Tomáš Baťa

1. Tomáš Baťa The greatest Czech entrepreneur

2. Main Tomáš (3 April 1876Zlin, Moravia – 12 July 1932) was a Czech entrepreneur, founder of Bata Shoes company, one of the world's biggest multinational retailers, manufacturers and distributors of footwear and accessories.

3. The beginning Tomáš Baťa established the organization in Zlin on 24 August 1894 with 800 Austrian gulden, some $320, inherited from his mother. His brother Antonín Baťa and sister Anna were partners in the startup firm T. & A. Bata Shoe Company. Though the organization was newly established, the family had a long history of shoemaking, spanning eight generations and over three hundred years. This heritage helped boost the popularity of his new firm very quickly Eventually, Tomas Baťa obtained sole control over the company in 1908 after his brother Antonín Baťa died from tuberculosis. After Antonin's death, Tomas brought into the company two of his younger brothers, Jan and Bohuš into the business

4. Middle During World War I, started the company's rapid growth and a small manufacturing company grew into a modern industrial concern, one of the first mass producers of shoes. Tomáš Baťa was recognised for his social consciousness: he established housing, cinemas and advancement programmes for his employees. The phrase "work collectively, live individually" is one of his sayings. Baťa recognised the potential of large-scale production, and was often called the "Henry Ford of Eastern Europe". He saw technology as a means of progress, and wanted to make the shoes as cheaply as possible so that the greatest number of people could buy them. In 1932, at the age of 56, Tomáš died in a plane crash at

5. Death Tomás died at Zlín Airport (attempting to take off under bad weather conditions) and his half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa became head of the company. At the time of Tomáš's death, the Baťa company employed 16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises.

6. But not the end • Under Jan Antonín Baťa the company grew quickly and continued its expansion throughout Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. Zlín accommodated the largest part of the company, with manufacturing and headquarters. • Apart from shoes, Baťa also diversified into other areas (tyres, toys, plastic fibres, etc.).

7. 30s – 40s In the face of a worldwide depression, Jan Baťa, following the plans laid down by Tomas Baťa before his death, expanded the company to more than six times its previous size throughout Czechoslovakia and the world. From his brother's death in 1932, to 1942, he grew the Baťa organisation to 105,770 employees. During the 1930s, imports from Czechoslovakia ultimately became too expensive, due to the economic crisis in Europe at the time. Jan Antonín also established subsidiaries in several foreign countries (for example in Brazil and Britain). Following the overseas expansion, Bata owned executive aircraft to transport managers between the various company locations.

8. Bata Shoes Head Office Located atop a hill on Wynford Drive, by the major intersection of Eglinton Avenue and the Don Mills Road in North York, Canada, The Bata Shoes Head Office was Bata Shoes' former headquarters. The building, designed by architect John B. Parkin and completed in 1965 was considered by many as an example of the Modern Movement in architecture.

9. Present • After the global economic changes in 1990s, the company closed a number of its manufacturing factories in developed countries and has focussed its activities on expanding its retail business there. In developing countries it still has a large number of manufacturing units and still produces a significant number of shoes each year. • According to Bata, in 2007, the company served 1 million customers per day, employed over 40,000 people, operated 4,600 retail stores, managed a retail presence in over 50 countries and had 40 production facilities across 26 countries.

10. 99 Tomáš Baťa used 4 basic types of wages: Fixed rate - paid to a technical-operative and an administrative staff Individual order based rate - paid out to some manufacture specialists Collective task rate - defined for manufacture labour Profit contribution rate - received by operational managers Also typical is so called "Baťa price" used to give a price ended almost always by number nine. Basically meaning that a price 99 or 19.99 looks apparently much better than rounded number such as 100 or 20, even though the difference is just 1 currency unit. Now this is used all over the world but not many of us know that this was incented by Baťa

11. By Boris Dubovik