The centre endeavours to make the training both issue- and need-based by encouraging participants to implement programme inputs in actual situations.

Learning arm
TMTC's initial mandate has been to serve as an educational institution that assists, fosters, cultivates and contributes to the development of professional management for the economic development of the country. It has developed into one of the leading management training institutes in the country, with national and international tie-ups. TMTC is now the learning arm of the Tata group's human resources function.

Over the years, TMTC has organised programmes on almost every subject relevant to the development of corporate managers. Its facilities have been utilised by other specialised training institutes, including the Indian Institutes of Management (Ahmedabad and Calcutta), the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, the All India Management Association and the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences.

The centre's objectives are:

• Improvement of organisational performance through dissemination of the latest knowledge and skills among practicing managers
• Facilitation of attitudinal and behavioural changes
• Facilitation of solutions for organisational issues
• Development of learning organisations

Training methodology
TMTC's training methodology stresses project orientation and action learning. Participants are required to discuss various issues, problems and plans concerning their organisations and are then provided the opportunity to evolve solutions by interacting with a world-class faculty.

The Tata Brand Equity Business Promotion programme, the Tata code of conduct, and the JRD QV initiatives constitute a common module in all these programmes. Participants have the privilege to listen to and interact with senior Tata group leaders.

The centre also plays a major role in the training and development of TAS officers. It conducts programmes not only during their induction and at the end of their probation period, but also during their early years with the group. The aim is to inculcate the Tata group's values in probationers and nurture in them the ability to hold senior positions within the organisation.

TMTC conducts senior level management training programmes with faculty drawn from among the world's premier institutions and universities including Harvard, Michigan, Wharton, Kellogg's and Centre for Creative Leadership. Eminent academicians and management gurus such as Professor Krishna Palepu, Professor Wayne Brockbank, Professor Charles Fine and the late Professor CK Prahalad, have often visited and interacted with participants. Programmes with such faculty provide managers with a constantly updated and sharpened global perspective and help them keep in touch with the latest developments in management education.

The centre's core faculty consists of six specialists who have wide-ranging experience in management training, consulting and research, and four researchers. The findings of their consulting and research projects are often used in classroom sessions. The centre strives to provide the highest quality of service in operations and administration.

The centre
TMTC was inaugurated by JRD Tata, the late chairman of the Tata group, on January 6, 1966. Since then it has evolved into a leading management training institute with national and international links. The centre has an extensive infrastructure framework that supports and enriches its work.

The centre is housed in a gracious old-world structure, designed by renowned architect George Wittet, surrounded by leafy trees, lawns, pathways and flower beds. The 15 acres of land on which TMTC stands once belonged to leading solicitor FE Dinshaw. In 1918, Mr Dinshaw acquired the services of Mr Wittet, the then consulting architect to the Government of Bombay, to build him a country home. Incidentally, Mr Wittet also built the Victoria Terminus and Bombay House, the Tata group's headquarters.

It was in the 1960s that the decision to restore the bungalow and turn it into a residential training college was taken. Much of the original layout remains the same. TMTC's atmosphere of serenity strikes just the right balance between the stringent demands of its management courses and participants' need to look at their management roles from a perspective unencumbered by conditioning.

The institute can house 60 people at its residential facilities. It has two lecture halls and two seminar rooms specially designed for effective learning interactions. It also has a well-stocked library of management books, journals and films. Apart from its facilities for training and living, TMTC has facilities for indoor and outdoor sports.