Ratan Tata-led panel begins search for Cyrus Mistry’s successor. Here’s what they are looking for in the next Chairman

A five-member panel, including Ratan Tata, now has one of the toughest jobs in hand-finding a successor to ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry.

As the tussle between Tata Sons and Mistry continues, one of the priorities for the group is to find the next Chairman. Currently, Ratan Tata is the interim Chairman but just for four months.

As per reports, Tata Sons is looking for a dynamic leader, who can run $100 billion global corporation. The person should have extensive experience in software, steel, telecoms and automotive, knowledge of tea and hotels a plus, along with good internal communication skills.

Bloomberg reported Tata has given himself and the other members of the panel four months to find someone to steady the Tata supertanker and focus managers, investors, customers and staff back on myriad businesses the company hews.

Meanwhile, four names have already surfaced for the top spot-Pepsi Co’s Indra Nooyi, former Vodafone Group chief Arun Sarin, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd’s N. Chandrasekaran and Jaguar Land Rover head Ralf Speth.

Noel Tata is also being considered for the spot.

"You need somebody with great political skills to manoeuvre between the group, between the government, between the institutions, between the stakeholders,” Mohan Guruswamy, a former Indian finance ministry official and chairman at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in New Delhi, told Bloomberg, adding "I don't think you can go outside, you need knowledge of the group.”

It is noteworthy that Chandrasekaran and Speth were appointed to the Tata Sons board.

The Mumbai-based Tata Sons Ltd. controls and invests in the group's major companies and oversees 29 publicly listed companies worth a combined $116 billion in March.

Tata Sons employs 660,000 people who make cars, blend tea, forge steel, sell insurance, write software, operate phone networks and package salt among much else.

The battle between Tata Sons and Mistry is getting murkier by the day. In an e-mail, Mistry had warned of $18 billion in writedowns, a claim that was dejected by Tata Group and companies.

Tata Sons has maintained Mistry, who served as the chairman for almost four years, was removed for non-performance.

It is a big issue for Tata which in the past was normally known for really good corporate governance and it looks more like a personal issue between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry. It may have an impact on the hotels business and Tata Steel but not Tata Motors or Tata Consultancy Group,” Juergen Maier, a Vienna-based fund manager , who oversees about $1 billion in assets including Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy shares, told Bloomberg.