The House of Tata: Governance Challenges (A)

The two-part case, ‘The House of Tata: Governance Challenges’, is based on one of India’s oldest, renowned, and most internationalized business groups. The case provides an account of the evolution of the Tata Group with an emphasis on the developments in the last 30 years (the years following economic liberalization in 1991) and the legal tussle between Tata Sons (the Group’s parent company) and its minority shareholder (SP Group). The legal battle has been keenly watched for its potential ramifications on the evolution of corporate governance in India, a country marked by controlling ownership of corporations and concerns over protection of the interests of minority shareholders. The first section of Part A of the case, Tata Group: Early History, traces the early years of the Tata Group, its management philosophy, the formation of Tata Trusts, the leadership years of its long-serving legendary chairman, JRD Tata and the emergence of SP Group as a minority shareholder in Tata Sons. The second section of Part A, Ratan Tata Years, begins with the elevation of Ratan Tata as chairman of the Group in 1991 and details the Group’s transformation through the institutionalization of formal systems and processes, entry into new industries, bold global acquisitions, and radical innovations such as Tata Nano. Cyrus Mistry Years captures the key strategic choices made by the Group’s next chairman, Cyrus Mistry, and his Vision 2025 for the Group. The next section, The October Shock, details the abrupt removal of Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons and the subsequent controversies that culminated in him being removed as a director in all the group companies. The final section of Part A, Chandrasekaran Years, provides details of the Group strategy under its current chairman, Chandrasekaran.