IT industry has given India wings: Narayana Murthy
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Sukumar.N
Nov 26, 2008, 5:28:33 AM11/26/08
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IT industry has given India wings: Narayana Murthy
======================================
Every nation experiences a seminal event that brings revolutionary
changes in its economic life. Vanover Bush’s proposal that US
universities should
focus on research to fuel US economic growth was in effect a critical
reason for the extraordinary strides that the US has made in hi-tech.
The success of the auto industry in Japan propelled that nation to be
the second most powerful economic power in the world. Similarly, the
emergence of the software industry in India heralded a new confidence,
a new mindset and a new paradigm in the Indian business.
For the first time in the history of this country in 300 years, the
country felt that it had arrived on the international business scene.
Let me talk about a few major contributions of this industry to the
nation.
It is generally agreed that this industry has raised the international
image of the country like no other sector. Wherever you go in the
developed world, there is a new-found respect for India, thanks to the
software industry.
India has gained reputation as the software development centre of the
world, much like China’s reputation as the factory of the world. Many
influential authors have told me that our industry is an important
reason for India being bracketed with the enormously successful
China.
Most of the top companies in this industry have followed the finest
principles of corporate governance, run their companies with
transparency and accountability, are listed on international exchanges
like NASDAQ and NYSE, and embraced the changes on these exchanges as
front runners and brought recognition to India.
Infosys has been a pioneer in advancing the state-of-the art corporate
governance practices in India. Infosys is also the first company on
NASDAQ to provide the balance sheet and income statement according the
GAAPs (the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) of eight
countries – India, US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan and
Australia.
During the nineties, a popular saying among the industry leaders was,
“If you see a Mercedes Benz car in front of a house, you can be sure
it belongs to the CEO of a failed traditional sector company; If you
see a ramshackle ambassador in front of house, you can be sure it
belongs to the CEO of a hugely successful software company”. This
sentence says a lot about the majority of the leaders in our
industry.
The software industry has replaced the public sector as the largest
creator of jobs. Today, TCS, Infosys and Wipro add more high quality,
high disposable income jobs a year than any other company has done in
the last hundred years. Such jobs have stimulated the economy in a
significant manner.
Our youngsters buy vehicles, buy homes, go on vacation, shop in
supermarkets and go to restaurants. When the industry is in top gear,
which it has been for most of the last 15 years, there is joy on the
main street, an air of confidence among shop owners, and a sense of
pride among the families of the professionals. In other words, this
industry has been the creator of a positive spiral in our economy.
As I have often said, this industry has been the shining example of
all the good that came out of liberalisation and the economic reforms
since 1991. As against just 8% of the Indian engineering industry
output going to exports during the nineties, the contribution to
exports from this industry has been between 80% and 90% of revenues.
What is even more important is that the net foreign exchange
percentage is one of the highest at 50% in this industry. Thanks to
the invisibles from this industry, the country is in a strong balance
of payment position in spite of soaring oil prices.
Major import-intensive sectors of our economy like automobiles,
consumer durables, travel, computer hardware and many other sectors
have been sustained, thanks to the head start given by the software
sector. The top four companies in this industry have practised
compassionate capitalism and have spent much time in addressing the
social equity issues.
Tata’s laudatory record in philanthropy, Azeem Premji Foundation’s
focus on primary education, Infosys Foundation’s work in addressing
the basic needs of the poorest of the poor, and Satyam Foundation’s
work in enabling the rural folks are good examples of focus of these
companies in matters of social equity.
The leaders of these companies have often taken firm and bold stand on
various issues of governance and social equity. Companies like Infosys
have been pioneers in democratisation of wealth by distributing a
significant portion of financial equity to employees. Infosys has
brought the benefit of spread of wealth to a large number of employees
from janitors and clerks to professionals.
This industry has been the first from India to focus on world-class
excellence in every aspect of operation, HRD, finance, sales and
marketing, software development, physical infrastructure and
technology. This has given confidence to other Indian companies to
compete confidently in the global market based on global level of
excellence. It has given them a new mindset, courage and confidence.
This industry has set up a good example for collaboration with the
academia in raising the standard of education in engineering. The
Campus Connect programme of Infosys has enrolled 350 engineering
colleges and aims to bring the faculty in these colleges up to speed
on advances and developments taking place in the field of computer
science.
The Indo-US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) programme
pioneered by Dr Krishna Vedula, Dr Ravindra, Mr Mohandas Pai and a
consortium of donors including Infosys aims to create a self-
sustaining model for improving the quality of faculty, research and
problem solving orientation of students in various branches of
engineering in the 1,400 and odd engineering colleges in the country.
Twenty three leading faculty members from well-known universities in
the US, and 550 leaders and young faculty from the engineering
institutions of India came to the Mysore Global Education Centre of
Infosys in the summer of 2008 and spent time interacting on a host of
important issues in education.
I can go on and on. The message is clear. That is, the software
industry has added tremendous value to the country, the Indian
business and the Indian people.
N.Sukumar
Research Analyst
www.kences1.blogspot.com
======================================
Every nation experiences a seminal event that brings revolutionary
changes in its economic life. Vanover Bush’s proposal that US
universities should
focus on research to fuel US economic growth was in effect a critical
reason for the extraordinary strides that the US has made in hi-tech.
The success of the auto industry in Japan propelled that nation to be
the second most powerful economic power in the world. Similarly, the
emergence of the software industry in India heralded a new confidence,
a new mindset and a new paradigm in the Indian business.
For the first time in the history of this country in 300 years, the
country felt that it had arrived on the international business scene.
Let me talk about a few major contributions of this industry to the
nation.
It is generally agreed that this industry has raised the international
image of the country like no other sector. Wherever you go in the
developed world, there is a new-found respect for India, thanks to the
software industry.
India has gained reputation as the software development centre of the
world, much like China’s reputation as the factory of the world. Many
influential authors have told me that our industry is an important
reason for India being bracketed with the enormously successful
China.
Most of the top companies in this industry have followed the finest
principles of corporate governance, run their companies with
transparency and accountability, are listed on international exchanges
like NASDAQ and NYSE, and embraced the changes on these exchanges as
front runners and brought recognition to India.
Infosys has been a pioneer in advancing the state-of-the art corporate
governance practices in India. Infosys is also the first company on
NASDAQ to provide the balance sheet and income statement according the
GAAPs (the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) of eight
countries – India, US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan and
Australia.
During the nineties, a popular saying among the industry leaders was,
“If you see a Mercedes Benz car in front of a house, you can be sure
it belongs to the CEO of a failed traditional sector company; If you
see a ramshackle ambassador in front of house, you can be sure it
belongs to the CEO of a hugely successful software company”. This
sentence says a lot about the majority of the leaders in our
industry.
The software industry has replaced the public sector as the largest
creator of jobs. Today, TCS, Infosys and Wipro add more high quality,
high disposable income jobs a year than any other company has done in
the last hundred years. Such jobs have stimulated the economy in a
significant manner.
Our youngsters buy vehicles, buy homes, go on vacation, shop in
supermarkets and go to restaurants. When the industry is in top gear,
which it has been for most of the last 15 years, there is joy on the
main street, an air of confidence among shop owners, and a sense of
pride among the families of the professionals. In other words, this
industry has been the creator of a positive spiral in our economy.
As I have often said, this industry has been the shining example of
all the good that came out of liberalisation and the economic reforms
since 1991. As against just 8% of the Indian engineering industry
output going to exports during the nineties, the contribution to
exports from this industry has been between 80% and 90% of revenues.
What is even more important is that the net foreign exchange
percentage is one of the highest at 50% in this industry. Thanks to
the invisibles from this industry, the country is in a strong balance
of payment position in spite of soaring oil prices.
Major import-intensive sectors of our economy like automobiles,
consumer durables, travel, computer hardware and many other sectors
have been sustained, thanks to the head start given by the software
sector. The top four companies in this industry have practised
compassionate capitalism and have spent much time in addressing the
social equity issues.
Tata’s laudatory record in philanthropy, Azeem Premji Foundation’s
focus on primary education, Infosys Foundation’s work in addressing
the basic needs of the poorest of the poor, and Satyam Foundation’s
work in enabling the rural folks are good examples of focus of these
companies in matters of social equity.
The leaders of these companies have often taken firm and bold stand on
various issues of governance and social equity. Companies like Infosys
have been pioneers in democratisation of wealth by distributing a
significant portion of financial equity to employees. Infosys has
brought the benefit of spread of wealth to a large number of employees
from janitors and clerks to professionals.
This industry has been the first from India to focus on world-class
excellence in every aspect of operation, HRD, finance, sales and
marketing, software development, physical infrastructure and
technology. This has given confidence to other Indian companies to
compete confidently in the global market based on global level of
excellence. It has given them a new mindset, courage and confidence.
This industry has set up a good example for collaboration with the
academia in raising the standard of education in engineering. The
Campus Connect programme of Infosys has enrolled 350 engineering
colleges and aims to bring the faculty in these colleges up to speed
on advances and developments taking place in the field of computer
science.
The Indo-US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) programme
pioneered by Dr Krishna Vedula, Dr Ravindra, Mr Mohandas Pai and a
consortium of donors including Infosys aims to create a self-
sustaining model for improving the quality of faculty, research and
problem solving orientation of students in various branches of
engineering in the 1,400 and odd engineering colleges in the country.
Twenty three leading faculty members from well-known universities in
the US, and 550 leaders and young faculty from the engineering
institutions of India came to the Mysore Global Education Centre of
Infosys in the summer of 2008 and spent time interacting on a host of
important issues in education.
I can go on and on. The message is clear. That is, the software
industry has added tremendous value to the country, the Indian
business and the Indian people.
N.Sukumar
Research Analyst
www.kences1.blogspot.com
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