No leadership structural changes on the anvil — Tata Sons Chairman

Mumbai, Sep. 15 (IANS): Tata Sons Ltd’s Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Wednesday clarified that “no leadership structural changes are on the anvil, as speculated in certain sections of media”.

On Tuesday, a source-based report by a newswire stated that Tata Sons is considering “historic revamp of its leadership structure by creating a Chief Executive Officer’s role to help improve corporate governance”.

Chandrasekaran’s tenure as the Chairman of Tata Sons is coming to an end in February next year. The vacancy created after him fuelled speculation of a revamp in the leadership structure at the conglomerate.

“Any such decisions if relevant, are taken by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. We are extremely disappointed with such stories that create disruption to regular operations,” Chandrasekaran said in the statement issued by Tata Sons.

The report indicated that management of the sprawling Tata empire business would be divided into two with a CEO guiding the business and overseeing its operations while the Chairman acting as nominee of shareholders to oversee the working of the CEO on their behalf. The report had cited that the approval of Ratan Tata — the octogenarian Chairman of controlling owner Tata Trusts would be key for making the changes.

“I am extremely disappointed with the recent media reports regarding a major revamp in the TATA group’s organisation framework through a speculative company wise restructure with me seen to be critical to implementing this change. Such speculation can only serve to cause disruption amongst a team that has been operating smoothly with impressive growth in market value,” Ratan Tata said a statement.

It is expected that post completion of his tenure as Chairman, Chadrasekaran may get another extension. However, no confirmation on this development is available at present.