Narayana Murthy's insights may help Prime Minister Sunak

By Alby Anand Kurian - Global Indian Times

Rishi Sunak’s greatest weakness in the United Kingdom’s parliamentary elections, to be held on July 4, is that he is unable to connect with his electorate and seen as out of touch with them. Perhaps, Sunak does not need to look far from home for guidance on marketing himself and his Conservative Party. There is a role model close: his father-in-law, N.R. Narayana Murthy. The legendary co-founder of Infosys, the Bangalore-based information technology company with a market value of $78 billion, Murthy’s net worth is estimated to be $4.6 billion by Forbes.

MURTHY'S room at Infosys’s head office in Bangalore, India, - where I met him in 2011 for this interview when he was still Chairman of the company - does not resemble the office of any senior executive at a major company that I have seen. It looks more like a modest library with books of every kind, stacked on metal and glass racks.

There is a TV, one of the old, bulky models, not a flat-screen one. Then Murthy enters the room and I forget everything else. He is a small man, I would put him at five feet six inches, but he is trim, the result of a lifetime of spartan living. He wears his belt high above his waist, in the style that was fashionable in the sixties; he is dressed in a shirt and trousers that seem to have become shiny with age.

He moves briskly, and, if the words were not inappropriate for someone of his age, I would describe him as something of a live wire. He gives the impression, even while he is seated that he is in motion; it is his mind and eyes that convey that image – an impression of a quickness of spirit, of a mind that is alert, buoyant and vibrant.

He seems preoccupied as he walks in; he talks to his secretary and makes a call. When we begin, I discuss a technology model and share a rather funny anecdote; his face breaks into the most innocent smile of amusement that I have seen. The anecdote has served its purpose; the ice is now broken. From that moment onwards, his attention is sharply centered on me. It is testimony to his ability to change gears and to focus on the job at hand; all else is forgotten.

Anand Kurian: There was something about the Infosys story that caught the public imagination – you are at the heart of it all. Can you see why Infosys acquired its place in the public mind?

Narayana Murthy: When we had our Strategy and Action Plan conference in 1992, we had commissioned a survey on unaided mind recall of Infosys, amongst prospective employees i.e. students from the engineering and management colleges. We asked them “Which company would you want to join?” And zero percent of the people said Infosys! (Smiles.)

This was in 1992. We went public in 1993. So, we took a decision - within 5 years we have to become number one in unaided mind recall. We asked ourselves, how do we do this? My view was that the most effective and the cheapest way of enhancing the brand, (the corporate brand), the most effective way of becoming aspirational for prospective employees is to do unusual things.    

We built the campus in Bangalore, we created a good stock option plan, we created the global delivery model. Then, we produced quarterly reporting - we were the first to do that in India. We were the first to comply with the Corporate Governance Code. In other words, whether it was management or technology students, we created some curiosity, some interest, by doing unusual things.

So, therefore, by 1997, when we conducted the same research, a whopping 18 per cent of the students put us at number one. IBM was second! And there were so many other companies, at least 500 other companies, and mind you, we were pretty small in 1993 - we were just forty-three million dollars in revenue.

Kurian: The Infosys reputation continued to grow, didn’t it?

Murthy: Yes, there is another reason. Right in the beginning, it was a decision we took in 1981, when we founded the company. We decided that seeking respect from every stakeholder was our main objective…

Our logic was that if you sought respect from customers, from employees, from investors, vendors, partners, the government of the land and society, then you would not shortchange any customer, you would be fair and transparent with your colleagues, you would follow the finest principles of corporate governance, you would not violate the law of the land, you would create goodwill with society…. We said if we did all of that, then automatically revenues would come, profits would come, market capitalization would come.

So that explains the growth of the brand, that we deliberately practiced, seeking respect as our topmost objective.

Kurian: I think it was during those days that you had the baseline, ‘Powered by intellect, driven by values.’

Murthy: Yes, it was part of that exercise. The line was created in 1994 by one of our youngest colleagues. Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that this line was the finest company motto he had seen.

Kurian: It truly encapsulates what you are saying about seeking respect.

Murthy: Absolutely. It tells the world that we want intelligent people here in this company because our business is powered by intellect but at the same time, we want people with values… When you get smart and good people to join you, the rest just follows.   

Kurian: And yet, there’s more to it, isn’t there? Perhaps, some other company could have done similar things and yet, it would not have been Infosys. There was something almost mystical, it was about knights in shining armor… It may sound exaggerated, but it’s true, isn’t it?

Murthy: (listens to me carefully, takes a long pause) It is very difficult for us to answer the question. It is very difficult for me to even realize I am breathing because it’s so much a part of my life. I am not even aware that I am breathing. Therefore the best way of inculcating and practicing these things is - it should become like breathing…You should not even be aware that you are doing it. The moment you become conscious of it, then it becomes a put-on.

For instance, it’s so normal that all the doors at the Infosys office here are open, nobody needs to tell anybody about it - all the doors are always open. This again is a decision we took early on; in an open-door office, you will not plot, you will not think of doing unethical stuff. Now, nobody is even aware or conscious of it, it just happens….

Kurian: I am moving now into even more difficult territory. Can we talk about the magic of Narayan Murthy, the larger-than-life persona, again the knight in shining armor…?

Murthy:  It’s very difficult to comment on this because, first of all, we should not take ourselves very seriously… we should take what we do very seriously. The day we start taking ourselves too seriously, it will be our downfall. We are only as good as our last deed; the day we do something wrong, all of this will disappear, it’s very ephemeral stuff….

That spotlight is revolving; it is there for a short period on you. At that time, we should conduct ourselves with dignity, courtesy, and humility because that spotlight will move away. And true courtesy, true humility and true dignity is when you demonstrate these qualities when you have a sense of power and a sense of achievement when the spotlight is on you.

Kurian: I am taking a leap again here and I don’t know if I am correct. Earlier when we saw somebody successful in business in India, it was not somebody who was one of us, a professional. It was somebody who had a long lineage of business, or somebody who could get things done by being corrupt – it was never one of us…   

Murthy: (Nodding) Oh, you are absolutely right! In fact, many people have asked me “What is the biggest contribution of Infosys?” I say many things and then the final one is this - we have communicated to our youngsters, to millions of entrepreneurs that if these seven jokers (the engineers who founded Infosys) could do it, then we too can do it! (Laughs) I think that sums up what you said!

Kurian: It must be inspiring to know that you can conduct business in an ethical manner, you can succeed and still maintain ethical values….

Murthy: Absolutely, I agree with you. In some sense, as I said, it raises the confidence of lots of middle-class youngsters in India that we too can do it - maybe that explains everything…

Kurian: (smiles) The word “joker” horrifies me, though!

Murthy: (laughs) That was self-deprecatory humour!