Tata Group chairman lauded for business process innovation

The Economist announced September 28 that Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, is the winner of this year's Business Process Innovation Award.

Tata has forged a company that is shaping businesses across the globe and changing the way Indian companies conduct business. The company is also responsible for inventing the Tata Nano, the world's lowest-cost car. Innovative methods through which the car is designed and manufactured enable Tata Motors to offer a more affordable, safe and efficient form of mobility to families in emerging markets.

Ratan Tata along with seven additional award winners from the other categories will be recognized for turning their innovative ideas into reality at The Economist's eighth annual Innovation Awards Ceremony and Summit, held in London on October 29-30. October 29 sees the Innovation Awards Ceremony at the Science Museum and on October 30 the Eighth Annual Innovation Summit occurs at the Dorchester Hotel. This unique Awards Ceremony and Summit is the only event of its kind focusing on the interface between innovation and business.

The Economist's Eighth Annual Innovation Summit provides an opportunity for delegates to meet the greatest thinkers and doers of this world in an inspirational setting, take away content relevant to their business environment and hear from the 2009 Innovation Awards winners. The speaker line-up includes Lesa B. Roe, director, NASA's Langley Research Center and Bright Simons, co-founder of mPedigree, which developed a simple system that allows people to establish whether medicines are counterfeit or not.

The Tata Nano Europa, the Tata Nano's European counterpart, will also be making its first ever appearance in the United Kingdom at the summit.

"Innovative ideas are everywhere," said Mark Langley, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Project Management Institute. "What we salute with the Business Process Award is rarer: the implementation, through effective projects and programs that translates ideas into lasting change. Tata Motors' Nano challenges the way automobiles have been made and marketed for a hundred years. The application of project management is testimony to Tata Group's record of refining its processes, from boardroom to manufacturing floor, and promises transformation of an industry facing a billion new customers over the next generation."

About The Economist

The Economist is published each Friday in the United Kingdom and is available from newsagents and on subscription. With four million readers from almost every country on the planet, and editorial offices on every continent, The Economist is truly a global publication.

About The Economist‘s Innovation Awards  

The Economist was established in 1843 to take part in a "severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress". One of the chief ways in which intelligence presses forward is through innovation, which is now recognized as one of the most important contributors to economic growth. Innovation, in turn, depends on the creative individuals who dream up new ideas and turn them into reality. The Economist recognizes these talented individuals through its annual Innovation Awards.