Vallabh Bhanshali Peeks Into Narayana Murthy’s Mind
Vallabh Bhanshali writes about his understanding of Murthy’s position on his blog.
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After Vishal Sikka resigned as the managing director and chief executive officer of Infosys Ltd. last week, the board of India’s second largest software services provider blamed co-founder NR Narayana Murthy for his exit.
Murthy, who has over the past few months questioned the board’s governance standards over a host of decisions, has found support from Vallabh Bhanshali, chairman of ENAM Securities. In a blog in the Economic Times, Bhanshali puts himself in Murthy’s shoes to feel what he must be feeling about the company he co-founded 36 years ago.
Bhanshali highlights the painstaking path that Murthy must be treading upon while being “highly misunderstood” and targeted for wanting “everyone’s good”.
I knew I could be misunderstood as wanting to come back or impose my nominee as the CEO. What a travesty! Someone who walked out no sooner a CEO was found with billions of dollars in the company would not do so to come back at the drop of a hat! I am old, have my own tragedies but sane enough.Vallabh Bhanshali, Imagining Himself In Narayana Murthy’s Shoes
On the criticism of Murthy’s actions by the Infosys board, Bhanshali wrote, the members of the board had failed to acknowledge their own ill stature in raising the chief executive officer to a position where he could dictate the board.
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He dismissed the board’s allegations as a “lie” and said that its leadership was, in fact, responsible for doing so. He felt that the board had failed in enforcing good practices and instead looked for endorsement from paid agencies.
In 2016, the CEO announced goals for 2020, rather abruptly, which were ambitious by all accounts and naturally, had to be abandoned. It is strange that the while the board has raised a finger at my motives, it completely failed to question the motive or the meat of that abrupt move.Vallabh Bhansali, Imagining Himself In Narayana Murthy’s Shoes
Bhanshali said the comments and questioning of governance based on public data or on a whistleblower’s report was targeted at the board, and not the chief executive officer. “The CEO has to be enterprising and in that process, can make a mistake. It is and was the Board's job to keep him both motivated and discreet.”
Corporate governance, something that has been repeatedly raised by Murthy, can restore Infosys to its former glory, said Bhanshali as he urged the board to renew its focus on it. He recalled the time when the software services provider made disclosures after disclosures, much before they were mandated by the law, to assure the investors that it believed in transparency.
Read the full blog here.
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