Management Lessons B-Schools Plan to Incorporate after Tata-Mistry Boardroom War

One of the best examples and case studies to teach at B-Schools is the boardroom war between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry. Wonder why?

The tiff between them is an excellent basis to teach future management professionals the nuisances of corporate governance, succession planning, conflict management etc. with real-time and real-world examples.

Leaders from various B-Schools across India spoke widely about the issues that can be taken up to prepare the future management experts with the right values, skills and leadership qualities - more or less ideal for a company to function properly.

Also read:Top 10 B-Schools of India

Citing an interesting example, Ramachandran, a Professor of corporate strategy and policy at IIM Bangalore said, the stir at Tata group will help him teach his students the basic differences between a business group and a conglomerate. He reiterated that the job of the group chairman at Tata Sons is definitely not the same as that of the chairman of GE or General Electric. Explaining how, he said that GE is a single legal entity where all businesses of a diversified portfolio such as aerospace, lighting, medical etc. are housed. Tata Group, on the other hand, is a collection of legal entities such as Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors etc. where each possesses a focused portfolio.

Having said that, let’s find out what different B-schools plan to take up in classrooms?

• Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L), will highlight corporate governance, ethics versus efficiency, the effect on the economy, and succession planning.
• Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (ISB) may cover areas such as how the functioning of the board of directors take place, consequences and benefits of employment of non-family CEOs, and corporate governance.
• Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), will take into account studies on issues that are directly and indirectly related to ownership as well as managerial rights. They will also study the impact on different businesses when someone is removed from the chairman’s post, but not from the Board.
• Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI), on the other hand, will focus on organisational culture, leadership potential and performance, vision and mission of the company, divestiture and the role of the board in terms of fiduciary duties.
• Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), will study if it is enough for the chairman to be focussed on just the strategic dimension of the business or should also consider looking up at group identity as well. They also plan to list out ways as to how leaders decide and agree upon the right candidate.

With inputs from Economic Times