Make India inviting for global talent

India's ability to draw foreign executives to work in the country took a knock after Ilker Ayci, who turned around Turkish Airlines, declined the Tata Group's offer to head Air India. Having acquired the national carrier minus its accumulated debt, the Tatas are in a hurry to improve the airline's financial metrics. Ayci's polite refusal, following questions over his proximity to Turkey President Recep Erdogan, will lead to another round of search for Air India's CEO with demonstrated capabilities in turning an airline around. This is not the first time an offer by a storied business conglomerate has been turned down by a foreign executive. Last year, Marc Llistosella, who was working for Daimler, declined to join as CEO of Tata Motors, which has since been running without one. Whichever way one looks at it, this is a bad advert for India as a place for doing global business.

India Inc has had mixed results when it goes shopping for managerial talent abroad. This is in sharp contrast to the executives it exports who have been honed by global companies to take on leadership roles. Even with their cultural affinity, managers of Indian origin working abroad find the business environment and workplace culture back home daunting. The skill sets required of managers in emerging economies with evolving regulations are somewhat different from those needed in advanced capitalist markets. But the most vital managerial skill remains the ability to lead companies in a competitive environment.

Corporate governance structures also differ, and India lags in adopting global best practices. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) made it voluntary for the top 500 companies by market valuation to separate chairman and managing director roles. The regulator's rethink came after four years of tardy compliance. The success of family-held businesses cannot take away from the fact that a rapidly growing economy needs an expanding pool of managerial talent. And a set of playing rules that executives abroad are familiar with.