The unfortunate admission by Satyam’s CEO of corporate fraud, has left many of us stunned and disappointed, and deeply concerned about the implications of this news on customers, employees and shareholders of Satyam, especially at a time we’re all grappling with a difficult economic environment.

Indications from the market are that customers are not only worried about Satyam, but also more apprehensive about other Indian IT Services providers. To that end, I wanted to this opportunity to highlight some key points from HCL CEO, Vineet Nayar’s communication to all stakeholders and well-wishers recently, reaffirming the company’s credentials, and commitment to the highest standards of Trust and Transparency.

- HCL was founded 33 years ago, by Shiv Nadar, a globally respected visionary and recipient of the Padma Bhushan (one of the highest civilian recognitions bestowed by the Govt. of India). It is today a US$ 5 Billion enterprise spread across 20 countries with 58,000 employees, and run by a very experienced and professional leadership team led by Vineet as CEO

- Over the years, HCL has grown through a culture of trusted partnerships with customers, including JVs with some of the world’s leading corporations like Hewlett-Packard (1991), Deutsche Bank (2001), British Telecom (2002), and NEC (2005), many of which remain its largest customers, even after the conclusion of the JVs

- HCL has not only come to be known for its innovative IT services, but also as a thought leader in management innovation, with case studies on the company’s “Employee First” philosophy being taught at the Harvard Business School

- In addition, HCL maintains a very strong Corporate Governance policy, with an active and independent Board comprising 6 non-executive members (out of a total of 8). The roles of Chairman and CEO (the 2 executive members of the Board) are bifurcated, with Shiv Nadar as Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, and Vineet as the CEO. The Chairman’s majority holding in the company lends security of ownership and ensures that motivation of HCL’s leaders is guided exclusively by the creation of long term value for customers and shareholders alike

- Finally, and most importantly, HCL is governed by a culture of Trust and Transparency. This extends to all interactions at HCL, across employees, customers and investors. For example, HCL’s Annual Global Customer Meet allows key employees, customers, analysts and investors of the company to come together and interact in unfettered discussion. This level of transparency was also affirmed recently by a poll conducted by Asia Money, citing 239 fund managers, that rated HCL as one of the top 2 companies in India for investor access and relations.

Debashish Sinha
Vice President Marketing
HCL America, Inc.

Who should be the next CEO of Satyam?

http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/16338/fgihu

1. The Board has eminent personalities, a lot more credible than some of the board members of existing IT firms. The clarion call to a “Satyam as a PSU within the IT Industry” was much needed. The GOI has acted responsibly.

2. The CEO, a wish should be someone of the stature of Narayan Murthy, whose portfolio enhances from an Infosysian to a Socio-Economic Oracle for Corporate India. Hope he takes over. Or someone equally credible from the like of TATA Group of Companies.
3. The CFO should be someone, again, on similar lines from above. With a strong committed board at the help, Satyam is on course.

4. Parekh should get intouch with every single Client of Satyam and shore up their confidence (an easy task for him), and keep the Corporate Vultures from other IT firms at bay. It is critical for the survival of Satyam to hold on to Clients, Employees, Investors and Analysts. Task forces in competition would only underline the values and ethics adopted by such Indian Offshoreing partners.

5. All of us need to be careful and responsible in our statements in the blogosphere to ensure that the rise of a new Satyam becomes a success. Send a univocal message to the Ecosystem to assist the Government of India with a fair chance and not taint the already tainted IT and ITes sector by staying away from Satyam employees and Customers.

Any non-alignment to the above is only going to erode the Global perception of Organizations looking at taking advantage of such a situation and such Organizations creating task-forces to steal accounts must be black-listed by Customers. In the wake of Obama rise, this rings just right.

Wishing the Satyam board good luck. There is enough and more business for all.

HariHari
Bengaluru

Srini
Chennai