verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message bata type private company industry retail and manufacturing founded august 24 1894 ; 122 years ago 1894 08 24 in zl n czech republic founder tom ba a headquarters lausanne switzerland area served europe africa asia latin america key people christopher kirk chairman alexis nasard ceo products footwear clothing and accessories owner bata family website www.bata.com bata also known as bata shoe organization is a family owned global footwear and fashion accessory manufacturer and retailer with acting headquarters located in lausanne switzerland . 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 the organization has a retail presence of over 5200 retail stores in more than 70 countries and production facilities in 18 countries . contents 1 origins and history 1.1 foundation 1.2 world war i 1.3 shoemaker to the world 1.4 international growth 1.5 jan anton n ba a 1.6 bata villes 1.7 world war ii 1.8 post war 1.9 czechoslovakia after 1989 1.10 present 2 bata brands 3 in popular culture 4 see also 5 references 6 external links origins and history edit foundation edit the t. & a. ba a shoe company was founded on the 24th of august 1894 in zl n moravia then the austro hungarian empire today the czech republic by tom ba a czech toma baca his brother anton n and his sister anna whose family had been cobblers for generations . the company employed 10 full time employees with a fixed work schedule and a regular weekly wage a rare find in its time . tom anton n and their sister anna ba a in the summer of 1895 tom found himself facing financial difficulties and debts abounded . to overcome these serious setbacks tom decided to sew shoes from canvas instead of leather . this type of shoe became very popular and helped the company grow to 50 employees . four years later bata installed its first steam driven machines beginning a period of rapid modernization . in 1904 tom ba a introduced mechanized production techniques that allowed the bata shoe company to become one of the first mass producers of shoes in europe . its first mass product the batovky was a leather and textile shoe for working people that was notable for its simplicity style light weight and affordable price . its success helped fuel the company s growth and by 1912 bata was employing 600 full time workers plus another several hundred who worked out of their homes in neighbouring villages . world war i edit in 1914 with the outbreak of world war i the company had a significant development due to military orders . from 1914 to 1918 the number of ba a s employees increased ten times . the company opened its own stores in zl n prague liberec vienna and pilsen among other towns . in the global economic slump that followed world war i the newly created country of czechoslovakia was particularly hard hit . with its currency devalued by 75 % demand for products dropped production was cut back and unemployment was at an all time high . tom ba a responded to the crisis by cutting the price of bata shoes in half . the company s workers agreed to a temporary 40 percent reduction in wages ; in turn bata provided food clothing and other necessities at half price . he also introduced one of the first profit sharing initiative transforming all employees into associates with a shared interest in the company s success today s equivalent of performance based incentives and stock options . shoemaker to the world edit consumer response to the price drop was dramatic . while most competitors were forced to close because of the crisis in demand between 1923 and 1925 bata was expanding as demand for the inexpensive shoes grew rapidly . the bata shoe company increased production and hired more workers . zl n became a veritable factory town a bataville covering several hectares . on the site were grouped tanneries a brickyard a chemical factory a mechanical equipment plant and repair shop workshops for the production of rubber a paper pulp and cardboard factory for production of packaging a fabric factory for lining for shoes and socks a shoe shine factory a power plant and a farming activities to cover both food and energy needs ... horizontal and vertical integration . workers batamen and their families had at their disposal all the necessary everyday life services housing shops schools hospital etc. the t. & a. ba a shoe company bata s skyscraper batovka shoe bata in zl n bata employee housing 1922 advertising bata store in the 1920s bata store in the 1920s international growth edit tom ba a lockheed 10 electra executive aircraft operated before the second world war by bata in europe this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message bata also began to build towns and factories outside of czechoslovakia poland latvia romania switzerland france and to diversify into such industries as tanning 1915 the energy industry 1917 agriculture 1917 forest farming 1918 newspaper publishing 1918 brick manufacturing 1918 wood processing 1919 the rubber industry 1923 the construction industry 1924 railway and air transport 1924 book publishing 1926 the film industry 1927 food processing 1927 chemical production 1928 tyre manufacturing 1930 insurance 1930 textile production 1931 motor transport 1930 sea transport 1932 and coal mining 1932 . airplane manufacturing 1934 synthetic fibre production 1935 and river transport 1938 . in 1923 the company boasted 112 branches . in 1924 tom ba a displayed his business acumen by figuring out how much turnover he needed to make with his annual plan weekly plans and daily plans . ba a utilized four types of wages fixed rate individual order based rate collective task rate and profit contribution rate . he also set what became known as ba a prices numbers ending with a nine rather than with a whole number . his business skyrocketed . soon ba a found himself the fourth richest person in czechoslovakia . from 1926 to 1928 the business blossomed as productivity rose 75 percent and the number of employees increased by 35 percent . in 1927 production lines were installed and the company had its own hospital . by the end of 1928 the company s head factory was composed of 30 buildings . then the entrepreneur created educational organizations such as the ba a school of work and introduced the five day work week . in 1930 he established a stunning shoe museum that maps shoe production from the earliest times to the contemporary age throughout the world . by 1931 there were factories in germany england the netherlands poland and in other countries . in 1932 at the age of 56 tom ba a died in a plane crash during take off under bad weather conditions at zl n airport . control of the company was passed to his half brother jan and his son thomas john bata who would go on to lead the company for much of the twentieth century guided by their father s moral testament the bata shoe company was to be treated not as a source of private wealth but as a public trust a means of improving living standards within the community and providing customers with good value for their money . promise was made to pursue the entrepreneurial social and humanitarian ideals of their father . the ba a company was apparently the first big enterprise to systematically utilise aircraft for company purposes including rapid transport of lesser personnel on business like delivery of maintenance men and spares to a location where needed originating the practice of business flying . jan anton n ba a edit at the time of tom s death the bata company employed 16 560 people maintained 1 645 shops and 25 enterprises . jan ba a following the plans laid down by tom ba a before his death expanded the company more than six times its original size throughout czechoslovakia and the world . plants in britain the netherlands yugoslavia brazil kenya canada and the united states followed in the decade . in india batanagar was settled near calcutta and accounted from the late 1930s nearly 7500 batamen . the bata model fitted anywhere creating for example canteens for vegetarians in india . in exchange the demands on workers were as strong as in europe be courageous . the best in the world is not good enough for us . loyalty gives us prosperity & happiness . work is a moral necessity bata india was incorporated as bata shoe company pvt. ltd in 1931 1 and went on to become bata india ltd. in 1973 . batanagar factory is the first indian shoe manufacturing unit to receive the iso 9001 certification in 1993 . 2 as of 1934 the firm owned 300 stores in north america a thousand in asia more than 4 000 in europe . in 1938 the group employed just over 65 000 people worldwide including 36 % outside czechoslovakia and had stakes in the tanning agriculture newspaper publishing railway and air transport textile production coal mining and aviation realms . citation needed bata villes edit company policy initiated under tom ba a was to set up villages around the factories for the workers and to supply schools and welfare . these villages include batadorp in the netherlands ba ovany present day partiz nske and svit in slovakia ba ov now bah k part of otrokovice in the czech republic borovo bata now borovo naselje part of vukovar in croatia then in the kingdom of yugoslavia bata park in m hlin switzerland bataville in lorraine france batawa in canada east tilbury 3 in essex england batapur in pakistan and batanagar and bataganj in india . there was also a factory in belcamp maryland usa northeast of baltimore on u.s. route 40 in harford county . 4 the british bata ville in east tilbury inspired the documentary film bata ville we are not afraid of the future . 5 world war ii edit just before the german occupation of czechoslovakia ba a helped re post his jewish employees to branches of his firm all over the world . 6 7 germany occupied the remaining part of pre war czechoslovakia on 15 march 1939 ; jan anton n ba a then spent a short time in jail but was then able to leave the country with his family . jan anton n ba a stayed in america from 1939 1940 but when the usa entered the war he felt it would be safer for his co workers and their families back in occupied czechoslovakia if he left the united states . he was put on british and us black lists for doing business with the axis powers and in 1941 he emigrated to brazil . after the war ended the czechoslovak authorities tried ba a as a traitor saying he had failed to support the anti nazi resistance . in 1947 he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison . the company s czechoslovak assets were also seized by the state several months before the communists came to power . he tried to save as much as possible of the business submitting to the plans of germany as well as financially supporting the czechoslovak government in exile led by edvard bene . in occupied europe a bata shoe factory was connected