Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Corporate crisis, leadership and governance
- Part II Rethinking the firm's purpose
- 2 The firm's mission and purpose
- 3 The firm as a respected institution
- Part III The role of corporate governance in developing a respected company
- Part IV Leading and growing a respected company
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The firm as a respected institution
from Part II - Rethinking the firm's purpose
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 December 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Corporate crisis, leadership and governance
- Part II Rethinking the firm's purpose
- 2 The firm's mission and purpose
- 3 The firm as a respected institution
- Part III The role of corporate governance in developing a respected company
- Part IV Leading and growing a respected company
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
On 9 May 2008, Dr Narayana Murthy, founder and co-chairman of Infosys, gave the keynote lecture at the IESE MBA programme graduation ceremony. In the reflections he shared with the graduates, he emphasized that
the founders of Infosys wanted to make it not the largest, but the most respected company. Infosys has to be very profitable, but this goal will be the outcome: it has to be a great company for employees and clients, and has to get involved in the community. In this way, people will respect it and would like to do more things with it.
For an India-based company born as recently as 1981, such an aspiration was far from trivial. But Dr Murthy and the six other IT professionals who co-founded the firm were determined to make it happen. Since the beginning, they have all shared a common vision: building a world-class company and the most respected firm in India.
As Dr Murthy explained, becoming a respected company requires a great team of excellent professionals who design and develop outstanding products and services, a business model that is profitable and sustainable, and a set of values that is really shared by employees. He added:
We wanted to run the company legally and ethically, and show that, by putting the interest of the corporation above your own interest, the company will be better off and shareholders also will benefit from it. We have always believed that the softest pillow is a clear conscience. We are also convinced about the importance of running the business using simple rules, because they are easy to communicate, easy to understand, and easy to practice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Building Respected CompaniesRethinking Business Leadership and the Purpose of the Firm, pp. 65 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010