Restoration of cultural diversity is very very hard once a monoculture gets control. It is like an invasive species – say lantana or juliflora – taking over a bio diverse forest – and killing all other plants. If one goes down the Aravallis – one sees only one plant which is the vilayati kikad. Mind you these were all valuable plants in their native habitats. But here they have become violently invasive. The same is true with neem from India when planted in German forests.
The other issue is restoration of corporate democracy. In three large board run professionally managed companies – there is a complete failure of corporate democracy. Someone takes adverse possession without any ownership – and then fills the leadership roles with chelas and chamchas or with people from his village / neighbourhood / community. In a company with highly diversified ownership – there is no one willing or able to restore corporate democracy. And then first compromised candidates are made independent directors. Then company resources are diverted into vanity projects and overseas investments. And then the core business is starved of resources, growth investments or leadership empowerment. Tatas, HDFC and L&T are victims of it. They could all go the ILFS way.
You can get the man out of the slum. But how will you get the slum out of him. Few will understand this analogy, except a few insiders.
“The moment diversity becomes a numbers game, institutions stop building cultures and start building factions.
Real corporate democracy is not achieved by replacing one dominant group with another. It comes from creating systems where no linguistic, regional, or ideological bloc can capture the institution permanently.
India’s great companies were built on competence, trust, continuity, and national integration — not corporate tribalism.
Because when employees begin to feel promotions, influence, and hiring are driven by networks rather than merit, the organisation slowly stops being a corporation and starts behaving like a political ecosystem.
We are the worlds largest democracy: yet our political parties have zero internal democracy. How are future leaders elected ? Who is given party tickets and why ? There are no systems and processes. Regardless of which party.
These three corporates which are India’s marquee companies have the same challenge. Same is true of the three largest political parties. Tata is fortunate to have a new leader in Noel Tata. And BJP in Modiji.
How do you fix the situation.
The answer is not purges.
The answer is radical transparency, meritocracy, decentralised leadership pipelines, and genuine pan-Indian representation.
Institutions decline the moment people start believing some groups are ‘untouchable’ and others are ‘replaceable.’”
These three companies are just too big to fail. They need to be broken up with each piece having its own internal democracy.
Tata, HDFC and L&T
Have to be broken up.
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