nr narayana

murthy
a biography
-Ritu Singh
 1. THE SILVER JUBILLE

2. HOW IT ALL BEGAN

3. A HARD NUT TO CRACK

4. MAKING CHOICES

CONTENTS 5. PARIS THE TURNING POINT

6. AN ‘UNSUTABLE BOY’

7. NEW BEGINNINGS

8. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

 9. ‘POWERED BY INTELLECT,DRIVEN BY
VALUES’

10. THE GLOBAL PLAY FIELD.

11. THE ERA OF LIBERALIZATION

12. A BUSINESS STRATEGY

CONTENTS
13. THE CORPORATE CULTURE AT INFOSYS

14. A DREAM CAMPUS

15. INFOSYS

16. THE INFOSYS FOUNDATION

 Father of India’s booming IT sector its N.R.
Narayana Murthy.

One of the co-founders of Infosys & the

CEO for 21 Years.

INTRODUCTION
He helped spark the outsourcing
revolution that has brought billions of
dollars of wealth in the Indian economy

It has transformed the country into the

worlds back office.
 The Chapter starts with the 25th Anniversary of
Infosys.

The event is held in Mysore.

Global Education Centre is located in Mysore

with a capacity of 14000 Infoscions.

CH 1.
THE “ Scalability is the first one, how to ensure and
that we retain quality & productivity as the

SILVER organisation becomes large.

JUBILLE He speaks of acceptable margins where

because of growth comes the tendency to
spend more without adequate return.

The chapter ends with Mr. Murthy’s challenge

on trying to be among the top five in every
market they operate.
 N R NARAYANA MURTHY was born on 20
August 1946 in the town of Mysore.

He ranked 17th in IIT entrance examination.

CH 2. His father was unable to help him with college

fees.

HOW IT
ALL Father’s golden advice – “It is you and you
BEGAN alone who makes the change in your life, not
the institution. If you are smart you can go to
any college & do something worthwhile”.

He stepped on his path to success.

 He was the 5th child among his siblings in a
family of 11 including his grandmother.

His father being teacher earned Rs 250/month

along with being transferred every three
years.

From his mother he learnt to live within one’s

mean.
CH 3.
A HARD
A brilliant student in school.
NUT TO
CRACK
Completed B.E. in Electrical Engineering in
1967 from University of Mysore.

Completed Mtech from IIT Kanpur in 1969

 Challenges attracted him more than money.

Joined IIM, Ahmedabad in 1969 as Chief Systems

Programmer under Prof Krishnayya’s influence.

Under Prof Krishnayya’s guidance he developed time

sharing system & implemented the 1st Indian BASIC
Computer.

CH 4. He published research papers during his 3-year tenure

at IIM.
MAKING
CHOICES He accepted the offer from SESA, a French company.

Being a supporter of communism and France being a

left wing country during 1970s attracted him.

He flew to Paris in 1972.

 In Paris, Murthy’s eyes were opened to
the prosperity enjoyed by capitalist
Europe, and set him questioning his
previous beliefs.

In Bulgaria, he was jailed and kept

without food or water for over 72 hours
which had forced him to rethink his
convictions over communism.

CH 5.
He realized that entrepreneurship,
PARIS THE resulting in large job creations was the
only viable way to eradicate poverty
TURNING in societies.

POINT
Bulgaria transformed him from a
confused communist into a
determined, compassionate capitalist.
 Sudha Kulkarni topped every exam
she sat for, and the difficulties
faced by her for being a girl only
inspired her to outperform her
competitors. She was recruited as
an engineer at Telco.

Sudha and Murthi met through a

common friend and found that
they had a lot in common. Soon
after, he proposed her for
marriage.

CH 6. AN
‘UNSUTABLE Sudha’s father was not impressed
BOY’ by Murthy because of him earning
less than his daughter. However,
Sudha was adamant about
marrying Murthy only.

Murthy married Sudha when he

got a decent job in Patni
computer systems (PCS) and they
had to move out for training.
 Murthy and Sudha returned to India
where Sudha continued her job in
Telco.

Murthy met one of his future Infosys

partners, Nandan Nilekani at PCS.

CH7.
NEW The IT industry at India was at infancy
at the time, but Murthy and Nilekani
BEGINNINGS could envision the exciting possibilities
that it offered and hungered to
explore the unchartered territories.

A group of seven people were ready

to quit PCS and enter into the new
world of computer applications.
 The big bright idea had
taken hold their mind

My firm belief in "Gandhiji

Advice “

CH8.
THE Advised to save some
MAGNIFICENT money
SEVEN

Little drops of water that

make the mighty ocean "
 The motto of powered by
Intellect and driven by value

"Narayana Murthy" was

quidded three major principle

CH9.
‘POWERED I've been extra ordinary lucky
BY in life
INTELLECT,
DRIVEN BY
VALUES’
Simple living high thinking
 IBM The technology gaint
and monopoly was known
to people with the industry
as the "BIG BLUE“

We have strong value

CH10. system.
THE
GLOBAL
PLAY
The solution to the problem
FIELD was found by outsourcing
software development.
 “Chance favours the
prepared mind”

Growth rate of Indian wages

was higher than those in US

CH 11.
THE ERA OF Roadblocks removed under
LIBERALIZATION then Indian Government’s

5 year Plan
objectives
 Vision to reality: Within 14 years, the
share issue price of the company had
increased 3000 times.

In 1999, Infosys earned 100 million for

the first time and became the first
company to be listed on the NASDAQ.

Over the next few years, Infosys

CH 12 : establishes a number of offices all over
the world.
A Business
Strategy The strategy that Infosys formulated
contained 5 main elements

Sustainable long term strategy -

diversification of the technology skill set
to the company’s IT professionals.
 Infosys operates nine development centers in
India and has over 30 offices worldwide.

Rule 1:Never use corporate resources for

personal benefit.

Rule 2:There is a level platform for everyone in

the Infosys.

Rule 3:All at Infosys are treated with equal

respect.
CH13.
THE Rule 4:All discussions must be issue based.

CORPORATE
CULTURE The company invest heavily in training.
AT INFOSYS
The extent of empowerment it allows its
employees.

The redical means of employee autonomy.

 1,60,000 sqft campus of the software technology
park in Electronics City(Bangalore) in the state of
Karnataka.

Accommodation for 15000+ people in a vast

building complex.

There were several bicycle racks, and golf-cart-like

car.

There were swimming pool, tennis courts, indoor

CH14. A pool-tables, exercise machines, restaurants, ATM,
bank offices, Infosys store etc.
DREAM
CAMPUS The corporate headquarters is equipped with
modern quality day care center.

Infosys provides subsidized cafeteria.

There are comfortable sleeping facilities so that

employees who need to work late to finish a project
can get adequate rest
 Infosys was started in 1981,provides
services in consulting,outsourceing and
technology.

As of 2012, Infosys has 66 offices and 69

development centers all over the world.

The vision of Infosys is to be globally

respected corporation.

CH 15.
INFOSYS Infosys is the pioneer of global delivery
system.

Infosys labs has 600 researchers

constantly trying to enhance the
innovation capability of Infosys.

Infosys, an environment friendly

company.
 Global workforce: 89 nationalities
working from more than 30
countries.

34. 7% of its workforce are women.

The company also employees

person of different gender identities
CH15 and differently-abled people and
provides a safe and respectful
CONTD working environment for them.

The IWIN aimed at making the work

environment friendly for women
employees and grooming them for
leadership roles.

Infosys also works for social welfare

in USA through its USA foundation.
 Sudha Murthy in 1996 started the Infosys
foundation as a NGO in Karnataka.

Trustees comprise Sudha Murthy, Sudha

Gopalakrishnan and Srinath Batni.

CH 16.
THE INFOSYS The operating principle of Infosys
foundation is:’ Bahujana hithaya,
FOUNDATION bahujana sukhaya’-For the benefit of
many for the happiness of many.

The primary aim of the foundation is to

improve health, education and basic
facilities benefiting many individuals and
institutions.
 It also works in the areas of social rehabilitation,
rural uplift, arts and culture.

Foundation has spread to Tamil Nadu, Andhra

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab.

CH16. By April 1999 the foundation has committed a

sum of Rs.17,377,000 for projects in Karnataka.
CONTD
Constructing orphanage, hospital wards,
classrooms & science centre,hospital
equipment and ambulance, school books etc.

The foundation have a holistic view of the

betterment of life of all individuals.
 2000 Padma Shri Govt. Of India

2007 Honorary commander Govt. of UK

of the order of the
British Empire

AWARDS 2008 Officer of the Legion Govt. Of France

of Honour
WON BY
NARAYANA
MURTHY 2008 Padma Vibhushan Govt. Of India

2010 IEEE Honorary Institute of

Membership Electrical and
Electronics
Engineers
 This book takes you through the fascinating
journey of a 17yr old who had to sacrifice his
entry to the IIT because of financial issues.

He ultimately came up to co-found and lead

the Indian IT giant Infosys.

EPILGUE With no money or family backing, all that he

had was determination and faith in what he
believed was the future of business.

Hard work, Fairness, decency, honesty,

transparency, striving for excellence & belief in
meritocracy are the bedrocks on which
Infosys stands firm & prosper.
 Success story of Infosys and lack of in-depth
knowledge about Murthy.

No mention of Murthy's inspiring quotes

Not much personal account about Murthy of

friends and foes.

Critical evaluation of Murthy.

Dry portrayal of facts and figures which looked

more like business report and less of a biography.

CRITICAL Editing doesn't maintain flow. Infosys springs up

every now and then.
APPRECIATION
Doesn't satiate reader's hunger to know Murthy as
a human being.

Good read for someone about to join Infosys or

working in Infosys.

Value of saving at an early stage in life have been

well communicated to the reader.
 Raktim Ganguly
Sayantan Kandar
Sholanki Ganguly
Prepared Tabassum Parween
by:
Siddhartha Goswami
Sayani Chakraborty
Pritam Roy
Thank you..