Think big, act boldly: NR Narayana Murthy tells Infoscions

CHENNAI: On the eve of the one-year anniversary of his return to Infosys, cofounder NR Narayana Murthy has told employees in a letter that “now is the time to think big and act boldly”. In parts a rallying cry and a pat on the back for the 1.5 lakh employees and himself, Murthy also cautioned that the revival effort will take time to show “tangible results”.

Apart from the impending anniversary, his communication to the staff is taking place in the backdrop of a search by the company to find a successor to chief executive SD Shibulal, who has said he wants to retire before January next year.

Murthy, who said when he was recalled by the board that he was aiming to build a “desirable Infosys” in three years, pointed to reviving growth momentum as the main mantra.

“We have adopted a simple formula for growth — chase more opportunities, increase the size of those opportunities, improve win rates and improve demand fulfilment,” he wrote on Saturday.

Although Murthy has not spoken to the media since his return on June 1 to the company he founded 33 years ago, conversations with employees and analysts show that he is laying greater emphasis on winning bread-and-butter outsourcing deals while cutting costs to improve margins.

In his letter, he wrote: “We will also increase the focus on differentiation through service innovation, technical solutions such as automation and articulating business value in our proposals.” Murthy pointed to the company’s revenue growth rate of 11.5% last year as a sign that “we have done well for ourselves in the year gone by”.

“One thing is certain from my interactions — if Infoscions decide, they can succeed in reaching for the stars,” he wrote.