New Delhi, May 7 -- Kohl Corp isn't a company we are very familiar with. The American departmental chain has been struggling financially in the face of the changing retail landscape in the US. But its recent decision to fire its CEO, Ashley Buchanan, just four months into his job, for a breach of its code of ethics, deserves attention.

That's because at the same time in India, Tata Sons, the holding company of the country's most respected conglomerate, has taken a somewhat different view on a similar issue of corporate behaviour by a senior executive. That view seems to go against the spirit of the storied group's laid-down policy on conflict of interest, and contradicts its recent action against other executives as well as the example s...