Narayana Murthy and the Legend of Infosys
By Renu Saran
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Narayana Murthy and the Legend of Infosys - Renu Saran
Introduction
N.R. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons of Indian Corporate World. He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in India but also for his simplicity.
On July 2, 2011, Infosys technologies will turn 30. That's not a significant age for a company; several Indian companies are older. In these 25 years, however, Infosys has set new standards in governance and wealth creation (both for employee and shareholders) and turned an entire industry on its head.
Today, Infosys is acknowledged by customers, employees, investors and the general public as a highly respected, dynamic and innovative company. In March 1999, Infosys Technologies became the first India-registered company to be listed on an American stock exchange.
Narayana Murthy, considered the czar of Indian software industry, launched Infosys with, the help of a handful of friends with each of them contributing a sum of Rs 10,000. From its humble beginning, the company, under the efficient hands of Narayana Murthy, grew to be the second biggest software exporter in India with a present market capitalisation of 21 billion dollars. The annual income had grown to 2.15 billion dollars with 98 percent of its income coming from exports.
Under his leadership, Infosys got listed in the Indian markets in 1993 and later became the first Indian company to be listed on the New York-based NASDAQ in 1999. In 2006, Infosys featured on the coveted NASDAQ 100 index. Many of Infosys employees became millionaire (the company is credited with introduction of stock options for employees in India). Not only that, the phenomenal growth of the company made investors rich too. Infosys has the distinction of always beating its guidance.
Narayana Murthy served as the company's CEO for over 20 years between 1981 and 2002, and as the Executive Chairperson of the Board from 2002 to 2006. He retired from his executive position at Infosys on 20 August 2006 after which he has been the non-executive chairman of the board and also the chief mentor of the company.
Photo 1: N.R. Narayana Murthy
Narayana Murthy has been the force behind the meteoric rise of Infosys. His vision and business sense made the company go from strength to strength. Narayana Murthy articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model, which has become the foundation for the huge success in IT services outsourcing from India. He has led key corporate governance initiatives in India. He is an IT advisor to several Asian countries.
Narayana Murthy comes from a humble background and even after becoming a billionaire, he continues to lead a simple life. He said, We live a very simple life. If you come to our house, you will be shocked that we are living there…the reason why we do is because of the following—at this stage of capitalism of the country, it is very important to lead a life that most people can relate to.
If we didn't and lived in huge mansions, distanced ourselves from common people, then when we go and speak about capitalism, people will say it is easy for people like him to say who have lot of money, lot of power, it is not good for us…so I feel for our generation people, we should live as simple a life as possible.
Narayana Murthy's outstanding leadership qualities have been universally recognised and he serves on the boards of some of the world's biggest companies and organisations. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award after the Bharat Ratna, in 2008. Besides, he has also been awarded the Legion d'honneur by the government of France, and the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the British government.
It was a middle-class Indian's dream and today after 30 years, Infosys has changed the way people look at India. Seven Indian men took the risk to think out of the box and it paid off. Thirty years on, Infosys is India's most reputed company and is one of the best known brands in the global market.
– Renu Saran
Chapter 1
A Perfect Couple
Narayana Murthy
Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy, better known as N.R. Narayana Murthy, is an industrialist and a software engineer. He is the founder, Chairman, and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited.
Born into a Brahmin family in Mysore, on August 20, 1946, in Sidlaghatta near Muddenahalli, Narayana Murthy graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore in 1967 after attending government school, and received his master's degree from IIT Kanpur in 1969.
Career
His first position was at IIM (Ahmedabad) as chief systems programmer where he worked on a time-sharing system and designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited).
After IIM (Ahmedabad), he then joined Patni Computer Systems (Pune). Before moving to Mumbai, Narayana Murthy met his wife Sudha Murthy (then Sudha Kulkarni) in Pune who at the time was an engineer working at Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. (Telco, now known as Tata Motors) in Pune.
Narayana Murthy founded Infosys in 1981 in Pune with an initial capital of US $ 250, most of which was borrowed from his wife Sudha Murthy. At its inception, he invited six other engineers to join the company. Narayana Murthy served as the founder CEO of Infosys for 21 years, and was succeeded by co-founder, Nandan Nilekani, in March, 2002. At Infosys he articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model which has become the foundation for the huge success in IT services outsourcing from India. He also led the company through several key decisions including its listing on the Indian stock exchange and on the NASDAQ.
Photo 2: A hardworking man
In August 2004, TIME listed him under Global Tech Influentials
as one of the ten leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. In November 2006, TIME again voted him as one of the Asians who have brought about revolutionary changes in Asia in the last 60 years.
Narayana Murthy retired from his executive position at Infosys on 20 August 2006. However, he continues as the Chairman of the Board. When he will attain age of 65 in August 2011 he will relinquish his post of Chairman.
Narayana Murthy started a new venture capital fund called Catamaran Venture Fund with the money he got by selling 800,000 Infosys shares worth 174 crore. Sudha Murthy also gave him 430 crore, which she got by selling quarter of her 1.6% stake in Infosys.
Board Memberships
Murthy serves as an independent director on the boards of HSBC, DBS Bank and Unilever. He also serves on the boards of the Ford Foundation, UN Foundation, Indo-British Partnership, and NDTV.
He is a member of the Advisory Boards and Councils of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Corporate Governance initiative at the Harvard Business School, the Indian School of Business, Cornell University committee on academic affairs, the committee on alumni affairs and development at Yale University, the William F. Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership at the Tuck School of Business, and the University of Tokyo's President's Council.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of INSEAD, the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Singapore Management University, Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the Board of Members of School of Management at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Asia Business Council and Business Advisory Council of Great Lakes Institute of Management and International Institute of Information Technology — Bangalore.
He also serves as a director of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He is a member of the Prime Minister of India's council on trade and industry and is a member of the Asia Advisory Board of the British Telecommunications.
Personal Life
His wife, Sudha Murthy is a social worker and accomplished author. She is known for her philanthropic work through the Infosys Foundation. Her sister, Jayashree Deshpande is wife of entrepreneur and founder of US-based Sycamore Networks, Gururaj Deshpande.
They have two children—Rohan and