Where do I work? I am with an Information Technology company based in India. Nope, am not with Satyam. It should not stop you from asking me questions about my work and the various clients interact with. Satyam case in which Ramalingham Raju has disclosed that he cheated the board and employees.
I am going to share the expected treatment of the clients and the so called saffronizing us for the debacle of Satyam.
Firstly, clients are angry. They should be. If they find that the people with whom they are in business have their credentials in deep suspicion, they will be worried. It is their worriness that will result in anger. The client's anger may eventually cancelled the work order or pervade it from dealing with the company in future. This leads to time and a lot of money wastage. And, mostly the reputation of the client is at stake.
I read in some forum of a comment posted by a CEO of an mnc that Indian IT companies would be looked with suspicion after the Satyam lie. My response to that is very simple- let's not be biased. Did we forget the Enron and Worldcom fiasco? these were the companies based out of India and looking to do businesses with India.So, you see the history of companies that have a major catastrophe are not limited to Satyam alone. And some of them have not even declared their blames for it.
The West has always propagated the Asian nations are under developed, and whether they like to see it or not, development of these nations are scrutinized. In the mid 90's and post-Y2k, the IT sector saw a dramatic trend with more and more jobs outsourced to India. Obviously, the lesser cost and the quality workforce is an eye catcher for businesses in India. India flourished in leaps and bounds and the country is talking about businesses from the world market.
Mr. Raju has been one of the influential CEO's of India, and during his stint he has made quite a few high-ranking business friends and associates. He may find them to be a major catalyst in his triumph for survival. The so-called political parties may try to take a political mileage of it.
The IT companies need to understand that the crisis is not engulfed alone to Satyam alone. The need of the hour is to rise above all the petty differences and earn the trust of the customers again.
By the time this piece gets published, a new Satyam board comprising of three eminent persons have been formed. This is a fantastic development. I hope the board will first find out the root cause of this great fiasco, and see that in no way, the employees of Satyam are caused any evil. The customers need to be addressed and appraised of the situation.
Let's see how it evolves. But this blot needs to be taken care of right away. And, it's not just India that have been affected. The NASSCOM needs to take a stand, and yes dully get back to its righteous away.
And huh! for those of you who are wondering why did Mr.Raju surrender. I may be incorrect, but my take on is the US clients have already filed a complaint against Raju. We all know he will be under deep stakes if he has to face the trial in US. Atleast, Indian law would allow me to face the trial. So, you see.
I hope all goes well. May the truth prevail and yes one thing for sure, this incident will definitely make accounting department more agile. Chances are we just may have a blessing in disguise. Amen!
1 comment:
Raj, you are right in saying that there were equally big scams that happened in the US (on in US companies). I dont see any need and point in media making lot of halla gulla of Corporate India's creditability. Everyone must understand that noone is clean here.
There is a challenge to restore trust. It will happen. But we must address this case objective. But while making sure, we must address such potential problems by adopting robust and global methodology such as that of US-SOX in 2003.
Post a Comment