Speaking Tree Website | September 12, 2016

The Bata Shoe Company is a family-owned global footwear and fashion accessory manufacturer and retailer with acting headquarters located in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is organized into three business units: Bata Europe, based in Italy; Bata Emerging Market (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Latin America), based in Singapore, and Bata Protective (worldwide B2B operations), based in the Netherlands.

Originally the Bata family lived in Czechoslovakia, where they began manufacturing shoes as far back as 1620. Thomas Bata Senior established a shoe factory for the first time in 1925. His career was cut short though when his private plane lost its bearings in heavy fog and crashed, burning him to death on the spot. On his father's death, Thomas Bata Junior became president of Bata Ltd.

The Bata Shoe Company, one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the world, now has a retail presence of over 5200 retail stores in more than 70 countries and production facilities in 18 countries. In the year 2002, the company's sales were estimated to two billion dollars. Its greatest volume of business is in Canada, with India ranking second. It has 90 thousand direct employees not to mention thousands of indirect employees.

Mr. Thomas Bata Junior visited India for the fortieth time in 1983. On this occasion, a correspondent asked him what he thought was the most important factor in his success. Mr. Bata replied, "In manufacturing shoes which range from cheap to costly, we take special care to fulfill the actual needs of our consumers. We do, in fact, look after our customers better than anyone else."

What we learn from the Bata Shoe Company's success is that if you want to take, you should try to give. It is only in giving to others that we can have our share too.