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Infosys diluted focus on meritocracy in past decade: Narayana Murthy
Infosys co-founder and executive chairman NR Narayana Murthy said he had brought his son Rohan into Infosys to challenge the status quo and bring fresh new perspectives. And he indicated the move had worked very well, that Rohan had helped the company start some strategically critical initiatives which had the potential to change the DNA of Infosys for the better.
Murthy stepped down from his executive position on Saturday and delivered a farewell address to shareholders at the company's 33rd annual general meeting here. He elaborated on five major initiatives and said each one was "conceived, implemented and pushed forward by Rohan".
Rohan, a junior fellow at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, took leave from that assignment to work as his father's executive assistant when the Infosys board requested Murthy to return from retirement and lead the company for a second time last year. Some corporate governance analysts and company observers had questioned Murthy's decision to bring Rohan after having previously said that family members would not be involved in the company.
Murthy said Rohan's first major initiative was to build a sophisticated system to measure the productivity of software engineers. "The manufacturing industry did this a long time ago. However, the software industry has not embraced this idea as yet ... Imagine, if an engineer could see, on a daily basis, how productive he or she is with respect to the rest of the team. This would empower him/her to improve work habits and reduce wasted effort," he said. The second initiative was to introduce automation into software development in a way that it could significantly reduce human effort. "This improves productivity and lowers cost for our clients," he said.
The third initiative was to encourage technical competence — through measures like creating a separate stream for excellent code writers and revising the career path for excellent technology architects. The fourth was to identify a small set of energetic and passionate people at the junior levels who could be mentored and fast tracked. The fifth was to develop a more robust education and re-training programme for engineers given the rapid changes in technologies.
Murthy said he had accomplished the two major tasks assigned to him for this second innings. The first was to build a strong foundation for growth, and the second was to help the board identify a CEO to take the company forward. The company had announced on Thursday that former SAP CTO and board member Vishal Sikka would succeed Infosys CEO and MD S D Shibulal on August 1.
Murthy's points about Rohan were made in the context of building a strong foundation. He also said that Infosys had diluted its focus on meritocracy and accountability during the past decade, and this had compelled him to take some "hard and tough" decisions. He said he identified "hidden jewels" in the company and gave them opportunities, he identified not-so-well-performing people and moved them to tasks they were best suited for, and he cut wasteful and avoidable expenditures that included reducing expenditure on non-revenue earning people abroad. He said he ensured timely salary increases, brought the focus of promotions back to internal people rather than hiring outsiders at higher salaries.
He countered the criticism about an "exodus of executives" since his return with the argument that many of those who left had been evaluated as low performers. "A small number of them left since they had higher aspirations and their aspirations could not be fulfilled in Infosys," he said.
'Hope BJP govt will bring good days'
Narayana Murthy expressed the hope that the BJP government would improve the ease of doing business in India and boost investor confidence. "I hope we'll see good days and the poorest of the poor will see better days. I hope our exports will increase, doing business in India will become easier, I hope we will create a lot of jobs," Murthy said on the sidelines of the AGM. India has emerged as a potential investment hub, but continues to be placed low in the World Bank's ranking of countries on the ease of doing business. The investment climate in India has also been vitiated in the past few years.
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| Narayana Murthy with son Rohan |
Murthy stepped down from his executive position on Saturday and delivered a farewell address to shareholders at the company's 33rd annual general meeting here. He elaborated on five major initiatives and said each one was "conceived, implemented and pushed forward by Rohan".
Rohan, a junior fellow at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, took leave from that assignment to work as his father's executive assistant when the Infosys board requested Murthy to return from retirement and lead the company for a second time last year. Some corporate governance analysts and company observers had questioned Murthy's decision to bring Rohan after having previously said that family members would not be involved in the company.
Murthy said Rohan's first major initiative was to build a sophisticated system to measure the productivity of software engineers. "The manufacturing industry did this a long time ago. However, the software industry has not embraced this idea as yet ... Imagine, if an engineer could see, on a daily basis, how productive he or she is with respect to the rest of the team. This would empower him/her to improve work habits and reduce wasted effort," he said. The second initiative was to introduce automation into software development in a way that it could significantly reduce human effort. "This improves productivity and lowers cost for our clients," he said.
The third initiative was to encourage technical competence — through measures like creating a separate stream for excellent code writers and revising the career path for excellent technology architects. The fourth was to identify a small set of energetic and passionate people at the junior levels who could be mentored and fast tracked. The fifth was to develop a more robust education and re-training programme for engineers given the rapid changes in technologies.
Murthy said he had accomplished the two major tasks assigned to him for this second innings. The first was to build a strong foundation for growth, and the second was to help the board identify a CEO to take the company forward. The company had announced on Thursday that former SAP CTO and board member Vishal Sikka would succeed Infosys CEO and MD S D Shibulal on August 1.
Murthy's points about Rohan were made in the context of building a strong foundation. He also said that Infosys had diluted its focus on meritocracy and accountability during the past decade, and this had compelled him to take some "hard and tough" decisions. He said he identified "hidden jewels" in the company and gave them opportunities, he identified not-so-well-performing people and moved them to tasks they were best suited for, and he cut wasteful and avoidable expenditures that included reducing expenditure on non-revenue earning people abroad. He said he ensured timely salary increases, brought the focus of promotions back to internal people rather than hiring outsiders at higher salaries.
He countered the criticism about an "exodus of executives" since his return with the argument that many of those who left had been evaluated as low performers. "A small number of them left since they had higher aspirations and their aspirations could not be fulfilled in Infosys," he said.
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| New Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka |
'Hope BJP govt will bring good days'
Narayana Murthy expressed the hope that the BJP government would improve the ease of doing business in India and boost investor confidence. "I hope we'll see good days and the poorest of the poor will see better days. I hope our exports will increase, doing business in India will become easier, I hope we will create a lot of jobs," Murthy said on the sidelines of the AGM. India has emerged as a potential investment hub, but continues to be placed low in the World Bank's ranking of countries on the ease of doing business. The investment climate in India has also been vitiated in the past few years.
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