Narayana Murthy returns to take charge of struggling Infosys

[P.J.]

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Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy has come out of retirement to lead the company he co-founded in 1981. Infosys, India's second larget outsourcer, has been struggling to meet its own high standards over the last few quarters as a severe slowdown in the global economy hurt the company's business.

Mr Murthy, who served as Infosys chief executive from 1981 to 2002, and was the company's chairman from 2002 to 2011, has been appointed as executive chairman with immediate effect.

Mr Murthy will replace current chairman K V Kamath, who will become lead independent director, effective June 1. The current executive co-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan will be re-designated executive vice chairman, while current chief executive officer S.D. Shibulal will remain in his position, Infosys said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Board has taken this step keeping in mind the challenges that the technology industry and the Company faces and in the interest of all stakeholders, particularly shareholders large and small, who have asked for strengthening of the executive leadership during this challenging time," Mr Kamath said.

Narayana Murthy returns to take charge of struggling Infosys - NDTVProfit.com

Infosys said it will put the matter before shareholders at its annual general meeting on June 15.

 

[sangom]

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy has come out of retirement to lead the company he co-founded in 1981. Infosys, India's second larget outsourcer, has been struggling to meet its own high standards over the last few quarters as a severe slowdown in the global economy hurt the company's business.

Mr Murthy, who served as Infosys chief executive from 1981 to 2002, and was the company's chairman from 2002 to 2011, has been appointed as executive chairman with immediate effect.

Mr Murthy will replace current chairman K V Kamath, who will become lead independent director, effective June 1. The current executive co-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan will be re-designated executive vice chairman, while current chief executive officer S.D. Shibulal will remain in his position, Infosys said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Board has taken this step keeping in mind the challenges that the technology industry and the Company faces and in the interest of all stakeholders, particularly shareholders large and small, who have asked for strengthening of the executive leadership during this challenging time," Mr Kamath said.

Narayana Murthy returns to take charge of struggling Infosys - NDTVProfit.com

Infosys said it will put the matter before shareholders at its annual general meeting on June 15.

I doubt very much whether Namu's coming back will work as a good luck charm for infy. This shows infy was badly managed and a good second tier was not created. The only thing was that employees were highly exploited for years and profits were made by getting contracts from overseas at fabulous rates.

Those good old days have gone now. The west itself is in economic doldrums now and they have become worse than miserly now. infy just cannot go in for low rate quotations.

Hence Namu may get his reputation sullied if infy does not show better results. He is taking a very big risk. Hope he has consulted his astrologer!!

 

[P.J.]

Sri. sangom Sir

You are absolutely right in saying "The only thing was that employees were highly exploited for years and profits were made by getting contracts from overseas at fabulous rates."

 

[P.J.]

Mr.NARYANAMURTHY's Letter to Top Brass

Dear folks,

In the recent months, our company has gone through challenging times.

However, we should all be optimists. We have overcome tougher and bigger challenges before.

But we have much to do. The need of the day is to focus on our employees; take quick, tough and firm decisions; communicate these decisions with clarity and speed; execute these decisions with speed, imagination and excellence; and exceed the expectations of our customers and investors .

A few weeks ago, Mr KV Kamath, Chairman - Infosys, met me. He requested me to return to Infosys as the Executive Chairman. I pondered over this issue carefully. I had decided that post-retirement I would like to work in areas that I enjoy, particularly those of mutual competence with my son, Rohan Murty, and his colleagues at Catamaran, our family investment office. Rohan is a computer scientist at Harvard University and has held fellowships at MIT, Caltech, and Microsoft Research.

Given the board's keenness and my parental attachment to Infosys, I have accepted his request to be back as the Executive Chairman after a gap of seven years. Therefore, I have decided to suspend my retirement and several work-in-progress projects I have been involved in these past few years.

My request to Mr. Kamath and the board was that I be allowed to bring a part of my team from Catamaran, including Rohan, to assist me as executive assistants during my tenure. The board has agreed.

I explained to Mr Kamath how, given Rohan's credentials, he would add value to me and to Infosys. Consequently, I have requested Rohan to take sabbatical leave from Harvard and join my office to assist me. His charter is to be my executive assistant and not to aspire to become the next CEO.

I have informed the board that I have decided to receive a token compensation of Re. 1 per year, as has Rohan. The only motivation for me to embark on this journey at the current stage of my life is to see Infosys achieve the dreams that you and I have for it..

With best regards, Narayana NR Murthy

NR Narayana Murthy's letter to Infosys's top brass - The Times of India

 

[Brahmanyan]

I don't think that Mr. N.R.Narayanamurthy's second innings will resurrect Infosys in any way. Infosys today is not the same that Mr.NRN has left at the time of his retirement in 2006. As per the articles I read in Financial Papers, IT industry seems to be facing very high worldwide competition today. However his entry into the second innings serves as a strong positive for the company's shares.

As "The Economic Times" says " His appointment as executive chairman sends a strong signal to employees, clients, analysts and investors that the board is serious about reviving the fortunes of a firm that now looks lost in the fast-changing world of enterprise ".

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Newspapers report aside that his return could be well for the organisation revamp, but the business does not promise much. Have to wait and watch. Or the bubble has burst?