Be it Infosys or Tata , change of guards is never easy. Even people like Ratan tata or Narayana Murthy feel emotional pressure. They don't want to give free hand to next generation. With age possessiveness increases and capability decreases. Smooth transition is rare. Leg pulling starts in family / corporate. Emotionalism takes over logic. People fight for small -2 things. Growth stagnates. We focus on other’s move. Ego, jealousy, pride, or hate, all negative emotions take over mind of both giver and taker. This is common problem and every home/family have to face it.
That reminds me a story in the Mahabharata
“Once Arjuna argued with Krishna that why do you keep on praising Karna so much? What is it that he has and I lack? Krishna then turned two mountains into gold, and gave Karna and Arjuna each and told them to divide the gold to the nearby villagers equally. Arjun began digging the gold from the mountain and started dividing amongst the villagers. But no matter how much he dug and gave away the mountain didn't reduce even a bit and Arjuna now was starting to get tired.
Karna on the other hand called two villagers and told them to divide the gold equally amongst the villagers and went away.
To this whole incident Krishna explained Arjuna that he didn't give away the gold willingly but hesitatingly. He was not content that the villagers without doing anything should get so much amount of gold while he on the other hand has to be one giving it away. BUT Karna at the same time did not care about the value of the gold even for a bit but did what he was told and went ahead on his way.”
Ratan Tata or Narayana Murthy are behaving like Arjun. They want to give but after counting. They want to keep track on performance and want to be power center /decision maker. Mulayam singh went one step ahead. He is working against his own party/family, if his demands are not met. All three are in their 80's.
Karna's strategy is better. Hire neutral consultants and let them divide all. We all are part of nature. We like it or not. We have to leave everything here. Succession planning can play important role. Develop successor and give him free hand. Young people may not be experienced , but they have better ideas and technology.
Indian have forgotten main concept of Hinduism, the ashrams phases of life. The four ashramas are: Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciation). Last 2 ashrams are about leaving things in phases. First 2 are about accumulation. Power shift is be less painful and planned in ashrams.