Quick Moves

N. Chandrasekaran is doing his best to restore normalcy at the Tata Group after the acrimonious exit of Cyrus Mistry. But his problems are many.

- Nevin John

Natarajan Chandrasekaran had no choice. An avid marathon runner, he has had to change his pace and break into a sprint from the moment he was elevated from chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to chairman of Tata Sons in February this year, effectively making him the head of the Tata empire. The unceremonious removal of Cyrus Mistry last October had sent shock waves across the vast federation of the 100odd Tata Group companies, which the brief, temporary return of Ratan Tata as his successor did little to quell. Chandrasekaran knew he had to get a lot done quickly to overcome pain points and bring back calm.

His first step was to restore communication with other board members which had practically broken down with Mistry at the helm. It is said in Tata Group circles that Mistry had virtually stopped talking to Ratan Tata towards the end of his truncated term, and that, when he presented the Tata Sons board with two of his most important decisions – the first, to exit Tata’s entire steel business in UK which had been bleeding, and the second, to buy the Welspun Group’s complete renewable energy portfolio for ₹10,000 crore – he was met with stony silence.

Accordingly, Chandrasekaran has already held three board meetings in his four months in office, against Mistry having convened just eight through all of 2015/16. He has also made it amply clear where his loyalties lie, ignoring all the charges Mistry levelled against the Tata Group after his ouster. Indeed, in a letter to Tata employees, he called Ratan Tata “an inspiration for all of us in the group”, adding that he looked forward to working closely with him and “taking the group forward in the same spirit”.

Change in the Air