Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan talks to B&E’s Editor and Deputy Editor about recession, recovery and succession planning
Call him a gadget freak or a nerd. That’s how Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan likes to describe himself. However, ever since he took over as CEO, Infosys, along with other IT companies, found itself at the wrong end of the technology cycle. This man who runs India’s seventh most profitable corporation accepts that Infosys is loathe to recruit outsiders as leaders and believes Infy has a long way to go...
B&E: Have you made decisions as CEO that you believe have changed the course of the company?
KG: Unfortunately, when I took over, there were a series of crises. The focus was on managing through the crisis rather than looking ahead. We first had tremendous volatility in currency, then after that there was the downturn. When I took over in June 2007, it was the peak of the asset bubble. When the downturn happened, my focus initially was actually to manage the business in a volatile environment and manage the different moving parts from a financial perspective and then it moved to manage client relationships. I was lucky that most of Infy’s relationships survived the downturn. I also decided to honour all our hiring commitments at campuses, something that our competitors did not do. It was a big decision. I used the recession opportunity to build the bench.
B&E: CFO Balakrishnan told us that your focus was not intending to be the largest organisation...
KG: Largest does not necessarily mean you are world class. And we have a long way to go from a size perspective. We want to build an organization that is there for the long haul. Business is a marathon, not a sprint. It is not about having spectacular performance for a year and not being there the next year.
Call him a gadget freak or a nerd. That’s how Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan likes to describe himself. However, ever since he took over as CEO, Infosys, along with other IT companies, found itself at the wrong end of the technology cycle. This man who runs India’s seventh most profitable corporation accepts that Infosys is loathe to recruit outsiders as leaders and believes Infy has a long way to go...
B&E: Have you made decisions as CEO that you believe have changed the course of the company?
KG: Unfortunately, when I took over, there were a series of crises. The focus was on managing through the crisis rather than looking ahead. We first had tremendous volatility in currency, then after that there was the downturn. When I took over in June 2007, it was the peak of the asset bubble. When the downturn happened, my focus initially was actually to manage the business in a volatile environment and manage the different moving parts from a financial perspective and then it moved to manage client relationships. I was lucky that most of Infy’s relationships survived the downturn. I also decided to honour all our hiring commitments at campuses, something that our competitors did not do. It was a big decision. I used the recession opportunity to build the bench.
B&E: CFO Balakrishnan told us that your focus was not intending to be the largest organisation...
KG: Largest does not necessarily mean you are world class. And we have a long way to go from a size perspective. We want to build an organization that is there for the long haul. Business is a marathon, not a sprint. It is not about having spectacular performance for a year and not being there the next year.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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