Any doubts that the corporate world might have had about Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry being his own man, and coming out of the towering shadow of his illustrious predecessor Ratan Tata, should have vanished after the Tatas announced Mr Mistry has formed his own group executive council, that will be headed by Mr Mistry and provide him operational and strategic support in decision-making.
This group replaces the two internal groups — Group Corporate Centre and Group Executive Office — that acted as a think tank and gave operational support to Mr Tata. This was necessary because the conglomerate has around 100 companies with a mind-boggling diversity that ranges from tea and watches to steel and defence. The power centre has shifted from the old guard to the new, and there will be only one power centre as the two earlier ones have been scrapped. It is also a signal that the new chairman wants a younger team as most of the people that would finally constitute the committee are expected to be in their 40s like Mr Mistry himself. Mr Mistry has a long tenure before him. The retirement age for the Tata chairman is 75 years, unless he chooses to change this.
There is no doubt that there must have been a small quake at Bombay House, the venerable headquarters of the $100 billion group, but the change will be good, particularly as there will now be more room for younger executives in the group to move upwards.