Infosys war: Narayana Murthy was bitter over Vishal Sikka becoming CEO over V Balakrishnan: Sources

Undignified comments, allegations of poor corporate governance, selective media leaks and continued inferences: phases that marked the aftermath of Vishal Sikka’s sudden departure conjures up recent memory of another dark chapter of country’s corporate world, the unceremonious exit of Cyrus Mistry as the head of the Tata group.

Though not fully comparable, there are similarities between the two landmark events and corporate India would do well to learn the lessons from these two unfortunate happenings about how not to manage succession.

“I want the new CEO to chart his own path to create better glory for Infosys without any interference from the founders,” said shareholder, quoting Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s speech in 2014.

“While he talked of giving full independence to Vishal Sikka, his bitterness over the exit of V Balakrishnan, a top contender to the post of Chief Executive Officer, was palpable and jarring,” the shareholder who travelled to the Infosys AGM from Kolkata that year recollects.

Within a few years, those words by Murthy turned hollow and stakeholders of Infosys and other corporate bodies realised that independence of the board in promoter-driven large companies still remain elusive.

“There is a streak of similarity (between the Tata and the Infosys episode), but we must …read more