Tata After Cyrus

The aftermath of the boardroom coup raises more questions than it answers. What next?

- Rajeev Dubey With Prosenjit Datta and Nevin John

Everybody loves an underdog. In the unsavoury turn of events since the mighty $103-billion Tata Group ousted its celebrated CEO Cyrus Mistry in a boardroom coup at group holding company Tata Sons, Mistry has unwittingly emerged as that underdog, garnering public empathy at the expense of Tata Group’s carefully crafted reputation over 148 years.

First, through his stony silence for 30-odd hours after his ouster. And then, as the David fighting the Goliath, with a dignified — yet explosive — email sent to Tata Sons’ board members and Tata Trusts’ Trustees, which has since leaked to the public at large. An email, whose collateral damage is still to be managed in its entirety by India’s biggest private sector group. Besides defending himself against allegations of non-performance with facts, figures and data, knowingly or unknowingly, Mistry exposed more than a few skeletons in the cupboard, questioned corporate governance standards and high-cost acquisitions during Ratan Tata’s tenure, and stated that he had been reduced to a “lame duck” chairman due to constant interference by his predecessor and Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata. The allegations have since been refuted by different companies.

But the letter sent the Tata Group scurrying for cover. It imposed an information lockdown. Confirmed media briefings were cancelled at the last moment as group executives went into a huddle to devise a credible strategy against what Twitterati calls Mistry’s “letter bomb”. The new tactic is simple: avoid provocation. For, the more you provoke, the stronger will be the blowback and more dirty linen will get washed in public.