http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=27979 Fortune’s Pick Bravo Infosys, keep up the good work Amidst the cascading corporate shenanigans worldwide over the last two years, it is indeed a moment of pride and joy for India Inc that Fortune magazine has named N R Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, and Nandan Nilekani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Infosys, as Asia’s Businessmen of the year 2003 “for their sharp business acumen and Infosys’s excellent corporate governance”. The award is also a tribute to the country’s pool of quality information technology (IT) services that have been moulded into marketable assets transforming the country into a global player. Infosys is perhaps one of the few corporations in the world to publish financial statements in accordance with the accounting standards of eight countries. Its 200 pages plus annual report is a veritable mine of value added corporate guidelines for all to emulate. True, Infosys has of late been passing through difficult times. But this is not because its business model has failed but that global conditions have changed. However, the hallmark of an outstanding enterprise is how successfully it uses adversity to alter, re-engineer and simultaneously grow its businesses. Infosys is sure to bounce back to double digit growth on the strength of its long sustaining value base. This is not just because it believes in transparency in corporate dealings but also because it has trusted its employees, stakeholders and shareholders as part of its corporate culture well before such trust and transparency became fashionable buzz words in the corporate world. Neither then, much less now, is the global market place convinced only by the quality and reliability of products or services. Such non-tangible assets as the image and reputation of a corporation, its social standards and corporate culture were and are the prime considerations. Greater awareness of stakeholders and shareholders in the management of the company has been a driving force. The perception that expectations of a CEO from being a superstar to being one who has ability to set standards and get the best out of employees is becoming the vogue globally as the erstwhile big names in corporate America and Europe have fallen off the pedestal. Both Mr Narayana Murthy and Mr Nilekani showed tremendous foresight in reading the shifting focus on corporate values and moulded Infosys accordingly. While the award has been jointly won by Mr Narayana Murthy and Mr Nilekani, and both have said it is an award for all Infosys staff, the fact is that Mr Narayana Murthy is the real entrepreneur and mentor, while Mr Nilekani has to fill his illustrious predecessor’s large shoes before the two can be really placed on an equal footing. Fortune’s honour, however, is a recognition of the fact that he is well on his way to doing so.
