The opinion is sharply divided on the second coming of N. R. Narayana Murthy at Infosys. Many IT honchos seem to have missed him all these years and are welcoming him with open arms. They are so excited that they don’t mind commenting on a development in a rival company.
For, they know his return would do more good to the industry than Infosys itself at a time when the industry is facing its toughest challenge, globally. But some strongly feel that it sets a wrong precedent in the country.
“He is an iconic leader who has played a key role to shape the Indian technology industry and we welcome him. His guidance and strategic insights to Infosys as well as for the industry would be valuable as the industry focuses on its next phase of evolution and growth,” said Nasscom President Som Mittal.
Ganesh Natarajan, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zensar Technologies, said it would take at least six months to get things back on track. “Infosys’s Q2 results will be closely watched to see if the Murthy effect has a bearing on the numbers. If Infosys’ performance does not improve even after six months, it would mean that the challenges it faces are more related to the inability to manage external challenges,” he said.
“Narayana Murthy agreeing to take charge of Infosys will boost confidence across the sector. Inspirational leadership should not be underestimated. But he should be given reasonable time to reboot the business,” tweeted Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon.
V Srinivasa Rao, Head of NMACS (Networks, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud and Security), Mahindra Satyam, found the development quite interesting. “The major challenge ahead of him is to align with GenY & Digital World,” he tweeted.
Some others felt that this could set a bad precedent in the corporate world. (With inputs from New Delhi, Mumbai)