Bussines India Article, 04/2009, Ganesh Natarajan   A collective sign of relief   The naming of Tech Mahindra as the successful suitor for the much talked about Satyam has drawn the curtains on what should be the most difficult act of a drama that once threatened to take India Inc particularly the IT sector by storm. Satyam has been a strange saga of an entrepreneur whose intellect and capability were second to none but at some stage succumbed to a level of greed that should not consume any human being in their upward climb to success. The institutions that Raju helped to build will no doubt survive the test of time and continue to make all their stakeholders proud, but for many of us who knew Raju reasonably well, the sense of shock and outrage will never quite fade away. While the real truth has still to be revealed and indeed may take many months to unravel, the unprecedented size and scale of the fraud will be an unfortunate landmark in the history of Indian IT and the corporate sector. But the fact that the key stakeholders of the company, its customers and employees, have now found a safe home now gives us the chance to heave a collective sigh of relief. The period between the announcement made by Raju and the formalization of the new Board was one which many of us will remember for a long time as NASSCOM worked hand in hand with the Government to limit the immediate damage caused by the Raju letter to the Board and the Stock Exchanges. In one of many calls that we did with analysts, industry watchers, customers and other stakeholders, one reputed research head commented, “India will continue to shine in spite of the terrorism attacks in Mumbai and the corporate terrorism in Hyderabad because of the TINA (There is no alternative) factor” but that was little solace for us who take pride in the IT sector. The fact that our lead over China in IT and BPO has actually grown larger over the years as China struggles with the services needs of the Western world, and that the next best aspirant Philippines is a fifth our size and still focused largely on contact centres is no excuse for resting on our laurels and letting the competition get closer. The entire industry needs to continue to push the envelope, seek new value propositions and innovation models in products, services, processes and business models and delight global customers by our constantly increasing understanding of their stated and implied needs. In the last few months , the industry has been buffeted by many storms – the global slowdown, the terrorism attacks on Mumbai and of course the Satyam saga have all dented the short term prospects of an industry which has made all Indians hold their heads high in the world. Speaking at an Outsourcing conference at the Asia Society in New York early this year, it was alarming to find the skepticism in many quarters about the Indian corporate sector. Many of us run or work for public listed companies and have taken pride when the Board releases good quarterly results and felt sad when the environment or some internal issues have led to a weak set of numbers. When a competitor declares an outstanding quarter, the feeling of “how could they have done that?” has been one of wonder and appreciation and it would be sad if the Satyam fiasco leads to the question being laced with suspicion and accusation. In an industry which has, for many years been a standard for corporate governance in the country with many iconic figures like Mr. Narayana Murthy showing the way to other sectors as well, the blow to our psyche has been deep but the quick actions of the Government and the Board led by Kiran Karnik have been applauded in all quarters. Today, an empowered management team needs everybody’s support to succeed in future and take the company back to its position of strength. The road ahead for the company as well as the industry is not as thorny as it has been in the past but still needs to be traveled with care. The new owner will be given a few months to steady the ship and keep all stakeholders convinced that no further shocks lie ahead. The navigation of unknown dangers like the Class Action law suits in the US and the legal action in Europe should not divert attention from the primary task of stabilizing the company and integrating it well into the new owner group. And for the industry there is a lot to be done to ensure that such a situation never comes up again. The newly minted Corporate Governance Committee of NASSCOM is already at work to ensure that best practices towards all stakeholders are rigidly followed and all firms will demonstrate through their actions that this sector is still a beacon of excellence, not just within the country but around the world. The green shoots of economic recovery, the relative peace in our interactions with our neighbour and now the completion of the Satyam transaction – the sun seems to be shining through the clouds once again! Lavanya Jayaram - Head, Corporate Innovation Group, Zensar Technologies Tel: +91-20-66057851/98817 45380       Back